What if the Balloon Boy spectacle wasn't a hoax? [Updated]

For a television viewer, the most frightening moment of the whole “balloon boy” story came not when authorities discovered that Falcon Heene wasn’t in the weather balloon they had been chasing all over Colorado, the implication being that he had perhaps fallen out. The most frightening moment was watching “Today’s” Meredith Vieira interrogate the Heene family, all of whom looked as if they had been dragged from their beds pre-dawn, even as Falcon writhed heavy-lidded at his father’s side and then vomited into a Tupperware container held by his mother.

Vieira didn’t miss a beat, hanging on to her stern school marm tone — “Was this all a hoax?” she wanted to know — until Richard Heene, his voice shaking, said he was getting a little ticked off by all the accusations that he and his wife had staged the hours-long manhunt for publicity.

“I’m not a salesman,” he said. “I don’t have anything to sell.”

Vieira stepped back a pace or two, offering Heene a moment to allow his family to collect their emotions before they returned to talk about what the day had been like for them.

Vieira’s accusatory tone stemmed from the fact that Falcon, while being interviewed Thursday night by Wolf Blitzer, filling in for Larry King on "Larry King Live," had said he had been hiding because “we were doing it for a show.” And Richard’s indignation is tainted by his family’s participation in the reality show “Wife Swap,” which led many to suspect the family had developed an unhealthy addiction to publicity.

If the Heenes had been all over the news Thursday, begging for help and inviting sympathy, one might wonder if this weren’t some new media-derived strain of Munchausen by proxy. But that’s not what the nation saw. The nation saw, on every cable news network, endless replays of the latter stages of the balloon flight, caught by helicopter cameras, its landing and the discovery that the boy was nowhere inside.

Over and over, footage was replayed (as if somehow it would alter in repetition), interspersed with commentary from various balloon experts. At one point, CNN had the magic map involved, with volume-versus-mass equations going on. It was so absurd that at times Blitzer seemed almost unable to carry on; several times he hesitantly wondered if perhaps the boy wasn’t just hiding somewhere.

Blitzer, it seems, has actually met a 6-year-old boy, although he too joined the throng wondering if Falcon’s statement on “Larry King” was proof that the Heene family had staged the whole thing.
But even if it were a hoax, the crime was against all those involved in the search, not against the media that chose to follow the story so relentlessly even after it was clear there would be no money shot of Falcon emerging, unharmed, from the balloon. (Actually, that CNN and MSNBC aired real-time footage of the landing of a balloon, which might well contain the injured or dead boy, raises a few publicity-related questions as well.)

After that didn’t happen, the various anchors spent an hour speculating about an attached box that might have fallen with him in it. All of which they softened with occasional asides that they hoped the boy would be found safe somewhere.

When he was, the family was almost immediately accused of a hoax. Because of a comment made by a 6-year-old boy who was looking at Wolf Blitzer. Live.

Authorities are currently investigating whether the Heene family was involved in a hoax. If they were, that is certainly a story. But until that’s proved, maybe the media should back off just a little and not punish a family that may well have just survived the worst day of their lives. 

[Updated at 2:04 p.m.: We originally wrote that Larry King had interviewed Falcon on "Larry King Live." He was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on the program. We've changed the post to reflect that.]

— Mary McNamara

Photo: Six-year-old Falcon Heene is shown with his father, Richard, outside the family's home in Fort Collins, Colo. Credit: David Zalubowski / Associated Press

Comments

[Emma]

Wasn't the balloon being made for a show? So, maybe Falcon was saying he hid because he knew he was going to get in trouble for setting their prop "for the show" loose.

Also, I completely agree on having the media back the hell off. The poor family, poor kid! Stressed out to the point of vomiting? Twice? Yeesh.

I'm just glad Falcon is alive and well.

