Support for LAist comes from
We Explain L.A.
Stay Connected
LAist needs your help: Why we're asking everyone who values our journalism to donate today

Share This

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

News

Video: Panda Hot Air Balloon Makes Second Unexpected Landing In 3 Months

We need to hear from you.
Today during our spring member drive, put a dollar value on the trustworthy reporting you rely on all year long. The local news you read here every day is crafted for you, but right now, we need your help to keep it going. In these uncertain times, your support is even more important. We can't hold those in power accountable and uplift voices from the community without your partnership. Thank you.

What do you say when a hot air balloon that looks like a panda lands on your street?

If you're San Diego resident Doug Kiviat, who videotaped the incident on Saturday, you say, "Wow, it's a panda-shaped balloon."

San Diego's Channel 10 reports that this is the second time in less than three months that the same panda-shaped hot air balloon has landed in an odd place.

The same hot air balloon made an emergency landing just months ago near state Route 56 in Carmel Valley. That landing was also caught on video because it's not every day you see a giant panda balloon in your neighborhood.

Support for LAist comes from

This Saturday, Kiviat and his wife Jane were out walking around 7:30 p.m., when they saw the balloon narrowly miss nearby homes, trees and children.

It landed in the middle of an intersection where neighbors scrambled to help. Jane Kiviat told Channel 10, "It was having trouble navigating, so we all started going beneath it and I began to direct it to this open field of grass," she said.

However, according the Kiviat's, Doug said Timothy Chico, the owner of the balloon company Panda-monium of Del Mar, told them they meant to land where they did and that it was a "science experiment."

Most Read