Andrée's 1897 Arctic Balloon Expedition episode artwork

EPISODE · May 7, 2026 · 1H 31M

Andrée's 1897 Arctic Balloon Expedition

from Adventures Gone Wrong · host Adventure Chaos with Stacie

In 1897, a Swedish engineer convinced a king, a Nobel Prize winner, and an entire nation to fund the most ambitious plan in exploration history, flying a hydrogen balloon to the North Pole. He had never tested the balloon in Arctic conditions. His steering system didn't work. He launched anyway.What followed was 65 hours of chaos in the air, 87 days of brutal survival on the Arctic ice when they finally found land. But, after only four days on land, the three men were dead. Their frozen camp was discovered 33 years later and the mystery continued. They had full supplies, working weapons, and enough food to last for months.This is the story of the Andrée expedition, the hubris, the crash, the march, and the 125 year old mystery nobody has been able to solve. Join my NEWSLETTER:  https://adventuredispatch.beehiiv.com/Join the Patreon to see the inside scoop, behind-the-scenes chaos, senior dogs and puppy craziness, and more! Supporting the channel really helps me keep these stories coming! https://www.patreon.com/c/adventuresgonewrong47/membership🔥 Grab some merch inspired by TRUE CHAOS: https://adventuresgonewrong.com/Send us Fan MailSupport the showSupport the channel:Patreon: Get behind-the-scenes fun on life here in the Yukon with the dogs, chats about what's coming up, stories I'm looking into, early ad-free access to all videos and more!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUyadJkID-aiiY3bdzZ5AegMerch: https://adventuresgonewrong.com/Sign up for the newsletter, a weekly roundup of the wildest stories from the world of adventure, exploration and expeditions gone wrong:https://adventuredispatch.beehiiv.com/

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In 1897, a Swedish engineer convinced a king, a Nobel Prize winner, and an entire nation to fund the most ambitious plan in exploration history, flying a hydrogen balloon to the North Pole. He had never tested the balloon in Arctic conditions. His steering system didn't work. He launched anyway. What followed was 65 hours of chaos in the air, 87 days of brutal survival on the Arctic ice when they finally found land. But, after only four days on land, the three men were dead. Their frozen camp...

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Andrée's 1897 Arctic Balloon Expedition

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