There were only happy smiles, and no alarmed screeches, as a giant, one-eyed, yellow, alien-looking creature sailed over the Central Coast on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The unusual sight was the Despicablimp, advertising the movie “Despicable Me 2,” in theaters next Wednesday.
Even blimps need an energy boost sometimes, and the aircraft stopped to gas up Wednesday at the Santa Maria Public Airport before continuing up the coast.
The smiling yellow blimp depicts a creature called the Giant Minion. A website dedicated to the Despicablimp — www.despicablimp.com — charts his journey across the United States. The site also features fun facts about the blimp, such as that it can fly at up to 10,000 feet high and could hold about 75 million golf balls. Different color dots mark tour stops and fan sightings on a map. Despicablimp is also on Twitter.
June 27, 2013 12:40 a.m. • Santa Maria Times Staff report