Urban Legends and Folklore What is an urban legend? Above all, it's a great story – hilarious, sad, horrifying, instructive, eerie, or some combination of these qualities. One common sign that a story or belief is an urban legend is that it seems too good to be true. But that's not to say that all urban legends are false. Every now and then one of these incredible tales turns out to be based on fact – such as the often told adventure of Larry Walters, “The Lawn Chair Balloonist.” The legend states that Larry Walters, who in 1982 floated to 16,000 feet in piece of garden furniture attached to some surplus weather balloons. It's a story that, while fact