It’s raining ping pong balls!
A pilot in Idaho dropped 3,000 ping pong balls on an Interstate after he missed his mark — a nearby crowd of people that had gathered to catch and redeem them for prizes.
The pilot was hired to drop the plastic ball as part of an annual giveaway event for Blackfoot Pride Days in Blackfoot, Idaho, according to the Idaho State Journal.
But things took a turn for the worse when the pilot, who was in his first year on the job, accidentally overshot the crowd and dropped his ping pong payload on nearby Interstate 15.
“It was ridiculous,” said Sarah Taylor, who watched the mistake unfold. “Kids and adults were actually running out on the freeway to get the balls.”
She said that hundreds of the bouncy ping pong balls had landed in the median between the northbound and southbound lanes — leading people to act out a live version of the video game Frogger.
“People needed to realize that’s a dangerous situation,” Taylor added. “I’m glad nobody got hit and there was no accidents.”
Organizers quickly called off the giveaway and urged guests not to risk making a run for the balls, which could have been traded for various prizes, including candy and gift certificates worth up to $100.
A friend of the pilot said that his buddy had simply misjudged the wind, causing the ping pong balls to veer off course, Idaho State Journal reports.
“I know the pilot and he was right over the target and the wind took them (the balls) back over the freeway,” the friend said.
After the blunder, Taylor said that Blackfoot Pride Days sponsor O’Dell’s Furniture handed out prizes to children who had been left empty-handed.