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)
Miracles do happen.... sometimes they don’t but sometimes they do.
but it could be the basket...
I’m hoping this photo is very simply dust on the camera’s sensor. Very common to see this when shooting sky. Fingers crossed.
Point is...had the child been in there..he WOULD have survived.
My thoughts exactly. I was watching that landing and I was so happy - it was truly an answer to prayer. Now I pray that little boy, wherever he is, is going to be OK. :(
go to Post 1141 that one is working
Anyone know if the balloon shot upward after the speck fell?
Thanks!
No, I didn’t see it.
I do not think this helium baloon was capable of lifting the kid in the first place. You need 1 liter of helium to lift a 1 gram of weight. Using some simple math, you would need roughly 1,190 party size balloons full of helium to lift about 40 lbs.. This thing was 20 feet by 5 feet in a saucer shape. No way did this kid get lifted in the first place.
They always said child climbed inside some compartment. Now it is more clear that the compartment was some type of basket or box suspended underneath a “fastening point” of some type. I still can’t figure out why they are saying that compartment was still attached when it landed, since it never looked like that to me... I only ever noticed a fastening plate.
I suspect strongly that as soon as the parents had a sufficiently close up picture of the craft that they knew that the boy was no longer with the balloon. Still, they were probably hoping against hope that they were wrong. Now it is clear, though.
Physics are the same
A comparison between a “normal” balloon and a homemade lawnchair balloon is a matter of cubic feet of gas or air temperature inside the envelope to determine lift
a balloon does what a balloon does...drifts with the wind
An “expert” can determine a direction (different wind direction as height increases) and can usually put one down withing a mile of where he’s aiming. Plus (s)he knows the physics of lift
Fox and Hare events at balloon races are pretty interesting to watch.
You don’t believe there can be a balloon “expert”?
thanks... I am listening. How sad this whole thing is... not matter what the outcome.
Heating air on-the-spot is not the same as contained helium.
That’s the correct question.
sw
Don’t believe those dimensions.
No way that thing was only 5ft in width - MAYBE in depth. It had a diameter more than a length/width. The 20 may have been closer to a diameter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.