Had a report of a balloon in the London TMA the other morning. Was clearly seen on Watchman, about three miles west of BPK, slowly moving south. The scary thing was, it was reported by a Luton departure outbound towards BPK and estimated at 4000 feet! (TMA base 2500 feet!).
With regards to parachutes, had a C130 dropping SF from FL240 on several occasions. The jumpers were clearly visible on the Debden radar. The C130 would spiral down with them and, on occasion, would lose visual contact. As they were still painting clearly, it was possible to pass traffic information to the pilot.
A17