Lawn Chair Larry

Larry Walters was a Vietnam vet who had always dreamt of being a pilot. Poor eyesight kept him from flying. But at 11 am, on July 2nd, 1982, Larry took flight from the backyard of his girlfriend's home in San Pedro, California.

Larry tied 42 helium-filled eight-foot weather balloons to his lawn chair, donned a parachute, and strapped himself into his chair. He brought his pellet gun, a CB radio, a camera, water jugs for ballast, a few sandwiches and some beer.

Larry thought he might rise about 100 feet. A friend who cut the cord that attached the lawn chair to Larry's Jeep, recalled that Larry...