hawk71049
10-15-2009, 06:10 PM
This story has been on the news for most of this late afternoon, and they still have not found the boy....
.
New York Times...
October 15, 2009 , 3:01 pm
Helium Balloon Lands Without Boy Inside
Video
The tale of the experimental helium air balloon sailing above the Colorado plains for two hours on Thursday afternoon captivated the nation, and it had as many twists and turns as the strange flight. Follow the developments on The Lede blog.
Update | 5:15 p.m.
The mystery appeared to be deepening in Fort Collins.
Authorities were still investigating whether Falcon Heene could have been in a box attached to the bottom of the balloon. According to the Associated Press, one of the boy’s brothers had seen him climbing into the box before the balloon lifted off. But the box was not attached to the balloon when it made its soft landing in a field in Adams County, about 20 miles northeast of Denver International Airport.
Kathy Messick, the spokeswoman for the Larimer County Sheriff’s office, said that the box had been attached with pegs.
Ms. Messick, briefing reporters on the Heene family’s narrow, tree-lined street jammed with emergency vehicles, said that authorities were now searching the three counties — Larimer, Weld and Adams — over which the balloon flew.
Update | 4:39 p.m. Authorities continued to search the neighborhood for Falcon Heene, and this was not the first time he made national news.
The Heene family appeared twice on ABC’s “Wife Swap.”
The “storm-chasing family,” as ABC described the family of three young boys on the network’s Web site was so popular, they became part of the 100th episode, where they swapped with a psychic, performing-arts loving family — the Silvers — from Florida.
Update | 4:17 p.m.
The Denver Post ran a 2007 feature on Richard Heene, describing him as an “amateur scientist” and a storm chaser who works with a former television meteorologist Scott Stevens for The Science Detectives.
According to the profile, he has three sons, Ryo and Bradford are the older brothers of Falcon. Mr. Heene is married to Mayumi Heene.
KUSA-TV, via Reuters
Officials examined the experimental helium balloon after it landed but did not find 6-year-old Falcon Heene inside.
Update | 3:59 p.m. Falcon Heene was not found in the balloon, and now officials say there is a possibility that Falcon might be hiding in his Fort Collins neighborhood, in fear of recriminations.
“That’s good news and that’s bad news,” Mr. Nilsson, the Larimer County emergency manager, said in a telephone interview. “He was no longer in danger from a balloon crash. The bad news is we don’t know where he is.”
Mr. Nilsson said that dozens of law enforcement officers were searching for the 6-year-old boy in his neighborhood. “I am hoping the scenario is that he is scared of punishment and does not want to be found,” he said.
Update | 3:42 p.m. At 11 a.m. Mountain time, Falcon Heene, the 6-year-old son of Richard Heene, was thought to have lifted off in his father’s helium balloon. After flying for more than two hours, the half-deflated aircraft landed in an empty field.
But when the balloon landed, the boy was not in the balloon, deepening the mystery.
Update | 3:32 p.m. Cathy Davis of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department told reporters the balloon was owned by the boy’s parents and tethered behind the family’s home. She said two sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one go into a compartment at the bottom of the balloon and fly away.
Update | 3:24 p.m. According to Eloise Campanella, a Larimer County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, the father’s name is Richard Heene, and his son’s name is Falcon. Mr. Heene works as a storm chaser, featured in this video.
Update | 3:15 p.m. Erik Nilsson, the Larimer County emergency manager, said in an interview that officials might have to shoot the balloon to expedite a landing and prevent the child from getting hypothermia inside the small passenger compartment. He has been flying for more than two hours.
The balloon was drifting in winds approximately 20 miles an hour, but was never intended to go into the air, Mr. Nilsson said. It was tethered loosely in the backyard.
According to Mr. Nilsson, the parents called the police about 30 minutes after they realized that the balloon had launched, possibly with their son inside the 3-foot by 3-foot compartment. The box attached to the 7-foot-long by 20-feet-wide balloon — shaped like a container of Jiffy Pop popcorn — is made of plywood that would not be strong enough to sustain any kind of impact.
“We can’t get this thing down,” Mr. Nilsson said. “We may end up having to breach the balloon, possibly with small arms fire.”
