cluster balloonMove over Balloon Boy. Cluster ballooning’s as real as it gets.Photo: omnibus via FlickrIt’s carbon-free, it flies, and it has lots of balloons. How are cluster balloons not catching on?

Well at least one man is getting around the way Balloon Boy pretended to do and the way the old man in UP does.

Reader support makes our work possible. Donate today to keep our site free. All donations TRIPLED!

Last weekend, Jonathan Trappe flew “The Spirit Cluster” — 57 helium-filled balloons and a small harness — 109 miles in 14 hours above his home state of North Carolina, AOL News reports.

“Flying a gas balloon is unlike any other experience. There is no sound. No propellers, no jet engines. No burner, no heart-thumping rotors of a helicopter. Not even the wind that gliders experience. This is true, silent flight,” Trappe said on his website. “When you launch a balloon, part of the wonder is that you do not know where you will land. You are carried with the wind, towards destinations unknown. It is a wonderful adventure, and it is the most pure form of flight.”

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

It might not stimulate the new green economy, but if this catches on look for a boom in circus shops and landing gear (scissors).

—————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Like what you see? Sign up to receive The Grist List, our email roundup of pun-usual green news just like this, sent out every Friday.