Lost Brazilian ballooning priest carried into the blogosphere · Global Voices
Jose Murilo

Brazil is an unusual place. The country is full of unconventional people, capable of performing extraordinary feats, which nowadays can get reported in peculiar ways by an ever-growing crowd of unique bloggers. This time the story is rather sad, but the blogosphere is exploding with humorous takes on the tragedy of a Brazilian Roman Catholic priest who is missing after drifting out to sea while trying to set a record for a flight using helium-filled party balloons.
The goal of Father Adelir Antonio de Carli was to break the 19-hour record for remaining aloft using only party balloons, in order to raise funds for the rest stop for truckers in Paranagua, Brazil’s second-largest port for agricultural products. Brazilian truckers often spend days waiting to unload in the port, especially during the busy soy export season now under way.
Planes, helicopters and boats from Brazilian rescue forces have been out along the coast of Santa Catarina state looking for the balloon-flying priest all week. Surely, a religious person gone missing during a charity stunt deserves the highest respect, but the lack of elementary safety features in Father de Carli's plan to accomplish his endeavor has unleashed an unstoppable stream of humorous lines, although not without some guilty thoughts about them.
Seria cômico se não fosse trágico? Pois acho que pode ser trágico e cômico. Estão aí as “tragicomédias” que não me deixam mentir. Por favor, concorde comigo antes que eu continue!: é cômico! (súplica gratuita, desinteressada e “afoita!” por dividir o peso na consciência por ter visto tanta graça nisso tudo)
Padre Peter Pan – Fossas do Ofício
então, o que tá rolando de piada em cima desse padre que resolveu voar amarrado a balões contendo gás hélio não está nas escrituras sagradas… aliás, a peripécia derradeira do padre aviador é o assunto do dia com um amigo, estudante de jornalismo, que mora no rj. a imprudência do sacerdote, de tão bizarra, chega a ser cômica. como alguém pretende voar de balão com uma condição climática completamente desfavorável, sem ao menos saber operar um gps, minha gente?
Como usar um gps? – de tudo um pouco
Indeed, the last contact  made by the priest through a satellite cell phone was a request for someone who could teach him how to operate the GPS he had taken with him, so that he could give his actual coordinates. Even the uber-geek folks at Gizmodo could not keep from gaily commenting the tech aspect in the case.
Sadly, nobody was able to explain to him how to do it correctly and, around 9PM—the time of his last contact—he disappeared. I see this sad event, which has ended in the tragedy of a missing person—obviously he's a bit crazy and this is all his fault—as an example of all that is wrong with the design of machines today. Not because technology itself was the cause of him getting lost—it wasn't. It was more bad luck and bad planning than anything else. After all, his first flight was a success without GPS, and men have been wandering through Earth without any help for thousands of years. The problem here is that I can imagine his frustration, trying to make sense of an infernal device so he could tell people his exact location, all the while knowing that he was going to get lost forever in the immensity of the sea.
Priest Takes Off Using Party Balloons, GPS to Find God (Literally) – Gizmodo
Searchers have already found many of the balloons stretched over an area 50 km away from the coast of Santa Catarina state, but no signs of the cleric, who was wearing a helmet, aluminum thermal flight suit, water-proof overalls and a parachute. Friends and relatives still believe that the priest was well prepared for unexpected events, and that there is big chance that he is still alive. Yet, other accounts tell about the priest's daring and exhibitionist personality, that would disregard safety measures and trample upon any obstacle standing on his way to broad recognition.
O padre Adelir De Carli, de 41 anos, foi expulso da escola de vôo livre Vento Norte, em Curitiba, há cerca de três anos por indisciplina e exibicionismo. É o que conta Márcio André Lichtnow, instrutor responsável pelo curso de parapente que teve o padre como aluno… “Ele era indisciplinado e não participava das aulas teóricas, que são fundamentais para se compreender as questões meteorológicas. Ele não tinha nada de humilde, se acha o bom, o que conhecia tudo, o que sabia tudo. Parecia um playboy”, diz Lichtnow. O instrutor afirma que o padre fez dez horas de aulas práticas e quatro horas de aulas teóricas. Para completar o curso precisaria de 40 horas de prática e 30 horas de teoria. Lichtnow conta ainda que o padre o procurou para falar dos planos de voar a partir de Paranaguá (PR). “Falei para ele que decolando dali o único lugar que ele poderia pousar era na África do Sul, porque é para lá que os ventos levam. Mas ele disse que já havia estudado tudo e eu achei que era brincadeira”, lembra. “Fiquei bem menos católico depois de conhecer o padre”, finaliza o instrutor, que faz questão de dissociar a figura de Adelir De Carli da escola de vôo. “Ele tentou ser meu aluno, mas não foi aceito”.
Mais um brasileiro em ‘Lost’ – Dona Didi
There is a possibility that the priest's careless attitude for his own safety gave license to or even triggered the strong flow of comic responses seen in the Brazilian blogosphere concerning the unusual circumstances contributing to his disappearance. Last time we checked, Father Adelir had even acquired a fake blog called ‘Imaginary Diary of a Flying Priest‘, and Julio Vedovatto plays with the possible media headlines around the world reporting about the priest's stunt:
- The New York Times: Padre sobe, bolsas caem.
– O Globo: Caos aéreo: Piloto confirma ‘quase colisão’ com padre.
– Diário de Bogotá: Padre desaparecido pode estar em poder das FARC.
– Gazeta de Madrid: Zapatero avisa: Se padre entrar na Espanha, será deportado.
– Diário de La Paz: Evo Morales recebe padre e pede reajuste para encher os balões de gás.
– Diarinho: Padre maluco se escafedeu com balões de festinha.
– Corrieri de la cera: Vaticano apóia balão, mas condena camisinha.
– Washington Post: Hillary vs. Obama: Padre irá desempatar a disputa.
– Beijing News: Governo Chinês confisca as imagens da queda do balão do padre no Tibet e afirma que não houve violência.
– Beijing News (edição extra): Governo chinês diz que padre já está treinando para a cerimônia de abertura dos jogos olímpicos.
– Israel: Resbolah diz que ‘padre voador’ é um deboche à Maomé e promete novos ataques terroristas.
– Correio Braziliense: Oposição diz ter provas de que os balões foram comprados com cartão corporativo.
– Diário do Equador: Governo confirma que balão foi abatido pelo exército Colombiano e exige explicações.
Enquanto isso nos jornais do mundo, sobre o Padre do Balão – Julio Vedovatto
In fact, the story of the Brazilian priest and his balloons has really echoed abroad, and the tragicomic results among bloggers seems to be the same. The event is already listed as a candidate for the ‘Darwin Awards‘, an initiative to ‘reward people who remove themselves from the gene pool voluntarily by accidentally killing themselves in stupid ways’, and ‘The spoof‘ has a headline that says: “Al Qaeda accepts responsibility for missing balloon priest“.
Almost a week after the disappearance the priest's family still believes that he will be found, as the seat was lined with air-tight pockets that can be pumped up and there are several islands in the region that he could have washed up on. Indeed, one of the most circulated satires of the case toys with the fact that the priest might have landed on a very well-known island, where others are already Lost.
Another Brazilian in Lost
[Rodrigo Santoro, a Brazilian actor, joined Lost's cast during it's third season]
We hope and pray still for the success of the continuing search efforts and that we may have the opportunity to share stories about the viral media phenomenon triggered by his exploits and good laughs with the Father himself. Meanwhile, the blogosphere continues to balloon with the story.
Where is the priest?
Places the crazy balloon priest has visited
Father Adelir makes appearence on Google Maps