Video: Hot Air Balloon Goes Astray on Carmel Valley Freeway

CARMEL VALLEY, CA -- A Carmel Valley teen on his way to get frozen yogurt landed a major news scoop instead: a hot air balloon had made a surprise landing in the middle of State Route 56.

"The pilot had just enough room. It was like threading a needle," Miles Arnold, a 15-year-old Torrey Pines High School basketball and volleyball player, told Patch in an email.

Around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, the hot air balloon landed in the center divider of State Route 56 in Carmel Valley. 

"This all happened when I was leaving my house to go get some froyo," the teen told Patch in an email. "I saw the balloon in the sky and it seemed as if the balloon was at a reasonable distance. As I drove down my street, the balloon was very close. I went up another street to go chase the balloon. 

"We ended up in a parking lot to an apartment complex that was just overlooking the highway 56. The balloon ended up making it right through the center divide of the highway."

A California Highway Patrol dispatcher said no one was injured and, by the time officials reached the scene, the balloon had already flown away onto city streets. 10News reported that the balloon was from Panda-Monium Hot Air Balloon Flights in Del Mar and landed near Carmel Valley Road. 

Arnold's video shows the balloon deflating and disappearing out of view between the eastbound and westbound sides of the freeway as traffic slows. Parts of the balloon seem to drift onto the freeway, before falling out of the way of traffic.

The Torrey Pines student also posted a picture of the balloon on his Twitter account @milesarnold.

Police are investigating.

-City News Service contributed to this report.