He added that another option would be flying a helicopter above the balloon and using the downward wind to push the balloon down.
The boy had stepped into the silver balloon shaped like a flying saucer at his family’s home near Fort Collins, Colo. around 11 a.m. local time. According to MSNBC, the balloon was not tethered and it launched unpredictably.
The Denver Post reported that there were four sheriff’s cars following the balloon along with a television news helicopter as the balloon pitched and rolled. Similar balloons can fly as high as 10,000 feet.
Dan Frosch contributed reporting from Colorado, and Maria Newman from New York.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/6-year-old-alone-in-hot-air-balloon-over-colorado/?hp
Runaway 'UFO-like' helium balloon thought to contain boy is empty A small, homemade helium balloon resembling a UFO believed to be carrying a 6-year-old boy landed in Colorado empty.
By Our Foreign Staff
15 Oct 2009
Helicopters were reported to be tracking the enclosed silver balloon, which was reportedly made by the boy's father.
Television images captured the silver balloon floating above Colorado at about 6,000 feet (,830 metres) as authorities scrambled to find a way to land the craft safely.
Television images captured the silver balloon floating above Colorado at about 6,000 feet (,830 metres) as authorities scrambled to find a way to land the craft safely.
Local police said the balloon craft belongs to Richard Heene, an amateur scientist, and it was feared his son Falcon was on board. But rescuers on the ground confirmed that the boy was not inside.
Saboteur tries to deflate 'eyesore' giant balloonMr Heene was reportedly working on the craft in his family's backyard when the boy was believed to have climbed into a plywood enclosed structure beneath the balloon. It is unclear what has happened to the boy.
The balloon, which travelled for more than two hours and 60 miles, was reportedly clocked with a radar gun travelling at 25mph.
Cathy Davis of the Larimer County Sheriff's Department told reporters the balloon was owned by the boy's parents and tethered behind the family's home. She said two sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one go into a compartment at the bottom of the balloon and fly away.
The Colorado National Guard had earlier been preparing to launch a helicopter to rescue the boy from the balloon, while Erik Nilsson, the Larimer County Emergency manager, said officials might have had to shoot the balloon down.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6340322/Runaway-UFO-like-helium-balloon-thought-to-contain-boy-is-empty.html
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Balloon story shows power of social media
The loose hot-air balloon story spread like wildfire on the Internet, and many learned of the story not via traditional media but through social media circles including Twitter, Facebook and other Web 2.0 portals. (REUTERS)
By MATT KIELTYKA, 24 HOURS
#balloonboy, #SaveBalloonBoy, Falcon, CBB, Denver, Colorado.
In an instant, the Internet was set on fire Thursday afternoon when media began reporting a six-year-old may have been trapped in a UFO-shaped balloon that had broken off and launched into the stratosphere.
It’s a sensationalized story in every way, but the emergence of social media, especially Twitter, meant the story caught on like wildfire.
“I have 99 messages, and all of them are about the boy in the balloon,” said UBC journalism professor Alfred Hermida, who had just logged on to his Twitter feed after class while speaking to 24 hours. “This is the Internet in real time.”
The entire event underlined how Twitter – which Hermida calls the central nervous system of the Internet – has changed the way we receive and share information, 140 characters at a time.
“Traditional media can’t compete in breaking news, I’m more likely to hear about something from my friends first,” Hermida said. “And even if the original source may be a news outlet, it’s spread by people.”
All from a service that was originally created for people who simply wanted to tell friends they’re brushing their teeth, or watching a movie, or any other mundane daily chore.
“That’s one of the perils to predicting the future of technology,” Hermida said. “What people are actually going to do with it is a surprise.”
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/local/2009/10/15/11415396.html
..........edit...............
An unidentified person grabbed the tether line as the balloon was descending close to the surface.
A 6 year old boy was believed to be inside a runaway balloon that was flying at an average of 8000 ft. Northeast of Denver. There was a Black Hawk Helicopter on its way to perform some type of rescue.The boy's father is a retired storm chaser and was performing hover maneuvers with his older son when its believed that the 6year got in the balloon and it became detached from it moorings.
http://www.examiner.com/x-23601-Orlando-Weather-Examiner~y2009m10d15-Breaking-News-Runaway--helium-balloon-is-down-and-empty
.
