Hot Air Balloon Lands in Odd Spot in Ballwin

In what may have looked more like a scene from a Stanley Kramer movie than a typical early evening in a Balllwin neighborhood, a hot air balloon landed in a resident's front yard on a residential block just north of Manchester Road.

The balloon was piloted by Ladue resident Dan Schettler, 66, who said their three-person crew took off at Queeny Park near Ballwin but didn't have a pre-determined landing spot Monday.

"And the first place that we found that could safely land was that guy's front yard," Schettler said. Schettler said someone appeared to be in the home, which was in the 100 block of Maple Lane. However, the gargantuan yellow balloon's landing apparently wasn't enough to coax anyone out into the front yard.

For Schettler, who is one of four owners of Great Forest Park Balloon Race Inc., the flight was one of several his crew usually takes before the "race" in the fall; despite the name, the event involves a large Energizer bunny balloon landing in Forest Park, which the other pilots then use as a target. When the other craft are close enough, they drop a small, ID'd bag of birdseed as close as possible to the target, with the nearest drop taking home first prize.

Schettler has flown in the race for 38 years, starting one year after the event started in 1973 with a mere 4 balloons.

"And now it's grown to about 70 balloons with thousands of people there."

Their balloon did attract attention when it touched down in Ballwin, prompting dozens of people to flock to the site of the landing, many with cameras in hand. If the giant craft's slow descent in central Ballwin around 6:45 p.m. wasn't eye-catching enough, the logo on its side no doubt made an impression: The silhouette of a rat is emblazoned on the balloon, which Schettler said was the doing of its owner Randy Woods.

"There’s no story to it, it was just an idea to make sure that if people ever saw his balloon, they’d remember it," Schettler said. "That’s about the third [hot air balloon] he’s had and he’s been flying for 20 years. So if you do see it, you don’t forget it. That's for sure."