Balloon Boy (2009)

added Oct 15, 2009 at 09:42PM UTC

About

A 6 year-old boy named Falcon Heene reportedly climbed into a helium-filled balloon which was meant to hover only 20 feet above the ground, but took off. Before a captivated world, news stations tracked the flight of the balloon with video over 8000 feet into the air but once the balloon landed hours later, everyone discovered that Ballon Boy was not in the balloon afterall. Many people suspected that the boy had dropped out of the sky, but soon thereafter Falcon was found at home, hiding in a box in his attic.

Raw Airtracker7 Footage was released on youtube of the drifting helium balloon the same day on October 15th, 2009 (balloon lands at the 5min 40 sec. mark):

The Heenes’ Interview on Larry King Live

Later on the same night, the Heenes appeared for an interview on Larry King Live where Falcon revealed what is considered to be the defacto truth behind the families antics. When asked why he didn’t come out from the attic when the parents called his name, Falcon clearly stated: “You guys said that, um, we did this for the show.”

Accusations of Hoax

On the following day, the family reappeared on TV to face questions about the episode being a hoax. The father Richard Heene denied the claims which occurred at exactly the same time the young boy Falcon literally threwup. Later that day during another TV interview, Falcon threwup again. Mr. Heene claimed that his son’s remark was in regard to an earlier incident when the news organizations came into the house but it’s unclear exactly how the justification followed:

After the local sheriff’s department said they would be questioning the family further, having now seen the Larry King Live interview, a student came forward claiming to have proof the event was pre-planned for a reality TV show. Later, Gawker paid for the exclusive details. People were quick to make the connection that the storm-chasing, mad scientist Heene family had previously appeared on the ABC reality show Wife-Swap (twice) and had shown interest in becoming the subject of their own reality TV show.

Footage in Dispute

It was rumored early in the balloon’s flight that there was video footage of the takeoff and eventually the following video surfaced of what the family said is the authentic moment of lift off that was taped by one of the other brothers, though most people suspect the family was acting:

Criminal Charges

Apparently two military helicopters were involved, Denver International Airport diverted flights, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracked the balloon, and many more people in the air and on the ground contributed to the escapade. Direct costs are estimated to be over $2 million dollars.

After speaking with the Mother and Father team separately on Saturday evening, the local Sheriff announced that charges would be filed against the family, a search warrant was granted and authorities seized Richard Henne’s computer.

On Sunday, October 18th, the Sheriff released an official statement regarding the incident: “It has been determined that this is a hoax, that it was a publicity stunt and we believe we have evidence at this point to indicate that this was a publicity stunt in hopes to better market themselves for a reality show.”

Affidavit: Mom Admitted Balloon Saga Was Hoax:

On December 23, 2009, with just a few days left before the end of a decade, Richard Henne formally apologized to all of the rescue workers who tracked the balloon as he and his wife received a $45,000 fine in damages as well as jail sentences amounting to work release and public service. Also included in the package deal is the inability for the Henne’s to profit off of the escape for the next four years during probation.

Internet Spread

Even before the balloon landed on ground, the news spread virally via Twitter, Facebook and other social media channels.

A single serving site called http://www.whereisballoonboy.com was created to help provide updates on the whereabouts of Falcon.

Twitter accounts were created:
http://twitter.com/boyintheballoon
https://twitter.com/balloonboy

Merchandise was available even before the boy was found:
“Go Falcon Go” T-shirts [Link]
“Save Balloon Boy” T-Shirts [Link]
“Birds of the World” [Link]

According to CNN, "Web sites as diverse as Al-Jazeera and Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald carried news of the wayward aircraft ".

Google Trends was completely dominated by chatter around Balloonboy:

Balloon Path:


View Balloon path in a larger map

Mashup-tweets made their rounds through the social media networks, esp. RT’s related to Kanye Interrupts:
+ "I’m happy for u & imma let u finish, but Pixar’s “Up” was the best balloon adventure of all time!"
+ “Hold on #balloonboy, imma let you finish, but Amelia Earhart had one of the best disappearances in flight OF ALL TIME!!”
+ “Yo Balloon Boy, that was cool and all and I’ma let you finish, but Anne Frank had the best attic hideout of all time”
+ “Ima let you finish but the Hindenburg was the best balloon accident of all time.”

