Hovering Balloon
During a recent stay at our cottage in norther Wisconsin, I awoke to find this balloon hovering above a futon in the corner of the room. It was eerie. I didn’t know what was going on for a second or two. There was no air movement, even though all the windows to the cottage were open. Perfect neutral buoyancy!
Fenris Barks 
[…] The video is awesomely David Lynchian — something about the cottage decor. Hovering Balloon […]
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Neutrally buoyant balloon | Design Website
24/07/2009 at 08:02
Must be fake, since the balloon is not homogenious in its weight distribution.
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anonymous
24/07/2009 at 12:55
nice catch. found a similar situation in my house last year, but my balloon was drifting in and out of rooms: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johncarleton/2435220391/
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JC
24/07/2009 at 15:20
Totally reminds me of the 1956 classic short film “Le ballon rouge” where a big red balloon had a personality of it’s own, moved on its own, and had “conversations” with its friend, the boy. Fantastic!
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JJ
24/07/2009 at 18:24
EVERY latex helium balloon goes through this phase as the helium leaks out. You can prolong it if you have one still on the string: when the string starts dragging on the ground, cut the string right about where it comes up off the ground — ta daa, neutral buoyant ballon + string. Continue trimming the string until it’s all gone, or until you get bored.
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bonafidebob
24/07/2009 at 19:21
Here’s one that followed me across the street recently. http://www.flickr.com/photos/83546210@N00/2746807544/
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David
24/07/2009 at 21:10
Whilst I have seen this phenomenon in person a few times, I don’t believe this particular instance is legitimate.
The neck of the balloon (the part you tie) has the most mass, and would be closest towards the ground.
Unless, of course, the laws of physics don’t apply in Wisconsin….
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Elivs
25/07/2009 at 01:10
I believe you could fairly easily recreate this by using a mixture of helium and regular air. Getting the correct mixture would not be too difficult, and i’m sure it does not need to be exact.
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winkel
25/07/2009 at 19:44
Pennywise the clown was paying a visit it would seem.
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erc
27/07/2009 at 04:24