Video narration
Picture this: a man sitting in a lawn chair-floating high above the ground, held up by birthday balloons. This sounds like a joke, but in 1982, Larry Walters tried to make his childhood dream of flying come true. He had never become a pilot, so he came up with a plan: tie balloons to a lawn chair and rise only a little way before coming back down. At least, that was the idea. Then the chair lifted off-and kept climbing. Larry shot far beyond the height he expected, reaching roughly 16,000 feet, and even entered controlled airspace-where aircraft were flying. For people below, it looked impossible: a man, alone, drifting through the sky in a lawn chair. Getting back down was difficult, but Larry eventually returned safely. So yes, he really flew-not in an aircraft, but in the chair he tied to balloons.