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Guy Claims He Helped Plan Balloon Boy Hoax
TMZ ^ | 10/17/2009

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 ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: chat; falconheene; hoax; scam
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1 posted on 10/17/2009 5:10:15 PM PDT by GoldStandard
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To: GoldStandard

Your 15 minutes is up. Crawl back under your rock.


2 posted on 10/17/2009 5:16:07 PM PDT by taillightchaser (When a democrat says "The American people" you know the next words out of his mouth will be lies.)
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To: GoldStandard

The guy reporting the “hoax” took money for his story.
It’s like a web of crackpots, so who are you going to believe?


3 posted on 10/17/2009 5:16:16 PM PDT by CaptainK (...please make it stop. Shake a can of pennies at it.)
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To: GoldStandard

The plot thickens.


4 posted on 10/17/2009 5:16:54 PM PDT by vladimir998
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To: CaptainK

“It’s like a web of crackpots, so who are you going to believe?”

The kid who said it was for the show....


5 posted on 10/17/2009 5:19:42 PM PDT by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and HAVE DOOMED us for a generation or more.)
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To: CaptainK

“It’s like a web of crackpots, so who are you going to believe?”

The kid who said it was for the show....


6 posted on 10/17/2009 5:20:13 PM PDT by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and HAVE DOOMED us for a generation or more.)
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To: GoldStandard; pandoraou812
But he was motivated by theories I thought were far-fetched. Like Reptilians — the idea there are alien beings that walk among us and are shape shifters, able to resemble human beings and running the upper echelon of our government.

Tin foil hat until you see the Anita Dunn video.

7 posted on 10/17/2009 5:21:24 PM PDT by TigersEye (Imagine the uproar when people imagine what Rush says?)
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To: GoldStandard

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.


8 posted on 10/17/2009 5:21:41 PM PDT by word_warrior_bob (You can now see my amazing doggie and new puppy on my homepage!! Come say hello to Jake & Sonny)
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To: latina4dubya

ping


9 posted on 10/17/2009 5:22:27 PM PDT by scripter ("You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." - C.S. Lewis)
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To: GoldStandard

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.)


10 posted on 10/17/2009 5:23:35 PM PDT by NewHampshireDuo
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To: CaptainK
The guy reporting the “hoax” took money for his story. It’s like a web of crackpots, so who are you going to believe?

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.

11 posted on 10/17/2009 5:25:28 PM PDT by Always Right
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To: Always Right
Wouldn’t the planes that were following it have been able to figure out that there was no way a child could have been in the saucer?
12 posted on 10/17/2009 5:29:06 PM PDT by CaptainK (...please make it stop. Shake a can of pennies at it.)
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To: word_warrior_bob

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.


13 posted on 10/17/2009 5:29:35 PM PDT by RummyChick
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To: RummyChick

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.


14 posted on 10/17/2009 5:36:31 PM PDT by word_warrior_bob (You can now see my amazing doggie and new puppy on my homepage!! Come say hello to Jake & Sonny)
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To: word_warrior_bob

” 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.


15 posted on 10/17/2009 5:36:57 PM PDT by Wild Irish Rogue
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I think I’m sick of this story. . . upon further consideration I’m sure I am. Don’t like being suckered.


16 posted on 10/17/2009 5:38:13 PM PDT by Jenny217
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To: GoldStandard
Richard's story doesn't add up. He is saying he thought Falcon was in the balloon, and that Falcon ran and hid as a result of Richard yelling at him. I've spent a lot of time with them, and Falcon is, first of all, not afraid of his father. I've never once seen Richard's children afraid of him — and I've definitely never seen Falcon go hide. He was one of the most social of the three children.

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.

17 posted on 10/17/2009 5:45:49 PM PDT by TigersEye (Imagine the uproar when people imagine what Rush says?)
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To: Wild Irish Rogue

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.


18 posted on 10/17/2009 5:46:39 PM PDT by word_warrior_bob (You can now see my amazing doggie and new puppy on my homepage!! Come say hello to Jake & Sonny)
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To: word_warrior_bob
Any tear in that mylar balloon that allowed a 6 year old to get in it would have rendered it useless too.

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?

19 posted on 10/17/2009 5:52:23 PM PDT by TigersEye (Imagine the uproar when people imagine what Rush says?)
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To: GoldStandard

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.


20 posted on 10/17/2009 6:00:51 PM PDT by Kirkwood
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