It was all over the news here because we're horribly isolated people with nothing better to do with our time.
Uh.... that last panel is an experimental hot air balloon. It was released somewhere in the midwest last week and the son of its inventor was thought to be on board, except they later discovered him hiding in the attic, presumably to avoid the wrath of his father who didn't want him playing with the prototype. It is now believe that this whole thing might have been a publicity stunt and nothing more, but it was all anyone covered on the news for a span of a few hours.