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We used to fill very large (6 ft.) balloons with natural gas, attach an entire unrolled and twisted roll of toilet paper to the bottom (1,000 ft.), ignite and let fly. Reached altitudes of several hundreds of feet and a really cool explosion when the “fuse” hit the balloon bottom.
Now that’s a UFO. Plus, it self-destructs. No evidence. You need a pretty calm day so there’s no fire hazard.
It must be pointed out that these can potentially be very dangerous. In some countries they are forbidden due to the risk of forest fires.
It’s always nice to see morons on the Internet encouraging potentially hazardous activity.
That dude will be getting a Darwin award for sure (probably for burning down the hood). http://darwinawards.com/
[Please drop the WWW from URLs as WordPress doesn’t display it properly… plus it’s unnecessary. – ed.]
This is almost as good as the Brighton police trying to convince people that one of its helicopter was chasing a chinese lantern at 100 knots, going against the wind.
LOL
I had an inventive friend in college who did this. He used about 20 candles and a big trash bag. It took off like a rocket when he let it go…right into the big tree next to the dorm.
Our RA had a real meltdown over it and for good reason. We got incredibly lucky it didn’t start a fire.
It might look cool but it’s also stupid.
The stupid is when people don’t think about what they are attempting. The amazing is doing an experiment to demonstrate a scientific principle.
Was there anything in the video that was stupid or dangerous? Watch it again and notice the warning nor to do this around dry grass.
First time I heard about this it was using dry-cleaner bags and straws with the birthday candles. Would NOT do it locally, Arizona has been in a drought for a decade.
J/P=?
#7
Yes it was stupid. Even if the dry grass is not around your house, it could drift for miles before it lands. This says nothing to the possibility that it lands on someone’s house. Dumb.
I buy the Chinese ones, harder to trace back to me. And winter is a great time to do it when you have snow pack.
#9, Thomas,
That is a good concern. Way overblown, but valid. That rates right up there with the high rate of auto accidents and why we should wear our seatbelts.
“WATCH OUT EVERYONE. THE BALLOON WILL EXPLODE IF IT CRASHES ON YOUR ROOF”.
#10, JM,
Very true. And the colder air would help the balloon rise better.
We used to do that many years ago. We used dry cleaner bags and a small piece of cotton with lighter fluid on it. It didn’t burn as long as the candles. We got arrested by campus police on Florida Field one night at UofF. That was the last time for me.
I wasn’t told I would need tape
on the other hand it would make some interesting lanterns for an outside luau. Tethered down of course