OK, by now you're hear all about the flaming demise of Big Tex, the towering icon of the State Fair of Texas.
But the flame-out of Big Tex was not the only event to disrupt the State Fair of Texas on Friday.
At about 9:15 p.m., 24 people became stranded on the Stratosphere ride, a tower-like structure with suspended seats for riders to rotate around the top. Broadcast news reports indicated that power was lost to the ride.
Some reports said that the two dozen riders were stuck at least 150 feet in the air.
WFAA reported that State Fair staff would "manually lower them down."
As the spectacle unfolded, fair-goers dutifully updated social media sites with videos and photos shot with their cellphones. Some of the riders were seen on the news reports waving to the people below them.
NBCdfw.com reported that it had contacted a rider by cell phone, who said the lights went out on the ride and then it just stopped. The experience, she said, was "extremely scary."
"It is unknown how long it will take to crank the ride down," WFAA reported. The station also noted that the ride "had multiple malfunctioning problems at a Minnesota fair earlier this summer."
Dallas Fire-Rescue and police officers cordoned off the area around the ride, but as of 10:30 p.m., people were still in the air.
-- Bill Miller
