The Pentagon once hid 10 giant red balloons across the US — and offered $40,000 to the first people to find them all

• The Pentagon's DARPA group once challenged people to find 10 giant red balloons across the US.
• The 2009 challenge involved using the internet and social media to request tips from people.
• MIT won the $40,000 prize in 7 hours by creating monetary incentives for recruiting participants.

The Pentagon once hid 10 giant red balloons across the US, offering $40,000 to whoever located them all — and a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won the 2009 competition in less than seven hours.

The competition was put on by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on December 5, 2009.