One person who was fascinated with helium balloons earned the infamous Darwin Award for accomplishing a near-death feat of exceptional stupidity. He tied several hundred small, party helium balloons to a lawn chair that he chained to the ground. He expected that when he released the chain, he would float up to a comfortable altitude and then use a pellet gun to shoot out balloons to reduce his lift. Instead, he immediately climbed to a height of over 15,000 feet, where a commercial airline pilot was astounded to see him flying. The stunt necessitated a dangerous helicopter rescue, which was successful.