Balloon Boy in Colorado - Hoax?

Its 3am here in the PI and my husbands opens the television to watch CNN and see the floating UPFO-looking balloon supposedly with a 6 year old boy in it. It soared up to 7000 feet. I had to wake myself up and watch as we both worried about the little boy. And as we watched it slowly going down, we were so hoping that the little boy was okay... And then it landed on the ground... No boy inside. Someone tells cnn that they kinda saw something fall out. Confusion.
I was hopingthat the little boy was just at home hiding and scared. And he was at home. Phew.

See the report for yourself:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/balloon-boy-hoax-rumours-as-falcon-heene-tells-cnn-we-did-this-for-a-show-14534086.html

Balloon boy hoax rumours as Falcon Heene tells CNN 'we did this for a show'

Family deny episode was a publicity stunt

By Gary Fennelly
Friday, 16 October 2009

Rescuers retrieve the runaway balloon originally believed to have carried six-year-old Falcon Heene (left). Global audiences were gripped as the drama unfolded live on TV news channels

Hours after the "balloon boy" drama of 6-year-old Falcon Heene, thought to be trapped in a hot-air balloon, speculation intensified that the episode was a hoax orchestrated by the family.

Asked if the incident was a publicity stunt, the boy's father answered: "That's horrible after the crap we just went through. No."

When later asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a live interview why he didn't come out of hiding in a box when called, Falcon looked at his parents, and said, "You guys said that ... we did this for the show." (YouTube videos below).

>Click image to launch gallery

The family did not elaborate on the answer.

When Blitzer later asked what the boy had meant his father Richard Heene said:

"I'm kind of appalled after all the feelings that I went through up and down that you guys are trying to suggest something else."

Earlier in the day the boy's brother had said he saw Falcon Heene get in the balloon before it took off.

The flight lasted two hours and spanned 50 miles, setting off a frantic search.

A bizarre scene was played out live on television as the balloon floated off in the wind, tipping precariously at times before eventually falling to the ground.

The Colorado Army National Guard sent an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter and was preparing to send a Black Hawk UH-60 to try to rescue Falcon, possibly by lowering someone to the balloon.

They were also working with pilots of ultralight aircraft on the possibility of putting weights on the home-made craft to push it down.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/balloon-boy-hoax-rumours-as-falcon-heene-tells-cnn-we-did-this-for-a-show-14534086.html#ixzz0U5lAr8L0