Balloon Boy Update: HOAX
Oct 18th, 2009 | 8 responses
The sheriff of Larimer County Colorado has just held a press conference in which he has confirmed that this was a hoax and a publicity stunt. The father did stage this, it turns out he was an actor in California before he moved to Colorado and this is part of a plot to promote a new TV show.
There have been two former 911 calls to this location. The first was determined to be an accident when a child called the number, the second was a possible domestic violence case but no charges were filed. In this case the investigation shows that they did call a television station and the FAA around the same time that they called 911 but it is not clear in what order.
In what sounds to be quite suspicious, the police examined the balloon and obtained information provided by Mr. Heene about the makeup of the box they ran information by a professor of physics at Colorado State and initially determined that the balloon could have launched with the child inside. However once they recovered the box it was determined he had provided false information and the object was 18 pounds heavier. With this weight factored in the figures show it was NOT possible for the balloon to launch.
He also stated that at the time of the event they did have some suspicions about the story but since it involved the danger of the death of a child they did not want to take a chance. In addition the family seemed quite willing to cooperate with the investigation. However a review of the facts now show it was a hoax.
Like most of us the point where the authorities determined it was clear that this was a fraud was the moment on CNN where the child said ‘we did this for the show’. They knew at that point based on the same verbal and non verbal clues that we all saw that it was likely a fraud but needed proof. It was for this reason that they pretended to not believe that it was fake.
The sheriff has cited state laws that prohibit the police from discussing specific things like polygraph exams, confessions, etc so that part of the story will not be discussed. However he can say they had sufficient evidence to get search warrants for computers, recordings, phone records, contracts for reality TV shows, etc. Sure seems like a big wink and nod.
Formal charges have not yet been filed but they are planning to file them. My guess is that they are trying to find a way to charge them with more than a slap on the wrist kind of charge for false reports. He has cited 1) conspiracy, 2) false reporting, 3) contributing to delinquency of a minor and 4) deception of a public authority. Some of these are felonies.
They also may look at charges relating relating to the dangers posed by the balloon but they can’t charge under state laws but they may be able to do so under federal law and will meet with the FBI and FAA.
They will also look to restitution for the cost of the incident.
I feel horrible for those poor kids. How lousy can you be to do this with your children ?
Reports now circulating that the ACLU may represent them in the case ? Seems odd to me.
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8 Responses to “Balloon Boy Update: HOAX”
“With this weight factored in the figures show it was NOT possible for the balloon to launch.”
I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean…. If the parents really did think the kid was being carried away then their belief was sincere. It doesn't matter if it was determined later that the weight would have been too great for the balloon to launch with the child.
That aside, I'm not defending the parents. As I've said from the beginning, “Drama queens”.
As far as reports that the ACLU will represent them… I wonder if the fine Mr, Heene started this, too. He just full of hot air. Actually not even that- just helium.
And yes, it does seem odd that the ACLU would represent them in this case.
Drama queens.
Well I think the point is that the initial calculations that showed the child could have been in the balloon were based on figures provided by the dad as to the mass of the box. When they found the box it was almost 20 lbs heavier.
Since he built the ballooon and is well versed in flying them he would have been quite aware of the weight of everything on the balloon and the exact physics of what could and could not be placed inside to launch it. Every ounce is important.
So since he lied about the weight it seems logical to deduce he knew the balloon could not have launched with the child in it and faked the numbers in the hope that the box would not be recovered and thus the police could not prove the story was impossible.
As to the ACLU rumor, we shall see though I understand they did represent him before and they are active in the organization.
Patrick, good point and I'll assume he did know the true weight of the box (and kid) since he is apparently knowledgeable on the subject of balloon flying. It also shows (if it is indeed a hoax, and I thought so when the first story broke) that he's sloppy by not covering all his bases.
Interesting that they are active in the ACLU.
What I don't get is why he was so dumb/arrogant in this stunt.
He could have made it look like the kid 'accidentally' let the balloon loose.
It looks odd enough that it would have gotten media coverage, balloon on the loose/etc and the angle of the kid being in trouble/etc would have made all the late night show monologues.
And no criminal charges.
Patrick,
the more I read about this father, the sadder I get for the kids.
For someone to use a child as a part of their plan to gain attention is about the sickest thing I can think of. I hope the proper authorities can have some long interviews with the kids and find out what is going on with that family. It seems like the whole family needs help. I hope they get it. Maybe treatment would be better than prosecution?
They need to pay back the funds used if it was a hoax, some sort of punishment to prevent others from doing it, and required treatment. No need to lock them up for years.
Put the family into counseling, put the father into anger management.
No need for huge jail or prison time — a few months to a year would do.
No need to take the kids away — just do the counseling and related stuff.
Make them pay for search and rescue, certainly. Garnish any future teevee or book revenue.
It's too much to expect the media to apologize for its idiotic sensationalism, as it ought.
“For someone to use a child as a part of their plan to gain attention is about the sickest thing I can think of. “
“To gain attention” is probably beyond the scope merely of this publicity stunt. What about dragging the kids with them to chase tornadoes (a contemporary stupid hype fad among some, even now on teevee in and of itself as a subject matter) or to go into the eye of a hurricane? It's worth thinking if the kids are being brought along to pay attention to the father's doing these things, to make the father feel important.