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'Spongebob' Toy Balloon Flies 800 Miles

Posted on: Friday, 9 January 2004, 06:00 CST

A Spongebob Squarepants balloon with a holiday wish attached traveled hundreds of miles from Central Mexico to southeast Texas, where a landowner found it in some bushes.

"I could see it moving in the breeze off in the distance, and I couldn't make it out," Shirley Kennelly of Richmond told The Herald Coaster in Rosenberg.

Kennelly was just returning from a hunting trip Sunday when he saw the balloon. Attached was a a green envelope with the words "Para Los 3 Reyes. Magos," meaning "For the Three Magic Kings," in the left corner.

Inside the balloon was a piece of paper with photocopied pictures of toys the sender wanted for Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, which is celebrated in many Hispanic cultures on the 12th day after Christmas each year.

The Christmas season continues in Mexico through Epiphany. Children throughout Mexico wake up Jan. 6 to find toys and gifts left by the Reyes Magos, or Magi.

The balloon was sent from Xalapa, Veracruz, on Jan. 2. Although dated 2003, the excellent condition of the envelope and balloon, which still had helium, led Kennelly to believe the sender "just wasn't used to writing '2004,' yet."

In the center of the envelope were the words: "De: Yanina M. Lopez. Lajoa con mucho cario," naming the sender and sending her wishes of, "For you, with much affection."

Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management Staff Meteorologist Ron Stagno said it's possible the balloon made the 700- to 800-mile journey to Fort Bend County in two days.

"The balloon probably got up top about 10,000 feet or so," he said. "At that height, traveling about 40 miles per hour, it was transported northeast to the upper Texas Coast."

Rosenberg is about 30 miles southwest of Houston.

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