More than two decades ago, a stray Canadian hot air balloon cost the country’s air force more than 1,000 rounds and failed to shoot it down.
According to Insider, on August 24, 1998, a hot air balloon the same height as a 25-story building took off from Vancoy, Sask, Canada. This is a meteorological balloon, used to study the ozone layer. However, an unexpected incident caused the balloon to lose control and fly freely at a speed of up to 100 km / h.
When the balloon flew over Newfoundland, the Canadian Air Force sent two CF-18 fighters to shoot it down. However, after firing more than 1,000 bullets, 2 fighters still could not stop the airship from moving. The bullets did not explode the balloon, but only caused it to slowly leak helium.
“Taking down a hot air balloon is harder than you think, even if it’s as big as a 25-story apartment building. The two CF-18s have air-to-air missiles, but we decided not to use them. Really unwise. It’s wise to spend a few hundred thousand dollars trying to shoot down a stray balloon,” said Canadian Air Force Major Roland Lavoie.
At that time, the British press published several articles to “tease” the Canadian pilots. However, when this balloon flew over British airspace and caused many flights to change direction, the country’s air force could not do anything.
“The British Air Force also tried to shoot down this balloon but failed,” said Canadian Air Force Major Bernard Degagne.
According to CBC’s information, the US Air Force also encountered this hot air balloon and tried to bring it to the ground but failed. For more than a week, the balloon continued to fly over Norwegian and Russian airspace before crashing in Finland.