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)
Not everyone had undisciplined parents who had brains in neutral.
Don’t know but either way it’s near impossible without practice for a 6 year old to do something like this by himself. You could see the tethers in teh video. They weren’t made to be long enough to wrap to a pole then back to the center of the balloon so they could be centrally controlled. So as soon as one gets untied the thing goes sideways. They’d have to be untied at about the same time or it would go sideways and then he’d have to climb in with the balloon sideways and then somehow untie the other tether.
Just doesn’t sound plausible to me.
LOL, good point!
Someone pops off with the comment, "Was anyone in the balloon" and the guy 10 feet away says, "Oh my God, someone is in the balloon" and the next thing ya know, "A missing 6 year old in in the balloon." lol...
Normally I would be too but our systems crashed so I’m on the loose!
So per the guests on Neil- there have been TWO reports of something falling from balloon- once shortly after takeoff and again many miles away near Gilchrist, by a policeman.
>> Guest on Neil Cavuto has seen a photograph taken by a neighbor of the balloon shortly after it took off in which there appears to be a dark object falling out of the balloon - apparently within 50 ft of taking off. <<
Could have been his father’s storm chasing equipment. I am trying to remain positive.
Certainly a major factor. But a weight on board would have definitely moved the thing faster once it was up in the sky.
“Wasn’t anybody here a 6 year old at one time?”
Yes, and at Age 4 (and 3/4), I got ahold of my father’s M-16 (locked gun safe in locked closet), loaded it, and blew out the wall of the kitchen on full auto. (This was Israel in a “settlement,” mind you.)
Kids do amazingly stupid and dangerous things.
Fox 31 Denver - A basket that was attached to the balloon when it took off was missing when the balloon landed.
Local media gal just cracked me up... describing the balloon earlier in the morning as being fully enveloped in helium.
50ft of ground, or from anchor?
Either way, seems it’d be easy to find him. Unless he’s totally concious and running scared!
I don’t see anything wrong with a storm chasing hobby, but I grew up in the plains I guess.
Being dressed and ready is a bit weird, but not too crazy.
Here’s what I think:
Supposedly, the balloon was tethered in the family’s backyard. The neighbor reports that the two brothers were up on the roof with cameras and that they obviously believed that their brother was inside the balloon.
That sheds some light on this, I think. Maybe they talked their baby brother into the balloon, untied it, and got out their cameras to see what happened.
But we have no reports of dogs hounding along the flight path, scenting for a child who fell out?
Yep, I was telling my mom stories about us kids as youngsters and what we did while she and dad were at work and all she could say was “I didn’t know that.” and “I’m glad I didn’t find out.”
I did something similar when I was 5. My Mom still reminds me how much it scared her. I'm 50. :D
You make a lot of assumptions. Are you certian there wasn’t a breech or hole in the shell?
Yeah, the name *does* make it sound worse than it is! One of the few I’ve ever seen, a financially struggling black family swapped with an Asian/white Dr’s family. The one family was rich in love and sharing, the Dr’s family - well, mom was the stereotypical Dr’s wife. The first mom spent time putting together puzzles with the Dr’s kids and they were so in love with her because she simply spent time with them. When the Dr wanted to have a cookout, the ‘mom’ tried to plan it the way her family would, with everyone bringing a covered dish, making it a big friendly occasion. The Dr wouldn’t hear of it and was really rather rude to her. Meanwhile, Mrs Dr was at the other house spending her time complaining and while the kids were cleaning up the house she slept.
Each mom gets an amount (I think $10,000) to give to the other family and she gets to decide how the other family will spend it. Sometimes it’s for something as simple as getting the house rewired or buying much needed transportation. Sometimes the kids have revealed a much longed for something that the family can’t afford and so they get some of the $$. Sometimes it’s for a trip the family has wante to take or for college that the family can’t afford, but basically the mom is supposed to listen and get to know the family she’s living with and make a wise decision based on that. The Drs’ wife hoped she’d get a boat but the other mom left it all to the Dr’s MOTHER, so she could go back to China to visit family, since she said the grandma was ‘the heart of the family’. She pretty much raised the kids & did everything with them.
Sorry to be so longwinded! I rarely watch TV but the few that I’ve seen I’ve liked. Makes me wonder what kind of ‘opposite’ mom my family would get!!!
Maybe they talked their baby brother into the balloon, untied it, and got out their cameras to see what happened.
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Well they were on the TV show Wife Swap, so they were familiar with video and publicity. I hope that kid is OK and becomes a great Scientist and Explorer or Space.
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