US runaway balloon lands in field

A helium balloon which was floating over the US state of Colorado with a six-year-old boy reportedly inside has landed, in a drama broadcast on TV.
The mushroom-shaped silver balloon, apparently made by the boy's father, reportedly reached heights of 7,000ft.
The balloon was floating about 40 miles north of Denver as officials sought to work out a rescue plan.
It came down surrounded by rescue vehicles. It remains unclear whether the boy is inside the aircraft.
Earlier, Larimer County sheriff's office spokeswoman Cathy Davis told reporters earlier the balloon was owned by the boy's parents and tethered in the back garden of their home.
She said two sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one climb in and the balloon fly away.
Live footage of the balloon, which was being tracked by media helicopters, showed it soaring high above the ground.
It has not been independently confirmed that the child is inside the balloon but he is believed to have climbed in through an access door.

"The bottom of (the balloon) is contained and hasn't been breached," Eloise Campanella of Larimer County Sheriff's Department told CNN shortly after the balloon landed.

"So at this point we are thinking he did not fall out of it. He has to be somewhere on the ground near his home."

The father of a boy thought to have been carried away by a helium balloon before being found at home has repeated denials that the incident was a hoax.
Richard Heene told US TV networks that the disappearance of his son Falcon, six, was not staged. Police say they intend to re-interview the family.
Falcon aroused suspicions by saying on air he had stayed hidden as his parents "said that we did this for a show".
Richard Heene and his wife previously appeared on reality TV show Wife Swap.
TV network ABC described them as a "storm-chasing, science-obsessed family".

beer monkey wrote:publicity stunt...

Larimer County Sheriff says charges likely in "balloon boy" incident


Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden indicated tonight criminal charges probably will be filed against one or both of the parents whose son was said to be aboard a wayward balloon.

Alderden said, given the seriousness of the incident, he is consulting with the Federal Aviation Administration and other federal agencies regarding potential federal charges.
The sheriff's office is obtaining a search warrant for the Heene home.

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20091 ... ++incident

XXXXXwrote:
This whole farce, in and of itself, smacks of suspicion of a conspiracy cover-up. Is it true that the Heenes are good friends of the Obamas? Is this balloon-boy-boondoogle an orchestrated diversion to keep we-the-wee-people from questioning our corrupt, fraudulent government about why they continue to launder our money through the banks and insurance industries; about why they've sold our children and grandchildren's future to China. Perhaps Mr. Heene is merely trying to secure a Nobel Prize in Physics.
10/17/2009 9:40:33 PM