Falcon Heene

'Swap Wife'
Calls Heene
Mad Wiz
With Temper

Oct 20, 2009 2:52 AM CDT

'Swap Wife' Calls Heene Mad Wiz With Temper

'My dad can really yell,' son told her

(Newser) - The "swapped wife" who lived with the Balloon Boy's family as part of a TV reality program described dad Richard Heene as a mad scientist with a short fuse. Sheree Silver said Heene screamed at her, and son Bradford said: "My dad can really yell, can't he?" Silver...

Balloon Family Feels
'Under Siege': Lawyer

Oct 19, 2009 4:56 PM CDT

Balloon Family Feels 'Under Siege': Lawyer

Lawyer says stunt has turned into a "nightmare for the family."

(Newser) - Richard and Mayumi Heene are likely regretting the hoax they staged using their 6-year-old son and a balloon: With criminal charges looming and public opinion turning against them, the family feels “under siege,” their lawyer said today. The FAA has opened an investigation into the incident; it has...

Balloon-Boy Stunt Not So Strange for Wacky Dad

Oct 19, 2009 9:24 AM CDT

Balloon-Boy Stunt Not So Strange for Wacky Dad

Unsurprisingly, Richard Heene is a shameless self-promoter

(Newser) - With the balloon-boy debacle now exposed as a hoax, the spotlight has turned on Richard Heene's wacky and not-so-camera-shy behavior. The 48-year-old amateur scientist/wannabe reality TV star tried his hand at acting and standup comedy in the early '90s in Hollywood. And though that ended up being a "total...

We All Share
Blame for
Balloon Boy

WHOSE FAULT IS IT?

Oct 19, 2009 7:10 AM CDT

We All Share Blame for Balloon Boy

Emotion-ravenous audience devoured fake tale

(Newser) - Falcon Heene's media-hungry dad isn't the only culprit in the balloon boy hoax that put the 6-year-old at the center of a giant international lie. We may be just as much to blame for our ravenous appetite for more thrilling "reality" TV events, "glued to 40-inch hi-def images,...

How I Helped Plan
the Balloon Boy Hoax

first person

Oct 18, 2009 3:12 PM CDT

How I Helped Plan the Balloon Boy Hoax

Scheme was a campaign to return to reality TV: researcher

(Newser) - Balloon boy Falcon Heene's father, Richard, planned the hoax because he wanted to return to reality TV, claims a former research assistant. Heene "was often driven by ego and fame," Robert Thomas says in an interview with Gawker, which the website acknowledges it paid him for. "...

Colo. Sheriff:
Balloon Boy
Case a 'Hoax'

Oct 18, 2009 12:41 PM CDT

Colo. Sheriff: Balloon Boy Case a 'Hoax'

No charges yet, but evidence points to stunt to boost reality show

(Newser) - A Colorado sheriff announced this afternoon that the balloon boy case was a hoax and that he would be pursuing criminal charges. In a rambling news conference, Sheriff Jim Alderden said that the drama surrounding Falcon Heene was likely a publicity stunt designed to hype a reality show.

Balloon Boy Family to Face Charges

Oct 17, 2009 8:41 PM CDT

Balloon Boy Family to Face Charges

Sheriff offers few details, but hints he suspects a hoax

(Newser) - A Colorado sheriff said tonight that criminal charges are expected to be filed in the balloon boy case. He didn't specify what the charges would be, but he suggested that investigators smelled a hoax. "I think you get the gist," said Sheriff Jim Alderden when asked directly if...

Balloon Boy
Family
Plans 'Big
Announcement'

updated

Oct 17, 2009 12:09 PM CDT

Balloon Boy Family Plans 'Big Announcement'

Heenes have tried twice to get a reality show going

(Newser) - With skeptics in full throat, the balloon boy family promised a "big announcement" today. "I'd like to speak to everybody about a few things," dad Richard Heene said this morning. He scheduled a 1pm news conference, then postponed it til later in the day after soliciting reporters'...

Balloon Boy Dad Called TV Station, Then Police

Oct 17, 2009 8:15 AM CDT

Balloon Boy Dad Called TV Station, Then Police

Richard Heene called station with helicopter

(Newser) - A detail that's sure to bolster hoax-believers in the odd tale of balloon boy: Turns out dad Richard Heene phoned a TV news station that had a helicopter before calling 911 after learning that 6-year-old Falcon had supposedly drifted off in a flying saucer-shaped helium balloon. Though Heene's first phone...

