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THE NATION,FEBRUARY 8, Balloonists
- Subject: THE NATION,FEBRUARY 8, Balloonists
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 18:26:00
Balloonists make textbook landing on Burmese soil
OKE THWIN, Burma -- ''I saw the shining
orange object and thought it was a
Buddhist monk levitating,'' Aung Chan, a 70
year-old farmer said after the Breitling
Orbiter 2 touched down outside his village
yesterday morning.
Thousands of villagers in this deeply
Buddhist country, some of whom had never
before set eyes on a Westerner, were
shocked to see the huge silver balloon, with
its orange gondola swinging beneath,
descend from the heavens.
''I did not know what was happening when I
saw strange people coming out of this thing
when it came to earth,'' Aung Chan said.
The tired and dirty crew of the European
balloon stumbled out of their craft after a
textbook landing in a field on the outskirts of
Oke Thwin, a dusty hamlet about 150
kilometres north of Rangoon in Burma.
They were greeted by thousands of locals
and Burmese soldiers who had flocked to
the landing site.
As the balloon gently settled to earth, the
villagers overcame their initial shock and
swarmed over the strange craft, cutting
strips off the silver canopy and spiriting
away solar panels.
Despite being disappointed at having to
abandon their around-the-world bid, the
crew were in high spirits, joking that they
expect ''a lot of solar-powered houses in
the area soon''.
After talking to reporters, the visibly tired
and unshaven crew were back in the air,
this time in a helicopter headed for the
capital Rangoon, where they are expected
to board a charter flight back to Geneva
later.
The European balloonists, who have spent
more time continuously aloft in an aircraft
than any other humans, left the Swiss Alps
on Jan 28 in what was the fifth such attempt
to fly around the world since last December.
With the balloon's huge silver canopy fast
disappearing, a crane was manoeuvred
into place to lift the 15-tonne gondola onto a
truck which will take it to Rangoon, before
being shipped back to Britain where it was
built.
Burma had on Thursday granted a relatively
rare approval for the celebrated balloon to
land in the country, after a request by the
crew to cross China had been declined.
Despite the Orbiter's failure to
circumnavigate the globe, organisers
vowed to make another attempt ''before too
long'', although weather may prevent it from
taking place before the end of the year.
Agence France-Presse