New York Times...
October 15, 2009 , 3:01 pm
Helium Balloon Lands Without Boy Inside
Video
The tale of the experimental helium air balloon sailing above the Colorado plains for two hours on Thursday afternoon captivated the nation, and it had as many twists and turns as the strange flight. Follow the developments on The Lede blog.
Update | 5:15 p.m.
The mystery appeared to be deepening in Fort Collins.
Authorities were still investigating whether Falcon Heene could have been in a box attached to the bottom of the balloon. According to the Associated Press, one of the boy’s brothers had seen him climbing into the box before the balloon lifted off. But the box was not attached to the balloon when it made its soft landing in a field in Adams County, about 20 miles northeast of Denver International Airport.
Kathy Messick, the spokeswoman for the Larimer County Sheriff’s office, said that the box had been attached with pegs.
Ms. Messick, briefing reporters on the Heene family’s narrow, tree-lined street jammed with emergency vehicles, said that authorities were now searching the three counties — Larimer, Weld and Adams — over which the balloon flew.
Update | 4:39 p.m. Authorities continued to search the neighborhood for Falcon Heene, and this was not the first time he made national news.
The Heene family appeared twice on ABC’s “Wife Swap.”
The “storm-chasing family,” as ABC described the family of three young boys on the network’s Web site was so popular, they became part of the 100th episode, where they swapped with a psychic, performing-arts loving family — the Silvers — from Florida.
Update | 4:17 p.m.
The Denver Post ran a 2007 feature on Richard Heene, describing him as an “amateur scientist” and a storm chaser who works with a former television meteorologist Scott Stevens for The Science Detectives.
According to the profile, he has three sons, Ryo and Bradford are the older brothers of Falcon. Mr. Heene is married to Mayumi Heene.
KUSA-TV, via Reuters
Officials examined the experimental helium balloon after it landed but did not find 6-year-old Falcon Heene inside.
Update | 3:59 p.m. Falcon Heene was not found in the balloon, and now officials say there is a possibility that Falcon might be hiding in his Fort Collins neighborhood, in fear of recriminations.
“That’s good news and that’s bad news,” Mr. Nilsson, the Larimer County emergency manager, said in a telephone interview. “He was no longer in danger from a balloon crash. The bad news is we don’t know where he is.”
Mr. Nilsson said that dozens of law enforcement officers were searching for the 6-year-old boy in his neighborhood. “I am hoping the scenario is that he is scared of punishment and does not want to be found,” he said.
Update | 3:42 p.m. At 11 a.m. Mountain time, Falcon Heene, the 6-year-old son of Richard Heene, was thought to have lifted off in his father’s helium balloon. After flying for more than two hours, the half-deflated aircraft landed in an empty field.
But when the balloon landed, the boy was not in the balloon, deepening the mystery.
Update | 3:32 p.m. Cathy Davis of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department told reporters the balloon was owned by the boy’s parents and tethered behind the family’s home. She said two sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one go into a compartment at the bottom of the balloon and fly away.
Update | 3:24 p.m. According to Eloise Campanella, a Larimer County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, the father’s name is Richard Heene, and his son’s name is Falcon. Mr. Heene works as a storm chaser, featured in this video.
Update | 3:15 p.m. Erik Nilsson, the Larimer County emergency manager, said in an interview that officials might have to shoot the balloon to expedite a landing and prevent the child from getting hypothermia inside the small passenger compartment. He has been flying for more than two hours.
The balloon was drifting in winds approximately 20 miles an hour, but was never intended to go into the air, Mr. Nilsson said. It was tethered loosely in the backyard.
According to Mr. Nilsson, the parents called the police about 30 minutes after they realized that the balloon had launched, possibly with their son inside the 3-foot by 3-foot compartment. The box attached to the 7-foot-long by 20-feet-wide balloon — shaped like a container of Jiffy Pop popcorn — is made of plywood that would not be strong enough to sustain any kind of impact.
“We can’t get this thing down,” Mr. Nilsson said. “We may end up having to breach the balloon, possibly with small arms fire.”
He added that another option would be flying a helicopter above the balloon and using the downward wind to push the balloon down.
The boy had stepped into the silver balloon shaped like a flying saucer at his family’s home near Fort Collins, Colo. around 11 a.m. local time. According to MSNBC, the balloon was not tethered and it launched unpredictably.
The Denver Post reported that there were four sheriff’s cars following the balloon along with a television news helicopter as the balloon pitched and rolled. Similar balloons can fly as high as 10,000 feet.
Dan Frosch contributed reporting from Colorado, and Maria Newman from New York.
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/6-year-old-alone-in-hot-air-balloon-over-colorado/?hp
Runaway 'UFO-like' helium balloon thought to contain boy is empty A small, homemade helium balloon resembling a UFO believed to be carrying a 6-year-old boy landed in Colorado empty.
By Our Foreign Staff
15 Oct 2009
Helicopters were reported to be tracking the enclosed silver balloon, which was reportedly made by the boy's father.
Television images captured the silver balloon floating above Colorado at about 6,000 feet (,830 metres) as authorities scrambled to find a way to land the craft safely.
Television images captured the silver balloon floating above Colorado at about 6,000 feet (,830 metres) as authorities scrambled to find a way to land the craft safely.
Local police said the balloon craft belongs to Richard Heene, an amateur scientist, and it was feared his son Falcon was on board. But rescuers on the ground confirmed that the boy was not inside.
Saboteur tries to deflate 'eyesore' giant balloonMr Heene was reportedly working on the craft in his family's backyard when the boy was believed to have climbed into a plywood enclosed structure beneath the balloon. It is unclear what has happened to the boy.
The balloon, which travelled for more than two hours and 60 miles, was reportedly clocked with a radar gun travelling at 25mph.
Cathy Davis of the Larimer County Sheriff's Department told reporters the balloon was owned by the boy's parents and tethered behind the family's home. She said two sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one go into a compartment at the bottom of the balloon and fly away.
The Colorado National Guard had earlier been preparing to launch a helicopter to rescue the boy from the balloon, while Erik Nilsson, the Larimer County Emergency manager, said officials might have had to shoot the balloon down.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6340322/Runaway-UFO-like-helium-balloon-thought-to-contain-boy-is-empty.html
......................
.......................edit.......................
Balloon story shows power of social media
The loose hot-air balloon story spread like wildfire on the Internet, and many learned of the story not via traditional media but through social media circles including Twitter, Facebook and other Web 2.0 portals. (REUTERS)
By MATT KIELTYKA, 24 HOURS
#balloonboy, #SaveBalloonBoy, Falcon, CBB, Denver, Colorado.
In an instant, the Internet was set on fire Thursday afternoon when media began reporting a six-year-old may have been trapped in a UFO-shaped balloon that had broken off and launched into the stratosphere.
It’s a sensationalized story in every way, but the emergence of social media, especially Twitter, meant the story caught on like wildfire.
“I have 99 messages, and all of them are about the boy in the balloon,” said UBC journalism professor Alfred Hermida, who had just logged on to his Twitter feed after class while speaking to 24 hours. “This is the Internet in real time.”
The entire event underlined how Twitter – which Hermida calls the central nervous system of the Internet – has changed the way we receive and share information, 140 characters at a time.
“Traditional media can’t compete in breaking news, I’m more likely to hear about something from my friends first,” Hermida said. “And even if the original source may be a news outlet, it’s spread by people.”
All from a service that was originally created for people who simply wanted to tell friends they’re brushing their teeth, or watching a movie, or any other mundane daily chore.
“That’s one of the perils to predicting the future of technology,” Hermida said. “What people are actually going to do with it is a surprise.”
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/local/2009/10/15/11415396.html
..........edit...............
An unidentified person grabbed the tether line as the balloon was descending close to the surface.
A 6 year old boy was believed to be inside a runaway balloon that was flying at an average of 8000 ft. Northeast of Denver. There was a Black Hawk Helicopter on its way to perform some type of rescue.The boy's father is a retired storm chaser and was performing hover maneuvers with his older son when its believed that the 6year got in the balloon and it became detached from it moorings.
http://www.examiner.com/x-23601-Orlando-Weather-Examiner~y2009m10d15-Breaking-News-Runaway--helium-balloon-is-down-and-empty