The world seems fascinated by this whole Balloon Boy thing. Personally, I think the parents of Balloon boy should be up for a Darwin Award or at least honorable mention.
As the story goes, six year old Falcon Heene (Balloon Boy) of Larimer County Colorado was playing around in his fathers oversized home made balloon. Balloon Boy's father, Richard Heene, used the balloon to track the weather.
Balloon Boy's father said he got angry with Falcon Heene (Balloon Boy) for climbing into a compartment in the tethered balloon on Thursday before the balloon was accidentally released. However, Falcon Heene (Balloon Boy) had left the balloon and hid in the attic of their garage because he was scared of his father. 'He yelled at me' said Balloon Boy in an interview after the Balloon landed in a field full of rescue workers without Balloon Boy in it.
The silver balloon, made by the Balloon Boy's father, reportedly reached heights of 7,000ft and floated about 40 miles north of Denver before it came down in a field full of rescuers, sans Balloon Boy. When the Balloon landed, the basket was not attached to the balloon. Understandably, flights at Denver international airport were disrupted by the Balloon Boy incident.
No strangers to seeking out the limelight, The Heene family had apparently previously appeared on the ABC reality show Wife Swap. ABC described them as a "storm-chasing, science-obsessed family".
As a result of this Balloon Boy incident a massive search and rescue operation was undertaked when it was thought Balloon Boy had been carried away by a helium balloon. After a 2 hour highly televised rescue operation, Falcon Heene (Balloon Boy) was discovered hiding in a box in his family's attic, after the balloon deflated and landed in a dirt field after a two-hour flight. Larimer county sheriff Jim Alderden told reporters that apparently Falcon Heene had "been there the whole time". "What he said was that he saw his brother climb into that apparatus and he was very adamant, they interviewed him multiple times and that was his consistent story," Mr Alderden said "I can't tell you how many times this has happened over the course of my career," he added.
The drama was played out on TV, with US networks devoting their airtime to live footage of the balloon over Colorado. After being found in the attic Balloon Boy said "I was in the attic and he scared me because he yelled at me, that's why I went in the attic."
