releases, thinking that "the balloons would reach an altitude where they popped and disintegrated." Burke Lakefront Airport had to shut down a runway for half an hour after balloons landed there. Traffic collisions were also reported "as drivers swerved to avoid slow motion blizzards of multicolored orbs or took their eyes off the road to gawk at the overhead spectacle". Motorists on the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway ran into fences and each other before the roadway was shut down. A bulldozer was needed to help clear away the balloons. Two fishermen, Raymond Broderick and Bernard Sulzer, who had gone out on September 26, were reported missing by their families on the day of the event. Rescuers spotted their boat anchored west of the Edgewater Park breakwall. A Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter crew had difficulties reaching the area because of the "asteroid field" of balloons. A search-and-rescue boat crew tried to spot the fishermen floating in the lake, but Guard officials said balloons in the water made it impossible to see whether anyone was in the lake. On September 29, the Coast Guard suspended its search. The fishermen's bodies subsequently washed ashore. The wife of one of the fishermen sued the United Way of Cleveland and the company that organized the balloon release for $3.2 million and later settled on undisclosed terms. Balloons landing on a pasture in Medina County, Ohio, spooked Louise Nowakowski's Arabian horses, which allegedly suffered permanent injuries as a result. Nowakowski sued the United Way of Cleveland for $100,000 in damages and settled for undisclosed terms. The fundraiser lost money due to cost overruns. Legacy The 1988 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the event as a world record "largest ever mass balloon release", with 1,429,643 balloons launched. Because of the damage caused, Guinness no longer measures environmentally unsound events like balloon releases. Balloonfest '86 was the subject of the 2018 short documentary film Balloonfest. References External links The doomed Cleveland balloonfest of '86 on YouTube Balloonfest is the subject of an episode of the American History comedy podcast The Dollop 1980s in Cleveland 1986 in Ohio Balloons (entertainment) Events in Cleveland September 1986 events in the United States Publicity stunts 1986 controversies in the United States