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UPDATE: Reward For Lost Weather Balloon

Editor's Note: Rob found his weather balloon intact off Old Saddle River Road in Monsey on Thursday morning only a mile or two from the intended landing spot.

Somewhere in the vicinity of Nanuet is a lost weather balloon and cube.  Pearl River High School junior Rob Gullo is asking for the public’s help in finding it. He launched the white balloon attached to a yellow box and blue and orange parachute on Wednesday morning from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Gullo expected it to reach a height of 90,000 feet and travel the 80 miles to Nanuet and land during the afternoon. But during the trip, the GPS stopped working and now the balloon’s final landing spot is unknown although he still thinks it is in Nanuet or a nearby community. 

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“It’s kind of like a needle in the haystack to find it,” he said.

Gullo is hoping someone will come across it and call the number written on the box to claim the $40 reward.

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Gullo worked on the weather balloon for his final project for Pearl River's independent study program. He is interested in aerospace engineering.

The cube connected to the large weather balloon included high definition cameras and sensors to take photos and record data from the flight. The yellow cube had four yellow PVC arms sticking out with a silver reflector extending from one of them to make the weather balloon visible to airplanes.

 


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