There It Is!"

(Photo courtesy of Pierre Andrews via a Flickr Creative Commons license; click on photo for link to original image)



Post-Script: Last night's balloon sighting over my neighborhood was quite magical and unexpected. Interestingly, I could not find any images of gas balloons in my archives, another sign of how disorganized my work remains, and so I've taken the liberty of linking the top image to a beautiful Creative Commons-licensed image by Pierre Andrews, that reminds me very much of what I saw, although at night. Please click on the image to visit the original link.

Also, the speed at which the balloons were moving last night (about 25+ MPH), while being only 1800-2000 feet above ground level, and dimly lit by a combination of city lights and a near full moon, meant it was nearly impossible to capture a last-minute image.

As of this time, five of the competitors are airborne between Lubbock and Wichita Falls, Texas, with a sixth balloon near Lubbock. See this site for updated flight tracking information.

Typecast via Hermes Rocket (onto grade-school manuscript paper).