Balloon Boy Hoax Disaster

On October 16, 2009 we watched as a balloon floated across the sky with no basket hanging underneath. InFort Collins, Colorado there was a six-year-old boy who supposedly took his fathers homemade helium balloon and ran off and floated away. We watched footage of this balloon floating by with no basket underneath. Where is the balloon boy? There were reports that the basket fell into the woods.

I remember thinking that the boy was probably not going to be ok and felt horrible for what balloon boy's mother must be going through. Then I said a prayer for this balloon boy and his family and went on with my life. There are others who stopped to watch this whole balloon boy fiasco happen. This balloon boy is akin to watching a child in a well rescue. You feel the need to watch until the rescue is complete and you see the young balloon boy safe in his parent's arms.

But this is not what happened. The whole balloon boy incident was a ruse a hoax a sham. His parents planned this balloon boy stunt out so that they could be in a reality TV program. I guess the balloon boy's parents thought their lives were interesting and wanted to be TV reality stars. The balloon boys' parents names are Richard Heene and Mayumi Heene. The balloon boy's name is Falcon Heene, well falcons do fly but apparently this one didn't actually take flight.

Apparently Richard Heene is somewhat of a scientist; some are now calling him a "mad scientist." The Heene family was already on the reality television show Wife Swap and child safety concerns were raised at that time. The balloon boy's family do science experiments are storm chasers and go alien hunting. Apparently the two episodes of Wife Swap were not enough reality TV time for the Heene family. So they conspired the balloon boy news story.

Eventually all was found out that the balloon boy was not actually in the basket of the balloon but was found in an attic at their home. Falcon Heene AKA balloon boy spilled the beans in an interview and said that it was Many public resources were used up trying to rescue the boy in the balloon. Police and emergency personnel and equipment were used to track and rescue the boy and the balloon. Many news media outlets covered the balloon boy story and some crops were destroyed during the rescue. All the time and money were wasted because of the balloon boy scheme.

Many people who were glued to the TV during the balloon boy incident were emotionally involved hoping that the six year old balloon boy would be safe. Now people are angry for being scammed and they want answers and some kind of payback. They want criminal charges and possible child abuse charges. No one wants to have the wool pulled in front of his or her eyes.

I personally did not spend hours watching and waiting to find out what was happening with balloon boy. I knew about the news story and then later found out that the balloon boy was fine. I did not invest any of my time or money and only a little of my emotion was spent. I do believe that if the balloon boy incident was in fact a hoax the parents or conspirators should not get off scot-free.

On the other hand they are talking about charges that could land the balloon boy parents in jail for six years. I don't think that six years away from their three children is in the best interest of those kids. I highly doubt that the balloon boy family can afford to pay back the money that the National Guard and police department used in the rescue effort. So maybe they could make them do community service for a couple of years?

I am not as outraged as some and I am not looking for "blood." The media and the people of Twitter have tweeted that they are looking for restitution. If the charges are too lenient people will still be mad and if they are too strong people will not be happy either. Some sort of middle ground will need to be judged upon the balloon boy fiasco to appease the crowds.