Hot Air Balloon Spotting Statistics

The community so far

Sightings

2,219

Balloons

814

Photos

6,878

Spotters

9

Days covered

115

Countries

8

Busiest day ever

09/14/2019

138 different balloons · 138 sightings · 1 spotter

When ballooning happens

Sightings by month

Sightings per calendar month over the last two years. Quiet months are included as zeroes.

Show the numbers

Period	Sightings
Nov 24	0
Dec 24	0
Jan 25	35
Feb 25	0
Mar 25	6
Apr 25	3
May 25	120
Jun 25	3
Jul 25	15
Aug 25	127
Sep 25	46
Oct 25	0
Nov 25	0
Dec 25	0
Jan 26	20
Feb 26	3
Mar 26	1
Apr 26	90
May 26	284
Jun 26	38
Jul 26	68
Aug 26	525
Sep 26	133
Oct 26	5

Community calendar

Sightings per day over the last twelve months. Days with none are absent rather than zero.

FewerMoreBusiest day: 180

Show the numbers

Day	Sightings
Sat 3 Jan 2026	8
Sun 4 Jan 2026	12
Fri 6 Feb 2026	1
Sat 7 Feb 2026	1
Fri 13 Feb 2026	1
Sun 22 Mar 2026	1
Wed 8 Apr 2026	1
Sat 25 Apr 2026	89
Sat 2 May 2026	1
Sun 24 May 2026	12
Fri 29 May 2026	91
Sat 30 May 2026	180
Sun 14 Jun 2026	7
Sat 20 Jun 2026	15
Sun 21 Jun 2026	1
Sat 27 Jun 2026	15
Sun 5 Jul 2026	9
Wed 8 Jul 2026	2
Thu 9 Jul 2026	5
Sat 11 Jul 2026	4
Sat 18 Jul 2026	27
Sun 19 Jul 2026	1
Mon 20 Jul 2026	17
Sat 25 Jul 2026	2
Tue 28 Jul 2026	1
Sat 1 Aug 2026	1
Sun 2 Aug 2026	6
Mon 3 Aug 2026	2
Fri 7 Aug 2026	169
Sat 8 Aug 2026	152
Sun 9 Aug 2026	95
Sun 16 Aug 2026	50
Sun 23 Aug 2026	29
Thu 27 Aug 2026	1
Sun 30 Aug 2026	20
Sat 5 Sep 2026	2
Sun 6 Sep 2026	1
Fri 11 Sep 2026	94
Sat 12 Sep 2026	30
Sun 20 Sep 2026	6
Sun 4 Oct 2026	5

Time of day

Sightings by hour of local time. Ballooning is a dawn and dusk sport, so this should have two peaks.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
00	0
01	0
02	0
03	0
04	0
05	10
06	769
07	440
08	206
09	78
10	46
11	38
12	34
13	30
14	24
15	26
16	19
17	10
18	170
19	241
20	58
21	13
22	7
23	0

Season

Sightings by month of the year, all years combined.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
Jan	67
Feb	3
Mar	9
Apr	107
May	411
Jun	83
Jul	101
Aug	1,049
Sep	383
Oct	6
Nov	0
Dec	0

Day of the week

Sightings by day of the week, Monday first.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
Mon	28
Tue	4
Wed	7
Thu	24
Fri	576
Sat	1,096
Sun	484

The balloons

Most seen balloons

Balloons seen on the most distinct days. `days` counts local dates, `sightings` counts log entries.

Show the numbers

Name	Days
G-JIMA	19
G-GAGE	17
G-CJRO	15
G-CLDJ	14
G-CMSB	14
G-CJIH	13
G-PNAD	13
G-CMLH	12
G-PURP	12
G-CCJH	11

One-hit wonders

412

Balloons logged exactly once. Most recent first.

EC-NIC09/20/2026
EC-NIH09/20/2026
EC-NEE09/20/2026
EC-MVX09/20/2026
EC-NYA09/20/2026
EC-NND09/20/2026
G-BTCZ09/12/2026
G-STAC09/11/2026
G-PATX09/11/2026
G-BYBS09/11/2026

Show the numbers

Name	Seen
EC-NIC	09/20/2026
EC-NIH	09/20/2026
EC-NEE	09/20/2026
EC-MVX	09/20/2026
EC-NYA	09/20/2026
EC-NND	09/20/2026
G-BTCZ	09/12/2026
G-STAC	09/11/2026
G-PATX	09/11/2026
G-BYBS	09/11/2026

Newest arrivals

Balloons logged on this site for the first time most recently.

