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 The Mystery of the Big Balloon

The Mystery of the Big Balloon
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 3 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   3.94

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    mowing, sphere, magical, especially, online, backyard, downstairs, doing, discover, surface, feeling, meant, dreams, fact, steering, flying
     content words:    UFO Reports, Strange Object Appears

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The Mystery of the Big Balloon
By Colleen Messina 		  
1     Photo courtsey of NASA
 
2     Amber and Bethany thought that blowing bubbles was the perfect thing to do on their first day of summer vacation. They set up a big fan in the backyard and blew bubbles in front of it. The fan helped them blow tons of bubbles! The fan made the bubbles go quickly up into the bright blue sky. The girls felt as though they were in a magical bubble kingdom. They pretended to be effervescent bubble princesses!
 
3     "Wow," said Amber. "Look at that bubble way up there. It is so much higher than the others. How did it get so high up?"
 
4     "That is not one of our bubbles," said Bethany. "I think it is a big balloon, but it looks like a bubble because it is so far away."
 
5     The clear sphere high in the cloudless sky fascinated the girls. They stopped blowing bubbles and watched the sphere. Other people on their street also stopped what they were doing to look up at the sky. Mr. Vann stopped mowing his lawn. Mrs. Vann stopped planting flowers. Scott and Steve stopped playing catch. The neighbors looked up with round mouths like baby birds waiting for worms.
 
6     The sphere was a mystery. No one knew what it was. Some people seemed a little bit anxious. The clear sphere seemed a bit eerie. Then someone said something that made everyone even more apprehensive.
 
7     "Maybe it is a UFO!" said Scott. He meant it as a joke, but then he realized that no one was laughing. Amber looked at Bethany. The girls decided to go inside. They wondered if Scott could be right.
 
8     "What do you suppose is inside that thing if it is a UFO? It couldn't really be one, could it?" asked Amber. She was feeling a little scared, especially when she noticed that even Mr. and Mrs. Vann had gone inside.
 
9     "Maybe strange little green men are inside steering the balloon down to Earth. Then the big bubble will pop so they can come out and take over," joked Bethany. Then she noticed that Amber looked worried. Bethany decided to go home because Amber did not seem like she was in a good mood at all.

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