Although the pictured balloon looks dubious, this image is from Settle's successful follow-up voyage in November.

It was in 1933 at the “Century of Progress International Exposition” in Chicago that Naval Commander and aviation expert Thomas T. W. “Tex” Settle (briefly) met one of his great waterloos. It was that summer on August 5 in Soldier Field when the Stratosphere Ascension balloon, flown solo by Settle, was to be one of the highest-altitude balloon flights ever.

Anticipation of the launch was international news. The solo flight was greeted by a cheering throng of 40,000. One of the Swiss designers who worked on the balloon, Jean Piccard, gave autographs to worshipful fans. The pre-flight ceremonies were reported to have lasted more than seven hours. And because of an open gas valve, the balloon stopped its ascent and began to plummet a mere ten minutes into the flight. It crashed in a nearby railroad yards. Luckily, only Tex’s pride was injured.

He successfully completed the flight (with the aid of an additional crewman) in November of that year in Akron, Ohio; there was only a small fraction of the original audience to see the balloon off, but the flight did garner some national attention.

Watch the one-minute-and-forty-second raw film footage of his less-successful flight.

Other recent videos:

• The hippie craft of “marbling.” (1970s)
• Fifteen-year-old guru tries to levitate the Astrodome. (1974)
• Edward Kienholz’s controversial L.A. art show. (1969)
• Timothy Leary interviewed at Folsom Prison. (1970s)