A scary situation - "...We did this for the show"

[Last Child]

Watching this live on the tv right now.

WOW! Some real scary stuff. Hope he survives this.

6-Year-Old Boy Floats Away in Homemade Flying Saucer
Colorado Boy Hiding in Hot-Air Balloon Aircraft Floats Off

A 6-year-old boy floated away from his family's Colorado home today after climbing into a "homemade flying saucer" connected to a large helium balloon, leaving baffled officials to figure out how to rescue the boy as the experimental aircraft raced through the sky.

According to a statement by the Larimar County Sheriff's Office, the boy climbed into the access door of the experimental aircraft, which they believe can rise as high as 10,000 feet.

"The FAA has been contacted and LCSO personnel are trying to determine the best course of action," according to the statement.

Sheriff's officials last saw the device floating south of Milliken, Colo., which is about 40 miles north of Denver.

The aircraft is described by the sheriff's office as a 20-foot-long, dome-shaped aircraft covered with foil, according to NBC News affiliate KUSA.

The boy has been identified as Falcon Heene, son of Richard and Mayumi Heene of Ft. Collins, Colo.

Richard Heene is a storm chaser and scientist. The couple twice appeared on the ABC show "Wife Swap."

When reached at home, Richard Heene was crying and said he was not watching television images of the silver "low altitude vehicle" flying over Colorado. He said he was praying and waiting for an update from police.

Heene said the saucer was an experimental aircraft, which he hoped would one day help people commute to work.

Sheriff's spokesperson Kathy Davis told reporters that Richard Heene was inside his home and was told by his older son that the balloon took off with Falcon.

The son is the one who came in and said his brother was in the basket," she said, adding that the experimental aircraft had been tethered in the family's backyard.


http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Ahe...ory?id=8837704

[Last Child]

Doesn't look like he made it. The balloon is down and he was not in it. He must have fell out. Hopefully he wasn't really in it. But... sounds like they are pretty sure he was.

So sad...

[live2ride]

damn I watched the wife swap with these people, they are wild! Hopefully the kid really wasn't in it or fell out when it was low. That is scary! Hope the kid is found alive and they were playing a bad joke. Very sad.

[Iceaxe]

I watched this on CNN. I'm thinking the kid let his dad's ballon go and is now hiding so he doesn't get his ass kicked.

[savanna3313]

I watched this on CNN. I'm thinking the kid let his dad's ballon go and is now hiding so he doesn't get his ass kicked.

That is exactly what I was thinking as well! I hope for the family's sake that this is the case. They will be so relieved to find him that I doubt he will be in any trouble.

[Last Child]

Yep, that looks like what happened. He was found hiding in a box in the attic.

[Iceaxe]

Yep, that looks like what happened. He was found hiding in a box in the attic.

I knew what happened from personal experiance.... except I was 10.

[RAM]

Family lives a few doors down according to the phone book. Less than a tenth of a mile away. Its a media circus outside. Copters, trucks, cables, sat dishes, the whole tamale!

[Iceaxe]

Soon as I heard Fort Collins I thought about emailing you to see if it was a friend of yours.

[RAM]

Soon as I heard Fort Collins I thought about emailing you to see if it was a friend of yours.

Nah. Six year olds are more your speed

I hang with the 10 year olds

[Iceaxe]

falcon - balloon boy throws dad under bus on live tv

"did it for the show"

[Udink]

falcon - balloon boy throws dad under bus on live tv

"did it for the show"

WTF, and Blitzen just continues on as if the kid didn't just give it up?

Edit: Looks like he did at least ask what the kid meant later on in the interview:

[accadacca]

Publicity stunt.

[blueeyes]

Seriously....

They need to be shot.

[Last Child]

Boy, more and more seems to be unfolding.

Poor kid threw up twice while being interviewed about this. Obviously causing him huge amounts of stress. The boy says "I think I am going to through up" and left the interview while mom and dad stay right there in front of the camera. The interviewer had to tell them that it's OK to go with him.

I've been watching some of this today. I totally believe they knew all along what was up. Nothing but a couple of media whores.

Instead of calling 911, they called the news first? WTF. The parents were actually there when the balloon was let go. They failed to mention that for quit awhile. They seem so insincere in their emotions. Not really all that excited that their son was actually alive. They spend all day dragging this poor stressed out kid to interview after interview even after it was making him physically sick. This so disgust me. What some shitty parents. There is more and more coming out every hour.

I hope they end up having to pay for all of this. They had to shut down an airport, got the military involved, let alone all the police and such to an estimated 2 million price tag?

I'm anxious to see what the investigation finds out in this. If this was a publicity thing (which in my prejudging moment say that it is) I hope they pay.

[savanna3313]

Yep, that looks like what happened. He was found hiding in a box in the attic.

I knew what happened from personal experiance.... except I was 10.

Ditto. I was actually 5 and staying for the day at my grandparents house. I decided I wanted to go home, so I took off and walked there by myself. Once I got home, I realized that I was probably going to be in big trouble, so I hid under my bed. They found me. Surprisingly enough, no one called the police or the state troopers or CNN !

[accadacca]

OMG.

[accadacca]

FALCON PUNCH!

[KapitanSparrow]

Seriously....

They need to be shot.

I second!

[Sombeech]