Posted on 10/18/2009 12:22:05 PM PDT by nmh
Colorado Authorities: 'Balloon Boy' Flight 'Was a Stunt'
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden announced at a press conference on Sunday that Colorado authorities have ruled the "balloon boy's" flight a hoax.
"It has been determined that this is a hoax. We believe we have evidence at this point to indicate that this was a publicity stunt," Alderden told reporters.
Authorities believe the alleged plot was hatched in an attempt by the Heene family "to better market themselves for a reality show at some point in the future," Alderden said. "They were lying."
...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,568420,00.html
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
That lying is OKAY - especially if you can gain from it!
THROW THE BOOK AT DAD!
...
No charges have been filed yet, and neither Richard or Mayumi Heene are under arrest. Some of the most serious charges each carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Alderden said all three of the Heenes' sons knew of the balloon hoax, but likely won't face charges because of their ages. One of the boys told investigators he saw his brother get in the balloon's box before it launched.
Authorities believe the family planned the hoax for at least two weeks prior to Thursday's saga. "On the bizarre meter, this rates a 10," Alderden said.
Now the sheriff and his representatives should stop talking to the press. File charges, let Child Protective Services do their investigation, allow the wheat farmer to file a legal suit against Heene for loss and be done with this A$$HAT!!!
I don’t understand the attention this has garnered. I’m just a few miles from where this happened and when it came on the news everyone just stood, staring at the TV in rapt attention like mice staring at a snake.
Sad what people will do, just to get on a stupid reality(phony) TV show.
You gonna get in trouble for this brand of genius.
I’ll not say a word, just sit back and enjoy the show.
Ok..here is my take on this.
I didnt think it was a hoax when we all thought the kid was in the balloon.
Once we knew he was in the attic, I figured that to be very possible. I have a few 6 year old grandkids, and I could picture them hiding, when doing something bad.
Then the kid made the remark about “the show”. I still wasnt too sure they could take the word of a kid, who may have misunderstood something that was said.
Now, they say they have evidence. I now believe it was a hoax, BUT..............
Have they looked into this child, who could have possibly been drugged.
I say this because, I watched the child, at one of the first interviews. I am no doctor, but I have 13 grandkids, and this child looked hyper active to me. I noticed, he was fidgety and at one point ran away from the family and the mother went after him.
The day this story happened, and we learned he wasnt in the balloon, I really thought he might be dead. It was almost 5 hours into it and this kid didnt turn up..meaning to me, he wasnt hiding.
No kid, hyperactive or not..can stay still and hide for 5 hours. Even if he fell asleep. Kids do NOT nap for 5 hours. 2-3 hours tops, for a napping child and thats stretching it.
And all of this tv puking. They said he has asthma, which could cause a child to vomit..however, if you watched, he seemed very drowsey prior to getting sick.
I think someone should check into the reason WHY this kid stayed in that attic so long. It is NOT normal.
That lying is OKAY - especially if you can gain from it!
THROW THE BOOK AT DAD!
In America, any child can grow up to be president...
Well of course I was a little sarcastic. You are right.
It’s beyond bizarre. I don’t know anybody who would pretend their child is in grave danger — first there’s the basic dishonesty of it, but there’s also kind of a “be careful what you wish for” factor. These people are sick.
I read a big article by some guy who worked with Balloon Dad to churn out a reality series plot.
He said that this stunt was one of the many things they discussed. He also said, what with hanging around the Heene house, that Falcoln was a bit hyperactive and was NOT in anyway afraid of his father. Remember the father said that the boy hid because he (the father) yelled at him for fooling around with the balloon so he hid in the attic in fear.
However, in the WIFE SWAP series the father was characterized as having a very nasty temper and they do, for the most part and though much of it is scripted, they do try to keep to the personalities of the “stars”.
Also, the guy who worked with the Dad said that there is no easy way to get up into that garage “attic”, that it is only the ceiling beams covered with plywood...no stairs, nothing like that. My garage is the same way but a determined wiry little six year old COULD get up there by climbing here, there and everywhere.
