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Narrative: the pilot stated that during this test flight that the balloon was tethered by three lines to the basket to a height of about sixty feet. The balloon was located in a field adjacent to a super market and attached to the balloon was a car dealership advertisement. By tethering to the basket, allowed the four crew members and I to ascend higher, thereby increasing the visibility of the balloon. However, during this test flight it was a little too windy for a basket tether. The balloon was brought down and deflated to a point to allow us to fasten three lines to the top of the balloon's "load tapes". We did not maintain the basket tether prior to another test. The pilot further stated: "this time I felt a jar and the balloon started ascending. One of our ropes had ripped off a "load tape" from the balloon. This is what we call a critical rope. One that keeps us off of power lines or buildings or trees. Since that was now gone the wind pushed us directly over power lines, we also had a rip in the balloon." (Torn envelope). The load tape rip off now caused the balloon to descend immediately, full heat was added and the balloon stopped descending and began to ascend. Additionally , the pilot stated, that he knew that since he was over the powerlines, that the remaining two lines had to be broken. He observed his crew chief who was on the ground running towards the lines with his knife out. However, he broke the lines before his crew chief cut them. The pilot further added, that now being aloft the landing sites were limited. That I-77 (interstate n-s) traffic was heavy along with parked cars observing the other balloons. A field was noticed, and a short field landing was executed by collapsing the balloon immediately upon landing. There were no injuries sustained by the four crew members and the pilot.