[sukuriant]

No. Define "just missed". Flying across country (Florida to Washington), I saw another plane flying in the other direction. The plane looked and felt like it was right next to us, like .. hundreds of yards apart. Cross-country planes do this all the time, so far as I can gather.

[edit: fixed typo, added ending to sentence]

[kirubakaran]

What you experienced is a "near miss" and it probably happened only because someone somewhere fucked up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_miss_(safety)

[mikeash]

In my opinion, it's far more likely that he greatly underestimated the distances between the two planes. People who aren't used to these things tend to see a few miles of separation as a few hundred feet instead. Airliners are big.

[sukuriant]

This is an incredible possibility.

[prawn]

Probably fair to say that planes are under pilot control whereas the balloon was at the mercy of the winds, right?

[adestefan]

I thought the same thing. Wondered if it was within the 3 mi/1000 mi box.