EC-MVX09/20/2026
EC-NEE09/20/2026
EC-NIC09/20/2026
EC-NIH09/20/2026
EC-NND09/20/2026
EC-NYA09/20/2026
G-BTCZ09/12/2026
G-BYBS09/11/2026
G-CGFN09/11/2026
G-CGPD09/11/2026

Show the numbers

Name	First seen
EC-MVX	09/20/2026
EC-NEE	09/20/2026
EC-NIC	09/20/2026
EC-NIH	09/20/2026
EC-NND	09/20/2026
EC-NYA	09/20/2026
G-BTCZ	09/12/2026
G-BYBS	09/11/2026
G-CGFN	09/11/2026
G-CGPD	09/11/2026

Missing in action

Balloons seen more than once but not for the longest time.

F-GOCO08/08/2014
G-BSNU08/08/2014
G-CGWU08/08/2014
G-CHBX08/08/2014
G-CHEL08/08/2014
G-CHVI08/08/2014
G-FWAY08/08/2014
G-GOGB08/08/2014
G-OFNC08/08/2014
G-SBIZ08/08/2014

Show the numbers

Name	Last seen
F-GOCO	08/08/2014
G-BSNU	08/08/2014
G-CGWU	08/08/2014
G-CHBX	08/08/2014
G-CHEL	08/08/2014
G-CHVI	08/08/2014
G-FWAY	08/08/2014
G-GOGB	08/08/2014
G-OFNC	08/08/2014
G-SBIZ	08/08/2014

Manufacturers

Known for 717 of 814 balloons.

Show the numbers

Name	Balloons
CAMERON BALLOONS LTD	378
ULTRAMAGIC SA	68
THUNDER AND COLT LTD	48
LINDSTRAND BALLOONS LTD	40
LINDSTRAND HOT AIR BALLOONS LTD	33
BALONY KUBICEK SPOL. S R.O.	26
LINDSTRAND TECHNOLOGIES LTD	24
THUNDER BALLOONS LTD	23
DIAMOND HOT AIR BALLOONS LTD	15
KUBICEK FACTORY S.R.O.	12
SKY BALLOONS LTD	11
COLT BALLOONS LTD	10

88% known

Shapes

Known for 658 of 814 balloons.

Show the numbers

Name	Balloons
Regular	537
Special	71
Add-on	29
Racing	13
Cloudhopper	4
Gas	3
Airship	1

81% known

Fleet age

Known for 715 of 814 balloons.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Balloons
1970–74	7
1975–79	26
1980–84	30
1985–89	55
1990–94	71
1995–99	79
2000–04	70
2005–09	63
2010–14	79
2015–19	123
2020–24	76
2025–29	36

88% known

Fleet colours

Not shown yet — only 0 of 814 balloons have this recorded, and a chart of less than half the fleet would say more about what has been typed in than about ballooning.

Where

Top counties

Counties with the most public sightings, resolved through the geocode cache.

Show the numbers

Name	Sightings
North Somerset	867
Warwickshire	420
Wiltshire	385
Cambridgeshire	88
Bath and North East Somerset	87
West Berkshire	80
West Northamptonshire	77
Telford and Wrekin	54
Shropshire	47
Bristol	38

Top countries

Countries with the most public sightings.

Show the numbers

Name	Sightings
United Kingdom	2,192
Italy	8
Spain	6
France	5
Germany	3
Thailand	3
Austria	1
United States	1

Wind when spotting (mph)

Wind speed at the sighting, in bands. Based on 2,219 sightings with a weather record.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
0–2	340
2–4	657
4–7	561
7–9	372
9–11	211
11–13	70
13–16	6
16–18	0
18–20	1
20–22	0
22–25	1

Calmest 0 mph · average 5 mph · windiest 23 mph. Gusts were recorded for 480 of them, averaging 2 mph above the wind and peaking at 40 mph.

Weather when spotting

Based on 2,219 of 2,219 sightings with a weather record.

Show the numbers

Name	Sightings
Partially cloudy	1,199
Clear	642
Overcast	364
Rain, Overcast	10
Rain, Partially cloudy	4

Coldest -5°C · warmest 32°C · average 14°C · windiest 23 mph

The spotters

Spotters over time

People logging their first sighting, cumulatively by month.

Show the numbers

Period	Spotters
Aug 12	1
Jan 16	2
Sep 19	3
Jun 22	4
Aug 24	5
Jun 26	7
Sep 26	9

How they were seen

Sightings by balloon state — inflating, tethered or flying.

flying1,622 · 73%
tethered552 · 25%
envelope45 · 2%

Show the numbers

Category	Sightings
flying	1,622
tethered	552
envelope	45

What these numbers count

Public community data only. Private sightings, and photos attached to them, stay out of every total on this page — as does anything from an account that is banned or has never been activated. Photos are counted once each and only once moderation has approved them. Days and times are local to where each sighting was logged.