A hot air balloon dragged over the roof of a house in Eschweiler, North Rhine-Westphalia, frightening the residents. A married couple was torn from their television chairs on Thursday evening by loud scratching noises from the roof, as the police in Aachen announced on Friday. The reason: A balloonist had chosen a green area behind the road as a landing site, but misjudged the height.

Because, according to the police, he didn't accelerate enough, the altitude was ultimately not enough and the balloon scraped over the roof of the house. Some roof tiles fell on a parked car. The police estimated the property damage at around 2,000 euros. The total of nine occupants of the hot air balloon escaped with horror. The aircraft also remained largely undamaged.