QUESTIONS about the Birmingham Mail’s balloon have been answered – by our readers.

We published this picture of the balloon, believed to have been taken around 1950, at an event in Cannon Hill Park and asked if anyone remembered it or had any information about it.

Several of you contacted us to say what we thought was a hot air balloon wasn’t, but was a helium balloon.

Readers in the know pointed out there was an absence of burners to create the heat, the basket was too far from the balloon envelope, there were no gas bottles attached to the basket and the shape of the envelope would not allow hot air to be injected into the balloon.

It was, apparently, a helium balloon, and the large cylinders in the lorry were helium bottles which were used to charge the envelope.

Dawn Whiting, from West Heath, even identified the event for us as the Tulip Festival of 1960.

“My husband Michael and I – we were not married at the time – went to the event and remember the balloon well,” she said.

“As soon as I saw the photographs in the newspaper I recognised them. In fact we even have our own photographs of the same balloon.”

Mr Whiting said that even though it was almost 50 years ago he clearly remembered that members of the public attending the event were offered tethered rides in the balloon.

Thanks to our readers that’s another mystery solved.