Skydiver fails to set world record when his ride takes off without him

After an aborted attempt yesterday due to weather, French skydiver Michel Fournier was all set today to break a world record by jumping out of a balloon at 130,000 feet. Of course, that was until his balloon left the ground without him. The $200,000 helium balloon detached itself from the gondola that was going to carry Fournier 25 miles up while it was being filled this morning in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. The jump, which obviously isn't going to happen now, had already depleted his financial resources making the chances of another attempt in the near future pretty slim. It is rather unfortunate as this jump was to set a record for the longest and fastest free fall ever. In fact, Fournier was claiming at one point during the free fall, his body would go supersonic. It also would have been the highest parachute jump and the highest balloon flight ever. Needless to say, Fournier is bummed out. C'est la vie.

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