9/18/13 Scarlett Betancourt

Title: Dream deflated: American ends quest to cross Atlantic with helium balloons

Newspaper: CNN

Have you ever watched the Disney Pixar movie “Up”? Well now there’s a real-life Carl Fredricksen, by the name of Jonathan Trappe. He’s a IT project manager from North Carolina. Mr. Trappe has been preparing for years. He was attempting to cross the Atlantic ocean only with helium balloons. He left Caribou, Maine early Thursday with 370 balloons. He crashed landed in Newfoundland, Canada, 12 hours and 470 miles into his trip. When he landed he posted this comment on Facebook: “Hmm, this doesn’t look like France,”. He ended up having to stay over night on his landing site. Mr. Trappe was the first man to cross the English Channel with a balloon cluster. Five people have died already trying to cross the English Channel with a ballon cluster.

I believe that Mr. Trappe didn’t necessarily think about the reality of the situation. He was foolish to think that he could cross the Atlantic with helium balloons. On the other hand he was brave to attempt something nearly impossible. I explained the situation to my mother and she said that if she didn’t have family to take care of she would attempt this adventure. Even if the chances were slim.