Fort Collins boy in loose aircraft (6 yr old boy found hiding at home not in balloon)

Denver Post ^ | October 15, 2009 | Kieran Nicholson

[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)

[Jewbacca]

Whichever one got in.

[GoldStandard]

Here are the three Henee boys rapping on YouTube. Family is messed up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBWJXXgaYBo

[Ramius]

LOL you were only off by 1000 :0)

Well, like I always say... if you're going to be wrong, be wrong enough to notice.

[abner]

A Fox producer called us and asked us about this. They are talking about sending a car out for us in the AM to be on Fox & Friends to discuss the whole thing.

[ETL]

RE: program "Wife Swap"

If you’re thinking that it is a sexual swap, it isn’t.

Lol! Yep, I thought it was something along those lines. I didn't realize it was a regular network program.

[ktscarlett66]

I know by this statement that you’ve never been introduced to my youngest son. He would so have been on/in a balloon. Especially one that actually rose up. When he was 8 he was devastated that he couldn’t go on a roller coaster (height). My older son wouldn’t go near them, the youngest drank milk by the gallon for a year hoping he’d be tall enough the following summer. He was and we couldn’t get him off the coasters. By the time he was 7, he’d had his forehead stitched 3x, for various attempts at flipping or flying. He’s 17 now, he’d like to do a parachute jump and bungee. He’s love to chase a storm.

I can’t see parents like this doing ‘something’ to one of their kids. Sounds like they’ve been pretty involved with their kids, even if we think chasing storms is screwy. The plywood bottom would certainly hold a 6 year old although it might not stay attached to the rest of the craft for long. I just hope the reports of something ‘falling out’ aren’t what they seem to be.

[Jewbacca]

Apparently this was a device to be used to investigate tornadoes.

[SE Mom]

I don’t know- the reporter didn’t say...

Now MSNBC saying there may be an update coming shortly- reporters in front of house speaking with authorities taking notes..

[dragnet2]

I don’t know....I kind of thought pony tails on men faded with the late 70s...

Bet money they know exactly where this, “missing” kid is right now...

[crusty old prospector]

And at a cost of $62 per thousand cubic feet, it was a pricey experiment.

[mentor2k]

" . . . agree the boy wasn't in there."

You mean the boy wasn't in there from the time we began seeing footage of the thing. Who knows if something dropped before any camera crew got ahold of it???

[goat granny]

Sounds about right...One time while having coffee at the neighbors, one of my son come and ask if they could go skinny dipping in the pool...We told them sure..(it was dark).when we got home they were skinny dipping with the lights on and jumping off the roof of the shed that had the filter in it....I'll bet a lot of neighbors got a laugh out of that....sad that today someone would have called police...

I still remind them about that and laugh...they are in their 40's and 50's....

[SE Mom]

News conf on MSNBC now in front of house- lost audio..

[abner]

At Albuquerque this year, when the gas balloon race was cancelled due to wind, it cost about 60K in helium and gas.

[AliVeritas]

Thanks.

MSNBC... yeech.

must... make... fingers... type... URL... dubya, dubya, dubya, colon..., ..., m..., s..., n backspace... argh, n..., b..., backspace...

Kidding.

[McGruff]

Rearing storm-geek kids

The Heenes take their sons on most of their missions.

“I think they really are having fun,” Mayumi Heene said. “They get so much more that they can't get from any other entertainment.”

The Heenes had a close call July 12 when they found themselves in the midst of a tornado in Buckeye.

“I think I have odd kids. They start screaming with excitement,” Richard Heene said.

The computer tracking system in the car ensures the family's safety by letting them know which direction the storm is headed, Richard Heene said.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13568617

[Jewbacca]

Why does Fox want to talk to you?

[TornadoAlley3]

Thanks, a ground search should have been done from the start.

[Boiler Plate]

Hmmm I read that it takes 4350 liters of helium to lift a pound. There's 28.5 liters per cubic foot or 152 cf to lift a pound. At 50 pounds (kid plus craft) that's 7600 cf that's a 20 foot cube. Plus we are at 5000 feet above sea level so it would be even more.

Again the fact that it was a flat shape points to the fact the kid was not in it.

[Doe Eyes]

I posed the question earlier: how/why on earth did the thing come to a sudden stop and just float?? My fear is it did so because it suddenly ‘lost weight’. I suspect it was the weight that kept it moving so fast.

How about it was due to much higher winds aloft than the wind at the surface level.