> The plane was at 70,000 feet, the balloon at 60,000. It was quite a bit closer. Just look at the sizes of various things in that photograph (the length of th

> The plane was at 70,000 feet, the balloon at 60,000. It was quite a bit closer. Just look at the sizes of various things in that photograph (the length of the plane's shadow vs. the length of the wingtip, both those vs the diameter of the balloon, etc.). If you read 70,000 somewhere, that's because they were quoting the plane's service ceiling.