Hot Air Balloon Spotting Statistics

The community so far

Sightings

2,199

Balloons

813

Photos

6,602

Spotters

9

Days covered

105

Countries

7

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
Oct 24	0
Nov 24	0
Dec 24	0
Jan 25	35
Feb 25	0
Mar 25	6
Apr 25	0
May 25	120
Jun 25	2
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	87
May 26	282
Jun 26	38
Jul 26	67
Aug 26	522
Sep 26	133

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 27 Sep 2025	1
Sun 28 Sep 2025	1
Mon 29 Sep 2025	1
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
Sat 25 Apr 2026	87
Sun 24 May 2026	12
Fri 29 May 2026	90
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
Sun 2 Aug 2026	6
Mon 3 Aug 2026	2
Fri 7 Aug 2026	169
Sat 8 Aug 2026	150
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

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	767
07	431
08	215
09	73
10	46
11	38
12	34
13	28
14	24
15	26
16	14
17	13
18	167
19	238
20	55
21	13
22	7
23	0

Season

Sightings by month of the year, all years combined.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
Jan	66
Feb	3
Mar	9
Apr	101
May	408
Jun	82
Jul	100
Aug	1,046
Sep	383
Oct	1
Nov	0
Dec	0

Day of the week

Sightings by day of the week, Monday first.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
Mon	28
Tue	2
Wed	5
Thu	21
Fri	575
Sat	1,090
Sun	478

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

413

Balloons logged exactly once. Most recent first.

EC-NND09/20/2026
EC-NIC09/20/2026
EC-NIH09/20/2026
EC-NEE09/20/2026
EC-MVX09/20/2026
EC-NYA09/20/2026
G-BTCZ09/12/2026
G-CGFN09/11/2026
G-CPGD09/11/2026
G-STAC09/11/2026

Show the numbers

Name	Seen
EC-NND	09/20/2026
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
G-BTCZ	09/12/2026
G-CGFN	09/11/2026
G-CPGD	09/11/2026
G-STAC	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 715 of 813 balloons.

Show the numbers

Name	Balloons
CAMERON BALLOONS LTD	377
ULTRAMAGIC SA	68
THUNDER AND COLT LTD	48
LINDSTRAND BALLOONS LTD	39
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 813 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 713 of 813 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	69
2005–09	63
2010–14	79
2015–19	123
2020–24	75
2025–29	36

88% known

Fleet colours

Not shown yet — only 0 of 813 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	861
Warwickshire	419
Wiltshire	385
Bath and North East Somerset	87
Cambridgeshire	87
West Berkshire	79
West Northamptonshire	77
Telford and Wrekin	54
Shropshire	47
Bristol	37

Top countries

Countries with the most public sightings.

Show the numbers

Name	Sightings
United Kingdom	2,175
Italy	8
Spain	6
France	3
Germany	3
Thailand	3
United States	1

Wind when spotting (mph)

Wind speed at the sighting, in bands. Based on 2,199 sightings with a weather record.

Show the numbers

Bucket	Sightings
0–2	337
2–4	655
4–7	556
7–9	368
9–11	205
11–13	71
13–16	5
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 473 of them, averaging 2 mph above the wind and peaking at 40 mph.

Weather when spotting

Based on 2,199 of 2,199 sightings with a weather record.

Show the numbers

Name	Sightings
Partially cloudy	1,189
Clear	636
Overcast	361
Rain, Overcast	10
Rain, Partially cloudy	3

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 17	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.

flying1,606 · 73%
tethered551 · 25%
envelope42 · 2%

Show the numbers

Category	Sightings
flying	1,606
tethered	551
envelope	42

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.