In a true testament to the high level of morphing surrounding this topic, at 9PM ET, hours after the drama was over, Twitter’s top trending words were “Anne Frank” which had surpassed mentions of “#balloonboy”.

Hitler reacts to balloonboy:

The Balloon Boy Game:


In the image below, you can see the Papa Johns pizza truck delivering pizza to the family shortly after Falcon was found. 4chan takes credit for the delivery:



*Note in the proof of purchase it was cash-on-delivery order :)


A few noteable archives of related materials include:
Balloon Boy – Quickest Meme Ever? by Urlesque
Balloon Boy Photoshop Contest by Huffington Post
T shirt gallery by Designora
Political Cartoon roundup by Cagle


Some YTMNDs:
Medieval Balloon Boy 2009-10-16
Balloon Boy is alive! 2009-10-15
TRUTHTMND: Balloon Boy EXPOSED!! 2009-10-16
Balloon Boy Was Not In The Clouds 2009-10-16

Year End Fail Lists:

The parents of Balloon Boy topped many a year-end fail lists and were perhaps most notably recognized for holding the #3 spot on FAIL Blog’s Top Ten FAIL Lists for 2009.

Images were uploaded around the net, for example, see below:

Showing 1-68 of 68 photos

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47 Comments

Caozao
Oct 15, 2009 at 10:27PM UTC , Caozao wrote:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/falcon-heene

i guess you got a better article, so i defer to you

Hector Hessy
Oct 15, 2009 at 10:58PM UTC , Hector Hessy wrote:

little bugger trolled us all

armastevs
Oct 16, 2009 at 01:08AM UTC , armastevs wrote:

a good mix of Bubble Boy MEME’s with Kanye
http://imaletyoufinish.com/yo-falcon-ima-let-you-finish/

epic win
Oct 16, 2009 at 02:22AM UTC , epic win wrote:

CNN a few2 minutes ago he states “daddy you told me to do it for the show..”
the dad freaked the hell out.

it was a hoax.

Grillist
Oct 16, 2009 at 02:35AM UTC , Grillist wrote:

Didn’t this just happen today? Mayhaps we should give it some time.

yatta
Oct 16, 2009 at 04:05AM UTC , yatta wrote:

Agreed. Give it time. Just b/c it’s all over CNN now doesn’t mean it’ll have notability even a week from now.

That said, nice entry Pl0x

Hector Hessy
Oct 16, 2009 at 05:30PM UTC , Hector Hessy wrote:

this is more of an epic troll than a meme.. what do you guys think?

Andrew Baron
Oct 17, 2009 at 12:09AM UTC , Andrew Baron wrote:

Andrew Baron
Oct 17, 2009 at 01:18AM UTC , Andrew Baron wrote:

I’d like to suggest that this is by far, a meme. We are living in a real-time world and what used to take days or weeks, now just takes minutes.

4chan delivered pizza, there are photo-shop contests, games, merch, it’s made it into blogs, facebook, wave, you name it – more tweets are jokes and spin-off than they are news.

But here is why I believe it’s going to stick around, without a doubt: The image of the balloon and the name Falcon will always represent “hoax” and the greater issue is that the news media got duped into it being the top story of the day.

This is going to comeback again and again on hoaxes, and MSM news diversions alike. It’s going to be most popular in future NASA photos.

Anytime anyone mentions UFO, alien, etc, its going to be a picture of this jiffytop balloon.

Just as Kanye West will continue to be a part of 2009, at least, so will Balloon Boy, for what it represents in our world.

Anyone betting against it or have a sound justification as to why this is not already a meme?

Eliwyn
Oct 17, 2009 at 09:55PM UTC , Eliwyn wrote:

This meme does have potential.

Andrew Baron
Oct 18, 2009 at 01:51AM UTC , Andrew Baron wrote:

Audio of the 9-11 call to the police. This call was apparently placed after the the family first called the news.

