David Blaine, known for extreme stunts and illusions, has reached new heights. Literally.
Blaine grabbed onto a bunch of helium balloons this week and floated up into the air above the Arizona desert. The stunt, called “Ascension,” was live streamed on YouTube Wednesday.
He begins the video talking to his daughter among giant helium balloons in an airport hangar.
“This is what I’ve been telling you about, that I’ve been dreaming about since I was your age,” Blaine tells her. He later says he wanted to do a stunt that “inspires” his daughter, and doesn’t scare her like past stunts may have.
He was strapped to about 50 balloons with the goal of reaching about 18,000 feet into the air. The hour-long flight reached a height of 24,900 feet. At about two hours 45 minutes into the video, Blaine releases the balloons and begins skydiving toward earth, opening his parachute a few minutes later.
“Wow! That was awesome, wow!” Blaine exclaims when he lands. The video shows his daughter get on the headset and talk to Blaine after he landed.
“You did it! I love you,” she says.
“That was actually beautiful, from top to bottom,” Blaine says as he boards a helicopter in the desert to return to where his team was stationed at a nearby airport.
