Canada: Calgary man proposes to girlfriend by sending ring into stratosphere

A lover took the phrase "on top of the world" to a different level when he decided to propose to his girlfriend. Shawn Wright from Calgary, Canada, sent the proposal ring 33km above Earth into the stratosphere and used a GoPro camera to record its journey.

Wright told US cable network HLN TV that he had been dating Maylynn Stephenson for the last six years and proposed to her a year back with the prototype of the expensive ring he had chosen for her. Over the next year, he saved enough money to buy the ring and decided to present it in the most unique way possible.

"That whole year, I thought how could I make this special? I can't just hand it to her. I thought for a split second that it would be cool to send it into space," he told the TV network.

However, the task was not as simple as it appears in the video. Wright had to monitor various factors before sending the precious ring into space while recording the whole event through his GoPro camera.

"I mounted that [ring] to a rig that included an on board flight computer that told the data on wind speed, air pressure, altitude and longitude and latitude and that was mounted to a wood frame, which hung from a parachute and that was connected to a high-altitude weather balloon," he said, explaining the technical details of his romantic gesture.

After reaching 110,000ft above Earth, the air balloon exploded and landed on a farmer's field 300km away, from where Wright retrieved the ring. During the journey, the camera recorded some breathtaking views of the stratosphere and the video has been viewed over 24,000 times on YouTube.

"I wanted to be able to capture the sun rising behind the ring while it reached the stratosphere. I mounted a GoPro with an extended battery to capture this for her." Wright said his girlfriend was awestruck after seeing the video and "her mind was blown". The couple are planning to wed in Bali next year.