This black-and-white historical photograph depicts a large, deflated balloon and its basket on a flat, dirt field. In the right foreground, a tall, rectangular wicker basket sits tilted on the ground, supported by a system of ropes and thin wooden poles. A pile of several light-colored sandbags sits at the base of the basket. Extending from the basket toward the left is the collapsed, dark-colored fabric of the balloon, which lies crumpled and flat across the terrain. In the middle ground, a group of approximately ten men wearing suits and hats stand in a line or small clusters behind the deflated fabric, observing the scene. The background consists of a low, dark treeline under a large, pale sky. In the upper-right corner of the sky, a small, dark, circular object with trailing lines is visible. Small, faint white text in the bottom-right corner of the image reads "Miles Bros." and includes the number "36."