Seattle 12-year-old shocked after lost birthday balloon ends up 970 miles away in Canada

SEATTLE — Normally, you’d expect a balloon released into the sky to end up popped in a nearby tree. But for one Seattle 12-year-old, hers made it nearly 1,000 miles into Canada in just a couple days.

KIRO 7 got a message from someone in Maidstone, Saskatchewan on Thursday, who’d found a mylar balloon in their yard with a note attached asking that it be returned to an address in Seattle.

As it turns out, that balloon was from a party for 12-year-old Sequoia’s birthday. Her younger sister, Orly, had written the note and released the balloon without telling her.

When we spoke to Sequoia on Thursday, she was shocked.

“That is not true!” she exclaimed when we showed her the message sent to the KIRO 7 newsroom from Maidstone.

That message reads: “Hi, I am from Maidstone, Saskatchewan, Canada. This morning, my husband found a helium balloon in our yard with a note on it. It is from Seattle, 1,564 kilometers from us. Thought you might be interested.”

“I can’t believe it traveled that far,” Sequoia’s mom Svetlana added. “Pretty amazing!”

According to KIRO 7 Meteorologist Morgan Palmer, the balloon likely traveled north over Alberta before turning east to where it was found. In this case, it likely floated closer to the ground than what we’d see with something like a weather balloon. Eventually, it probably lost enough helium to land by the time it touched down in Maidstone.

As for the response Sequoia has for the kind Canadians who found it...

“Enjoy the balloon!” she said.

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