This scale model of the Japanese Fu-Go mechanism shows the complexity of this obscure but sinister and deadly balloon weapon.

We were fascinated as we watched a short documentary entitled On a Wind and a Prayer ... which told the little known story of the Fu-Go (fire balloon) ... Japan's long range aerial attacks on the US during World War II using bomb carrying balloons. The Government squelched all news of the balloon attack to prevent panic and to eliminate any information back to the Japanese as to the success of the balloons or their landing points.

The ingeniously designed balloon bombs took the lives of six Americans including five children. A memorial ... the Mitchell Monument ... is located at Bly Oregon where the children found the undetonated bomb. The arrow in the photo points to a Ponderosa pine tree that has deep scars from the bomb shrapnel. The tree was dedicated as an Oregon Heritage Tree in 2006.

The first serious attempt at around-the-world flight began December 12, 1981, when Maxie Anderson and Don Ida flew 2,676 miles in the balloon Jules Verne from their lift-off in Luxor, Egypt, to their touchdown in Hansa, India, 48 hours later. Anderson and Ida were tragically killed in a ballooning accident in Germany less than 2 years later.

Project Strato-Lab was a high-altitude manned helium balloon program sponsored by the U.S. Navy during the late 1950’s. This small aluminum sphere, which looked awfully claustrophobic to us, went to the edges of the stratosphere to accomplish research required for the manned rocket program to follow ... such as space suit development. The brave men who were sealed into this craft were called Aeronauts ... high altitude precursors to Astronauts. Click here to see photo of Spartan accommodations inside the Strato-Lab.

Aeronauts Malcom Ross and Lee Lewis relax and gather their thoughts before their next mission. Wait a minute ... it looks like they're taking a smoke break! Click on the photo and decide for yourself.

Every October balloonists come from all over the world to participate in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  We often wondered why Albuquerque became ground zero for ballooning … turns out is because of a unique wind pattern known as The Box ... a set of predictable wind patterns that can be exploited to navigate the balloons. The museum offers a flight simulator where one can test their ability to take off and land a balloon. Although Danny didn’t crash, he soon learned that navigating The Box and landing a balloon on target takes a lot of skill.

The memorabilia from past Balloon Fiestas and other contemporary worldwide ballooning events include patches, stickers, posters, miniatures, programs, basket banners, jackets, tee shirts and caps. Danny really enjoyed the souvenir pin displays.

The colorful pin displays seemed to go on forever. This is just a small sample from the thousands on view.

We especially enjoyed the miniature models of some of the better known Fiesta balloons

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