Larry Walters and the Lawn Chair Balloons

This is a true story of a man called Larry Walters. At 33 years of age, Larry decided he wanted to see his neighbourhood from a different perspective. So he went to the Army Navy surplus store and purchased 45 weather balloons. That afternoon he strapped himself into a lawn chair to which several of his friends tied the now helium filled balloons.

He took along a six-pack, a peanut butter sandwich, and a BB gun - figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land. Larry thought the balloons would lift him about a hundred or so feet into the air, but when he was cut loose - the chair soared 10,000 feet into the sky - smack into the middle of the air traffic pattern for the Los Angeles Airport.

He was too frightened to shoot any of the balloons and stayed in the air for more than 2 hours, forcing the airport to shut down its runways - causing long delays in flights. After he was safely back on the ground, and cited by the police - reporters asked him three questions.

“Were you scared?” - “Yes.” “Would you do it again?” - “No.” “Why did you do it?” - “Because,” Larry said, “You can’t just sit there.”