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On this episode of Our American Stories, in September 1986, Cleveland set out to break a world record with Balloonfest ’86, a mass balloon release staged in the heart of downtown. Organizers planned to send nearly two million helium balloons into the air as both a fundraising stunt and a civic spectacle, making it one of the most ambitious public events of the decade.

Instead, shifting weather pushed the balloons back toward the ground, where they created problems across the city and along Lake Erie. What had been billed as the biggest balloon release ever quickly became a disaster, affecting traffic, airport operations, and even the search for two missing fishermen.

Jesse Edwards shares the story.

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Balloonfest ’86: The World Record That Went Wrong