Surgery firm Inamed Aesthetics had six surgeons carrying out free consultations on topics ranging from breast implants and wrinkle treatments to a new procedure to help weight loss by inserting a saline-filled balloon inside the patient's stomach.

BBC: NEWS | UK | UK consumers go surgery shopping

Some of the changes for volunteers include a physical fitness test, lessons in the physics of balloon-handling and a free three-month gym membership to help them shape up.

CNN: balloon

Free newspapers were available, National Guard troops kept watch, ventriloquists and balloon artists entertained kids, and even massage therapists were trying to help the 12, 000 to 15, 000 evacuees relax as they fretted about the fate of their homes.

CNN: Unrelenting fires char S. California, at least half a million flee

While the models were first cast and the paint was first mixed in New Jersey, the actual balloon was manufactured in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with the help of a 3-D scanning program and a special machine that seals urethane panels.

WSJ: Up in the Air | Making It

Gloucestershire County Council had initially agreed to help fund an 18-month trial by the agency at the Air Balloon roundabout on the A417.

BBC: Air Balloon roundabout, Birdlip