Presents...yay!Balloons occasionally float over your town with a present attached. You'll hear a wind noise when there's one nearby. If you hear the noise and can't see a balloon, try moving around and pressing up on the d-pad to look up. Balloons can be shot down with a slingshot - stand under the balloon, where the shadow is, and shoot.
However be careful that the balloon is not over water, or over an area where there are no blank tiles (e.g. where patterns have been laid on the ground, or where there are lots of flowers growing) as the present will simply vanish when it lands.
When you open the present that was attached you may find a piece of the 8-Bit Mario Theme - besides hacking or online trading, balloons are the only way to obtain this series. However you may only get a regular piece of furniture. Also if you see a balloon, do not go inside a building! The balloon will vanish and you will not be able to obtain that present. Also keep in mind that if you manage to shoot down a balloon while it is over a body of water (using the silver or golden slingshot) it WILL fall in and you will lose the contents of the present.
Finding Balloons
The easiest way to find a balloon is to wait for the time to end in a 5 (X:05, X:15, X:25 etc) and simply walk up and down the eastern and western borders of your town by the cliffs. If a balloon has appeared you will either see the balloon itself or hear the wind rushing signifying it is nearby. The balloons will appear on either the 16th, 32nd or 48th tile from the top (i.e. on the borders of sectors as used in Perfect Town). At least one balloon appears each hour.
Golden Slingshot
After you've shot down at least eight balloons, there is a chance that you will find an item attached to three golden balloons ("three-balloon" balloon). This is the Golden Slingshot. Unlike other balloon items, this item is not inside a present, but is just attached to the three balloons. The ninth item shot down may not be the golden slingshot, but any balloon item from number nine and on has a chance of being a golden slingshot.
What comes in presents?
The present you get will either be something from the Mario Theme, or a regular item you could buy from Nook's (see here for a list of regular items people have obtained from balloons).
Flying Saucers
If you see a flying saucer in your town, shoot it down with a sling shot. The next day Gulliver will be in your town with his broken flying saucer. If you find a missing part, he will give you are rare piece of Gulliver furniture.
