IT HAS BEEN A REAL GAS

It might not be funny to those on the receiving end, but some of the balloons released at the opening ceremony in Paris on June 10 might go a lot farther than some of the teams in the World Cup.

At last report, they were spotted over the southwestern Algerian village of Sidi Djillali Benamar.

Residents there were actually afraid of them, believing them to be some sort of weapon, according to a local newspaper.