Rescuers are tracking and chasing a “homemade flying saucer” that is in flight with a 6-year-old, by himself, on board.
The incident started this morning in Fort Collins when the boy got into the balloon-like device, which was built by an adult, and it came loose from a tether, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.
UPDATE: 12:39pm PDT– The boy wasn’t on board. Did he fall out? Was he ever on board? Where is he?
CNN is reporting that the family had been on the show ‘Wife Swap.’ WTF?
12:52pm PDT — [Correction] Older brother reported that he saw the boy dart into the balloon. Others thought they saw something fall out. Checking the neighborhood, the boy still hasn’t been found.
1:10pm PDT — Here’s info on the family.
1:15pm PDT — He may never have been on board both because the craft was never designed to hold anyone and as it flew partially deflated you couldn’t see him rolling against the fabric. Also, as someone on CNN just calculated, there probably wasn’t enough helium to lift the boy a mile and a half up.
1:20pm PDT — Sheriff’s Dept reporting the basket wasn’t breached and the boy is assumed to be in the neighborhood.
1:25pm PDT — The father had submitted videos on his theories to CNN.
1:52pm PDT — There may have been a box attached beneath the balloon that the boy got into which was not on during flight. Was this what fell off?
3:09pm PDT — He’s alive and home! No details where he was yet.
3:11pm PDT — He was hiding in a box in the attic of the garage.
#17 – did they look in the freezer?
This is why straight people should not raise kids.
I hope the priests didn’t get him.
#21. That’s cold man.
WmDE (#(9)said, on October 15th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Judging from the size, I don’t think balloon had lifting capacity for a 6 year old.
Might be time to look in the basement.
That is so very, very obvious it sure makes you wonder what (if anything) the media and rescue people 1) use for brains; or 2) received in the way of education. One thing for sure: they don’t know anything about the physics of ballonning…
Another classic example of why it’s a waste of time to watch anything on tv, or (if you do) believe anything you see.
Judging from the size? There’s a picture of it in the air and in a field, there is nothing to see the scale of it.
..but, seriously, who can say it hasn’t been a great couple hours watching this thing unfold? The freaking most terrifying thoughts if it could be true, every parent getting sick at the idea of how it would feel to be the parent, then thinking how scared you would be to be a kid in a balloon out of control…then the weird tension of no relief that the guy wasn’t in there and hurt or worse…and then the short lived mystery with all the highs and lows and possible ends…and then the best ending ever. Do you remember when you thought hiding in a box over the garage really MIGHT work? It doesn’t really matter what happened…it was an awesome ride…for all of us.
This is all easy to say because nothing horrible really happened…like in any good narrative of fiction.
Shepherd Smith on FOX news was the first to say that maybe the boy’s hiding under the bed when every other news station got into all the drama. Once again, FOX news gets it right.
Here’s my thought, it seems the brothers of the boy had a video camera too. And the dad submits his videos right away. Might it be all set up by the kids. Coming from a news making family into building UFO’s it seems quite plausible.
Could it be that mom and dad throw out hints without telling the older boys directly to do such a thing, they say “yea got it dad” and the little boy is terrorized as he has no clue what’s going on as the brothers say “look what you did, mom and dad will be mad, better hide here in the attic.”
Now worldwide coverage of their news making and their invention, the whole world has seen their balloon and they are soon rich.
Publicity stunt at it’s finest. No one would ever be able to prove anything.
CNN update: the boy was hiding in the attic (and not cut up in pieces in the freezer).
He’s found safe and hiding in the attic fearing punishment for untethering the balloon.
At a MINIMUM they should hold these nuts accountable for launching an aircraft w/o permission. What a waste of taxpayer money — and all the opportunity cost of all the lost time of all the travelers stuck at the airport because flights through the area were postpones. Ridiculous!
Somebody change me, exciting stuff!
Doesn’t anybody watch MythBusters? They tried to see how many helium balloons were needed to lift a small girl. The cluster of balloons looked bigger then a 2 level house.
so what news wasn’t being covered while THIS stupid kid trick was going on?
Seems to me these people should be BANISHED from television, they’ve used up their few minutes of fame. But, doesn’t work that way, does it? When is the made for tv movie, and book coming out?
LMAO people in colorado are weird… i know i’ve lived here a while now
I guess the war in Iraq’s over…
Adam Curry will be drooling to talk about this one.
4 year old girl.
3500 balloons.
= 2 foot altitude.
The father using Ireport to prove buildings on mars!
It was just announced on the BBC that the child has been grounded…
@39 Scott,
Well played, LOL!