A weather balloon destined for Michigan ended up in Huron County.
A Grade 4 class at Concord Ox-Bow Elementary School in Indiana launched the balloon last week to collect data for a science experiment.
The whole class was supposed to meet their balloon by bus in Michigan.
But Friday’s wind storm caused the balloon to miss its mark by over 250 kilometers and cross into Canada.
“We were joking about it and saying, well wouldn’t that be funny if it landed in Canada because we can’t go get it, because we don’t have passports, and then it just kept going,” said Elizabeth King, the teacher who organized the trip.
Fire chief Jeremy Becker received a call from King, who had located the balloon with co-ordinates from a GPS installed in the balloon.
“He’d given me a map co-ordinate and I was able to locate this within about 10 or 15 minutes just southeast of the town of Dashwood,” Becker said.
The wind during Friday’s storm reached speeds of over 100 km/h, causing widespread damage across southern Ontario. At one point, more than 200,000 properties were without electricity.
Becker will be shipping the weather balloon back across the border this week.
