Falcon Heene

Historians will identify the end of last week as the moment when a question asked through the ages – has the world gone mad? – was finally and categorically answered in the affirmative by the Heene family of Colorado.

Authorities now say Richard Heene and his wife plotted to hoax the world into thinking their six-year-old son Falcon was stuck inside a runaway balloon contraption in order to increase their chances of getting on a reality TV show.

But instead of getting on TV Heene could be going to jail, possibly depriving the children who were central to the alleged plot a father for a good deal of time. And all because, apparently, he wanted a little bit of money and fame.

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  • Aardvark's lunch says:

    06:16am | 21/10/09

    In terms of a hoax, it’s a bit hard to determine how it could have been uncovered before the balloon came down. This is the extreme end of the spectrum, since most people wouldn’t do this for publicity, (assuming it does turn out to be a hoax) - look at… Read more »

  • Sandy says:

    04:35pm | 20/10/09

    Imagine how pissed the Americans would be, after the entire nation prayed for the boys’s safety and had tears in their eyes when they thought little Falcone could have fallen out of the balloon….the boy pulling on their heart strings…only to be told hey wipe your tears it’s a hoax…..it’s… Read more »

 

The worst - or maybe just the most memorable - thing about getting in trouble as a kid is that split second when you get sprung by your olds and the game is up.

America’s “Balloon boy” Falcon Heene will surely remember for the rest of his life the moment he first saw his dad after hiding for hours in the attic, fearing he would be yelled at after tampering with the balloon.

Most of us have a story about the worst things we did when we were kids but very few of them will be of Falcon’s order: “I started a national panic and a desperate mid-air chase of a balloon that was covered live on the network television for hours. People worried I was dead but I was just hiding in the attic.”

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  • Nic says:

    07:30am | 18/10/09

    When I was about 4 my mum had decorated a cake for a christening and left it on the dining table before it was to be delivered. Me being very jealous that my mummy hadn’t made us one, took a very nice bight out of the front of the heart… Read more »

  • Never again says:

    11:51pm | 17/10/09

    I didn’t receive a scolding for this, but I certainly learned my lesson… Back when I was six or seven years old, I decided to try floating with a parasol, like I’d seen in a cartoon. i only jumped off a kiddy-chair, thank goodness. Mum kept telling me to knock… Read more »

 

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