So here’s what I think...I think that child threw up because he was very afraid of his father. In both cases of vomit it was when the little kid was asked about why he hid. I think his father did scare the dickens out of the kid by telling him NOT to mention anything about being told to hide.
I DO think the kid was up in the garage ceiling because they were looking all over for the kid and that garage area is not a place that anybody would look, at least not so soon. I don’t know who went looking for the kid but the parents HAD to hide him somewhere where people would likely not look...like under a bed.
I think the kid was told to go up in that garage area by his parents and he was told to keep quiet no matter how much anybody called him. As to whether he was drugged, I’d say possibly. The CPS people should get that kid away from those parents and give him a good physical then calm him down and get some answers out of him while his father’s not hovering over him.
Those people maybe should lose their kids, at least until they get some psychiatric help cause they both sound nuts.
“Some of the most serious charges each carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine.”
Circus trial to follow . . .
You are right, and, unfortunately, for a large part of the populace, lying is okay. The only thing bad is getting caught.
Heck, this father should run for office as a Democrat.
No kid, hyperactive or not..can stay still and hide for 5 hours.
Nully, you are a true comic genius.
I believe the article you mentioned is posted right above your post to me and I read it, after I posted here.
I believe this guy and what he believes to be true.
Ya know, it is very easy to drug a child. I have two daughters, then when young, would sleep for 4 hours, if I gave them benadryl. I had to think long and hard before giving this to them, if needed..since they would be down for the count.
Watching this little boy..and being very, very familiar with 6 year old boys, who are NOT hyper active, I think they gave him something. Little boys can not remain in a box in the attic for that amount of time, even if he did fear the father...which in this case, doesnt seem to be the case.
Somebody needs to look into that. I am sure that kid had to be on something, to knock him out, for all of those hours.
“Just what has DAD taught his kids with the LYING?
That lying is OKAY - especially if you can gain from it!
THROW THE BOOK AT DAD! In America, any child can grow up to be president...
“
And if his dad taught him to be a really good liar that child can grow up to be a Democratic President.”
If this was the case with you..its different.
You, on your own, had reason to be in the closet. You were frightened.
This kid is hyper active...he wasnt frightened. He didnt fear the father (as per the article, by the young man who knew the family, which has a link posted above, here).
The kid wouldnt stay quiet for 5 hours like that, without some help in the way of drugs.
I am not talking about serious drugs. In a post, here, I mentioned my daughters would sleep for 4 hours, if I had to give them benadryl for anything. You can buy that over the counter and if you ever gave it to your child, you would notice their reaction to it immediately. I know I did, and sometimes wouldnt give it to them, unless I felt what they needed it for, was worse than them sleeping that long.
I really think someone should look at the possibility that the child was given some type of med that would induce sleeping.
I was thinking of benedryl when I saw the little guy sleepy and puking. Poor kid.
They’re gonna’ get a reality show alright.... In the pokey.
[I think someone should check into the reason WHY this kid stayed in that attic so long. It is NOT normal.]
The child was not physically capable of getting down. The attic consisted of rafters and plywood. The child was not physically capable of getting up there by himself either. The parents are lucky he didn’t fall and hurt himself. They should be charged with child endangerment along with the other crimes.
[The kid wouldnt stay quiet for 5 hours like that, without some help in the way of drugs.]
That is a good point. how did this hyperactive, 6 year-old child keep so quiet.
Even if he couldnt get down..he wouldnt have stayed quiet..no matter who told him to. Little 6 year old boys are not made that way. They get scared, they cry..no way would that kid have shut up for 5 hours like that.
I am not saying this to be mean or malicious, I honestly and truly, as a grandma, think the kid was given something.
I guess your kids cant take benadryl either. It works for the itches..but, I know my girls would sleep as long as it was active in their system.
Also, I dont think a kid pukes like that over stress or fear of the father..even if the dad yelled at him for saying “the show” on national tv.
