Balloon Boy

Overview

Ballon Boy is the nickname given to Falcon Heene, a 6 year-old boy who 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 after all. 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.

Background

Raw Airtracker7 Footage^[1] was released on YouTube of the drifting helium balloon the same day on October 15th, 2009 (balloon lands at the 5min 40 sec. mark):

Notable Developments

On Social Networks

Even before the balloon landed on ground, the news spread virally via Twitter, Facebook and other social media channels. A single serving site called WhereIsBalloonBoy.com^[6] was created to help provide updates on the whereabouts of Falcon, while Twitter accounts like @BoyInTheBalloon^[7] and @BalloonBoy^[8] and t-shirt merchandise^[9] became available within hours.

Media Coverage

According to CNN^[10], Balloon Boy received international coverage by “web sites as diverse as Al-Jazeera and Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald carried news of the wayward aircraft.” For the rest of week in October, Google Search Trend data was completely dominated by chatter surrounding the Balloon Boy:

On Blogs

The news story was closely tracked by the blogosphere, including Urlesque^[11], Huffington Post^[12] and Cagle News^[13]. 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^[14].

On 4chan

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

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

On Twitter

Mashup-tweets made their rounds through the social media networks, especially retweets 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, hours after the drama came to a conclusion at 9PM ET, Twitter’s top trending keyword “Anne Frank” surpassed the mentions of “#balloonboy”.

On YTMND

Medieval Balloon Boy / Uploaded on 2009-10-16
Balloon Boy is alive! / Uploaded on 2009-10-15
TRUTHTMND: Balloon Boy EXPOSED!! / Uploaded on 2009-10-16
Balloon Boy Was Not In The Clouds / Uploaded on 2009-10-16

Consequences

The Heenes Interview on CNN

Later on the same night, the Heenes appeared for an interview on Larry King Live^[2] 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.”

Hoax Accusations

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 threw up 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 that the event was pre-planned for a reality TV show^[3]. Later that evening, Gawker^[4] 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 were estimated to be over $2 million dollars^[5].

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 23rd, 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.

The Balloon Auction

On May 26th, 2011, Richard Heene registered the domain BalloonBoyFlyingSaucer.com^[15] and posted an online auction for the silver 3-D LAV (Low Altitude Vehicle) saucer in order to help relief efforts in Japan. According to the website, the saucer is available for purchase with a donation of $1 million or visitors can submit a bid with asking prices. The news media and blogs quickly picked up on the auction story; it was further explained the Heene family will not receive anything from the sale, due to the terms of probation which forbids them from profiting off their fame until 2013.

The site also contains a link to a YouTube video of Heene and his wife, standing outside in front of a deflated silver balloon while they explain their motives and the craft’s functionality:

As added incentives, Mr. Heene plans to award any winning bidder paying $10,000 or more, the original plans for the saucer; Any winning bidder paying $50,000.00 or more will also receive original photographs of the Heenes building the saucer; Finally, any winning bidder paying $100,000.00 or more will receive a DVD of the Heenes building the saucer. This is your chance to own a piece of documented media history while benefiting those in need.

External References

^[1] YouTube – Raw Airtracker7 Footage

^[2]CNN – Larry King Live

^[3] Business Insider – Proof Balloon Boy was a Hoax

^[4] Gawker – Exclusive: I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax

^[5] Examiner – How Much Did Balloon Boy Cost Taxpayers

^[6] Where Is Balloon Boy – WhereIsBalloonBoy.com

^[7] Twitter – @BoyintheBalloon

^[8] Twitter – @BalloonBoy

^[9] Cafe Press – “Save Balloon Boy” T-Shirts

^[10]CNN – World watches odyssey of ‘Balloon Boy’ in real time

^[11] Urlesque – Balloon Boy – Quickest Meme Ever?

^[12] Huffington Post – Balloon Boy Photoshop Contest

^[13] Cager News – Live Blog Balloon Boy Cartoons

^[14] FAILblog – FAILBlog’s Top Ten 2009

^[15] Official Auction Page – BalloonBoyFlyingSaucer.com