Balloonist Heads Over Indian Ocean

U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett headed across the Indian Ocean, trying to find an altitude that would carry him neither too far north nor south to reach Australia in his bid to become the first to fly around the world nonstop in a balloon. Fossett, a 54-year-old financial markets millionaire, was 800 miles southeast of Cape Town, South Africa, at 24,574 feet, a spokesman for his St. Louis-based team said. He had traversed 6,778 miles since leaving Argentina Friday. He became the first to cross the South Atlantic in a balloon and has the second-longest manned balloon flight. He holds the record for the longest flight, 10,360 miles.