Before he puked..he kept putting his head down..it was moving the way ones head moves when they cant keep their eyes opened. He was definitely drowsy. I think he was on something then, too. Too bad nobody tested that puke, because i would bet money there was something in it.
Thats ok. My daughter was on some meds, that made her unable to sleep some nights. The doctor told me to give her two benadry. Two? LOL..one, was plenty.
But, thats what I mean. Whether a doctor told them at some point to give that to the kid..perhaps his hyperactivity caused him to lose sleep, or maybe the parents discovered this on their own (and it doesnt work that way for all children, it didnt make my son sleep, just my girls)...I think that kid was given something to keep him quiet for 5 hours.
Now, all the people who were so "concerned" about Balloon Boy are turning on the family like a mob with pitchforks. The overreaction has begun.
IMHO its ridiculous to talk about a felony prison rap for the dad or taking the kids away. Yes, he's a strange dude who has created a strange family. Yes, he was wrong. Yes, he deserves a misdemeanor conviction of false reporting and to pay a stiff fine. Yes, the family deserves some attention if not supervision by social services.
His little stunt has backfired, he is a public disgrace and laughingstock and he will never, ever, get another "reality" show. There is no need for overreaction, what this guy is going to get will be very suitable punishment.
There are a lot of details we don’t know at this point. We don’t know what he may or may not have had in the box to keep him busy or in the way of food, if anything. We don’t even know if he was in the box the whole time. Do we know if LE was in that part of the house the whole time?
You are right..we dont know all of the details.
If the kid wasnt in the attic all of that time..then fine.
If he was, then I hope LE looks into why he stayed up there quietly, for so long.
I would also question why he was drowsy on that tv show, during his puke episode. That is also not normal, even if the child didnt get a full nights sleep (which may have been the case since they were on tv). He just didnt look right to me.
I just hope they arent ignoring these things...and at least someone points them out to them.
Sometimes, cops wont see some of the things that moms, dads and grandparents see. Right now, the focus is on the parents and what they can charge them with. I hope some are at least paying attention to that kid and his odd behavior.
We live in a country where we sympathize families or children in distress.
The american people have big hearts and that day, in this forum, people were genuinely upset.
The man should be punished to the full extent of the law. This is why we HAVE laws..and if you let this guy go with a slap on the wrist, you open up the door for more nut jobbers.
Nobody wants him overly punished..but if his punishment means losing his children or going to jail..so be it. Before he planned this thing..he should have looked up what charges would be filed against him. Oh..he didnt do that? Did he think he would get away with it..especially knowing that he worked with some young man who was aware that he was planning a hoax of some kind?
The man is an idiot..he should get what he deserves. Nothing more..nothing less.
Child rearing just hasn't been the same since they banned Laudanum...
My point exactly.
Heck, the kids wouldn't even have to be raised in America...
LOL you dont need laudanum..benedryl will do the trick (sometimes).
I disagree. I do not think there is an overreaction at work here. When you look into that man’s eyes in the photos, there is nothing fatherly or loving...just plain nuts.
While jumping to conclusions is wrong. A long careful look at that family and the best interest of the kids is clearly the right thing to do. They gave up any rights to privacy when they wasted the hard earned dollars of so many on this scam. Hell, privacy seems to be the last thing they want...at least until the jig was up.
There have been so many times when people had a peek into the character of parents and failed to turn over the last stone and the kids have suffered, sometimes even paying with their lives. Wouldn’t it have been nice if Kaylee Anthony’s mom had been subjected to a little scrutiny a tad bit earlier? These kids are subjected to not one but two parents who think it is ok to drag a vomiting kid from interview to interview.
If I lived there, I would be livid thinking that my taxes would pay for his stunt. As a federal taxpayer, I am furious. His silly stunt tied up government resources and could have caused a major crisis if we were attacked (and with the idiot in chief, that’s quite possible).
Put mom and dad in jail.
It's a myth. Almost all the responders were on duty anyway. The National Guard commander said the chopper crews would be training anyway if they didn't respond to this. If there were additional costs incurred, such as people called in on a day off and paid overtime, then I think the family ought to be charged for that. But that number will be much less than LE is saying.
