The Brief But Spectacular Era of Balloon Mania

Inside the 18th century obsession with hot air ballooning

Unless you’re a dedicated balloon hobbyist, your experience with hot-air ballooning is probably pretty limited. Maybe you’ve been to one of those festivals where you look at lots of balloons in the air, or maybe you’ve been up in one yourself once or twice. For most of us, balloons seem like a whimsical hobby, romantic and picturesque.

A few hundred years ago, balloons were anything but a gentle, pleasant way to spend an afternoon. They were at the forefront of technology. They represented adventure, danger, and the drive to explore the unknown. They were vehicles that allowed people to, for the first time in history, ascend into the heavens.

By the Middle Ages, Chinese inventors had figured out that hot air made lanterns rise into the sky. “Sky lanterns” — smallish envelopes, usually made of paper, with a flame at the bottom — came in handy for a lot of things. People used them at festivals t…