That Time A Hot Air Balloon Landed On the Street in Southeast Rochester

If you live near 16th Street in southeast Rochester, your eyes weren't deceiving you the other day-- that really was a hot air balloon on your street.

According to KTTC-TV, a hot air balloon was attempting to land at Franklin Elementary School, on 9th Avenue. However, the report said the balloon overshot its landing, eventually setting the basket down near the intersection of 6th Avenue and 15th Street Southeast.

The story says the balloon clipped a tree on its way down to 15th Avenue, but that nobody was injured. Which is good.

My wife and I took a hot air balloon ride out in California a few years ago, and our pilot told us that landing is always the trickiest part of the trip-- seeing as there's no real way to steer the thing. You're pretty much at the mercy of the prevailing winds. And even though they look pretty peaceful as they float along on the wind, some balloon landings can be kind of rough. And they require a pretty dedicated ground crew following along, ready to grab the lines when the balloon gets close.

Hopefully, even though the balloon pilot was a little off from his original landing spot, it looks like everything worked out okay, anyway. Check it out...