[Derek Martin]

I have been following this drama/show for (too) many hours now, but one thing that was posted by Joe | October 16, 2009 at 02:49 PM makes it all CLEAR:

The dad did not chase the balloon

These folks "slept with their clothes on " to chase storms, Richard pulled even the kids out of school to chase them...yet now they were comfortable in their own backyard, yapping with media and police instead of chasing that (too-small-to carry-any-payload) balloon, something I feel any parent who believed their child was floating away, would have done. I would have ran, swam, crawled, climbed as fast as I could keeping my child in view...

[tracy green]

THANK YOU for this article. This is, at heart, a story about a six year old kid.

When it comes to a kid, maybe the well known principle of Occam's Razor is most useful to keep in mind: By the theory of Occam's Razor: "When competing hypotheses are equal in other respects, this theory recommends selection of the one that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities... while still sufficiently answering the question."

Occam's Razor seems to recommend that a six year old boy got scared and hid because his Dad got mad is the recommended answer.

[Martha Magruder]

I just wanted to say that I feel this is a big publicity stunt. Haven't they been on the Wife Swap show twice? Who really cares about this? I sure do not. I am tired of hearing about it. It is a family matter and lets keep it with the family as private business.

MM.

[Justin Maxwell]

Do the numbers:

1) The father built the craft
2) So the father did the calculations re the craft
3) The father knows the volume, unfilled weight, and lifting capacityof the craft
4) The fater KNOWS the craft is incapable of lifting a six-yr old
5) It's a hoax.

NB: A cylinder 20 ft diameter 8 ft height (much more than the disk shaped baloon) contains 500 sq of helium. According to

howstuffworks.com "how helium baloons work" thats a lifting capacity of 32 lb INCLUDING THE BALOON SKIN!

An average 6yr boy weighs in at around 50lb.

That the media aren't all over this angle shows how pittifully low even simple science has fallen in the public regard, even when it's a question possibly concerning a young boys life that has grabbed the attention of the nation.

[Laura James]

His boy has the swine flu.

Anyway, the explanation was that 30 media people were manipulating the boy to show where he hid in the attic. One of them media person had overstepped his bounds by manipulating his 6 year old son in the attic, to show where he hid. He then climbed up a joist with the camera rolling.

When interviewed on the Larry King show, this 6 year old was referring to that incident. He was not saying he was told to hide for a show, he was interviewed to show where he hid to a media man for the news, which he calls a show when cameras are around him.

That's it.

Its not a hoax.

[Greg Haye]

I can't believe people are still questioning whether this is a hoax or not. It's a DONE DEAL. Look at the facts...

1. At the press conference outside their house, the father opened by talking extensively about his invention and its intended use, even though this was mostly irrelevant (unless you wanted to get attention about your invention, that is).

2. The parents both react so surprised when Falcon says he heard them calling out his name. "You did?!" "You DID??!!". Why would they be surprised? They were SCREAMING his name in every corner of the house. They honestly didn't think he could HEAR them?! How big is this house?!!

3. The famous "You guys said we did this for the show" quote from the boy. That alone does it for me.

4. After this quote, the Mom says "No". 'No' what? Why would she say no about something she supposedly knows nothing about? Why didn't she - or the Dad - immediately ask what he was talking about? "What show, sweetheart?" would seem to be the natural response. Instead, they move on very quickly and try to change the subject.

5. When Wolf asks the Dad to ask what Falcon meant, he pauses for ages and asks "What were you doing in the attic?" That is not the question he said to ask! Then he asks what the question was, despite hearing it clearly the first time. Then he refuses to ask the question and instead accuses the media of trying to frame him!

6. From what I've read, this balloon could not have even taken off with the weight of the boy. And the Dad would most certainly have known that.

Now seriously, can anyone read the above and honestly say there is ANY doubt over this being a hoax?

