Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Colo. Sheriff Calls Balloon Saga A Hoax
AP Report ^ | October 18th 2009

Posted on 10/18/2009 10:09:18 AM PDT by Steelfish

Colo. sheriff calls balloon saga a hoax He says ordeal was staged to generate publicity for a reality TV show

FORT COLLINS. Colo. - A sheriff said he was pursuing criminal charges in Colorado's "balloon boy" saga, which he described Sunday as a hoax to generate publicity for a reality TV show.

Deputies searched the home of the boy's parents Saturday night, carrying away several boxes and a computer.

The boy's parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, met with Larimer County investigators for much of Saturday afternoon amid lingering questions about whether he perpetrated a publicity stunt when his 6-year-old son Falcon vanished into the rafters of his garage while the world thought he was zooming through the sky in a flying saucer-like helium balloon.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: balloonboy; falconheene; hoax; scam
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last
To: freedumb2003

Dirt bag parents still need your prayer.


41 posted on 10/18/2009 10:40:20 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: spectre

I can’t imagine how or why the ACLU would get involved.

Sheriff just said there’s doubt that Falcon was in the garage attic the whole time..

Part of the problem is all the jurisdictions involved- it really IS just a local matter, but as soon as the feds got involved with military planes and choppers- all bets are off.


42 posted on 10/18/2009 10:41:01 AM PDT by SE Mom (Proud mom of an Iraq war combat vet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: freedumb2003

I hope freepers always give an “endangered” child situation the benefit of the doubt. LOL..there was a freeper who said, “Jiffy pop anyone” and another freeper said, ‘jerk get off this thread’. Jiffy Pop poster come out, and say “I told you so”.. :)


43 posted on 10/18/2009 10:42:21 AM PDT by lilycicero (The family that cried "Falcon")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: spectre

“Why? Are oriental wives considered “minorities”?”

The left does not consider asians to be minorities. Mostly because they value education, value family, and have a strong work ethic.


44 posted on 10/18/2009 10:42:22 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish

And now when the REAL flying saucers pick up a little boy .............nobody will believe it.


45 posted on 10/18/2009 10:43:13 AM PDT by TomasUSMC ( FIGHT LIKE WW2, FINISH LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lilycicero

ahh so its ok to make jokes about a child who may be in peril. Yeah that should be the first response.


46 posted on 10/18/2009 10:43:51 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: driftdiver

>>Dirt bag parents still need your prayer.<<

*sigh* Too true — maybe more than anyone...


47 posted on 10/18/2009 10:44:08 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Communism comes to America: 1/20/2009. Keep your powder dry, folks. Sic semper tyrannis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: freedumb2003
Many of us were honestly tramatized and praying fervently for the poor child.

I even chastised Mr. Spectre (who has logged over 10K flying hrs) when he started laughing and told me to calm down that the kid wasn't in the balloon.

I wouldn't listen...oh boy was I ever duped!

sw

48 posted on 10/18/2009 10:44:35 AM PDT by spectre (spectre's wife)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Roux

We surely need to care about the children being exploited by this father. He seems to have no problem endangering their lives.


49 posted on 10/18/2009 10:45:05 AM PDT by Carley (OBAMA IS A MALEVOLENT FORCE IN THE WORLD)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: UCANSEE2
It may have been planned as a publicity stunt. However, I doubt that he planned on the youngest son having appeared to have left with the craft.

After listening to the 911 tapes of the parents talking to dispatchers, I'm certainly suckered in by either their fantastic acting abilities, or the fact two parents were very worried for their youngest child. This is not to say all the follow on interviews weren't criminal child abuse, nor to say the father wouldn't take advantage of the publicity, but I'm pretty firmly convinced that at least for an hour there, they were sure their child was either in mortal danger, or already lost to them.

