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FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The runaway UFO-like balloon that the world thought was carrying a 6-year-old boy is back in the hands of the parents who pleaded guilty to the hoax.

VIDEO

Here is a couple of short videos of Larry King's interview with "Balloon Boy's" father, Richard Heene, where he denies any hoax and says that he only plead guilty to "save" his family because of threats of deportation...(Videos)

The parents who pulled the balloon boy hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show were sentenced to jail Wednesday — 90 days for him, 20 days for her — and barred from profiting from their newfound celebrity status for the next four years. Choking back tears, Richard Heene apologized in court for the frenzy he caused when he claimed his 6-year-old son Falcon had floated away in a giant helium balloon shaped like a flying saucer. "I'm very, very sorry. And I want to apologize to all the rescue workers out there, and the people that got involved...

The parents of the "Balloon Boy" are about to land - perhaps behind bars. Richard Heene and his wife, Mayumi, reached a deal with authorities to enter guilty pleas over their October hoax that transfixed the country, their lawyer said Thursday. Heene, 48, will plead guilty to a felony - attempting to influence a public servant - while his 45-year-old wife will plead to a misdemeanor charge, attorney David Lane said. Although Lane initially said the deal would spare the couple from jail time, the lawyer later said he expected prosecutors to request some time behind bars - 90 days...

DENVER (Reuters) – The mother of a Colorado boy thought to be aboard a homemade helium balloon has admitted to investigators the whole thing was a hoax, according to a court document made public on Friday. ... "The motive for the fabricated story was to make the Heene family more marketable for future media interest," the affidavit states. The document also says the Heenes, who had starred in the reality television show "Wife Swap," had devised the hoax about two weeks before and had instructed their three children to lie to authorities and the media.

DENVER — The mother of the 6-year-old boy once feared missing inside a runaway helium balloon admitted the whole saga was a hoax, according to court documents released Friday. Mayumi Heene told sheriff's deputies that she and her husband Richard "knew all along that Falcon was hiding in the residence" in Fort Collins, according to an affidavit used to get a search warrant for the home.

(Richard Heene, father of Balloon Boy Falcon, is sitting in his backyard with his head in his hands. Falcon walks up to him and Heene looks up sadly.) BALLOON DAD: Why Falcon? Why did you tell Wolf Blitzer on live TV that I told you to hide in the attic for the show? BALLOON BOY: Because that is what you did tell me, Dad. BALLOON DAD: But that was the real reality we must never talk about. What counts is TV reality. And now I can never return to TV reality shows like "Wife Swap." My credibility was blown...

The Federal Aviation Administration has opened its own investigation into the 50-mile flight of the helium balloon that briefly delayed flights at Denver International Airport after a couple reported that their 6-year-old son may have been on board, an official said Tuesday. FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the agency investigates civil allegations rather than criminal ones. He declined to provide details on the nature of the FAA probe or its possible outcome. Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden has said investigators believe amateur storm chasers Richard and Mayumi Heene called 911 Thursday saying they thought their son, Falcon, was aboard the...

The Larimer County Sheriff says criminal charges are likely expected to be filed against Richard Heene. Heene is the Fort Collins man who reported his 6-year-old son missing in a helium-filled balloon on Thursday. The sheriff did not give specific charges, but said they would likely be a class 3 misdemeanor, which could be false reporting. The sheriff's office is working on getting a search warrant to search the Heene home and is planning a news conference Sunday at 11 a.m. Richard Heene and his wife Mayumi were interviewed by investigators Saturday.

Wow. Ready to have your mind blown? A former research assistant who slaved for Richard Heene is revealing the deceptive, tragic master plan that Heene concocted to manufacture a media thunderstorm. This...is completely insane. Here's a bullet-point summary:

The father of the 6-year-old Colorado boy who was thought to have been speeding through the sky for hours in a high-soaring homemade helium balloon is a self-described "storm chaser" who now finds himself at the center of another kind of squall.~~snip~~A Foxnews.com search of public records revealed that [Richard] Heene, 48, and his wife, Mayumi, owe thousands of dollars in connection to a company called My-You-Me Productions. Prior to moving to Colorado, Heene and his wife were aspiring actors in Los Angeles who met at an acting school, a source told Foxnews.com. The state of California filed a $5,812...