"The Balloon-Hoax" is so called because it originally appeared as a newspaper article (published in The Sun) reporting straight matters of fact. The event depicted were debunked as fiction only two days later. Still, what Poe presents here is described in such extraordinary technical and historical detail that it could just as well have been true.

Some aspects of the article are historically accurate. For instance, Monck Mason is a real figure in the history of aerial navigation, famous for his balloon expedition from London to Weilburg. The ballon in the story is said to use coal gas, a cheap and easily obtainable resource introduced to aviation by the balloonist Charles Green. And the main part of the newly constructed vehicle, an Archimedean screw, apparently would sustain the endeavor (even though I have to admit that the real workings go over my head).

The narrative takes into consideration the principles behind weight and ascend in aviation – important factors like dew upon the silk or expanding gas caused by the sun. It also explains how the use of a guide rope was a simple yet brilliant method to overcome many issues of would-be travellers. For one thing, ascent and descent can counteracted by the length of the rope (I think). It's also used for measuring the velocity, direction, and course of the vehicle. Naturally, the greater the angle, the quicker the balloon (though I would be hard-pressed if you asked me to explain the difference between the latter concepts).

As for the journey itself (reported by the fictional journal of Mason), I found it more captivating than the similar yet rather dull account in the first story. As the story is told, it was only halfway to Paris that the crew of eight passengers decided to aim for North America. (Well, six men ruled by the despotism of the majority vote.) The account is at times interrupted by expressing the grandeur of the moment. I felt it was kind of soothing to read the purported first-hand account, mainly because of the absence of any real danger: "We have an abundance of gas to take us across this small pond, even should the voyage last three weeks. I have not the slightest fear for the result. The difficulty has been strangely exaggerated and misapprehended."

Poe had been infuriated by the fact that The Sun made a good amount of money with an article that, to his mind, was plagiarizing his story about Hans Pfaall (later known as the "Great Moon Hoax"). I'm glad they still collaborated, though I don't know whether it was his intention to expose the paper once again.