the outdoor magazines ran ads some years ago for signaling balloons.the ad had a drawing of a lost hunter sending one up but if a recall it just came with 50 feet of line.
the ads went away after awhile as it was just a bad idea.
wind would push the balloon down into the trees,you needed lots of line and how big would it have to be to be seen?
modern times now and PLB's are cheap for what they offer in the way of rescue.