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"It's like magic, it feels like I'm floating in
the air," Blaine said on a radio to his team of aides back on
the ground after gently lifting off from a desert airstrip in
Page, Arizona, connected to dozens of balloons in an event he
called "Ascension."
YouTube said the stunt, which it livestreamed, set a new record
as the most-watched YouTube Originals live event ever with over
770,000 viewers.
Blaine gradually dropped small weights to speed his ascent,
donned a parachute mid-flight and strapped on an oxygen mask as
he neared 24,900 feet, an altitude where most commercial
airliners travel.
Blaine, 47, has a history of performing high-profile and
high-risk feats of endurance. His stunts include locking himself
in a fish bowl, trapping himself in a block of ice for two days
in Times Square, and standing freely atop a thin, tall pillar
for 35 hours in New York City.
Wednesday's stunt lasted roughly 30 minutes. Blaine released
himself from the balloon cluster and free-fell for some 30
seconds before deploying a parachute to slow his descent.
"Wow, that was awesome," Blaine yelled into his radio as he
stood back on land.
Blaine has said he trained for the event for two years,
including becoming a licensed pilot. It was his first live
broadcast stunt since 2012.
(This story corrects height to 25,000 feet from 30,000 feet in
1st paragraph and height in paragraph 3, deletes Mount Everest
reference).
(Reporting by Frank McGurty; Editing by Tom Brown)
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