Posted on 10/15/2009 11:45:55 AM PDT by Arec Barrwin
Rescuers are tracking and chasing a "homemade flying saucer" that is in flight with a 6-year-old, by himself, on board.
The incident started this morning in Fort Collins when the boy got into the balloon-like device, which was built by an adult, and it came loose from a tether, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
The contraption could rise as high as 10,000 feet, the sheriff's office said.
The home-made flying saucer was last seen in flight over Weld County.
The sheriff's office is working the Federal Aviation Administration to determine how to best get the boy down.
The homemade airplane was tethered in Fort Collins when the boy got onboard and it floated away. (Lisa Ecklund via 9News)
The six-year-old boy was by himself on board the hommade aircraft. (Courtesy Lisa Ecklund, via 9News)
The craft could fly as high as 10,000 feet, according to the Weld County Sheriff's Office. (Lisa Ecklund via 9News)
It’s hard to do when the thread is changing at about 20 posts/min. ;-)
This is really disappointing me.
I know these weirdos are just that, but really - why would you stage something like this?
Besides those few of us who watch WifeSwap, no-one knew who they were. This seems like a bizarre way to introduce yourself to the world - through pseudo-tragedy. Also, Richard’s “invention” ends up destroyed, so that’s pretty expensive.
I just don’t get it.
Maybe this isn’t all the story, though. There’s still a possibility it’s all honest and the kid was referring to something about the TV news people being there after they found him, etc.
Daddy likes to change the subject when asked why his son said “we did it for the show”. First, acting like he doesn’t know what Wolf is asking, then getting mad. Kind of a Robert Gibbs moment.
What I find most intriguing is that these people were worried in the first place. Right? I mean, they’re proud that they place their children in immediate harm’s way when they’re chasing friggin’ tornados! They place their kids’ lives at risk as a hobby!
These people are insane.
Just saw it.
Frankly, looks like I was wrong and it was a setup. I wanted to believe it was not and did all I could to believe this was real, but wow.
Um, that was very interesting.
It’s possible there could be some sort of misunderstanding there, but I doubt it.
In that case, they need to pay for the search.
I just heard the video driving home from work and was stunned, then mad. And just like any member of DU, daddy tries to deflect and change the subject...
I’m sorry for the family and steaming mad at the same time. All agencies and the TV networks need to get their expenses together and send them the bill.....
Its pretty clear the kid outed the parents. Watch the oldest boy’s reaction. They fidget as if on cue. Dad says ‘yea’ and mom says ‘NO’, then at the end when wolfie questions the dad about the comment, he gets upset and is “apalled”. Falcon just outed them and its pretty clear to see. Its sad and frankly criminal what the guy did. Police and others took risks and the guy filed a false report with the FAA, which is a crime. They should be made to pay every penny to everyone who helped in the search and rescue efforts, and be forced to make a public apology to the millions of people who were genuinely concerned and horrified and wishing for the boy’s safety. This stuff isnt funny really, when you think about it. I feel bad for those kids the most with the whack job parents they have.
I’m sorry. God forgive me but they should have named that kid “Monkey” instead of “Falcon”.
One of the most fun things we kids do now when we’re all together is telling parents the things we did when younger that they didn’t know about! LOL We really didn’t do anything terrible, but the stories of the dare-devil things we did an such are enough to make my mom and dad happy they prayed daily for the angels to watch over us! LOL
But I did promise myself that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I will be coming back sterile..
I watched the videos. They need to pay up for this stunt. When one considers that they didn’t call 911, but a news copters... and with the kid saying they did it for the show... one can’t be faulted for concluding that this was a total setup.
This certainly sounds very bad.
I had actually thought that we were most likely going to hear some very bad news.
We had one kid who insisted that Falcon took off in the balloon. And Falcon was missing for HOURS. I personally didn’t feel that a 6-year-old kid would stay hidden somewhere for that long. An hour, maybe. SEVERAL hours? Didn’t seem likely to me. But of course kids are different.
Anyway, I had decided that the most likely scenario was that the child had gone up with the balloon and then fallen out before the cameras arrived, but after it was close enough for him to be found at home (which also meant it would’ve been high enough when he fell out to most likely be lethal).
So I was a bit surprised to find that he was in a box in the attic.
It’s possible there could be some misunderstanding here, but I’m finding it a bit hard to figure out what Falcon could’ve meant except what it sounds like he meant.
“You guys said that we did this for the show.”
LOL. Incredible.
The family needs to make a donation to FR for all our worrying and prayers... :) Even though the prayers were answered.
kids make up stories to fit what they think others want them to say.
I’m convinced that the Lord answered my prayers for Falcon’s safety, before I knew Falcon was in danger!
So, what was the weight of the balloon?
More than 50 lbs. Especially with a plywood pod...
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Working from basic principles, the above are my calculations. I used 6m diameter and 1m height. I cheated and used the pilot's calculator http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_da.htm to get the relative density. Density of air at STP is 1.225kg/m3 as state there. The Helium mass I calculated as 4/((0.79*28)+(0.21*32)) using simply O2 and N2 dry atmosphere.
At 70F, and 6000ft, a craft of 28cu.m. volume will lift a bit over 50 pounds. Heavy weight mylar weighs on the order of 8pounds/500sq.ft.; light mylar less than half that. I have no idea of the remaining structure. I'm not sure whether stiff material, or simply mylar baffles connecting top to bottom surfaces that gave the structure. I doubt anyone else here knows, either.
the OlLine Rebel and spunkets may be much more accurate with estimates of the height being 5', from the appearance aloft. It is very tough to know the actual volume of He though given this shape and structure.
No matter how anyone complains, this is close enough to being able to lift a 40 pound 6-year-old at even at this altitude and temperature --- it is too close to ignore the possibility that the child was aboard it. I believe that my volume guess is within 25%, and low. Any so called balloon "experts" who don't have details of the construction of this craft and its weight are wrong to state this clearly could not lift the child. The numbers are just too close to make such a certain statement when there might have been a kid up there flying having either the time of his life or the fright of his life.
NO ONE claimed that this could lift the CHILD to 15,000ft, by the way... that was the max altitude (MSL) that might be achieved empty and with the maximum He load, as I understood the myriad of poor reporting to mean. That could be quite accurate. How high it would top out at is very dependent on the volume and the weight of the entire craft and especially the temperature of the air.
PS: I used the reports of "20ft diameter" and the diagram posted a couple hours ago by LadyJag to estimate the size of the craft, and I didn't "tweak" my estimates "to make it come out" but instead used my first and conservative measures for the calculation I made. I do apologize for saying earlier that it was "easily able" to lift the child much earlier in the thread. I had neglected the 20% lower buoyancy due to the 6000' altitude when I made that statement.
PPS: I apologize for the many-digit calculations. I just copied the whole spreadsheet table I used here. I don't claim this should be considered any more accurate than to say the lifting power of the craft was clearly close enough to the child's weight to be a concern.
My brother & I did that also. We went back up the same way we went down. lmao, sure brings back memories.
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