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Alamy Stock Photo

Quiz: How much do you know about balloons?

The US has faced up to a few of them this week.

BALLOONS HAVE HAD an unusual share of the front pages this week thanks to the USA’s battle with an alleged spy balloon sent by China.

Most of us are probably more familiar with the type that slowly deflates after a birthday party – how much do you know about balloons?

China offered which of these as its explanation for what the balloon was?
PA Images
A weather-monitoring station
A high-altitude oxygen saturation monitor

It admitted it was a spy balloon was but denied sending it over the US
An ordinary balloon that took a wrong turn on the way home from a child’s birthday party
Since then, the US has been quick off the draw to shoot down 'likely benign' unidentified flying objects. How many of these has it publicly admitted to downing in recent days?
Two
Three

Four
Five
If I told you there are 1,190 Guinness World Records that relate to balloons, would you believe me?
Alamy
Yes, that sounds about right
No, it has to be more - maybe 3,202

No, it’s definitely fewer - more like 418
How many balloons do you reckon it took to build this dinosaur sculpture? (It’s record-breaking, as far as dinosaur balloon sculptures go.)
Guiness World Records
5,500
15,000

55,000
150,000
It’s not all fun and games though. Balloons released into the air can be harmful to animals and the environment. California is one of several US states with legislation restricting the release of balloons outdoors - when was the California Balloon Law passed?
1979
1990

2004
2015
Which of these French leaders said condemned criminals should be used as the first pilots to test early hot air balloons?
Emmanuel Macron
Charles de Gaulle

Napoleon Bonaparte
King Louis the Sixteenth
The very first hot air balloon passengers actually weren’t any type of human. They were animals - what kind?
Goat, sheep, rabbit
Pig, chicken, goat

Rooster, duck, sheep
Duck, duck, goose
Nowadays, hot air balloons make for a fairly popular Instagram photo. Where is this famous location?
Alamy
Cappadocia, Turkiye
That's Cork, obviously

Wadi Rum, Jordan
Sante Fe, USA
Closer to home now. What’s the Irish term for balloon?
Aer Sféar (... “air sphere”)
Eitleog

Sféar eitilt (... “flying sphere”)
Balún
Pixar film Up is known for its vivid balloon animation and its absolute tear-jerker of an opening montage. What’s the name of its retired-balloon-salesman protagonist?
Pixar
Fred
Pete

Russell
Carl
Is it really balún?
Níl
Answer all the questions to see your result!
Alamy
You scored out of !
Poor show
Who burst your balloon?
Share your result:
Alamy
You scored out of !
Could be better
Is that hot air inside your head?
Share your result:
Pixar
You scored out of !
Up, up and away!
You know as much about balloon as a balloon salesman
Share your result:

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10 Comments
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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paddy Mac
    Favourite Paddy Mac
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:15 PM

    Get rid of that USC shite!

    272
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    Mute skin flint
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:40 PM

    Absolutely! It was supposed to be “temporary!”

    97
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    Mute Scrap Croke Park1
    Favourite Scrap Croke Park1
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    Oct 13th 2014, 10:09 PM

    USC is 7% for the majority. Some pay nothing else. Tackle the marginal rates instead

    9
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    Mute Powerful Sayings
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:26 PM

    Change street lights to LED.

    218
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    Mute Paul Flynn
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:55 PM

    Powerful sayings, don’t be getting ahead of yourself, do you think it’s just as simple as taking out the current lights and replacing them with leds? First off, we’ll have to set up a focus group so that everyone knows what we’re doing ‘going forward’. This focus group should comprise of retired/failed political cretins that have absolutely no background in engineering and probably couldn’t change the fuse in a plug. After several months of agreeing terms with an Led manufacturer in China, Enda decides it probably best instead to ude Denis o Brien’s led manufacturing plant, which he set up two weeks previous.

    189
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    Mute Karen Gillen
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    Oct 14th 2014, 1:18 AM

    @Paul

    Don’t forget the consultation with the Unions, and the claims that for Health and Safety reasons these new bulbs can’t be handled without proper preparation in the form of a % pay increase, a late start on a Monday and time to go to the Bank on Friday, a one off lump sum payment and finally, an allowance for new socks. Sure until that is all in place, it’ll be strikes and blackouts on the streets.

