To Infinity and Beyond

Hopes of finding ballooning Brazilian priest fade, the title said.

And since when are Brazilians ballooning, and what does that even mean?

I was innocently surfing the web when this abstract title popped up, right next to a Jello-Covered Florida Highway, Wetsuits for Penguins, Spider-infested Australian Hospitals and Penis Theft Panic in the Congo. (Feel free to click and enjoy.) Even with all of these wonderful choices of things to read, I first choice to educate myself about flying Brazilian Priests.

Apparently, Father Adelir Antonio de Carli needed to raise some money for a highway chapel to service truckers. Bypassing the traditional bake sale and car wash, this old priest took fund raising to a higher level, or should I say altitude. After filling thousands of helium balloons, this guy decided to fly about twenty miles to another town in his parish. Too bad the winds were going the other direction. The picture to your right was the last anyone ever saw of Father de Carli.

Throwing caution to the winds (America Loves Puns), this old Catholic guy set off, and was promptly swept out to sea. Soon the Brazilian Air Force, their Coast Guard were searching and the parishioners were praying. Today the search was called off, leading to the forlorn title that attracted me to this odd story.

Alas, the courageous and reckless priest is assumed dead, and all that they have found has been countless fragments of balloons, floating in the Brazilian surf. We will never forget this Ballooning Brazilian.