‘A tent has fallen from the sky’: the convoluted story of a balloon accident in Ottoman Bosnia in 1803

Based on the story of a balloon accident in the Bihke region of Bosnia in 1803, this article evaluates the balloon technology of the period through the life of Francesco Zambeccari, who was the aeronaut of that balloon, as well as the anxiety caused by the falling balloon both in Bosnia and the Ottoman centre, in the context of the Napoleonic threat. It first focuses on the balloon technology of the period and considers the mobility and network of relations it created by focusing on Zambeccari, a Bolognia notable. Secondly, it tries to understand how local people interpreted this event and the methods local administrators used both in managing the public’s reactions and deciding what to do with the falling balloon. Thirdly, the article examines how, under the shadow of the Napoleonic threat, tensions grew steadily for the Ottoman centre which believed the falling balloon to be linked to a French military advance towards the Bosnian border.