Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Weather Balloons

Anybody ever found one?

Yes I did, about eight years ago.
I mailed in back to them.

Yep, about ten years ago. Deep in a canyon in Central Oregon. Mailed it back and they sent me a letter telling when and where it was launched as a thank you.

Yep, found one last year while PD hunting in south central Wyoming.

It had the date and launch site on it and a request to mail it back, so I did.

drover

I did in the Kenai Mts. But it was so old as to be worthless.

I couldn't find any address or instructions on this one anywhere. Didn't look like it had been there too awful long.

I found a few near Reno, NV years ago. The older ones were only data recorders, so they had to be mailed in to add to databases in arrears. Newer ones might be able to send data realtime, so no need to return them...

Ah I see. Thanks for the info that would make sense.

no but i find those foil birthday balloons in the most remote places imaginable.

I find those Mylar balloons quite a bit too.

"I found a few near Reno, NV years ago. The older ones were only data recorders, so they had to be mailed in to add to databases in arrears. Newer ones might be able to send data realtime, so no need to return them..."

Interesting. I don't think they were data recorders. I started working for the Weather Bureau in 1970 shortly before they changed the name to the National Weather Service And they all were radio transmitting instrument that measure temperature, pressure and humidity. Some also had a brass antenna that received a signal and sent it back to measure slant range. We used those when we expected extremely high upper winds as they would send data over a much longer range. If I had a dollar for ever one of those things I flew, I could buy one hell of a nice custom rifle. I launched them from Winnemeucca Nevada and when deer hunting in the Battle Mountain area, would find where they came down. Those instrumentsm regular and transponder type were rebuildable so people were asked to send them in. It was free.

"I couldn't find any address or instructions on this one anywhere. Didn't look like it had been there too awful long."

That wouldn't surprise me. If it was a small unit basically light cardboard and styrafoam, it would be one of the new type which was disposable. As cheaply as they were made, they actually worked better than the older models.

Once a month we were supposed to fly one and tracking with a theodelite, an instrument similar to a surveryor's transit. Kind of a wild deal as a run could last over 60 minutes and the ballon as high as 60,000 feet or more. Catching the burst of that balloon was quite spectacular as pieces of frozen neoprene shot out in every direction. Never got tired of seeing that happen.
Paul B.

Thanks for the info PJGunner.

Here are some pics of it:

OK , well I just learned more than I knew, for sure... Thanks for the facts!

I never found a weather balloon, but I saw two go down. One in N. Louisiana, probably 45 years ago. It was a long way off, but you could see the parachute, plain as day.

The second one was in Tx. about 30 yrs ago. I was working on a rig in the Madisonville, Tx. area and several of us saw the parachute. It didnt appear that far away, but we were working and couldnt go investigate.

Found a lot of balloons in the woods, birthday and homecoming balloons the most.

Whelen. That one looks like a later version of the last series I worked with. The insides are quite different. Probably just a more efficient update.
Paul B.