After the successful demonstrations of Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier scientists threw themselves on the subject to discover what physical phenomenon really caused the rising of the balloons. It was a Parisian physicist, Professor Jacques A.C. Charles, who found out hot air was lighter than cold air and thus lifted the balloon. It occurred to him there had to be other gases who were lighter than air and therefore able to produce the same effect. A balloon filled with the very light-weight hydrogen gas should have the same lifting-power as a hot air balloon. A 40m3 balloon was made for him by two engineers, the Robert brothers. These men had found a way to make fabrics air-tight by rubberizing them. They treated silk with their product and constructed a balloon with a diameter of only 4 metres. The next problem to solve was the production of enough hydrogen gas. The brothers placed a big barrel in their garden, filled with iron filings. Covering the filings with thinned nitric acid they became hydrogen, that was piped into the balloon. It took them 3 days to fill the balloon. On August 25th 1783 it climbed to a height of 30 metres, in the presence of thousands of enthusiastic Parisians. This first attempt was made while the balloon was cabled, but the success of the experiment aroused the desire to let the balloon make a free flight. This event took place on August 27th 1783 at the Champs de Mars, where no less than 300.000 Parisians had gathered to watch. It was a cold and stormy morning; strong winds and heavy rainfall prevented the release of the balloon. Nevertheless the gathered people were cheerful and their amount still increased. By the end of the afternoon the sky cleared and the “Charlière” majestically rose to a height of 1000 metres. Then it disappeared out of sight. After a flight of 25 kilometres the brightly painted balloon landed slowly in a field near the village of Gonesse. The farmers who were harvesting in the fields were of a rather superstitious nature and immediately thought of an attack by demons, ghosts, monsters. Most of the villagers fled into the church but a few brave men armed with hayforks attacked the monster and vanquished it. Soon there was no more left of the poor balloon but some torn rags…

To prevent further incidents the government promised a reward to anyone who delivered a found balloon as intact as possible at the town hall. In the mean time the ragged balloon had been collected and sent to professor Charles for examination. He found a large tear that could not be a result of the heroic attack of the angry farmers. Therefore he concluded the tear must have been due to expansion of the gas and caused either by the lessening atmospheric pressure or the warming of the gas by the sun. 

The very successful flight of the “Globe” - as Charles had baptised his balloon - signified also the start of a real competition between the gas balloon and the hot air balloon.