Daniel Boria, aka ‘Balloon Guy,’ Flies Over Calgary In Lawn Chair Attached To 120 Helium Balloons In ‘Up’-Style Stunt

Daniel Boria ‘Balloon Guy’ was arrested on Sunday after flying over Calgary in a lawn chair attached to helium balloons.

Balloon Guy Flies Over Canada

On July 5, Boria, spent $12,000 on helium and filled up 120 large party balloons, attached them to his $20 lawn chair and took off into the sky, reminiscent of the Pixar hit Up.

“I was sitting in a lawn chair looking down through the clouds at 747 airplanes and looking up to a cluster of helium balloons,” Boria described.

According to Boria, 26, he intended to ride the wind over Canada to get to the Calgary Stampede grounds and then skydive into the Stampede. Unfortunately, the winds thwarted his plans and Boria ended up crash landing 2 miles south of his goal, injuring his foot and landing him in handcuffs.

After Boria reached the ground, authorities arrested him and kept him in jail overnight before charging him with one count of mischief causing danger to life. “A stunt like this would require authorization from Transport Canada. For us, the police, we usually only deal with the aftermath. In this case, we are lucky that he only sustained minor injuries,” a police spokesperson said.

Daniel Boria ‘Balloon Guy’ Explains Stunt

Boria, who called his stunt “the most thing I’ve ever done,” revealed that the entire balloon ride was meant to drum up publicity for his company called All Clean Natural, and he had his 20 employees help him fill up the balloons. Boria also stated that he carefully calculated how many balloons would be needed to hold his weight, and then added an extra hundred pounds just to be safe. Boria was also equipped with a parachute before taking flight.

“It was insane… You’re just by yourself up above the clouds. It was the weirdest, most relaxing and frightening moment at the same time. It was incredibly peaceful up there,” he said.

Boria estimated that he was in the air for almost 30 minutes before he deployed his parachute and abandoned the lawn chair and balloons. After he landed, he was picked up by police and taken to the police station, where authorities reportedly still have two GoPro cameras Boria used to record his flight.

Boria’s flight has been making headlines, with many comparing his party balloon set up to the one seen in Up. Boria has denied being inspired by the animated film, saying, “Up wasn’t an inspiration. Everyone keeps talking to me about it. [Balloons] was just the most amusing and best way I could think to get to altitude.”

Boria claims that the stunt has been successful in getting the word out about his company, but he isn’t planning on another illegal publicity stunt. When asked if he would do it again, Boria said, “If we could figure out a way to do it legally, then we’d do it again. We’re probably not going to proceed with an illegal stunt again.”

For those wondering what happened to the lawn chair and plastic balloons, All Clean Natural implanted a tracking device into the chair and were able to recover the chair and the attached balloons after it landed. “We do care immensely about the environment and tried our hardest to protect it,” the company wrote on Facebook.