October 17, 2009

Was "Balloon Boy" a hoax?

Read this piece in the (otherwise decidedly b-side) USA Today about the boy who seemingly took off in a weather balloon to the terror or an entire nation.

Two points of note: First, when the baloon touched down miles away from where it took off and was intercepted by helicopters and emergency rescue vehicles, authorities found it empty. People immediately feared that he had fallen out somewhere along the balloon's path. But before long, the boy, Falcon (age 6), was found hiding in the garage, apparently fearful that his dad would be angry at him for releasing the balloon. This eccentric family of self-proclaimed science nerds (the Heenes) had a history of pursuing reality TV show contracts and participated on "Wife Swap." However, this fact and the possibility that this bizarre event was all part of some media attention blitz would have not been raised had it not been for a single comment made by Falcon during a news interview:
Doubts over the Heene's story surfaced after a CNN interview in which Falcon told his parents "you said we did this for a show" after his father asked why he did not come down from the rafters during the search Thursday.
It seems like young Falcon let the real story slip and now everyone is laser locked on the story. Better keep it straight! When will the second shoe drop?

Second, and also noteworthy:
The family made the rounds on morning talk shows Friday, and Falcon threw up during two separate interviews when asked why he hid.

3 comments:

  1. The parents are insane to do this hoax!!!

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  2. Its very clear this family is fond of being on T.V since they also appeared on 'Wife Swap' It's all for attention. The media isnt helping by doing 24/7 posts about it. People do stupid things, its unforunatley apart of our human nature.

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  3. Anonymous1:31 AM

    Well, we all know USA Today is the newspaper of the American lumpenproletariat. But setting that aside, it's pretty clear that the dad is less a 'scientist' of any stripe than a mentally unhinged, abusive publicity-whoring freak.

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