Detroit rubber band ball weighs as much as an elephant – and needed a crane
Claude P. Moore spent 11 years wrapping rubber bands in Detroit until his ball hit 11,578 lb (5,251.69 kg) – Guinness-certified as the world's largest, and so heavy it had to be crane-lifted at Belle Isle.
Most people stop at a desk toy. Claude P. Moore of Detroit kept going for 11 years – until his rubber band ball weighed 11,578 lb (5,251.69 kg). That is roughly as heavy as an elephant, and Guinness World Records has now confirmed it as the largest rubber band ball ever weighed.
Stock photo: a rubber band ball – not Moore’s record-breaker. Photo: Whoisjohngalt / CC BY-SA 4.0.
According to Guinness World Records (3 Nov 2026), Moore started the project in 2015 after workmates dared him to go big. The ball outgrew his garage, moved into a dedicated storage unit, and eventually became car-sized, nearly touching the container walls.
AI illustration – imagined garage chaos; not the real storage unit.
On 29 August 2026 at Belle Isle, Detroit, helpers rolled it out and a crane hoist lifted it for the official weigh-in. Adjudicator Chloe McCarthy confirmed the figure. Moore takes the title from Florida’s Joel Waul, whose 9,032 lb (4,097 kg) ball set the mark in 2008.
AI illustration – imagined celebration. (Spot Gaz, our gorilla, hiding somewhere in this picture.)
Eleven years. One ball. One crane. Absolute madness – and Officially Amazing.
Reported by Guinness World Records (3 Nov 2026) and UPI Odd News (3 Nov 2026).