Do I think they are being wrongly prosecuted? Nahh, it's pretty clear that releasing that balloon was contemplated in the past for personal gain. And the father's craving for fame at any cost to his family certainly warrants the microscope he'll be under by the prosecutor and child protective services. Hopefully sanity will prevail and an agreement can be reached with prosecutors that'll end the father's attempts to turn his family into a show.

I'm not a big fan of preemptive prosecution, nor prosecuting someone who is innocent of the crime they're charged with, but I'll look the other way in this case.

50 posted on 10/18/2009 10:45:36 AM PDT by kingu (Party for rent - conservative opinions not required.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Yorlik803

>>The USAF, local Fire and SAR departments, the FAA for clearing airspace, the wheat field that got trashed for the rescue.<<

Don’t forget everyone coming in to or out of DIA who was redirected or made to wait. Their time has value as well.


51 posted on 10/18/2009 10:47:29 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Communism comes to America: 1/20/2009. Keep your powder dry, folks. Sic semper tyrannis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: driftdiver

No, silly. It is hindsight.....Jiffy Pop poster must have known a thing or two about science, unlike myself, to make such a statement. Ignorance of science made me worry. Human nature of believing another mother when she says her child is missing...shame on her, not on us.


52 posted on 10/18/2009 10:47:37 AM PDT by lilycicero (The family that cried "Falcon")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: driftdiver
The left does not consider asians to be minorities. Mostly because they value education, value family, and have a strong work ethic.

I know what you wrote is how I view the typical oriental family in this country...but still..why the ACLU and these people?

sw

53 posted on 10/18/2009 10:47:41 AM PDT by spectre (spectre's wife)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: spectre

No you weren’t duped. Your heart and prayers were in the right place.

Many people prayed and prayed for the safety of this little boy.

We couldn’t imagine a family doing such a thing.


54 posted on 10/18/2009 10:48:19 AM PDT by Carley (OBAMA IS A MALEVOLENT FORCE IN THE WORLD)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: TomasUSMC

“The USAF, local Fire and SAR departments, the FAA for clearing airspace, the wheat field that got trashed for the rescue.
Maybe 2 Million should do it....”

I’m happy to see the charges being filed but I am more interested in seeing the authorities reverse themselves (again) and pound this fool with a bill for the rescue efforts.

Idiot.....


55 posted on 10/18/2009 10:48:21 AM PDT by JoenTX (Don't Tread on Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: lilycicero

No silly its common sense. If you have a report of a child in danger you should take it for face value. Worry about lift capacity and other sciency things after the child is secure.


56 posted on 10/18/2009 10:49:42 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish
Well, the parents haven't yet been arrested so they are not in custody. Anyone see them as a "flight" risk? Maybe they have another one of those flying saucer thingeys in their garage that can lift the whole family ...


57 posted on 10/18/2009 10:50:21 AM PDT by mlizzy ("It is impossible to walk rapidly and be unhappy" --Mother Teresa of Calcutta.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: spectre

I dunno, perhaps the ACLU sees a payday in there somewhere.

Or maybe they heard a reference to a UFO with possible aliens and thought they were illegals.


58 posted on 10/18/2009 10:51:15 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: Steelfish

This story now is about as interesting as the John & Kate Plus 8 thing. Funny part is that when this John & Kate thing came out, I had to ask who are John & Kate. Had never watched the show and as a result, I guess I didn’t really care about those two.

The balloon boy story is getting to be just as bad. We are being saturated with it...even Fox News covers it. If this family is looking for publicity, they’ve got it now. Sad.


59 posted on 10/18/2009 10:51:28 AM PDT by fatnotlazy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MichiganMan
"I love this. Wasn’t this the same sheriff that said that it was his professional opinion that this wasn’t a hoax based on his interviews with the parents and the hyperactive boy?"

Police do that all the time, to make the suspects relax, slip up, and perhaps say something that can eventually be used against them

60 posted on 10/18/2009 10:52:45 AM PDT by Lockbar (March toward the sound of the guns.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson