Posted on 10/17/2009 5:10:15 PM PDT by GoldStandard
A man who claims he once worked for Richard Heene says Heene was obsessed with becoming famous, wanted to get his own show, and had an idea for a massive media stunt that involved a "weather balloon" that "resembles a UFO." Sound familiar?
Robert Thomas claims, in an interview with Gawker, that Heene believed such a stunt would "be the most significant UFO-related news event to take place since the Roswell Crash of 1947."
Thomas said Heene was "driven by ego and fame" after appearing on "Wife Swap." He says Heene's idea for a show was something like "'MythBusters'-meets-mad scientist."
Thomas says he worked for Heene from March through May 2009.
(Excerpt) Read more at tmz.com ...
Your 15 minutes is up. Crawl back under your rock.
The guy reporting the “hoax” took money for his story.
It’s like a web of crackpots, so who are you going to believe?
The plot thickens.
“It’s like a web of crackpots, so who are you going to believe?”
The kid who said it was for the show....
“It’s like a web of crackpots, so who are you going to believe?”
The kid who said it was for the show....
Tin foil hat until you see the Anita Dunn video.
If you look at that balloon he launched there was no way he could have thought his son was on it, there was no “cockpit”, there would have had to have been a huge tear in it for even a 6 year old to get inside it. It wouldn’t have flown, it would have taken a LOT more helium to get that airborne with a 6 year old in it.
It’s so obvious when you see him and his wife launch it, no way could he believe that his kid was in it. His kid is in that tiny little bottom part and he doesn’t notice any extra weight? No break in the seal of the little bottom part? No movement of sound from his kid hiding in the little portion? The guy is a total loon and there is no way he believed his kid was in there. He and his wife met at acting school, he was WAY, WAY, WAY, over the top in “Wife Swap”, either he was acting, or he’s insane. Maybe a little of both.
ping
When I was in high school my cousin and I filled up a 4 ft weather balloon with hydrogen and air. We tied a number of items to it: an audio amplifier that emitted a nice feedback squeel, a timer and flashbulb, a flashing light and a fuse. We set it up so that it didn’t rise too quickly (almost neutral) and released it at night from the roof of my parents’ house. The sequence was, initially the feedback squeel and flashing light. Then the timer went off and fired the flashbulb. Very quickly after that the fuse got to the balloon and it blew up with a nice report.
We heard a few cars slamming on their brakes but we didn’t get any notice in the local paper. (Oh - for safety the payload was attached to a parachute.)
1. I see no way to get in the balloon
2. There is no way it had enough lift, and I am sure the father knew that.
3. There was no frame to hold any weight, and I am sure the father knew that.
Anyone who knew anything about that balloon would know there is no way that anyone could have been in there.
he intentionally farted on national TV...and even lifted his leg to do it...perhaps he has some sort of mental disorder craving attention...kind of like Obama.
It’s all part of him wanting his own reality show. He layed it on super thick on wife swap, he wants to be a “character”. He also has been peddling his him and his family for a reality show, unsuccessfully.
I’m sure he thought this stunt would put him over the top as the wacky-psyientist (his spelling) Dad and his amazing family of cursing, burping, and farting kids at the dinner table.
” If you look at that balloon he launched there was no way he could have thought his son was on it, there was no “cockpit”, there would have had to have been a huge tear in it for even a 6 year old to get inside it. ‘
Bingo.
I think I’m sick of this story. . . upon further consideration I’m sure I am. Don’t like being suckered.
That part of Robert Thomas' story rings true.
Secondly, Falcon supposedly hid in that attic in the garage. I've spent a lot of time in his garage, which has a drill press and various welding tools. It's unorganized and chaotic. There's really not so much an attic as some support beams connected with plywood. Being an adult of average height, I couldn't get up into the attic if I'd wanted to, so I don't know how a six-year-old child could have gotten up there. There's not an easy way to access that overhang. Maybe if I'd lifted that child up into the attic, he might have been able to rest up there, but not comfortably.
That doesn't necessarily ring true after seeing Falcon show a news crew the way into the attic.
Any tear in that mylar balloon that allowed a 6 year old to get in it would have rendered it useless too. We’re supposed to believe the kid got in the helium balloon, which would have rendered it useless AND the weight of the kid, and it still flew???? If he sealed a 20 pound rock inside that little cockpit, it wouldn’t have flown, the helium filled top portion would have likely needed to be 5-6 times the size, easily. For a 6 year old, probably at least 10 times the size of his helium filled “UFO”.
