A balloon doesn't say "distress" any more than a kite does. I was just offering an alternate to the balloon that started this thread.

A lone hiker, that had no idea that anyone might be in distress, would probably ignore a kite or a balloon. But maybe a SAR team, that was actively looking for someone in the area, might investigate, I don't know. At the very least, a kite might serve to draw attention towards your area, where you could use better signalling methods. If a search plane pilot is looking at your kite wondering if you're just out relaxing, then they're already looking in the correct direction for you to flash them with your signal mirror.