[Donna]

When the boy wasn't in the balloon, my first thoughts were that he had let the balloon go and went to hide somewhere because he knew he'd done something wrong. Why? Because when I was that age I was playing with my parents' radio and broke the antenna. Fearful of getting in trouble, I went and hid in some bushes in the back yard. I stayed there through dinner, through the people (including police) coming and going and throughout the night as the entire town was searched. Finally, I hid in our car and fell asleep and was eventually found in the morning.

[John Lennon]

I'm not so sure fame is a good thing.

[Toby]

If it's not a hoax, then the parents need to be investigated by Protective Services for Child Endangerment.

The only "feel good" thing about this story is a child did not get hurt. The rest is parenting at it's worst. Vanity at the sake of their children's health.

Think "Jon and Kate Plus 8 chasing Tornados"....

We can call them Sci-5.

[June]

I think the local media station that promoted this story should be investigated. The balloon craft in question would not have been capable of lifting the child in question to the altitudes it reached. There would also probably not enough room for the child since the compartment only looked large enough to be a tie off area for the balloon itself. I think the whole story is a fraud.

[AEvangelista]

This was clearly a hoax dreamed up by the nutcase father. He built a balloon shaped like a UFO and he wanted everyone to see it. He got what he wanted. Now he should pay for it.

[Laura Lee]

Why isn't anyone questioning the media culture that has to follow a balloon in the sky and breathlessly report on events before it stops to gather the facts? If it is a hoax-- shame on the reporters.

[studenlawyer]

If this incident was not a hoax, then the analysis. Parents are extremely irresponsible. That helium filled balloon would kill anyone who enters it. It has high voltage gadget is a hazard to kids. They were not protecting the kids by that opportunity to get airborne in that craft. The child would have died by the lack of oxygen at 7000 feet and or the cold. Plus the fear of the height maybe a heart attack. Then that craft would have disintegrate and Falcon would have crashed to earth. These parents are immature, abusive, neglectful and abandoning their kids. Not only in this incident but their storm chasing with kids in tow and other dangerous activities they conduct. Finally their experiments are outside of science because they have no training or science education. They asserted that the craft would hover at 50 to 100 feet it soared to 7000 feet and they do not understand helium's capacity for elevations.

[Tom]

When the kid was interviewed and asked where he'd been he said he was in a box in the attic in the garage playing with his toys and later taking a nap. The Sheriff, when asked, said that the garage attic hadn't been searched because there was no way for a six year old to climb up there. How did he get up into the attic? His father hoisted him up or used a ladder then put it away somewhere. Why does the boy have toys in a BIG box in the garage attic if he can't get up there? Maybe he's hidden there before and keeps toys in a box in the attic to entertain himself but if that's the case you'd think the parents would have looked there. It must have been a LARGE box for him to get into and have enough room to play with his toys and then take a nap. How did he get down and walk into the house unnoticed by everyone gathered around, causing his mother to scream with shock? And what a coincidence that he came down shortly after the balloon landed, not before and not long after. On the other hand, if I was that kid I'd hide from my folks too, what a bunch of loons.

You'll think I'm over the top but I wouldn't be surprised if the parents slipped him a Micky, something innocent like Benadryl. Also, why did Mom happen to have a Tupperware container with her when they went on TV? You would think that if the parents thought the kid might vomit they would have kept him out of the limelight. Syrup of Ipecac?

I watched the episodes of "Wife Swap" on the net and it was very instructive; the kids are little anarchists and not only allowed to be but actually encouraged to, doing things like flipping off the camera and having to have their words bleeped. The husband is shown as being incredibly abusive toward the "swapped" wife. They are all bouncing off the walls. If ever there was an argument for physchotropic drugs these kids and their dad make it. He is the poster boy for ADHD, incredibly narccisistic (sp.?) and egotistical. This family needs an intervention big time.

[lbj]

"...and repeated assertions by the professionals WHO WERE THERE that it's their professional opinion that this is not a hoax. " - try again, Kija. This WAS a hoax. SHame on the media who bit it hook, line and sinker and shame on those that were defending this creton and his sorry family.