Priest Travels to Heaven with Helium Balloons

The smiling 41-year-old priest was strapped to a seat attached to a huge column green, red, white and yellow balloons, and soared into the air to the cheers of a crowd.

He was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials.

The priest wanted to break a 19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons to raise money for a spiritual rest-stop for truckers in Paranagua, Brazil's second-largest port for agricultural products.

clipped from www.dailymail.co.uk Up, up and away: The Rev Adelir Antonio de Carli takes off A Roman Catholic priest who floated off under hundreds of helium party balloons is missing off the southern coast of Brazil. Rescuers in helicopters and small fishing boats were searching off the coast of Santa Catarina state, where pieces of balloons were found. The Rev Adelir Antonio de Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday afternoon, wearing a helmet, thermal suit and a parachute. Ready for anything? The priest is strapped in before the flight The priest soared to an altitude of 20,000 feet then descended to about 8,200 feet for his planned flight to the city of Dourados, 465 miles north-west of his parish. But winds pushed him in another direction, and Carli was some 30 miles off the coast when he last contacted Paranagua's port authority. "He knew what he was doing and was fully prepared for any kind of mishap." "We are absolutely confident he will be found alive and well, floating somewhere in the ocean," Mis