David Blaine Will Strap Himself to Helium Balloons to Fly Over Arizona

This sounds like something a kid would come up with, but it’s Blaine’s most recent project – and his first one since the 2002 live challenge that saw him stand on top of a pillar in NYC for 72 hours. Called Ascension, it was supposed to go down on August 31 and see him fly over the Hudson River in NYC while strapped to 52 helium-filled weather balloons.

Because of the complexity of the stunt and due to bad weather, Blaine has decided to push back the date and relocate. The stunt will now be taking place over Page, in Arizona, on September 2, and will be streaming live on his YouTube channel.

According to the “magician,” not much about the stunt has changed, except for the date and the location. He will ascend to 18,000 feet (5,486 meters) in the air pulled by 52 weather balloons and will have to strap himself into a parachute on the way up. Once there, he will let go of the balloons and parachute himself back to earth.

This stunt is being dubbed a research and discovery flight and actually implied having the Federal Aviation Administration classify the balloon rig as an experimental aircraft. However, the FAA is yet to issue all approvals for the flight over Arizona.

Ascension has been in development for a very long time, Blaine said in one of his earlier videos. In addition to planning every detail, he had to undergo lots of training, which included obtaining a hot air balloon pilot certificate and a skydiving license, and learning how to read the winds.

Just days ago, a toddler was lifted high in the air by a kite in Taiwan. This stunt is not anything like that, just in case you were thinking it.

You can tune in to see Ascension by clicking on the second video below.