Andrew Baron
Oct 18, 2009 at 02:53AM UTC , Andrew Baron wrote:

According to Geraldo Rivera, “This guy is an absolute downright piece of crap smhuck and he hurt these children.”

zap54312
Oct 18, 2009 at 04:44AM UTC , zap54312 wrote:

I remember seeing this on the news. then I thought “this is totally going to be a meme”

acroz
Oct 18, 2009 at 10:20AM UTC , acroz wrote:

This is definitely a meme. These images are hilarious and are an evolution or an extension of previous memes such as Kanye West.

Chris Menning
Oct 18, 2009 at 05:44PM UTC , Chris Menning wrote:

Gawker has a story with a guy who claims he helped Richard Heene plan the hoax. http://gawker.com/5383858/exclusive-i-helped-richard-heene-plan-a-balloon-hoax

Max nunyobisnis
Oct 18, 2009 at 08:07PM UTC , Max nunyobisnis wrote:

I knew the very minute we all found out he wasn’t in the balloon, it would be this huge meme.

Andrew Baron
Oct 18, 2009 at 09:35PM UTC , Andrew Baron wrote:

Andrew Baron
Oct 18, 2009 at 09:50PM UTC , Andrew Baron wrote:

Breaking News on CNN!!! CNN says CNN was the one to brake the NEWS ON CNN!!! OMG!!!

Leo Urbina
Oct 19, 2009 at 05:46PM UTC , Leo Urbina wrote:

Balloon Boy: The Heene Family 911 Call
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rJxUc4aLkY

Well now is 100% confirmed that it WAS a hoax (Ha! puny gullible humans)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33340547/ns/us_news-life/

And now the Heenes will face charges.

Gawker.com has posted an exclusive interview with 25-year-old researcher Robert Thomas who claims he helped Richard Heene, the father of “balloon boy” Falcon Heene, plan a balloon hoax as part of a proposal to try to land a reality TV show.

http://gawker.com/5383858/exclusive-i-helped-richard-heene-plan-a-balloon-hoax

An episode of The Psyience Detectives show with Richard Heene about 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXHHjoGmExw

The official page of that show, now it says “Free Richard” (?) with bizarre images and sounds. Very weird and creepy.

http://www.thepsyiencedetectives.com/

Further proof they are obessed with fame, publicity and TV:

The Heene family were on “Wife Swap” twice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr_zA5E7n7A&translated=1

They also were known as the “Storm chasing family” during the Hurricane Gustav in 2008

Local news interview in 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iksLmkctlgs

On I-Report.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwiwskcunKU

And for even more WTF: The Heene Family Music Video: “Not Pussified”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLh53EAZSLw

This one is for the ages!

Leo Urbina
Oct 19, 2009 at 05:52PM UTC , Leo Urbina wrote:

And the Oscar for best actress goes to:

Balloon Boy: The Heene Family 911 Call
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rJxUc4aLkY

This was the show that Richard was pimping the hell out of it: An episode of The Psyience Detectives show with Richard Heene about 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXHHjoGmExw

The official page of that show, now it says “Free Richard” (?) with bizarre images and sounds. Very weird and creepy.

http://www.thepsyiencedetectives.com/

Further proof they are obessed with fame, publicity and TV:

The Heene family were on “Wife Swap” twice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr_zA5E7n7A&translated=1

They also were known as the “Storm chasing family” during the Hurricane Gustav in 2008

Local news interview in 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iksLmkctlgs

On I-Report.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwiwskcunKU

And for even more WTF: The Heene Family Music Video: “Not Pussified”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLh53EAZSLw

This one is for the ages!

seba079
Oct 20, 2009 at 12:11AM UTC , seba079 wrote:

The guys at Explosm made a C+H comic about BB: http://www.explosm.net/comics/1831/

Andrew Baron
Oct 20, 2009 at 01:29AM UTC , Andrew Baron wrote:

Andrew Baron
Oct 20, 2009 at 02:26AM UTC , Andrew Baron wrote:

Brad Kim
Oct 21, 2009 at 12:37AM UTC , Brad Kim wrote:

Andrew, I am going to update & clean up this article just a bit-

Sam Lehman
Oct 21, 2009 at 04:43AM UTC , Sam Lehman wrote:
Sam Lehman
Oct 21, 2009 at 04:44AM UTC , Sam Lehman wrote:

Watcher
Oct 25, 2009 at 11:03PM UTC , Watcher wrote:

This meme would make a good episode. It’s a great example of just how fast this stuff can spread.

