AUDIO: CHINESE PINE NUTTER SPENDS TWO DAYS IN A BALLOON
A Chinese man is now safe after he spent two days aloft in a hydrogen balloon, traveling about 200 miles, after it became untethered and flew away while he was using it to harvest pine nuts from a tree. This is a real thing – a big balloon with a small basket underneath to stand on while you work your way around the tree tops collecting pine nuts. In this case, the man, named Hu, and a partner were collecting pine nuts last Sunday in a forest in northeastern China when they lost control of the balloon. The other person jumped to the ground, and the balloon took off with Mr. Hu. Rescuers were able to contact him by cellphone on Monday morning and instructed him how to slowly deflate the balloon to land safely. It took another day before he reached the ground about 200 miles from where he took off. He was in good health, apart from a pain in his lower back from standing the entire time he was in the air.
* Luckily, pine nuts are good for that.
* A Chinese man trapped in a balloon. Oh, the Hu-manity!
* There were two extra nuts in the pine forest that day.
* A whole day to slowly deflate the balloon to land. Yep, that’s how slow I would have done it, too.
* Maybe he should try farming soybeans, something a little closer to the ground.
* What’s the name of the guy in the basket? / Hu. / The guy in the basket? / Hu. / What’s the name of the guy in the basket? / Hu’s in the basket. / I don’t know. / Third base.
CLIP 1: Here’s what the guy who jumped out of the basket said to Hu as he floated away. Bugs Bunny: “So long, screwie! See ya in St. Louie!”
CLIP 2: And here’s what Hu said as he floated away. Wizard of Oz: “I can’t come back! I don’t know how it works!”
