‘Balloon boy’ family appeared on Wife Swap
The Colorado boy who caused a media frenzy after fears he had been carried by a makeshift helium balloon, had appeared with his family on Wife Swap.
- Published by David Knox
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6 year old Falcon Heene, the boy from Colorado who today was found alive after fears he had been stuck in a home-made helium balloon, appeared on an episode of the US Wife Swap series and a follow-up reunion.
Falcon, 6, is the son of Richard and Mayumi Heene. His father Richard is a storm chaser and scientist. According to tv.com, the family was known for their risk taking. An LA Times articles noted, “The Heene family, with its three rowdy boys, is anchored by father Richard, whose anger arrives in sudden bolts between his fringe science projects.”
The family even go as far as to sleep in their clothes so they can leap from bed and run after a storm.
The woman who ‘swapped’ into the Heene family for two weeks for the reality series recalled rambunctious boys, who loved to please their father.
The home-made craft drifted for almost three hours and 80 kilometres across Colorado before landing in a field. The National Guard deployed helicopters and Denver airport delayed flights thinking Heene was in the balloon.
He was later found to be hiding in the attic of the family home.
Update: There are now some questions about whether the incident was a hoax after the boy said “we did it for the show” during a television interview with the family for CNN.
Source: Huffington Post
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12 Responses
The international media attention that has resulted form this “haox” or “publicity stunt” is absolutely insulting … they all fell for it an made it far bigger than it should ever have been …
Jack!
a blatant stunt and the annoying thing is that they are getting the media attention they want it has been on the news tongiht and is on aca like tasmanian devil has said only in america i wish it had stayed in america
Only in America.
set up!
Yeah I have to say I was more concerned with him asphyxiating or freezing up there than I was of the impact. Geez it would have been cool to see him jump out of the thing after it gently floated down to earth though. Would have been the miracle story of the year just about 😉
@Julie – good point and the ‘basket’ was not a basket it was the bottom of the balloon, being filled with helium filled one small hole and it would empty in seconds so there is no way he could have got inside it!
I guess Falcon has had his wings clipped by now?
ITA this is sounding more like a stunt but that won’t stop them showing up on talk shows, who bets they will be on Ellen next week?
Anything for media attention?????
Jack!
Obviously no watched the Mythbuster’s episode back in 2004 where they tried to find out how many balloons it would take to lift a 20kg (40lb) child off the ground. Even though they used helium filled party balloons, it still took approx. 3500 of those to get the child only 2 to 3 feet off the ground – the mass alone would have been a lot more than the weather ballon that the boy was supposedly in.
Definitely some sort of stunt by the boy or his parents.
Is there a family left in the USA that doesn’t have at least one member that has appeared in a reality show?
This story sounds a little suss. These days, you can’t rule this out as a publicity stunt.
Check at 40 seconds: Balloon Boy: I Heard Mom & Dad Call My Name, But Stayed In Garage! on YouTube. Looks like the parents may well have set this up for more media attention.