Help identifying what landed on my roof (pic attached)

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LoneAspen

Line Up and Wait
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LoneAspen
I noticed something red hanging from the roof from an upstairs window, went outside, and it was some kind of parachute that was still attached to something that landed on the roof.

I managed to get it off the side of the house with a long pole, but there was a thin nylon string attached to it that even though I pulled on it pretty hard, whatever is up there seems stuck.

Pic is attached. At the top looks like the remains of a popped balloon, then the parachute, then a blue circle thing the cords are attached to, then a white plastic cylinder, then the nylon string (that I cut to get it down) that still runs to something on the roof.

The way my house is situated, there's no good vantage point close by I can climb to to see what's up on the roof, and I don't have a ladder to get up there (and wouldn't anyway for fear of falling off).

I did some Googling, but can't find something that looks similar. I assume it's a small weather balloon with some kind of instrument package that might still be up on the roof, but I'm not sure how something like that could get stuck up there, unless the cord got twisted around an exhaust vent or something.

Anybody know what might be up there?

And now I have to figure out how to get it off there. I suppose since I rent, I should just let property manager know and make it their problem :confused:
 
Looks like it could be model rocketry. Unless there's spy material in the cylinder. :yikes:

Are you really who you say you are? :rofl::rofl:
 
Might be part of a weather balloon transponder. They are pretty cheaply made. Every now and again I find one. None had that blue rotary looking thing though. And there is usually a styrofoam box attached with the electronics.
 
My first thought was a model rocket, too, except it would have to be a big diameter to hold that blue circle thing. And there are the remains of a balloon on top (above the parachute).

If I only had a one-story house, I'd climb up there, but two stories is a little too high for me, not gonna chance it.

I wonder what it is??? Did that monkey on the cross-country trip try skydiving over my house???
 
Sac Arrow said:
What's in the plastic cylinder?
Click to expand...

I just checked...nothing. It's hollow, and just has some kind of shock cord running through it.

Thanks for posting those links, Matthew. I stumbled across that NOAA site just as you posted. I might contact them to see if they know if one went missing in the past couple days here.

From the pictures of the actual unit, they don't look that heavy, so I'm kind of surprised I can't pull it off the roof with the string. I'm guessing it's stuck on something, or the cord got wrapped around an exhaust vent or something.

I wish there were some roofers doing some work in the neighborhood. I'd pay one of them a twenty or two to take a few minutes to climb up there and get it off the roof.
 
Yeah, looks like a radio sonde from minus part of the styrofoam enclosure that it normally has.
 
LoneAspen said:
I just checked...nothing. It's hollow, and just has some kind of shock cord running through it.

Thanks for posting those links, Matthew. I stumbled across that NOAA site just as you posted. I might contact them to see if they know if one went missing in the past couple days here.

From the pictures of the actual unit, they don't look that heavy, so I'm kind of surprised I can't pull it off the roof with the string. I'm guessing it's stuck on something, or the cord got wrapped around an exhaust vent or something.

I wish there were some roofers doing some work in the neighborhood. I'd pay one of them a twenty or two to take a few minutes to climb up there and get it off the roof.
Click to expand...

I don't do ladders, either. But on my house (2 story) I can usually see the roof if I get far enough away. Maybe a neighbor or local handyman can take a look. I wonder what NOAA would say if you said you'd have to send them a receipt?
 
Wait until no one is around then use your unregistered drone to take a peek.:wink2::sad:
 
Maybe a kid was flying RC Cirrus near your house and made a "landing"
 
There is a card inside and a prepaid bag to send the thing back to them. They can be reused, just like a Cirrus.
 
I found one of the cardboard box ones in the woods one time. Just put the label on and stuck it in the mail.
 
Looks like the temp profile probes they drop from the hurricane hunter C130s.
 
Modern day radiosonde?

Back when I was a grade school kid, the NOAA radiosondes of the day (early 70's) used to land around here all the time during springtime thunderstorm season. Every kid in school had one or two of them. We disected them to remove the batteries, vacuum tube transmitters, and various components, to use as make-believe mini space stations or what-not.
 
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