MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — If you glanced skyward Thursday evening and wondered whether you’d accidentally tuned into a giant floating commercial, you weren’t alone.

What some have affectionately — or perhaps accurately — dubbed “Air Chuck” made a slow, unmistakable pass over Rutherford County. The 128-foot promotional blimp, featuring basketball legend Charles Barkley clutching a basketball like he’s about to call a timeout on gravity itself, hovered over Murfreesboro as if it had nowhere better to be… which, to be fair, it probably didn’t.

The blimp — branded with “Capital One” in letters large enough to ensure no one forgets who paid for the airtime — was built for promotional duty during last month’s NCAA March Madness and April's Final Four tournaments, which wrapped up last week. Now that the buzzer has sounded on the games in Indianapolis, the oversized airborne billboard appears to be wrapping up its brief tour of duty.

According to data from FlightRadar24, the aircraft drifted over the area around 7 p.m. Thursday at a leisurely 44 knots — which, for those keeping score at home, is roughly the speed of someone jogging… if that someone were 128 feet long and filled with helium. It cruised at an altitude of about 1,500 feet, or the length of roughly 15 football fields stacked end to end — because nothing says “subtle marketing” like a blimp you can measure in stadium units.

Owned by Skyship Services, Inc. and based in Florida, Air Chuck is likely headed back home now that its March Madness obligations have concluded. So if you missed your chance to wave at a floating version of Barkley looming over Middle Tennessee, don’t worry — there’s always next year… or at least the next time marketing budgets get ambitious.

Until then, Murfreesboro skies will return to their usual programming — clouds, planes, and significantly fewer celebrity endorsements at 1,500 feet.