In the 1930's, the large German airship, Hindenburg was being prepared for launching. About a hundred men on the ground, using ropes attached to the airship, were maneuvering it from its hangar. Unexpectedly, a sudden updraft, or an abrupt change in the atmosphere perhaps, caused the enormous ship to lunge upward.

The entire crew gripped the ropes tightly putting their full weight on them in an attempt to pull it downward. It continued to rise, however, and most of them, quickly realizing their efforts were futile, released their grip and dropped safely to the ground.

Some continued to hold on and were injured when they fell. Still others, in 'frozen' panic, held tighter to the ropes until they just could not hold on any longer and fell to their tragic deaths.

One of them, however, continued holding-on somehow, even as the airship gained more upward motion and altitude. The observers from the ground were amazed and began to wonder how he was able to do it, and how much longer it would be until--the inevitable happened. They chased and followed the airship, and after several hours, as its hydrogen resilience began to wane--the ship slowly descended back to earth.

When they located the man that had hung from the rope for so long they asked him how he did it, and he calmly said, "As I kept going higher and higher, I realized I would have to do something that would help me hold on. So while gripping the rope tightly with one hand - tied it around me with the other, and for the next few hours, just enjoyed the view."