Tip to the bloggers out there: The Wikipedia random page feature is your friend.
The U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame exists.
Evidently it’s part of the National Balloon Museum in Indianola, Iowa, just south of Des Moines (uhh, thanks for the heads up, Joe—asshole). It’s limited to hot air ballooning and gas ballooning (so if you just really like mylar, you’ll have to go somewhere else), but pretty neat! My favorite part about it is that the Hall of Fame, which “recognizes persons who have contributed in significant ways to the sport and or development of Ballooning,” has only inducted 43 people. That’s incredibly exclusive. 43 people! To be fair, it only started inductions in 2004, so that number’s going to rise, but for the time being, the U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame is the toughest Hall of Fame to get into in the world (that I can think of off the top of my head).
What a day.
My sister went to college at Simpson College, a small school in Indianola. I’ve been there a dozen times and have never heard of the Ballooning Hall of Fame.
I have a hard time believing that this Hall exists.
Well, it seems we have two possibilities here. Either you are right, and someone has made two fake Wikipedia pages (one for the museum, one for the hall), or your sister was holding out because she didn’t think you were cool enough. I cannot discern which is true, so we shall have to one day meet in Indianola, you and I, to settle this like children.
Settling things like a child is what I’m best at.