While this story has a predictable, tragic outcome, let's try and focus on the morbid absurdity of it all. Per The Mirror, the wayward protagonist of this story is Father Adelir Antonio de Carli. de Carli was a priest with a peculiar ambition. At the time, in 2008, there was a world record for floating with helium balloons for the longest time -- 19 hours. de Carli sought to break that record for charity!
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For the benefit of raising funds to build a shelter for truck drivers, de Carli went to work. In Paranagua, de Carli loaded himself with 1,000 helium balloons. On the surface, this whole situation seems utterly insane. However, de Carli was a skydiver. Not only that, but he had some survival know-how, too. He was a multi-faceted priest in that way.
He had a helmet, waterproof coveralls, and even an aluminum thermal flight suit. Oh, and a GPS tracker, a parachute, and a radio to communicate with air traffic control in case something went horribly wrong. Knowing that, it's easy to wonder: what the heck happened?
Daredevil Priest Ties 1,000 Balloons To Himself And Meets Tragedy
Eight hours and 55 miles into de Carli's voyage, air traffic control lost all contact with him. The last thing anyone heard de Carli say was the mention of his GPS having issues and being "very cold but fine." Though the plan was to fly into the city of Dourados, the winds blew de Carli off-course. He was losing altitude, and eventually, he ended up in the sea.
Search and rescue teams were dispatched to find de Carli -- but to no avail. Three months later, a body was found off Brazil's coast by boat workers. DNA would confirm that it was de Carli. "We were almost certain that it was the priest due to various elements, such as the clothes and material used in the balloon trip, the DNA only confirmed our suspicions," stated Macae's chief of police, Daniel Bandeira.
It's a story as fascinating as it is devastating. It's not every day you hear about a daredevil priest, you know? But, hey. We love scenarios that seem so divorced from our daily lives, don't we?
