Hot air balloon bounces off building: "It's really low!"

Jesse Starke received quite the surprise when he pulled into work at Weston Auto Gallery on Thursday morning.

As Starke pulled into the shop at 221 E. Troutman Parkway for work about 7:45 a.m., he noticed a low-flying balloon. He and a mechanic continued to watch the rainbow-checkered balloon's flight through the Fort Collins sky.

Starke was working in the shop when the mechanic called out to him: "It's really low! It's really low!"

They watched as the balloon bounced off the roof of Natural Grocers, 4318 S. College Ave., before landing in a tree-lined grass strip next to Troutman Parkway.

"Whenever I see (hot air balloons), I think it’s cool because it's something I’d done in the past, but I’d never seen one do that before," Starke said.

Starke guessed it's not where the pilot intended to land.

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The unidentified people in the balloon re-inflated it enough to lift it off the ground and guide it into the middle of Troutman. They directed traffic around the disturbance as they deflated the balloon and loaded it into a trailer before disappearing into the day. 

Rob Martinez, an employee at Natural Grocers, estimated it took the people about 15 minutes to deflate the balloon and get it in the trailer. According to witnesses, neither the balloon nor trailer had identification of any kind, so it is unknown if the balloon was commercial or private.

No one was injured in the incident. Fort Collins police did not immediately respond to request for comment.

In March of 2016, a bright yellow balloon landed unexpectedly on Virginia Dale Drive in west Fort Collins.

Reporter Cassa Niedringhaus covers breaking news for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter: @CassaMN.

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