In a lighter bit of news, a balloon released from a special children’s centre on England’s eastern shore over a year ago floated more than 1,500 kilometres across the sea and landed in the wilds of Lapland.
The balloon was one of 100 that were let go on 17 November 2007 during the opening day ceremony at the Old Clee Children’s Centre in Lincolnshire, England. A Swedish couple hiking in the mountains around Vilhelminia, Lapland discovered the balloon last month.
Jacqui Illingworth from the Old Clee centre told The Local newspaper “we were extremely surprised when we found out one of our balloons had been found.” Each balloon carried a message from the children. “The couple were walking in the mountains when they saw the balloon. They read the note attached to it and sent the balloon back to us at the centre,” explained Illingworth.
The couple mailed a letter to Old Clee saying they had found the balloon on a beautiful sunny Nordic autumn day. The Swedish couple also sent some photos where the balloon was found and requested a reply with photos of the home of the balloon.
It was the only balloon of the 100 that were released last year to have been found. Luckily, one of the employees at Old Clee is Swedish, so a letter can be written and sent back to the kind couple in their own language.