A GoPro Camera, Lost 2 Years Ago, Captured Stunning Images Of The Earth From The Edge Of The Stratosphere

In a remarkable turn of fate, a bunch of guys who had lost their GoPro camera two years ago, were recently handed their gadget back. With a big, big surprise in store.

Back in 2013, Bryan Chan and his four friends had attached their GoPro and smartphone to a helium balloon, which they launched into the air from the Grand Canyon, Arizona. Their plan was a well thought-out one - to track the balloon's position using the GPS in the smartphone, and retrieve their camera wherever it landed. However, they lost the signal from their phone probably at the time it crash-landed on the ground.

YouTube

Bryan, in a Reddit post, said, "We used GPS on a smartphone to continuously log the phone's location on its memory card. The standard GPS receiver these days can track your phone well above 100,000 ft. The phone was projected to land in an area with cell coverage. The problem was that the coverage map we were relying on (looking at you, AT&T) was not accurate, so the phone never got signal as it came back to Earth, and we never heard from it."

But as luck would have it, a hiker - who also happened to be an AT&T employee - found the lost camera and phone, and took it with her to the store to track down the owner. And a couple of weeks later, this is what the friends found.

The footage captured the amazing moment when the balloon burst, after reaching the maximum height.

YouTube

Their GoPro took this breathtaking view from the edge of stratosphere.

YouTube

The camera also captured the Grand Canyon and parts of the Arizona plains.

YouTube

Enough with the teasing. Watch the footage here, originally posted by Bryan on YouTube.

Funny how fate favours some over others. Just saying.