Wow! Not a good morning for a hot-air balloon ride! pics added #5

[SleepyMom]

We had an early morning here today, DD has the ACT test and DH was going golfing so we were up and moving around and heard a large noise outside. Stepped out the front door and a hot-air ballooon was heading down our street, just over the rooftops and trees. We could hear them firing the hot air to try and go up, but they just kept dropping. Thankfully there are some open fields about 2 blocks from us in the direction they were heading.

DD left for the test and stops and calls from a few blocks away and tells us to look out the back door. Probably a dozen more balloons heading our way and all low and trying to gain height by firing up. Pretty soon you could see them coming down all over the place, back yards, front yards, street corners.... anywhere they could. I went out and took some pics, it was weird to see them everywhere on the ground like that!

I will add some pics soon, need to get them off the camera first.

Oh, it is a beautiful still morning here, so not sure why they weren't able to keep any altitude.

 

[golfgal]

Do they still have that hot air balloon "show" at Christmas time?

I wonder if the air is heavy this morning or something that they can't seem to get in the air??

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Do they still have that hot air balloon "show" at Christmas time?

I wonder if the air is heavy this morning or something that they can't seem to get in the air??

I wonder as well.

What is the science behind them not having any luck? Too high humidity?

 

[SleepyMom]

They still have the Parade of Lights on Thanksgiving weekend, where they usually have the hot-air balloon baskets on a flatbed of a truck and fire them up as they go down the parade route... is that what you mean? The actual balloon isn't attached, but the parade goers love the heat coming from the fires!

 

[SleepyMom]

Here are the pics...

First ones are from our front porch, you can see the balloon dropping behind the tree.

Next are the ones from our back deck

Then I went for a drive around the neighborhood
The one we saw landing from our front porch, it was about 3 blocks away to the SW of us.

South of us about 3 blocks

2 blocks south from our house, they were already getting this one loaded up. It was the one over our backyard neighbors house a few pictures up.

This is 4 blocks east of our house

These last ones were taken about 6 blocks behind us, to the east. They were everywhere in this neighborhood.

Caught this one as they were taking it down

And this is why you will never catch me in a hot-air balloon!

 

[erincon23]

It's like a colorful alien invasion! The first one could be a Disney balloon -- the It's A Small World Balloon Ride! Actually pretty neat to see!

This happened in our neighborhood a few years ago (on a smaller scale, though). We have a balloon launch area a few miles away, and as I was taking my older son to school (kindergarten or first grade, I think), a couple of balloons came down in a park about 2 blocks away. And later that fall, one went right down our street, and it felt like it was almost low enough to touch!

 

[golfgal]

They still have the Parade of Lights on Thanksgiving weekend, where they usually have the hot-air balloon baskets on a flatbed of a truck and fire them up as they go down the parade route... is that what you mean? The actual balloon isn't attached, but the parade goers love the heat coming from the fires!

They used to fire up the balloons in the park between Cliff and MN along 229 and you could go look at them, kids could sit in the baskets, etc. They usually held it in conjunction with the kick-off to the neighborhood Christmas decoration tours.

 

[maelstrom]

We had a hot air balloon land in our driveway a few years back. I think they were aiming for the fields, but our front yard was good enough. They were low enough to yell down and ask if it was ok to land in our driveway.

 

[rie'smom]

Great pics and great story too, thanks for sharing! Oh and I love the "It's a Small World" balloon.

 

[kacaju]

I miss seeing the hot air balloons. I grew up with them. that is funny though...there must have been something wrong with the air for them all to go down like that...please let us know if you find out what it was.

 

[Abbeys_mom]

Sad but true... The FAA considers all balloon landings "emergency" and they can land wherever. I have seen them do a lot of damage, including the chase crews.

 

[SleepyMom]

They used to fire up the balloons in the park between Cliff and MN along 229 and you could go look at them, kids could sit in the baskets, etc. They usually held it in conjunction with the kick-off to the neighborhood Christmas decoration tours.

They stopped doing that about 5 years ago, not sure why

It was very still out and I heard one person in a balloon say to a person down on the ground "got some great new toys for the kids to play with for ya"

The "Small World" looking balloon is actually from our local Children's Hospital, but it does remind me of It's a Small World too

Will have to watch the news and see is anything is said as to why this happened. You can tell some of the balloons are more oval and upright than the way they usually look, which is rounder and fuller.

Thankfully these are mostly newer neighborhoods (ours about 15 years and the one 6 blocks behind us less than 5 years old) so the trees are not as tall and there are very few power lines so they had some safe (if you can call it that) places to aim for. There were a lot of open fields just 2 to 3 blocks to the south of them all, but they evidently couldn't make it that far.

 

[englishteacha]

It looks like a peaceful invasion! I wonder why they all came down.

 

[momrek06]

WOW, GREATTTTTTTTT pictures!!!!!!! Thanks for posting!!!!!!!!!

Like a PP said, its a "colorful alien invasion"!!!!

 

[LovableGluttons]

We have a big group of hot air balloon folks here. In fact, I purchased tickets for DH, the kids, and I to go on a ride with a breakfast from Living Social or Groupon? We haven't booked it yet.

Every Sunday morning, I see them out my back window, dozens!

Thanks for the pics, they are beautiful!!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

WOW! What an exciting morning. Thanks for the story and the pictures.

I am looking at your location. You are in South Dakota?

 

[IDoDis]

Like another poster suggested, maybe it was too humid. Or maybe the air wasn't cool enough for the fire to lift the balloon.

I live in the hot air balloon capital of the world, so seeing hot air ballons flying overhead is somewhat common around here. Not so much in the heat of the summer though. Fall is the most popular time when the morning air is crisp.

Every October we have a huge event with 9 days of hot air balloons from all over the world. Approx 600 balloons launch each morning (they have to go up in waves).

Here are a few pics from the special shapes day:

 

[Shutterbug]

Here are the pics...

You can tell some of the balloons are more oval and upright than the way they usually look...

The balloon like the one in the top right of the photo is actually a specialty shaped balloon for racing and competition. Its designed that way on purpose to cut down on drag and make it easier to direct.

 

[SleepyMom]

The balloon like the one in the top right of the photo is actually a specialty shaped balloon for racing and competition. Its designed that way on purpose to cut down on drag and make it easier to direct.

Good to know! Thanks! I really thought it was because it was not able to get enough hot air. You could hear them all firing away trying to get some lift, but they just kept sinking.

Love the balloon pics from IDoDis, especially the shaped ones! Must be a beautiful sight!!! We were on a road trip one time and saw a huge take-off, I think we were in New Mexico at the time.

We have a group nearby that get out often in the summer months, and we must be between their launch site and where they land because we see them a lot floating above our neighborhood. This is the first time in 14 years to see them landing here though

Yep, we are in South Dakota!

 

[Tink888]

Great pics!!!! That would've been so cool to see!!!!