UFO flying over Denver with six year old trapped inside

In summary: Heene family's experimental balloon lifts into the air, possibly carrying a six-year-old child, his father Richard Heene calls Channel 9, KUSA, the NBC affiliate in Denver, to enlist its help in finding his son.The balloon takes off, and the six year old boy is presumed to have fallen out. The father calls the TV station to enlist their help in finding the boy.Heene family's experimental balloon lifts into the air, possibly carrying a six-year-old child, his father Richard Heene calls Channel 9, KUSA, the NBC affiliate in Denver, to enlist its help in finding
  • #36
These people are flat out nuts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HoqRIAwkps
 
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  • #37
Fox does it again; those clever boys. Time after time they yank us around.

For reasons that have worked so far, they've generated a lot of income taking the maverick road the other alphabet channels have followed with great caution. We have prancing with the stars, so called reality TV, Island (?), and all this other crap my wife loves so much, that I can't even name.

With this latest gambit, they are testing the envelop a bit further.
 
  • #38
Greg Bernhardt said:
These people are flat out nuts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HoqRIAwkps

I have to ask, are they scientologists?
 
  • #39
Mk said:
Here's the video of the big moment on CNN:


Right before he says "we did this for the show" you can hear a noise come out of the father's throat.

"mmAN..." "No?"

And no, it never was a UFO, but it was a flying saucer. :smile:


wooooooooooo .... children can't lie.
 
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  • #40
Greg Bernhardt said:
These people are flat out nuts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HoqRIAwkps

Watching the first minute nearly made me puke.
 
  • #41
Cyrus said:
wooooooooooo .... children can't lie.

Father: "We believe 100% that he was onboard."

It's fairly certain the parents worked something with Fox, and the kid spilled the beans. Silly daddy, when you get coached by the producer, remember to coach the kids. All is fair in love and entertainment news.
 
  • #42
Phrak said:
Father: "We believe 100% that he was onboard."

It's fairly certain the parents worked something with Fox, and the kid spilled the beans. Silly daddy, when you get coached by the producer, remember to coach the kids. All is fair in love and entertainment news.

It's not even what the kid said, but how he 'confessed' it. He was hesistant to say it was because of the show, you could tell he didn't want to lie.
 
  • #43
Mk said:
Here's the video of the big moment on CNN:

Right before he says "we did this for the show" you can hear a noise come out of the father's throat.

"mmAN..." "No?"

And no, it never was a UFO, but it was a flying saucer. :smile:

I heard a copy of the 911 call. The mother sounded genuinely distressed. She also referred to the balloon as being like a UFO and for the rest of the call they referred to it in that manner. Possibly that is where the UFO reference comes from.
 
  • #44
Phrak said:
Father: "We believe 100% that he was onboard."

It's fairly certain the parents worked something with Fox, and the kid spilled the beans. Silly daddy, when you get coached by the producer, remember to coach the kids. All is fair in love and entertainment news.

Right. So it was obviously Fox that came up with the idea. The crackpot tornado chaser who wants to be famous couldn't have come up with it on his own.
 
  • #45
TheStatutoryApe said:
Right. So it was obviously Fox that came up with the idea. The crackpot tornado chaser who wants to be famous couldn't have come up with it on his own.

To be fair, it's the job of producers to turn mole hills into mountains.
 
  • #46
lr_zA5E7n7A&feature=related[/youtube] KURAZAAAYYYYY
 
  • #49
Why are these kids exposed to this craziness?
 
  • #50
I just watched the video of it lifting off from their backyard, and read that some professor said that thing could lift 80 pounds. There is NO WAY that thing could lift anywhere near 80 pounds. That small, half inflated thing could barely lift its own weight.
 
  • #51
TheStatutoryApe said:
Right. So it was obviously Fox that came up with the idea. The crackpot tornado chaser who wants to be famous couldn't have come up with it on his own.

I don't know who came up with the idea, but it was half-baked, and appears coached (Daddy's a bad actor). I suppose authorities had no choice but to take it seriously, and "news" channels like CNN and FNC make their bread off of things other than car-chases, ... I dunno.

I think it looks too "wrong" to be concocted by FOX or any professional. To be fair, I only heard of this event after it was over, so my mind was thinking "hoax" right from the start. I don't know how real it would have seemed without this bias.
 
  • #52
This is from a Reality Show proposal he pitched to ABC:


16. Can we attract UFO's with a homemade flying saucer? We will modify a weather balloon, so that it resembles a UFO and will electrically charge the skin of the craft (Biefield-Brown Effect). We will capture the footage on film, and will utilize the media as a means with which to make our presence known to the masses. This will not only provide us with incredible footage, but will also generate a tremendous amount of controversy among the public, as well as publicity within the mainstream media. This will be the most significant UFO-related news event to take place since the Roswell Crash of 1947, and the result will be a dramatic increase in local and national awareness about The Heene Family, our Reality Series, as well as the UFO Phenomenon in general.


Enough said...

http://gawker.com/5383859/abc-reality-series-proposal-from-richard-heene-and-rob-thomas#ufo
 
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  • #53
Equate said:
This is from a Reality Show proposal he pitched to ABC:



Enough said...

http://gawker.com/5383859/abc-reality-series-proposal-from-richard-heene-and-rob-thomas#ufo

Wow, I heard his ex associate in interview discussing him but the guy was a crackpot and so I did not assign him all that much credibility. Maybe he was more spot on than I had realized.
 
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  • #54
djz3i-ZjC64[/youtube] Two words: Anger Management.
 
  • #55
Wow, I think social services needs to intervene and decide if these kids are in a stable environment.
 
