The Doomed Cleveland Balloonfest of '86

You can inflate a balloon in three seconds, I understand. How long is he gonna take these kids with no experience? We're figuring that they'll do about 2-3 balloons a minute.

I've been doing this since I was 15 years old, so it's unfair to compare, but 2-3 balloons a minute. Each kid is gonna do about 700 balloons or so. And we'll do it in about 4-6 hours.

Remember folks, don't park on the square because this ain't the place for your car this weekend! It sounds like fun, David. I understand we might have a northerly wind, too, so they'll all wind up over Canada.

Ladies and gentlemen, live from downtown Cleveland, it's Big Chuck and Lou in front of the biggest happening around! We have a real story to tell you. We're not making this up.

Mary Ellen bought two bunches of balloons to give to John and I here. She came down and one of the bunches of balloons she had tied to her watch and the opened up and the balloons took it! It's now going out east somewhere.

So if anybody finds Mary Ellen's watch tied to a bunch of balloons like this and if you return it to the station we'll have all kind of rewards for you. What is your name? Tanya, show everybody what you have on your hands there.

Those are bandages. And what are they for? Did you get any blisters?

Yeah, three. I still think they have the record! Back to you, Chuck!

This is something that has been in the planning stages since March So a lot of technical research and research about the city permits. It's absolutely astonishing that they would try and get something like this off, let alone waiting for good weather. So this is a big plus for Cleveland.

They predicted 70% chance of showers today and I think this is a prime example of what United Way is trying to do in terms of saying, "Cleveland's it's your time! It's time to say yes! It's time to say it is a happening city!

" We are on the move. It's no longer the butt of jokes. I've been in this city now for 6 months and I absolutely love it.

My wife and I have even talked to moving here. Our friends in LA think we're nuts. But it is a wonderful place.

If I had money to invest, this is where I'd be invested. It's completely covering the Terminal Tower! Ah, look at that!

Awesome! I wanna sing, "Up, Up, and Away! " The multi-colors that are going up in the air at this moment!

Let's hear it for Cleveland! Ladies and gentlemen, there is no mistake on the lake anymore! Cleveland has now broken the Guinness Book of World Records and released over 1,500,000 balloons!

All of this, in Cleveland, Ohio! The all-American city! News Anchor: It's been an exhausting search for these Coast Guardsmen.

They've been out on the water most of the day looking for two 40-year-old Cleveland men, Skip Sullivan and Raymond Broderick. They went out fishing about an hour before last night's heavy storm blew through. This is their boat.

A pair of life jackets still in it, along with a hat and a fishing pole. The boat's motor is gone. Its sides are battered, apparently from pounding all night against this section of the breakwall off Edgewater Park.

That's where the Coast Guard found the boat about 8:30 this morning. Ironically that big balloon launch in Cleveland today is one of the things that's making this search so tough for the Coast Guard. Can you imagine trying to find somebody floating out here or even spotting a lifejacket with all these balloons on the water?

It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You're looking for a head or an orange lifejacket. You have a couple hundred thousand orange balloons.

It's just hard to decipher which is which. Because of weather, 60% of the balloons launched landed here instead of the planned 10%. Many of them were found on Lake Erie.

The balloons that covered the lake and caused concern on Saturday are no longer here today. No one's quite sure where they went but at least they're no longer posing a threat to fish and wildlife and they're not littering the lake. Michelle Holden live on five.