Balloon Fest 1986
Citation Needed
Citation Needed Media
4.8 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
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Summary
Balloonfest '86 was a fundraising event in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, held on September 27, 1986, in which the local chapter of United Way set a world record by releasing almost 1.5 million balloons.[2] The event was intended to be a harmless publicity stunt. However, the released balloons drifted back over the city and Lake Erie and landed in the surrounding area, causing problems for traffic and a nearby airport. In consequence, the organizers faced lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages,[1] and cost overruns put the event at a net loss.[3]
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to citation needed. |
| 0:26.1 | The podcast where we choose a subject, read a single article about it on Wikipedia |
| 0:29.5 | and pretend we're experts. |
| 0:30.9 | Because this is the internet? |
| 0:32.2 | That's how it works now. |
| 0:33.5 | I'm Eli Bosnick and I'll be set in the pace tonight, but I'll need some fabulous contestants. First up, two men who hold records in Guinness, but not with Guinness. Um, and he... Okay, that's fair. Actually, the two best things I found in Dublin were the Guinness Tour and the roads leading out of Dublin. So... Okay. I know I'm supposed to yes-in, but I can't stand Guinness and I enjoyed |
| 0:55.8 | I don't know what you do. |
| 0:58.1 | I think everybody's lying about loving Guinness. |
| 1:00.8 | I think they're lying. |
| 1:01.7 | You're lying about loving Celtics. |
| 1:02.4 | There's so many amazing beers that are not that. |
| 1:05.9 | They're enjoying Dublin so much they don't have the heart to break it to them. |
| 1:10.4 | And also joining us tonight, world record holder for world's best friends. |
| 1:15.9 | I am not the world's best friend. I've been asking it to swallow the entire White House since February and it will not do it. It's ridiculous. |
| 1:24.7 | That's true. That's true. Before we begin tonight, I'd like to take a moment to thank our patrons. Patrons, thank you. Thanks to you, we continue to pursue our record for the world's most hit and miss podcast. Each episode is a new frontier, thanks to your funds. And for that, we are forever grateful. And if you'd like to learn how to join their ranks, be sure to stick around to the end of the show. I just want to be clear, I hope all bike people really do die. I really did mean that. I meant that 100%. There was no sarcasm at all in that episode. I want you to die. Hey, Eli, do you want to add anything I can cut to? I don't trust you to cut it |
| 2:01.2 | The thing that he said is real funny |
| 2:04.6 | And I'm worried that if I say my thing |
| 2:06.2 | We'll keep them both |
| 2:07.5 | And then everybody's going to know how I feel about Piazzi |
| 2:11.1 | And I'm going to get in trouble |
| 2:12.6 | And with that out of the way |
| 2:15.9 | Tell us Cecil what person plays thing, concept, phenomenon, or event we'll be talking about today. |
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