SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) – Rescuers scoured the waters off Brazil’s southern Atlantic coast on Tuesday looking for a Roman Catholic priest who disappeared after floating into the sky strapped to hundreds of helium party balloons.

Rev. Adelir Antonio di Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday afternoon wearing a helmet, aluminum thermal flight suit, water proof coveralls and parachute in a bid to break a record for the longest time in-flight with party balloons.

He was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials. A cluster of colored balloons were found Tuesday night, floating intact in the sea off Brazil’s southern Santa Catarina state near di Carli’s last contact point, according to a photograph posted on Sao Paulo’s UOL news Web site.

“Given his physical condition and the equipment he was carrying, I would say there is an 80 percent chance that he is still alive,” said Johnny Coelho, commander of the Penha Fire Department, which is searching for the priest.

Di Carli, who has taken jungle survival and mountain climbing courses, was carrying enough drinking water and cereal bars to stay alive for at least five days, Coelho said, suggesting the priest may be adrift in the ocean or resting on a beach or forest-covered mountain along the coast.

The priest, an experienced skydiver, also had a GPS device, satellite phone and buoyant chair with him, Coelho said.

“He last used the phone and GPS on Sunday at 8:45 p.m.(2345 GMT) to let the Navy know his location,” Coelho said. “We haven’t heard from him since.”

Di Carli was trying to break a 19-hour record for the longest party balloon flight to raise money to fund a “spiritual” rest stop for truckers in Paranagua, home to Brazil’s largest grain port. Brazilian truckers often spend days waiting to unload in the port, especially during the busy soy export season now under way.

The priest embarked on a similar adventure on Jan. 13, when he used 600 balloons to carry him on a four-hour, 5,300 meter- (17,390 foot)-high voyage from the town of Ampere to neighboring Argentina, where he landed safely.

Parishioners at his Sao Cristovao parish maintained a vigil for di Carli Tuesday, confident he would be found.

“Without a doubt, they will find him alive,” parish treasurer Denise Gallas said. “He’s alive somewhere out there.”

AP-ES-04-22-08 2014EDT