[verystealthy]

I'm just gonna copy & paste my comment on another site about this: As a Brazilian, I can tell you that this is more than moral panic. Those balloons are a major fire hazard. There are many, many instances of fires breaking out because of balloons in forests, houses, warehouses... They're also a huge air traffic hazard (listen to ATC near Brazilian airports and you're pretty much guaranteed to hear pilots complaining about them). Just last week a balloon "landed" in the tarmac of Brazil's largest airport, barely missing an airliner. To top that off, they're annoying. These balloons usually carry fireworks and are launched late at night, so you'll wake up at 2 AM to the awesome sounds of fireworks. Sure, they're pretty to look at, but they're also a really bad idea.