Air balloons competing in annual race could be spotted in Georgia skies

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The 66th annual Gordon Bennett Race took off from New Mexico and flew across the United States.

17 teams lifted off in hot air balloons from Albuquerque Oct. 7 and headed east across the United States. To win, teams have to fly the farthest distance from the launch site.

Although none of the teams flew over the Atlanta area, multiple balloons could have been spotted over central and south Georgia, including the eventual champs.

One team landed just north of Savannah, while another landed south of Wrightsville in Johnson County.

The eventual winners, a French team piloted by Eric Decellieres and Benoit Havret, sailed over Augusta before landing near Jacksonville, North Carolina Oct. 11.

Teams from France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Lithuania, the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria and Switzerland all competed.

The all-time distance record was set in 2005 when a Belgian team took off from Albuquerque and landed in eastern Quebec, just over 2100 miles to the east.

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