PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio (WTVG) – Being weightless is something Paul Jeris, 65, can check off his list.
“I’m a skydiver and it’s not like skydiving. Zero G is like nothingness,” said Jeris, describing his space flight aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard. Jeris was part of Mission NS-32 over the weekend.
“My life and my dreams were up there, and they both came back,” said Jeris, who is among the first travelers in what he considers a fledgling industry of space tourism. “It’s just to look at that darkness and the light and to look at this world as one place, you know?”
Jeris paid for the trip, which was inspired in part by his father, who worked for NASA.
“I’m still unwrapping the experience that I’ve never gone 2,300 miles before, I’ve never been separated from an aircraft, I’ve never been zero G, I’ve never fallen through 5Gs, so each step was like some new sensation,” explained Jeris.
Now, he’s back on land and back on island time.
“It was my favorite Miller Boat ride ever. I mean, honestly, as I left Sunday, you know, you have to think something could happen. This could be the last, you know, you think about a lot going up to it, and that was something I really thought about. This might be the last time I ride on the Miller Ferry, and when I got back on that boat, I was like, ‘Yeah!’” added Jeris.
Put-In-Bay Paul said he’s been to 149 countries with plans to visit 50 more and the North and South Poles. It’s what he said travelers call “The Grand Slam” and it includes completing a trip to space.
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