Dilemma as balloon hoax fears grow

Oct 17 2009

Police are to re-interview a Colorado couple as speculation mounted that the balloon drama that sparked a frenzied search for their six-year-old son was a huge publicity stunt.

By all accounts, Richard Heene is an unapologetic self-promoter whose off-the-wall activities have included flying saucers, mountain-top helicopter stunts, storm chasing and reality TV shows.

Now, many suspect Mr Heene hid his son Falcon in the rafters of his garage in Fort Collins for five hours to make it seem as if the boy had floated away in a home-made helium balloon.

Thursday's balloon drama unfolded live on television before Falcon was found.

Mr Heene vehemently denied that the events were a hoax, dismissing the claims as "extremely pathetic".

The doubts surfaced after a series of bizarre TV interviews, including one on CNN in which Falcon told his parents, "You said we did this for a show", when asked why he did not come down from the garage rafters during the search.

The family made the rounds on the morning talk shows on Friday and Falcon was sick during two separate interviews when asked why he hid.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden admitted that Falcon's comments on CNN had clearly "raised everybody's level of scepticism," but investigators had no reason to believe the incident was a hoax.

Sheriff Alderden said the family seemed genuine during the panic and he believed events could have unfolded just as they described. Falcon got frightened when his father scolded him for playing inside the balloon. The boy then hid in the garage out of fear.

The sheriff said his office has been flooded with calls and emails about the matter. He added that officials "have to operate on what we can prove as a fact and not what people want to be done".