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Fort Collins boy in loose aircraft (6 yr old boy found hiding at home not in balloon)
Denver Post ^ | October 15, 2009 | Kieran Nicholson

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)


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: balloon; balloonboy; denver; faa; falconheene; jiffypop; missing
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To: hattend
The kids messed with dad’s craft, untied it, it got away, he’s on the run. He’s at the local K-Mart trying to buy mylar, tape and helium so he can rebuild it before dad gets home.

Have you ever "read"* Bored Nothing to Do by Peter Spier?
*"read" --it's a picture book.

941 posted on 10/15/2009 1:38:03 PM PDT by stayathomemom (Beware of cat attacks while typing!)
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To: combat_boots

lol....


942 posted on 10/15/2009 1:38:10 PM PDT by dragnet2
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To: green iguana
According to How Stuff Works (http://science.howstuffworks.com/helium2.htm), A 6 ft diameter balloon with a capacity of 113 cu ft can lift 7 lbs. Move that up to a 12' di - It can lift 57 lbs. 24' can lift 455 lbs.

Seems to me that it could lift a 6 yr old...since my stick of a 7 1/2 yr old weighs 55 lbs.

And yes...Shep is an idiot. Kept calling it a hot air balloon...(and Hannity said it was powered)...blah blah blah. Idiots...

943 posted on 10/15/2009 1:38:22 PM PDT by NELSON111
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To: BigSkyFreeper

When I was about five, (1959)my mother left me in the car in front of the grocery store. It was very common back then. I saw the guy next to me move the collumn shifter to leave, so I did the same. The car was on a slight incline and it started to roll back out of the angled parking space. I distinctly remember trying to turn the steering wheel as hard as I could to get it to turn away from the cars it was backing towards. It came to a stop in the middle of the pavement between the two rows of parked cars.

This was in the days of no locking steering wheels and no locking shifter on a car with an automatic.


944 posted on 10/15/2009 1:38:25 PM PDT by RobRoy (The US today: Revelation 18:4)
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To: ican'tbelieveit

Bwwwwwwhahahaha...”enveloped”????

Good grief do they teach/learn nothing in school?


945 posted on 10/15/2009 1:38:25 PM PDT by SE Mom (Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet)
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To: unixfox; All
Wasn’t anybody here a 6 year old at one time?

My younger brother walked 10 blocks to the local Alberstons grocery store when he was 5.

When they found him, he was pushing a cart filled with toys and candy. My mom nearly had a heart attack over that one.

If she only knew the things we did!
 

Your experience reminds me of this FR thread from 2005:

Boy, 5, in cake run

A PECKISH five-year-old boy slipped unnoticed from his school and took a bus to the local supermarket to buy cake.

946 posted on 10/15/2009 1:38:27 PM PDT by Stoat (Sarah Palin 2012: A Strong America Through Unapologetic Conservatism)
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To: Arec Barrwin

All those prayers for nothing!


947 posted on 10/15/2009 1:38:57 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: AFPhys

I would so go storm chasing if my wife would let me. She grew up terrified of storms and just doesn’t get it. If it wasn’t for the math, I would have become a meteorologist.


948 posted on 10/15/2009 1:39:00 PM PDT by rwfromkansas ("Carve your name on hearts, not marble." - C.H. Spurgeon)
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To: Sloth
You make a lot of assumptions. Are you certian there wasn't a breech or hole in the shell? Again, we didn't see all the footage of the flight because the camera crew wasn't alerted until after it was in the air for some time.
949 posted on 10/15/2009 1:39:04 PM PDT by mentor2k
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To: GonzoGOP

I would pray, a 5 story fall is going to cause some massive blunt trauma, and then to not be found for what is at least several hours now after being hurt, is not good.


950 posted on 10/15/2009 1:40:08 PM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: txhurl

I agree - they need to get dogs on his trail asap, imho.

The problem is, these kids are so far off the reservation/fearless/reckless (whatever you want to call it) that the child could very easily have attempted this stunt for real. I doubt if he is hiding under the bed. I hope to God I’m wrong though. Prayers up.


951 posted on 10/15/2009 1:40:16 PM PDT by khnyny (Too much power in too few hands is always a bad idea.)
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To: CedarDave

I’m wondering now if maybe the 8 year old who reported this MAY be the one who accidentally untethered it and told his brother (the 6 year old) he was going to get blamed so the 6 year old is now hiding, somewhere..

Something here isn’t adding up...


952 posted on 10/15/2009 1:40:16 PM PDT by GeorgiaDawg32 (I'm a Patriot Guard Rider..www.patriotguard.org for info..)
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To: CedarDave

That must be the dark object falling from the balloon that the neighbor photographed. OMG, I hope that boy is okay.


953 posted on 10/15/2009 1:40:23 PM PDT by BuckeyeTexan (Integrity, Character, Leadership, and Loyalty matter - Be an example, no matter the cost.)
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To: SE Mom

She was trying to speak of things she isn’t knowledgeable about. I cracked up.


954 posted on 10/15/2009 1:41:05 PM PDT by ican'tbelieveit (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team# 36120), KW:Folding)
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To: HamiltonJay

Older brother maintains still the child was in the balloon.

Sounds bleak now.


955 posted on 10/15/2009 1:41:21 PM PDT by AFPhys ((Praying for our troops, our citizens, that the Bible and Freedom become basis of the US law again))
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To: BuckeyeTexan
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.

I agree, except i think the parents were in on it, trying to grab a bit more time in the limelight. I also think the kid fell from the balloon and will be found shortly. No way the two other brothers could continue to lie to all the cops surronding them now. They know he floated away.

956 posted on 10/15/2009 1:41:34 PM PDT by Slicksadick (Go out on a limb........Its where the fruit is.)
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To: mentor2k
Just wait a few more hours, people will be reporting sightings of the boy running through their towns.
957 posted on 10/15/2009 1:41:38 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 (Obama is everything Oklahoma is not.)
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To: Revolting cat!
All those prayers for nothing!

Never for nothing.

958 posted on 10/15/2009 1:41:40 PM PDT by nina0113
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To: BuckeyeTexan

Whatever the situation, I would hate to think the little boy is hurt or even hiding.


959 posted on 10/15/2009 1:41:41 PM PDT by JFC
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To: don-o
What are you wearing now?

Uh...I'm currently wearing my blue swim trunks with the the sharks on um.

960 posted on 10/15/2009 1:42:27 PM PDT by dragnet2
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