6-year-old Colorado boy floats away in balloon

GODDESS6 · #1 10-15-2009, 02:29 PM

anyone that can turn on cnn do so~

i am saying a prayer for that poor boy & his family~

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/15/col...oon/index.html

CNN) -- Officials are trying to rescue a 6-year-old boy who climbed into a balloon-like experimental aircraft built by his parents and floated into the sky over eastern Colorado.

The aluminum-covered, dome-shaped balloon is 20 feet long and 5 feet high, Larimer County Sheriff's Office says.

Margie Martinez of the Weld County Sheriff's Office said a sibling saw the boy climb into the basket before the balloon took off. Since the door on the balloon was unlocked, Martinez said it's possible the boy had fallen out.

The balloon appeared to be a saucer-shaped, Mylar-coated helium balloon, not unlike a party balloon. The craft was drifting eastward, authorities said.

The helium balloon was tethered to the boy's family home in Fort Collins, the Larimer County Sheriff's Department said. The boy got into the craft Thursday morning and undid the rope anchoring it.

The aluminum-covered, dome-shaped balloon is 20 feet long and 5 feet high, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office said. Watch the balloon float thousands of feet over Colorado »

"The structure at the bottom of the balloon that the boy is in is made of extremely thin plywood and won't withstand any kind of a crash at all," said Erik Nilsson, Larimer County Emergency Manager, according to CNN affiliate KMGH.

KUSA: Officials trying to rescue child from experimental aircraft
KGMH: Frantic Search Under Way To Find Boy
The Federal Aviation Administration is trying to track the aircraft on radar and has notified the Denver International Airport. Shortly after noon (2 p.m. ET), the balloon was sighted two miles south of Evans.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers estimated the wind would keep the vessel moving at 30 mph. Authorities say the craft is about 7,000 feet above the ground.

Kathy Davis, spokeswoman for the sheriff's department, said a dispatcher received a call Thursday morning, and emergency services personnel were contacted.

Davis said a balloon company had been contacted and several media outlets offered to help track the balloon with their helicopters.

The family has described the structure as a a dome-shaped "homemade flying saucer," Larimer County Sheriff's Office Spokeswoman Kathy Davis said.

"We're trying to determine the best course of action," Davis said. "This is a first and we'll do what we need to do."

GODDESS6 · #2 10-15-2009, 02:39 PM

it just made a soft landing in a farm field some 80 miles from where it took off, no word on the boy~ here's to hoping he's fine & just had the ride of his life~

GODDESS6 · #3 10-15-2009, 02:41 PM

they are now saying, the boy is not in the balloon~ his name is falcon & his family were recently was on the show 'wife swap'~

my god~

estranged4life · #4 10-15-2009, 03:22 PM

this is so bizarre.

LukeA · #5 10-15-2009, 03:58 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBWJXXgaYBo

How bizarre.

GODDESS6 · #6 10-15-2009, 04:02 PM

i have been watching it live~ now they are saying the father said there was some sort of box attached to the bottom of this balloon that is no longer there~ going along w/ reports that someone saw something fall from the balloon~

scary stuff~

i just hoped, that maybe he untethered the thing & got scared & is hiding~ but so far a ground search has turned up nadda~

here's a pic of the boy & family~

http://www.tmz.com/2009/10/15/balloo...ene-wife-swap/

GODDESS6 · #7 10-15-2009, 05:09 PM

reports just coming in, that the boy falcon is alive & home~

LukeA · #8 10-15-2009, 05:12 PM

I'm hoping this wasn't just all a publicity stunt (a theory that's being floated out there- no pun intended- right now)

GODDESS6 · #9 10-15-2009, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeA

I'm hoping this wasn't just all a publicity stunt (a theory that's being floated out there- no pun intended- right now)

they said he was hiding in a box in the attic of the garage~ omg, he is lucky & gonna be in big trouble i suspect~

FMlex · #10 10-15-2009, 05:22 PM

What a total yahoo.

He was at home the whole time??
Wow, thanks a lot, kid.

LikeAWillow · #11 10-15-2009, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeA

I'm hoping this wasn't just all a publicity stunt (a theory that's being floated out there- no pun intended- right now)

After watching the video you posted, I can't imagine it's not.

GODDESS6 · #12 10-15-2009, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FMlex

What a total yahoo.

He was at home the whole time??
Wow, thanks a lot, kid.

& i'm sorry, i see why there was so much urgency to try to help if this boy was truly in this balloon, but why wait so long to check this attic?, i mean this isn't the 1st time a kid has been reported missing & was just hiding out to avoid trouble~

i am glad he is ok, that is the main thing~ but my god what a fiasco he caused all by a little lie~

Ghost_Tracker · #13 10-15-2009, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GODDESS6

& i'm sorry, i see why there was so much urgency to try to help if this boy was truly in this balloon, but why wait so long to check this attic?, i mean this isn't the 1st time a kid has been reported missing & was just hiding out to avoid trouble~

~

I can sorta see that but in my opinion its a "hindsight is 20/20" sort of thing. Looking back - - Of COURSE he was in the attic! When it actually happens - "OH MY GOD MY SIX-YEAR-OLD KID'S IN A BALLOON ALL BY HIMSELF!"

Not, "OH MY GOD MY SIX-YEAR-OLD KID'S IN A BALLOON ALL BY HIMSELF - - - wait - let's check the attic!"

GODDESS6 · #14 10-16-2009, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost_Tracker

I can sorta see that but in my opinion its a "hindsight is 20/20" sort of thing. Looking back - - Of COURSE he was in the attic! When it actually happens - "OH MY GOD MY SIX-YEAR-OLD KID'S IN A BALLON ALL BY HIMSELF!"

Not, "OH MY GOD MY SIX-YEAR-OLD KID'S IN A BALLOON ALL BY HIMSELF - - - wait - let's check the attic!"

i hear that~ but the news was reporting no one check it at all until he was found~ i mean there were so many people searching everywhere for him, in the air & on the ground, i would just think one of them might have checked there~ i am just glad he is ok & it is a happy ending~

GODDESS6 · #15 10-16-2009, 05:46 AM

now maybe my comments don't seem so silly, check this out:

very interesting, they lied?~

Balloon Boy Busts Parents

http://www.tmz.com/2009/10/15/balloo...blitzer-video/

Falcon Heene and his family were just on Larry King Live -- where he suggested his family set up the entire "boy trapped in a flying balloon" story, saying "You guys said that we did this for the show."

His father responded by saying "Man," his mom adding "No."

Wolf Blitzer didn't hear what the boy said and moved on to the next question.

The family appeared on the ABC show "Wife Swap" back in March

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2009/10/15/balloo...#ixzz0U5uYWkF4