Location: La Habana (Havana), Cuba

Date: June 28 1856 Time: afternoon

Matias Perez was a Portuguese-born Cuban resident who started a canopy business in Havana in the 19thcentury. He was fascinated with the ever-increasing popularity of hot-air balloons and became a balloon pilot, ascending at least three times before he disappeared while attempting a balloon ascent from Havana’s Campo de Marte (now Jose Marti Sports Complex) on June 28 1856. A few days earlier Perez had made a successful attempt at ascending in a balloon, flying several miles. His second and ill-fated try, however, became part of Cuba’s folklore: when somebody or something disappears into thin air, Cubans say, “Volo como Matias Perez” (flew away like Matias Perez). No traces of Perez or his balloon were ever found.

HC addendum

Source: https://medium.com/.../the-mysterious-case-of-the-hot-air... Type: G??

Comments: Perhaps one of the earliest victims of the Bermuda Triangle. There are reports that the name of the Perez’s balloon as “Ville de Paris.”