Standard-Examiner staff?jfrancis@standard.net?

LAYTON — The owners of Bullfrog Spas of Layton are celebrating the return of a 15-foot helium balloon they believe someone released from their store Tuesday night.?A Herriman man about 45 miles away said he found the balloon later that night when it fell from the sky and hit his car.?The balloon — used for outdoor advertisement for two stores — is believed to have traveled across two counties, carried by the wind.?However it got there, Herriman resident West Brewer said the balloon created unanticipated excitement during his trip to get frosties with his 5- and 3-year-old daughters.?”We weren’t going very fast. It just came out of nowhere and just blocked the windshield,” Brewer said. “I slammed on the brakes.”?Brewer said as he got out of the car, the balloon started to rise again into the air.?”I ran and jumped and grabbed it,” he said. “I drove home slowly holding it in my hand outside the car. That was rough. The wind was blowing.”?When he got home, Brewer said, he let his daughters test the balloon to see if it would carry them away if they held it.?”It was funny to let them try it,” he said. “I told them, ‘If it pulls you in the air, I’ll come and find ya.’ “?For his efforts, Brewer said he got a $50 gift card to Chili’s from the Bullfrog corporate office in Salt Lake City when he returned the balloon Thursday.?”When I heard it was from (Layton), I was like ‘wow,’ ” he said. “It probably blew through the airport’s air space.?”My girls were like whoa, it’s so big. I have a picture of it in my garage. It filled up half of it.”?Shawn Maynard, co-owner of Bullfrog Spas in Ogden and Layton, said he was shocked when he noticed the balloon was missing Wednesday.?Workers had installed the balloon in Layton on top of a trailer in the parking lot to advertise an outdoor event.?”I was devastated,” Maynard said. “We use it all summer long … It’s a big part of our marketing.”?He said the balloon also was a large investment, costing $1,500.?Maynard said it angered him that someone would climb up 14 feet just to let it go.?He’s been checking with owners of area businesses to see if they may have caught the vandals in action.?”I thought I’d get a call some day from someone in Colorado and they’d say it was hanging in a tree and it was ruined,” he said.