Child-Protection Office
Eying Balloon Family

Oct 17, 2009 5:34 AM CDT

Child-Protection Office Eying Balloon Family

Cops to re-interview Heenes as hoax suspicions rise

(Newser) - Colorado child-protection officers have spoken to the sheriff's office about the Heene family following Thursday's bizarre balloon incident, said Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden, who hopes an investigation will follow. Police plan to re-interview the family today following a CNN interview in which 6-year-old Falcon said he hid in an...

Balloon Mess No Hoax: Sheriff

Oct 16, 2009 2:38 PM CDT

Balloon Mess No Hoax: Sheriff

Restitution remains a possibility

(Newser) - The Larimer County, Colo., sheriff's office has no indication the Heene family was carrying out a hoax when the parents reported their 6-year-old son was in a helium balloon that floated away from their home and traveled more than 50 miles. "We believe at this time that it was...

Balloon Boy Is What's Wrong With Cable News

OPINION

Oct 16, 2009 1:50 PM CDT

Balloon Boy Is What's Wrong With Cable News

Balloon Boy Throws Up on Today, GMA, as Dad Denies Hoax

Falcon Heene vomits twice on-air during morning show rounds

(Newser) - The Heene family made the morning show rounds today, denying that the “Balloon Boy” saga and search for assumed-missing son Falcon was a publicity stunt. “I went through such a rollercoaster of emotions yesterday, to have people say that, I think is extremely pathetic,” dad Richard told...

Was Balloon Boy Stunt a Hoax?

UPDATED

Oct 16, 2009 6:40 AM CDT

Was Balloon Boy Stunt a Hoax?

Falcon Heene tells CNN 'we did this for the show'

(Newser) - An apparent "slip" by Falcon Heene has fueled frenzied internet speculation that yesterday's balloon hoohah was a publicity stunt orchestrated by his family. When his dad asked him during a CNN interview with the family why the 6-year-old didn't come out of the attic when people were calling his...

Web Quick to Churn Out
Balloon Boy Souvenir

HIS 15 MINUTES, YOUR $17.95

Oct 15, 2009 10:30 PM CDT

Web Quick to Churn Out Balloon Boy Souvenir

Internet entrepreneurs quick to milk Falcon Heene's 15 minutes for own gain

(Newser) - As if anyone doubted the internet-meme potential of today’s Colorado balloon episode … well, there’s a T-shirt for that. Internet entrepreneurs are already on Zazzle.com with a cartoon of the craft at one point thought to be carrying 6-year-old Falcon Heene, with the caption “Go Falcon,...

Balloon Boy:
'I Thought
I Would Get
In Trouble'

WHY THE ATTIC, FALCON?

Oct 15, 2009 8:31 PM CDT

Balloon Boy: 'I Thought I Would Get In Trouble'

Falcon Heene took off for the attic after dad yelled at him earlier

(Newser) - The Colorado 6-year-old we all thought we were watching in that balloon today was hiding in the family attic after his dad yelled at him for getting in a box of batteries. “He scared me, and he yelled at me,” Falcon Heene told a jammed news conference. “...

Missing Boy Is Fine:
He Was Hiding in Garage

Oct 15, 2009 5:27 PM CDT

Missing Boy Is Fine: He Was Hiding in Garage

6-year-old set off frantic search after hot-air balloon took off

(Newser) - A 6-year-old Colorado boy thought to have floated off in a helium balloon has been found safe at his home—hiding in a cardboard box in the garage attic. Sheriff Jim Alderman turned to reporters during a news conference and gave a thumbs up. "He's at the house."...

Search On
for Balloon's Missing Box

Oct 15, 2009 4:15 PM CDT

Search On for Balloon's Missing Box

No sign of boy; adventurous family was on Wife Swap

(Newser) - A troubling twist in the search for 6-year-old Falcon Heene, thought to have floated away in his father's homemade balloon near Denver: He may have crawled into a box attached to the bottom of the balloon before it accidentally lifted off from his family's back yard. That box wasn't attached...

Errant Balloon Lands, But
Boy Missing