A new record was set last week, when 456 hot air balloons, representing 45 countries, took off and flew together in a mass display over eastern France.
The flight, at Chambley-Bussières, took off from an air base as part of a biennial event, Mondial Air Ballons. It took 45 minutes to get all the balloons up, after two postponements due to winds too high for safe flight.
As it was, the ascent was not without incident: a British balloon was damaged when it ran into a power line, but there were no injuries.
A video of the colorful event is below:
