Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a flying priest...

Guys, with the movie Up just around the corner, I just remembered this one news story a year ago about a flying priest. Yes you heard me right. About a year ago, a Roman Catholic priest by the name of Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli used 1,000 helium balloons to fly (Folks, keep that in mind. It takes 1,000 helium-filled balloons to lift a single human person. Actually, I've heard it could be done with just 500 balloons). Up, up and away he went as seen in the picture on the left.

The Rev. was aiming to break a flying record in order to raise money for charity. He was equipped with GPS, a satellite phone, flotation equipment, a thermal suit, helmet, and parachute. Sadly though, people lost contact with him when he was blown off course. Later on his colorful balloons were found at sea, but no sign of the daredevil priest. You can check the actual news article in the link below:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7360416.stm

Just yesterday, I grew curious and decided to do a search on what happened with the father. Sadly though, I learned that a body was found months later and was confirmed to be his via DNA testing. The link below is the article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/29/world/main4305742.shtml


Farewell Father...may you rest in peace in His arms.

So what's the moral lesson of the story? Kids, when you watch Up, don't try it at home!

BW