• The balloon becomes a part of the wind, just as if you stepped onto a walking escalator and stood still (so no is the answer). What the pilot can do is change altitudes to take advantage of different wind directions at various altitudes.  By climbing and descending, the pilot can find an altitude where the wind is favorable for the flight.  The world’s largest balloon festival takes place in Albuquerque, NM every October.  What makes that location popular are the frequent “box winds.”  That simply means the winds at the ground tend to send the balloon in one direction, but when you climb a little higher, the winds can actually shift 180 degrees.  That enables the pilot to climb after launch to find that wind, causing the balloon to reverse direction.  Now the balloon will travel with the wind at a higher altitude past the launch site.  By descending back down in altitude, it is possible to catch the original surface wind which can carry the balloon very close to where the balloon lifted off.