November 6, 2026 – A Detroit man spent over 10 years assembling an 11,578-pound rubber band ball that has now been certified as the largest in the world. Claude P. Moore said he started making rubber band balls during his frequent doctor appointments to check up on his blood disorder hemophilia, and in 2015 some coworkers challenged him to make a massive version.
The ball eventually grew so large he had to move it out of his garage and into a dedicated storage unit.
In August, he and dozens of helpers rolled the ball out of the storage unit and had it hoisted by a crane so it could be taken to Belle Isle and officially weighed. A Guinness World Records adjudicator witnessed the weighing ceremony and confirmed the ball, which weighs roughly the same as an elephant, was the world’s largest rubber band ball.
Claude snapped the title from Joel Waul, who completed his 9,032-pound rubber band ball in 2008.