School pupils are trying to track down a teddy bear sent high into the sky for a science experiment - after it crashed back to Earth in a mystery location.

Students at Walhampton School in Hampshire's New Forest teamed up with Southampton University to send their respective mascots into the 27km high into the sky for a science project.

The mission was a success, as schoolkids watched on amazed as Bradfield Bear soared above the clouds.

However, Bradfield - along with the University of Southampton mascot Bill the Badger - encountered more turbulence than they'd bargained for.

Both fell back down to Earth miles away from where they set off, and are still yet to be found.

Walhampton School is now appealing for help in finding Bradfield and returning him to the school to recount his journey.

Year Four science teacher Ellie Robinson explained that the project was part of the school's STEAM fair, which encourages children to complete a project using skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics, whilst also incorporating school values of curiosity and achievement.

This year's STEAM fair theme was Space, which prompted a collaboration between some of the school's older children and students from Southampton University.

Ms Robinson, along with the uni's Space Flight Society, decided to launch a high-altitude weather balloon into the stratosphere in a project that captured the minds of all those involved.

The team successfully obtained permission from the Civil Aviation Authority for the launch and, though an initial planned launch was aborted due to weather that would've seen the balloon blown into the English Channel, Bradfield took off on November 10.

"The experiment was a great success as the balloon landed safely in High Wycombe," Ms Robinson, who has been teaching at Walhampton School for around two years, explained."



"The team from Southampton University were able to retrieve the equipment."

"The only thing that went awry was losing Bradfield Bear and Brock Badger. "

"We think they just weren't secured tightly enough for the turbulence and bumps of the stratosphere. "

"Yes, ideally, the teddies would have stayed attached to the payload and would have been parachuted down and retrieved alongside the other equipment."

Video footage shows Bradfield soaring above the clouds before encountering turbulence that disconnects him and Brock Badger? from the baloon, sending them plummeting back down to terra firma.

Despite the disappointment of losing both mascots, Ms Robinson said seeing them above Earth in the first place was 'incredible'.

"The whole school came out to watch the balloon launch and there was a lot of joy and excitement as it zoomed into the sky," she continued. "

"Once we heard the news that Bradfield Bear was lost along the way, we were worried about how the children might feel, but we knew we had to be honest with them. "

"They have seen the footage of him soaring above the clouds and then slipping off. "

"The balloon and Bradfield reached 27km above Earth, which is super exciting and really quite hard to comprehend. "

"The footage was incredible. The children have taken it in the spirit of adventure and are really curious about what happened and excited to see if anyone can find him."

Bradfield and Brock are believed to have fallen from the weather balloon at similar times and neither has yet been found.

Despite their discovery being unlikely, Ms Robinson says it would be the icing on the cake for the science project, and asked those around Earley, Berks., to keep an eye out in case they spot him.

"We are super excited about the prospect of someone finding Bradfield Bear, but we appreciate that the chances are slim," she admitted. "

"GPS tracking data combined with the GoPro footage shows us that he was attached as the balloon flew above Earley near Reading, but at the next tracking point of Fawley near Henley-on-Thames he had fallen. "

"We therefore suspect he is between these locations. "

"He could be anywhere: in a garden, field and hopefully not in the River Thames. "

"It is quite a rural area, but he could be in Woodley, Sonning, Shiplake, Harpsden or Henley areas."