From flaming cats to flying moose, these balloon blunders prove that gravity always wins.
Every November, millions tune in to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, one of America’s most beloved holiday TV traditions—but behind the flawless floats and smiling balloons lies nearly a century of parade accidents, balloon mishaps, and unexpected live TV disasters. From the infamous Cat in the Hat 1997 accident that almost ended the parade to the viral Barney balloon incident that turned a children’s icon into confetti, the streets of Manhattan have hosted more chaos than most people realize. These jaw-dropping moments are snapshots of the unpredictable, often hilarious, always fascinating history that keeps the parade flying high every Thanksgiving morning.
1. The Cat in the Hat Disaster (1997)
The most notorious moment in parade history. Fierce winds slammed the 78-foot-tall Cat in the Hat balloon into a lamppost at Central Park West, snapping off a 100-pound fixture that plummeted into the crowd below.
Four people were injured, including Kathleen Caronna, who spent weeks in a coma. The tragedy forced Macy’s to introduce strict safety reforms—wind-speed limits, balloon height caps, and better tether systems.
“A huge wind gust came down, hit that light post right there on top, sprung a big leak, a big chunk, about 4 feet long, came down into the crowd.” — Benjamin Greenzweig/Eyewitness
2. Sonic the Hedgehog’s Hard Landing (1993)
The first video-game hero to ever appear in the Macy’s Parade didn’t make it to Herald Square. When Sonic the Hedgehog hit a lamppost, the metal pole collapsed onto a police officer and a child, both injured but recovered.
The punctured balloon deflated in real time as viewers watched on live TV—an early viral moment decades before social media.
3. Barney the Dinosaur’s Public Execution (1997)
That same windy morning, Barney the Dinosaur became an unwilling Thanksgiving sacrifice. As handlers fought to keep the balloon stable, gusts ripped a hole in his side. NYPD officers ultimately tackled the balloon and stabbed it with knives to stop it from blowing down the block.
Crowds cheered. Kids cried. The internet later immortalized it as “Barney’s Last Stand.”
4. Pink Panther vs. Times Square (1997)
1997 really was the parade’s apocalypse year. After losing control, the Pink Panther balloon slammed into a streetlight and began to collapse. Police punctured it intentionally to prevent more damage, but chaos followed—handlers were knocked over, one nearly smothered beneath the fabric.
The image of the deflating pink cat became instant tabloid gold.
5. Tom Cat Hooks an Airplane (1932)
In the early days, Macy’s used to release balloons into the sky after the parade. If newspapers are to be believed, a pilot tried to either capture a drifting Tom Cat balloon mid-air or decapitate it when its ropes tangled in his plane’s wing, sending the aircraft into a tailspin. Luckily for her, she was survived by a "veteran pilot. A newspaper clipping from the era, shown below, provides an account of the event.
6. Felix the Cat Catches Fire (1927)
The parade’s first celebrity balloon also became its first casualty. The original Felix the Cat, made of rubberized fabric and filled with air rather than helium, drifted into electrical wires and burst into flames. At least, that's the story according to Macy's own website; however, historians and sources say it was more than likely just a cat balloon, as the official Felix the Cat balloon wasn't introduced until years later. Either way, everyone seems to agree it caught fire after becoming entangled in power lines.
No one was injured, but the image of a flaming cartoon cat drifting over Manhattan was a stark reminder: maybe gas, wires, and novelty balloons don’t mix.
7. Superman’s Shattered Limbs (1966–1986)
Over two decades and several redesigns, the Superman balloon proved remarkably fragile. In 1966, a tree branch deflated his right arm. In 1986, another incident ripped off his left hand entirely, which handlers carried separately down the route.
That year’s final image: Superman, one-handed and flapping, limping past 34th Street. Truth, justice, and helium.
8. Kermit the Frog Loses His Head (1991)
Kermit’s early years in the sky were anything but smooth. The original balloon took a beating in 1985 when it slammed into a row of trees, tearing open but still limping its way through the rest of the route. Things got worse in 1991, when another tree strike left the frog’s head completely deflated—an unintentional horror show for anyone watching from the sidewalk. That incident grounded him for good, and the balloon was quietly retired soon after. A sturdier, tree-proof Kermit floated again in 2002 and made a few comebacks through the late 2000s, but the magic was gone. By then, even the frog seemed a little weary of the skyline.
CNN Thanksgiving 2005 Balloon Accident Pakula
CNN story on 2005 NYC Thanksgiving Day Balloon Accident filmed by Andrew Pakula.
9. M&M’s Meltdown (2005)
Another near-repeat of the ’97 chaos. The M&M’s “Red and Yellow” balloon got tangled in a Times Square lamppost, sending the fixture crashing into the crowd below. Two sisters were hit by falling debris and hospitalized with minor injuries.
Macy’s quickly implemented tether training for balloon handlers and added more NYPD wind spotters to the route. Lesson learned: Candy and gravity don’t mix.
10. Snoopy’s Reign of Errors (1970s–1980s)
Charlie Brown’s best friend has had a rough go of it. In 1971, high winds wrapped Snoopy around a helium truck. In 1975, he smacked into a lamppost. In 1980, a shard of glass punctured his leg, forcing a patch job for the next year’s flight. By 1985, even his Christmas list fell off mid-route, littering 6th Avenue with paper scraps. And in 1990, his tail deflated again. He may be the most accident-prone balloon in parade history — but he’s also the most beloved.
“No one retires Snoopy,” one balloon tech once said. “We just keep patching him up and hoping for better wind.”
Final March: Why We Still Watch
The Macy’s Parade is part engineering feat, part endurance test. Every gust, every lamppost, every handler battling the wind reminds us that live spectacle still carries risk — the human kind that CGI can’t fake. From flaming cats in the ’20s to deflating dinosaurs in the ’90s, the parade keeps marching on, stitched together by tradition, duct tape, and sheer optimism.
Because no matter what happens, the show floats on.
