We are not aquatic or flying animals. We can’t roam under the water or fly in the blue sky. However, our species have succeeded in making submarines to travel beneath the water and airplanes to fly in the sky. The first submarine was built in 1620 but people went up into the sky a bit later in 1783. According to NASA’s account, the French brothers, Joseph Michel, and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier invented the hot air balloon in 1783 which took humans to the air for the first time.
There were numerous earlier attempts to fly with artificial wings but they didn’t succeed. So, the balloon made the human dream of flying in the sky come true.
Although we now have large and fast passenger jet planes, people still fly on balloons for pleasure and recreation. Balloon rides in Cappadocia, Turkey, or Serengeti in Tanzania draw huge numbers of tourists from all over the world.
From time immemorial people dreamed of flying like birds and enjoying the thrill of viewing the earth below. But there was also the other kind of people who dreamed of the convenience of watching their ‘enemies’ from above and dropping bombs on them. And just after 11 years of its invention, the balloon was in the hands of those people. The first military use of balloons took place in France in 1794. According to the Science Museum Group, the French Republican Army used balloons for aerial observation of the enemy – the combined Austrian and Dutch army, at the battle of Fleurus. The French came out victorious in the battle and their surveillance balloons made a great contribution to their victory.
Balloons were also used during the 1860s in the US Civil War by both the Confederate and Union armies. As Amanda Holpuch narrates in her article titled, ‘A Brief History of Spying with Balloons’ published in the New York Times, balloons were extensively used in World War I for directing artillery fire, locating enemy positions, and tracking troop movements. In World War II, Japan launched around 9 thousand balloons carrying bombs across the Pacific Ocean to the United States. However, only 285 of them reached the destination and in total six civilians were killed by one of those balloon bombs. Balloons were also used by the allies in World War II. Americans used them for observation, attacks, and defense. For defense purposes, large tethered balloons were used as barrages against enemy aircraft.
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This article was published in the Daily Sun on February 15, 2023. Please read the full article here or here.