    33
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    Mute Harry Trafford
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    Oct 14th 2014, 10:09 AM

    Dont we already have companies set up that could install the new lights. ESB and airtricity who already maintain the street lights!!!!

    2
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    Mute jack frost
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:27 PM

    There’s a few crap ideas in that list , I have a few that would safe us about 150 million. No bonus for bankers. No pensions for politicians (pay for it yourselfs ya lazy sh.ts) retired or serving, no Irish water .

    130
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    Mute Sean Glennon
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    Oct 13th 2014, 10:20 PM

    How would no bonuses for bankers save the Government money?

    30
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    Mute Liberté et Egalité
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:16 PM

    Maybe arrange for every Irish worker ‘donate’ a pint of blood every month at their place of work and sell it on the open market.

    126
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    Mute Paul Flynn
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:31 PM

    Here’s a good one – stop paying back the banking debt that wasn’t ours in the first place, instant saving of 9 billion a year.

    124
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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    Oct 14th 2014, 12:20 AM

    Our banks were paid. That is now sovereign debt unfortunately. Lumped in with all our other sovereign debt.

    13
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    Mute James Kiernan
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:21 PM

    You can ogra and f off with suggestions like that

    63
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    Mute Scrap Croke Park1
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    Oct 13th 2014, 10:12 PM

    Taxing drinking after midnight would be forever known as The Cinderella Tax. One of the more stupid ideas from FF.

    If that’s the best Ogra FF have to offer, their parliamentary dinosaurs have little to fear from the FF young Turks, or should I say, cubs

    62
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    Mute Bryan Murray
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    Oct 13th 2014, 11:14 PM

    A higher tax on alcohol will only serve to increase binge drinking- people will have an incentive to fill up on drink prior to midnight. To suggest anything else is not only stupid but goes against more or less every study carried out on licensing hours.

    46
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    Mute Tony Cox
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    Oct 14th 2014, 1:36 AM

    Well said. It would be a race against the clock – making sure you’re too pissed to want another drink after midnight. Just when you thought you’ve heard enough stupidity for one evening, FF come to the rescue.

    13
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:30 PM

    If they put that levy on bottles & jam jars, I’ll be standing outside our local recycling place, 5 million to set up!! Ah well like father like son, as the saying goes….

    33
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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:32 PM

    Mee too. I remember being able to bring the empties down to the local shop. I earned my sweet money that way. Except for jam jars! My mother kept them to make jam!

    53
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    Mute Shanti
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    Oct 13th 2014, 10:34 PM

    Only problem then is that you have to be able to take them back, or to the recycle centre. I remember before they said we could put glass in the green bin, boxes of glass piling up and having to organise a lift to the recycle centre because all the local bottle banks disappeared.

    14
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    Oct 13th 2014, 10:25 PM

    It seems the ” young ff & fg ” are in line to wast tax payers money yet again, 5 million to set up people brining back bottles is ridiculous.

    27
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    Mute Sheik Yerbouti
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    Oct 13th 2014, 10:33 PM

    A gigantic tax on The Communication Clinic,inclusive of it’s husband and wife (PRONE to subterfuge) & their radio presenting son. Once spun for FF when Carr comm,now spinning for FG.

    http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/how-the-leading-pr-firm-came-asunder-26428144.html

    18
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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    Oct 13th 2014, 11:37 PM

    We could bulldoze aras an uachtarain and build social housing and affordable housing for thousands. The president can afford to pay for his own place with his salary.

    13
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    Mute Sheik Yerbouti
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    Oct 13th 2014, 10:55 PM

    So comments on the terry prone/tuam story have now been locked-no further comments allowed. I wonder how this could be. Interesting who the CC’s director has advised?

    “advised clients ranging from Cabinet Ministers, the CEO’s and Chairmen of some of Ireland’s largest PLC’s through to members of the Catholic Heirarchy and CEO’s of global charities.”Communications clinic

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    Mute jack frost
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    Oct 13th 2014, 9:47 PM

    @ James ya w..k.r…u must be the son of a lazy low life politician.

    7
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