Last October, sometime around midday, people watching television were witness to what they believed to be a most unusual drama unfolding right before their very eyes. There was a silver saucer-shaped balloon flying over the Colorado countryside, which, in and of itself, was pretty weird. And then, the newscasters tell us that the balloon could possibly have a child in it. America froze. Those watching were terrified for a little boy they didn’t even know. Prayers were going out all over America for the child’s safe return. What must his parents be going through?

Television cameras showed the same footage over and over and over again of that silver “UFO” balloon with a small boy inside, finally getting more information as they went along. “The balloon was hand-crafted by an inventor in Fort Collins, Colorado,” they said. “We just got word that a little boy may possibly be inside the balloon,” they say. “One of the brothers of the boy claims he saw the boy get inside the balloon before it took off,” they said. And America held its breath and prayed.

Then the balloon started to lose altitude, becoming less inflated and America still thought that there was a little 6-year old boy inside. The boy now had a name, Falcon Heene. It became even more heart-wrenching. Someone reported seeing the boy fall from the balloon and hearts sank. Still America held out hope that if there was a little boy in the balloon, somehow he would land safely and survive this awful ordeal.

And then the balloon landed and on hand were dozens of emergency personnel ready to assist the little boy, if, in fact there was one. As they approached the balloon cautiously, everyone again held their breath, and then the final news, there was no little boy inside. It was just an empty weather balloon made to look like a flying saucer, and at that moment, the question that was on everyone’s mind, “what happened to Falcon Heene?”

Reports say that during the ordeal, the father, Richard Heene, first called a local television station asking them to have one of their helicopters track the balloon, and then called emergency services, in that order. The call to 911 as recorded has Heene saying, “I don't know whether it's possible you guys could detect the electricity that it emits ... it emits a million volts on the outer skin." Incredible that he added that bit of information, making the situation all the more drastic.

When the child was finally found supposedly hiding in the attic of the family home, people began to question whether or not this was actually a case of a child mistakenly believed to have hitched a ride in a family “invention” or something made up by the father to gain attention. Reporters were on the story immediately, and even though the parents vehemently denied it was a hoax, the truth finally trickled in and America felt totally duped.

The young boy, Falcon himself, finally let slip the secret while appearing with his parents on the Larry King Live Show, when Wolf Blitzer asked Falcon why he didn’t come out of the garage, he didn’t answer. But, when the question was repeated by his parents, he replied “You guys said that, um, we did this for the show.”

From that moment on, America was finally convinced that all the tears and prayers they had poured into this story of the little boy out there tragically caught in a balloon that could very well crash and kill him was a very elaborate, yet not well thought out, hoax. A hoax that was perpetrated by a desperate family man who had tasted a bit of notoriety when his family appeared twice on the TLC channel’s Wife Swap, and who wanted to keep it going with another show that he was trying to pitch titled “The Science Detectives.” The Heenes had been bitten by the celebrity bug and it seems, were willing to go to any lengths to get themselves back on television, even using their own children as pawns in the game.

The end result is that Richard and his wife, Mayumi pleaded guilty to charges of falsely influencing the sheriff, and filing a false report, respectively. Mayumi Heene received 20 days jail time. Richard Heene received a sentence of 90 days jail time, but received an early work release deal on February 8, 2010.

As part of the Heenes’ sentencing, the family cannot participate in any reality television deals for the next four years. It makes one wonder if they have learned their lesson, or, if that gives them enough time to think about what they did wrong so that the next hoax they try won’t be such a botched job.

Source:
Wikipedia “Balloon Boy Hoax”
CBS News US “Balloon Boy’s Dad Free on Work Release” 2/9/10