They routinely do this in these situations, overestimate the cost by including responders who are on salary and would be on duty anyway.
Fortunately, that isn't a crime. I've seen so many of that type the prisons wouldn't hold them all.
Sure, have the child welfare people look at that family to see if there is any abuse going on. But kids shouldn't be taken away from their family just because they have weird parents.
I've seen a number of these hoax's. What's going on here is people who became emotionally involved with this boy and family now feel that they've been made to look foolish and they are very, very angry about it. LE included.
My position is the punishment should be proportionate to the actual crime and not be meted out to satisfy our anger at these fools. I'm especially concerned that government doesn't take any action that damages the family and kids more than their weird dad has already given them a weird start in life.
};^P>
Everyone’s talking about whether or not the balloon would or would not have held a 30-40 lb. child, but NOBODY’S talking about the fact that the parents STAYED HOME during this ordeal. WHAT parent would have watched that balloon float away and stay home??? Watching that video of the balloon launching, the father seemed more angry that the balloon took off then terrified thinking his little boy was on it; instead of running after it to try to catch it, he just kicked at something on the ground. And, wouldn’t they have wanted to be there when it landed, to at least comfort the little boy? Instead, there were only strangers there; I’ve heard many people say they were out looking for the boy, and wanted to chase the balloon. WHERE were the parents?? And, for that reason alone, makes this a hoax. The parents KNEW that kid was NOT in the balloon.
On this point we can agree. I am just saying that an extemely odd parent presented himself in the media for all to see of his own free will. It is the duty of those in charge of child welfare to use that information to determine the safety of those kids.
As a conservative, I say live and let live and do not intrude. Intrusion is not necessary here. The whole world was invited into this family's life on more than one occasion. What was seen merits further investigation. If "weird" is all that is found, so be it. But my gut tells me that that the dad is not a good man.
Your point is a valid one, but it ignores what these folks would have been doing otherwise had they not been diverted to this, specifically the police and medical response, not so much the Guard, unless they weren't scheduled to be in the air that day.
These folks have a job that we deem important enough to pay them to be on duty, so when they have to do something else, aren't we losing something? Now in an actual emergency I'm more than happy to give up the officer I see driving though my neighborhood at night, but for this goober and his idiot tv show dream? Hell no.
Baloon mom and dad were real jerks on the wife swap show, total idiots.
Maybe not. We'll find out as more facts come out.
For sure he's a narcissist, and it's hard for them to make good parents.
No, I'm not ignoring that. I think this guy is guilty of false reporting, which is the crime intended to deter what you point out.
It's just that this sheriff is intent on charging him with felonies that do not fit this crime, like attempting to influence a public servant. I didn't even know that's a crime in this state, much less a felony. I have consistently opposed prosecutors overcharging cases, which IMHO is unethical.
They're supposed to be on these shows. Its obviously nurtured and encouraged. That's why I can't watch any of the reality shows out there. Its almost all Jerry Springer-lite, navel-gazing histrionics by perpetually adolescent wanna-be actors. Watching it is like seeing a couple fight in the grocery store, awkward and you feel a little ashamed to be seeing it.
I used to enjoy Monster House. Just a great show about contractors brought in to do some interesting things to a house to win some prizes. Then something obviously changed and suddenly the personality conflicts that were only hinted at (of course they were there) became plot lines in the show. Instead of the guys talking about his vision for turning the fireplace into a Hawaiian volcano god, I get to hear him express his feelings about being disrespected by the foreman when he was having a hissy fit, that we also got to see.
Right now I'm enjoying the heck out of Pawn Stars. The guys seem pretty comfortable in their skins and the focus of the show is the interesting facets of what gets bought and sold in a pawn store.
Baloon dad here is obviously Watch-my-hissy-fit type of wannabe.
I agree.
I agree with you...however, he should be treated within the law..for what he did.
And someone should make sure that nobody drugged that little child to keep him quiet for all of that time (if indeed he was really in the attic).
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