Watcher
Oct 26, 2009 at 06:54PM UTC , Watcher wrote:

I just saw a guy walk by wearing a balloon boy t-shirt. Awesome.

Mediocre-Mudkip
Oct 28, 2009 at 05:21AM UTC , Mediocre-Mudkip wrote:

No one uploaded the pedobear picture yet? Its so awesome. I’d do it if I wasn’t too lazy to go look it up…

Onder
Oct 29, 2009 at 12:04AM UTC , Onder wrote:

The Geraldo Rivera clip was just awesome… FOX officially jumped the shark.

Memedude7737
Oct 29, 2009 at 08:41PM UTC , Memedude7737 wrote:

The “Absolutely no hoax” will probably develop into a meme, and maybe the “you said we were doing this for the show.” But that’s it.

Gavin
Nov 05, 2009 at 07:30AM UTC , Gavin wrote:

Not only is this absolutely NOT a meme…just a fake news story, but this entire page takes forever to load because of all the embedded crap on the page. This was just bad journalism and that doesn’t make it a meme at all.

Joeflims
Nov 08, 2009 at 06:07PM UTC , Joeflims wrote:

@ Gavin You clearly have no idea of what a meme is.

@ Everyone Else WHY ISN’T THIS CONFIRMED?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Hector Hessy
Nov 13, 2009 at 05:59PM UTC , Hector Hessy wrote:

woot! confirm’d

Landmark356
Nov 18, 2009 at 04:55PM UTC , Landmark356 wrote:

I think it’s a little too early to consider this a meme because this just happened so of course it will get a lot of internet reception now but will this still be popular a year or two from now? Probably not. The same goes for “Let you finish.”

yatta
Nov 19, 2009 at 05:41PM UTC , yatta wrote:

@Landmark356 As somebody who was very skeptical of ‘Balloon Boy’s’ inclusion here when it first happened, this definitely counts as a notable meme. Whether it will still be culturally relevant or if anyone will use any of its catchphrases next year is a different question entirely.

This was a media-driven event that turned into a participatory one. It had a meteoric rise, almost immediate saturation, and a really fast burnout. All of these things make it worthy of our attention. As memes start to spread faster and with more media involvement, we need to take the time to better understand the difference between media attention and real, peer based enthusiasm.

We really need to add some variability to the way that we classify memes. @Jamiedubs has been talking about adding a Strong Meme <——> Weak Meme slider to each entry as a way of further classifying these things. It’ll be interesting to see how people use this.

Tomberry
Nov 19, 2009 at 06:09PM UTC , Tomberry wrote:

The Know Your Meme is awesome.

Captain Blubber
Nov 19, 2009 at 06:43PM UTC , Captain Blubber wrote:

TWICE!

Brad Kim
Nov 19, 2009 at 09:02PM UTC , Brad Kim wrote:

will news media continue to be vulnerable to FAMO seekers? discuss.

Dillon Raborn
Nov 19, 2009 at 10:41PM UTC , Dillon Raborn wrote:

Holy crap!! Anonymous sent the guy some pizza???? Why can’t that happen to me?

34GET
Dec 04, 2009 at 09:47AM UTC , 34GET wrote:

no comment in a month. dead…….

Bob Holly
Dec 15, 2009 at 12:05PM UTC , Bob Holly wrote:

I was on vacation when this happened. I missed the entire thing completely. Glad I didn’t even get a chance to fall for this crap.

Logan Zezima
Jan 06, 2010 at 11:12PM UTC , Logan Zezima wrote:

billygtexas
Jan 07, 2010 at 11:51PM UTC , billygtexas wrote:

I’d call this (along with the Bush Shoe Toss) an flash meme just for how fast all this happened.

PolandBallz
Feb 04, 2010 at 02:55AM UTC , PolandBallz wrote:

FALCON FAIL!!

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