Loose Balloon

[150 Driver]

Must be the most interesting Notam for a while:-

A CAPTIVE BALLOON HAS BROKEN FREE FROM
MEADOWHALL SHOPPING CENTRE, NEAR SHEFFIELD, YORKSHIRE. LAST KNOWN
PSN 5318N 00123W. BALLOON DIMENSION 12FT, WHITE IN COLOUR AND BLUE
LETTERING ON THE SIDE SPELLING BETTA LIVING. THERE IS 200FT OR 70M
OF METAL CABLE ATTACHED. LAST OBSERVED ASCENDING IN A SOUTHERLY
DIRECTION FROM SHEFFIELD.

[N707ZS]

Long time ago we had a loose unmanned hot air balloon in the local zone, it ended up hanging off a house gable end! With the pilot chasing after it.

[JW411]

I can remember being airborne from Oakington in a Varsity one day and we were advised to look for a barrage balloon which had broken loose from Cardington. After a bit of searching, my instructor asked what was so important about it? ATC then advised us that the met man was still in it! (Apparently he used to go up in it to 1,000 feet a couple of times a day to take readings). I believe he managed to reunite himself with England before he ran out of countryside in East Anglia somewhere.

[phiggsbroadband]

200ft metal cable hey...


So that's power cuts for Derby then.

[treadigraph]

Reminds me of the Pink Floyd pig (http://ultimateclassicrock.com/pink-floyd-inflatable-pig-breaks-free/) that broke loose from Battersea Power Station in '76...

[Jan Olieslagers]

Slightly bewildering, the mention of "floated again between the two iconic chimneys" - iconic they may be, but I do see four of them. Have I had too much, or did the journo take less than needed for correct observation?

[treadigraph]

Indeed there are four, or rather three at present as one has been dismantled and will be rebuilt as part of the regeneration of the site - the other three will follow. the brickwork and so forth has decayed considerably over the decades they have been part of the London skyline.

Wonder if Algy the Pink Floyd pig still exists, or whether he became some sort of aerostat bacon?

[9 lives]

I own 100 acres of property in central Ontario. In the past 26 years, I have found a total of seven [toy] balloons on my property, all of which would have had to drift for miles at least to get there, as there is no real local up wind source of balloons. The farthest was marked with the logo of a radio station in Toledo Ohio, 275 miles away, and not aligned with the prevailing winds at all.

Either my property is a statistically unusual balloon magnet, or there are a lot of balloons coming back to earth all over! So, I'll be watching for the one from Sheffield, just in case!

[Mechta]

One morning at our gliding club, there was still ground fog when we had got all the kit out. As the met man predicted, the fog burned off by about 10.30am. Shortly after, half a dozen large white 'spheres' rolled, skipped and bounced their way across the grass. It was really quite surreal, and somewhat reminicent of the programme 'The Prisoner'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Ffr1U7KMY

When the car came back from investigating these 'spheres', it was full of 'Chinese lantern' balloons.

My guess is they were launched the night before and had landed in or just upwind of the airfield. They must have still been partially inflated in the morning, and when the sun came out they gained enough buoyancy to resume their journey.

Like Step Turn, we also find quite a number of mylar/melinex balloons on the airfield. One of our younger members found one which was a tall, blonde princess in a pink dress, which made him the butt of a considerable amount of leg-pulling!

[captain_flynn]

So was the balloon actually found?

[Lantern10]

Wonder if Algy the Pink Floyd pig still exists, or whether he became some sort of aerostat bacon?

It was used in "The Wall' concert at Earls Court.

[2 sheds]

I wonder why someone in AIS thinks it is necessary to specify what it says on the side?

2 s