GREENVILLE, Ky. (CNN) — On Dec. 2, a Kiwanis Club in Visalia, California, released hundreds of branded balloons. A balloon with similar branding was reportedly found in Greenville, Kentucky the next day.
Patrick Salazar with the West Visalia Kiwanis Youth Services told CNN they handed out thousands of balloons at the Visalia Christmas Parade and the next day, they received a message on Facebook.
"There was a message on there that said a lady in Greenville Kentucky, Kristin Dukes, a very nice lady sent us a really nice message saying that she found our balloon in her pasture in her farm," he said.
Meteorologist Chris Mattarochia told CNN that a balloon traveling that far that fast is unlikely, but not impossible.
"Well, it is highly unlikely but it can not be totally ruled out. But, I have never heard of that size traveling that far," he said.
CNN did a phone interview with Kristin Dukes, who said her husband found the balloon.
"When I asked him what was the deal with the balloon on the table, where did he get the balloon, he notified me that he had found it floating across our field when he had gone out to feed our cattle," she said.
Duke said finding a balloon from California was bizarre.
"I mean our farm is almost at the end of a dead road and our neighbors haven't been to California recently," she said.
Experts said the balloon likely came from an earlier balloon release and not the one on Dec. 2. It's about 2,000 miles from Visalia, California to the westernmost corner of Kentucky. In order to make the time frame of Dec. 2-Dec. 3 work, the balloon would have had to travel at speeds well over 100 miles an hour.
