Father Adelir Antonio de Carli hoped to raise considerable funds for charity when he decided to tie himself to 1,000 balloons – but his daredevil bid ended in tragedy
Father Adelir Antonio de Carli, a priest with a daring spirit, had hoped to raise a significant amount of money for charity by attaching himself to 1,000 balloons.
Tragically, his audacious endeavour ended in disaster as he soared into the sky, never to return. In April 2008, Father De Carli conceived the unconventional idea to tie himself to 1,000 helium-filled balloons to raise funds for a chapel for lorry drivers in his highway parish.
The brave priest embarked on his journey from Paranagua, a port city in Brazil, equipped with a helmet, an aluminium thermal flight suit, waterproof clothing and a parachute. His mission was twofold – to shatter the 19-hour world record for the longest time spent aloft via balloon and to raise money for his cause.
It certainly helped that he was a trained skydiver with a wealth of experience and a host of survival skills to aid him on this adventure. This wasn’t Father De Carli’s first attempt as he had successfully completed a similar stunt in January of the same year using 600 balloons. This previous attempt saw him ascend 17,390 feet above the ground during a four-hour journey. However, even this experience couldn’t save him from the tragic outcome of his April mission.
The 41-year-old priest decided to equip himself with a GPS tracker and radio for his second attempt, enabling him to update air traffic control on his location. But after eight hours aloft, Father De Carli vanished without a trace. Despite a thorough search by aircraft and rescue teams, the priest remained missing. It was only two days after the charity event that balloons were spotted in the sea near de Carli’s last known location.
However, it wasn’t until July, months later, that his body was finally discovered. The identification was confirmed through DNA tests, after two tugboat workers stumbled upon the body while on shift at sea. Macae’s police chief, Daniel Bandeira, said: “We were almost certain that it was the priest due to various elements, such as the clothes and material used in the balloon trip. The DNA only confirmed our suspicions.”
Reports suggest he had difficulty operating his GPS device, but managed to relay a message stating that he felt “very cold, but fine”. It is believed he veered off course and, before losing contact completely, informed others that he was allegedly “losing height”.
After hours of flight, it was estimated that the priest had reached an altitude of 20,000 ft and was set to descend to approximately 8,200 ft. At the time of the events, before the discovery of his body, Fire Chief Johnny Coelhos expressed no optimism about the priest’s survival chances, saying: “Given his physical condition and the equipment he was carrying, I would say there is an 80 percent chance he’s alive.”
Upon confirmation that the body found was indeed the priest’s, his brother, Moacir de Carli, said: “Now we can have a respectable burial service.”