  • #56
Evo said:
Wow, I think social services needs to intervene and decide if these kids are in a stable environment.

Like Chi, I didn't hear about it until hours after the conclusion. My first thought was drama for profit. I agree with Evo - get the kids out of there.
 
  • #57
WhoWee said:
Like Chi, I didn't hear about it until hours after the conclusion. My first thought was drama for profit. I agree with Evo - get the kids out of there.
Taking the children away would be too extreme and definitely not good for the children, but I do think that the parents need to get some advice on child-rearing (lesson 1: don't put a child on the spot on national television).
 
  • #58
Monique said:
Taking the children away would be too extreme and definitely not good for the children, but I do think that the parents need to get some advice on child-rearing (lesson 1: don't put a child on the spot on national television).
I think the television stations that are promoting the exploitation of children in these reality shows need to be sued and the practice stopped. So many psycho adults willing to force their children to endure anything in order to get themselves on tv. It's just sick.

When a child is under so much stress that he vomits every time he's questioned on tv...where are the authorities? Where are the people with an ounce of compassion or common sense?
 
  • #60
rootX said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8312912.stm
A sheriff in the US state of Colorado says the parents of a boy mistakenly believed to have been carried away by a helium balloon will face charges.

I can just Imagine: Parents charged with fooling most of the people some of the time.
 
  • #61
Evo said:
I think the television stations that are promoting the exploitation of children in these reality shows need to be sued and the practice stopped. So many psycho adults willing to force their children to endure anything in order to get themselves on tv. It's just sick.

When a child is under so much stress that he vomits every time he's questioned on tv...where are the authorities? Where are the people with an ounce of compassion or common sense?
I wondered that myself, where was the parent or producer to pull the kid away from the camera and comfort it? The kids should never have been in the interview in the first place, but the television station exploits both the children and the parents who make irresponsible decisions.
 
  • #62
Monique said:
Why are these kids exposed to this craziness?

Lee said Richard Heene was "obsessed" with trying to land a TV show and become famous.

"Heene believes the world is going to end in 2012," she said. "Because of that, he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can be safe from the sun exploding."
. . . .
Heene has a profile listed on a Web site that helps people get cast in reality shows, and the site said he last logged on in late September — around the time investigators said the hoax was taking root. The site lists his occupation as a research scientist and general contractor with a high school education.

The Heenes twice appeared on ABC's "Wife Swap," including a March episode in which they discuss their approach to parenting and talk about their belief that they're the descendants of aliens.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091020/ap_on_re_us/us_balloon_boy

I think they should find the boys suitable parents. And these adults are allowed to vote. :rolleyes:
 
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  • #63
Monique said:
I wondered that myself, where was the parent or producer to pull the kid away from the camera and comfort it? The kids should never have been in the interview in the first place, but the television station exploits both the children and the parents who make irresponsible decisions.

I was also thinking the same. What parent just keeps going on with an interview when their kid is being physically ill? He didn't even put the kid down to leave with someone to a bathroom, or find a place to lie down, he just kept the kid propped up for the cameras. But, I think most people would stop and care for their kid first, then resume the interview once the kid was comfortable somewhere.

I'm not yet sure how much of the rest of their screaming and yelling and general "acting out" type behavior is genuine, and how much is an act for the cameras. Regardless, I don't think it's healthy for the children, and a social worker needs to be involved in some oversight to determine if those kids are in a sufficiently healthy environment to remain with those nuts for parents.
 
  • #64
Somebody get those parents on the balloon. Then upload the video on youtube.
 
  • #65
I think this moron should pay for all the money that was spent on all the flying helicopters and police cars on a wild goose chase. Among others, the balloon is just not big enough to take off with a kid.

You can clearly tell from the last video that there is no kid inside. I haven't heard anyone else mention this, but if you look when the balloon is hovering near the ground, the bottom is actually off the ground. Are you telling me the frame of the balloon is supporting the kids weight before it left the ground?? The bottom of the balloon where the compartment is would be on the ground due to his weight before takeoff. The frame would not support the weight in that position.
 
  • #66
  • #68
bassplayer142 said:
I think this moron should pay for all the money that was spent on all the flying helicopters and police cars on a wild goose chase.

I think that's the main reason for the investigation/arrest, to have a verdict that requires payment of those costs as the penalty. Unfortunately, I don't think it's for the interests of the children, though that should be factored into it too, in my opinion anyway.
 
  • #69
bassplayer142 said:
I think this moron should pay for all the money that was spent on all the flying helicopters and police cars on a wild goose chase. Among others, the balloon is just not big enough to take off with a kid.
The local Sheriff office is filing charges, and I'm sure this dude will pay the coasts of his fraud.

This is an interesting story - How Do Reality TV Families Get Cast? - considering that Heene wanted to score a reality show.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114012293
As the creative force behind TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8 and 18 Kids and Counting, Hayes knows a bit about casting reality TV shows about unusual families. But, he says, the Heenes' stunt would never have landed them a show with his company.

"We would never select somebody like that," explains Hayes. "One, because of their motivation; and, two, the network requires us to do a background check on everybody, and this family wouldn't have gotten very far in that process."

. . . .
 
  • #70
Moonbear said:
I think that's the main reason for the investigation/arrest, to have a verdict that requires payment of those costs as the penalty. Unfortunately, I don't think it's for the interests of the children, though that should be factored into it too, in my opinion anyway.
The treatment of the children should be tops, IMO. Unfortunately, the ways the law can be applied here address the fraud, false statements, and other details, and don't advance the prosecution of the parents on other grounds. Those creeps should not have kids.
 

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