This guy needs to confess already, his story goes beyond any and all logic.
I heard the wife’s 911 call too, she said the “UFO” was in the air 20 minutes, it took her 20 minutes to call 911? The whole thing was poorly planned.
That's not true. The bottom portion was separate from the helium filled balloon part and had a hatch for putting equipment in.
I heard the wife’s 911 call too, she said the “UFO” was in the air 20 minutes, it took her 20 minutes to call 911? The whole thing was poorly planned.
If their story is true then it is not odd at all. There had to be time for the two older brothers to tell mom and dad that Falcon crawled in it. Then they would question them strongly to see if they were kidding. Then maybe a bit of a search around to see if he was hiding. Would you call out half the state before doing a little verification of two kid's story?
Sounds like the plan was for a UFO hoax and then for whatever reason, they went with the kid in the balloon hoax instead. Maybe because they figured out it would get a lot more national attention.
That bottom portion was pretty small, even for a 6 year old, theoretically if he was in there, we would have seen some sag or ANY type of movement from that tiny confined space. He would have been smushed in that little part, no way that you couldn’t tell. No way that thing lifts off with a 6 year old in it and the “father” knows that.
after seeing the father on Wife Swap, which i had seen just the day before the balloon incident, i assumed it was all a stunt to get him some attention... i believe he set it up... he's a jerk...
watch ths family on Wife Swap... you will likely come away believing they planned it all...
Those are different issues aren’t they?
I was only speaking to one specific speculation.
I agree with your observations.
What’s puzzling is why the spokesman for the Sheriff’s Dept doesn’t seem to be bothered by the obvious discrepancies.completely
Yes, kind of. It’s just that there’s so many “holes” in this story that a 6 year old, unnoticed gets in the balloon, says nothing while “Dad” is filling the balloon and launching it. The size of the small bottom portion and the size of the kid, never noticing the added weight....I could go on, but it defies all logic that he actually thought his kid was in that thing.
well, okay...
I think it would have looked a lot different if it had been carrying 50 lb.s but I don't know if that guy would have known that or not. I don't think he had ever flown it before. If your other two boys were swearing up and down that lil bro got in it you might forget all common sense. Which Richard seems a little short of.
LOL Thanks. ;-)
Fox News just announced that criminal charges WILL be filed. Looks like your hunches are going to be vindicated and I don’t disagree with them. Geraldo is going to cover it tonight if you can stomach that.
My guess is they are perfectly willing to sit back and let the family basically convict themselves with their own words, knowing that this is a family that thrives on media attention and will keep talking and keep increasing the odds of slipping up like the kid did in the first interview. Colombo would approve of this tactic.
Bringing in Geraldo for added credibility, that always works. In our current twisted America, I bet he eventually winds up with a reality show on MTV.
whoops, the first sentence should have been in italics from my previous post (to indicate it was a quote)
I think the Sheriff’s Dept. first instinct without knowing the background of these characters would be to think that no one is that TWISTED to pull this kind of stunt.
I don't doubt that this Heene guy gets a show out of this but he could be facing some really stiff penalties. The Larimer county sheriff's dept. won't be the only ones looking into this.
Three county's sherrifs departments went on full alert, the National Guard, two military helicopters from Buckley Air Base were sent out, the air space over DIA was put on alert and restricted and that's just what I heard the first day. That last would have to include attention from the FAA, the FBI and DHS. He is in deep deep doo doo.
” My guess is they are perfectly willing to sit back and let the family basically convict themselves with their own words,..”
With the latest reporting that criminal charges are pending...your guess looks to be correct.
The home video clinched it for me.
True, though i think they probably had a good indication of what type of people they were dealing with pretty early on, even before the balloon deflated. But when you have a suspect who loves to talk, let him talk, let him think you’re not suspicious, let him think he is smart enough to fool you and everyone else, and sooner or later he’ll slip up. I think that’s what they were hoping for here and it looks like it worked.
IMO the family sounds like a bunch of kooks. If they have to pay for this stunt then they better pray they get their show. If it was a stunt then I think they ought to pay. I know I wouldn’t watch this bunch of loonies. I’ve got enough of my own loonies to watch in my house lmao.
I listened to the 911 tape. I was not really convinced it was not faked.
The bill will be in the 100s of k’s. That is a lot of money for an out of work construction worker.
From the image I estimate 4' diameter, maybe slightly less than 2' high. Plenty of room for a 6 year old.
If the base floor was 10mm plywood it wouldn't sag (although I would expect some indication of load where it attaches to the balloon - that wasn't there)_
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