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
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
This is crazy. It seems unlikely to me that he is still breathing, unless there is a pocket of air underneath the helium right?
 
  • #3
It wasn't built with the intention of carrying people. This probably will not end well I'm afraid. Really sad.
 
  • #4
wow they got it down! cross your fingers i guess
 
  • #5
okay now they're saying he may have fallen out of the balloon. they are saying there is no one in the balloon...
 
  • #6
lewdtenant said:
okay now they're saying he may have fallen out of the balloon. they are saying there is no one in the balloon...

Yes, it seems he fell out...now to find him, and hope for the best...jeez, this is terrible.
 
  • #7
It appears the boy was on a plane (aircraft?) that was attached to the balloon when it took off.

If the boy is not with his family, presumably he is somewhere along the path between the lauch site and the landing site. :frown:
 
  • #8
lisab said:
Yes, it seems he fell out...now to find him, and hope for the best...jeez, this is terrible.

I wonder how the boy got in and fell out... the entire thing was sealed including when it landed. I hope that the boy is just missing or hiding cause he's scared of getting in trouble for releasing the balloon...
 
  • #9
I wonder how the boy got in and fell out... the entire thing was sealed including when it landed.
I heard on Fox that the boy could have gotten in through a cargo door for the basket.
 
  • #10
Mk said:
I heard on Fox that the boy could have gotten in through a cargo door for the basket.

Well I still hope not :(
 
  • #11
If he would have fallen out the balloon would have risen several thousand feet in a very short time. I think he probably let the balloon go at the house, realized how much trouble he is now in, and is hiding for dear life...
 
  • #12
This whole thing smells like a big hoax.
 
  • #13
Equate said:
This whole thing smells like a big hoax.

That would be really sick, but I have this feeling too. The family is set to reappear on a show called 'Wife Swap' where they swap spouses, and in this particular case it was between a safety nut family and a 'carefree' family. The carefree family is the one with the kid who is missing.

At least in this case the kid is probably OK.
 
  • #14
Picture taken from another forum I frequent, I take no credit/blame for this:http://pic.phyrefile.com/d/d-/d-fence/2009/10/15/1255636533347.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #15
It seems that an average weight for a six year old boy is about 43lbs (just a quick Google search). Would a balloon this small even lift 43lbs? It sure looks like a smallish balloon to me.
 
  • #16
DavidSnider said:
At least in this case the kid is probably OK.

Hopefully.

The balloon just doesn't seem big enough to be able to lift a six year old.
 
  • #17
Equate said:
Hopefully.

The balloon just doesn't seem big enough to be able to lift a six year old.

I dunno. I saw a pretty convincing calculation on another forum that put the limit at about 70lbs.
 
  • #18
Equate said:
This whole thing smells like a big hoax.

that was my first impression too. Did anyone actually see the kid flying in the balloon?

Or is the kid just missing, and the balloon just flew off?
 
  • #19
Hiding in the attic =) Good news.
 
  • #20
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26217368-23109,00.html
He had been hiding in box in the attic, reports said, claiming such behaviour was "not unusual" for Falcon.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #21
He had been hiding in box in the attic, reports said, claiming such behaviour was "not unusual" for Falcon.

:rofl: Falcon's got some splainin' to do!
 
  • #22
At least when he becomes a teenager he'll be able to whip this out as proof his parents are idiots!
 
  • #23
russ_watters said:
At least when he becomes a teenager he'll be able to whip this out as proof his parents are idiots!
That's why we hear those disclaimers - "don't try this at home". And amateurs ask "would could go wrong?"
 
  • #24
  • #25
lisab said:
:rofl: Falcon's got some splainin' to do!

LOL! Sounds like the time when I was a little kid (about 3 years old...a little too young to remember this) that my parents told me I hid under a bucket on the boat playing a game of hide-and-seek with them, while they were frantically searching the water thinking I'd fallen overboard. I figure he's got a couple more years before that sort of stunt gets him grounded for life, so he better get it out of his system now! :biggrin:
 
  • #26
Falcon punch? haha i reckon it's pretty funny that he was hiding i usually sit in the lounge and try not to laugh when i do stuff wrong after i tie my shoes up
 
  • #28
Apparently he is a weather-chaser and the balloon was used for this.

It should be noted that this was never a UFO, contrary to the title of the thread. :biggrin: Though it might be interesting to see if any reports emerge.
 
  • #29
Ivan Seeking said:
Apparently he is a weather-chaser and the balloon was used for this.

It should be noted that this was never a UFO, contrary to the title of the thread. :biggrin: Though it might be interesting to see if any reports emerge.

You sure? The dad is a bit of UFO buff =) See his iReport on structures and faces on mars: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-65430
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-65548
 
  • #30
Found these on youtube:


I can't remember where I read it, but apparently these experiments are performed in an attempt to prove Richard Henee's theories about magnetic fields and gravity.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #31
DavidSnider said:
You sure?

According to CNN. I think they even said that he was on a weather-chaser show for one of the major networks. They also mentioned the reality TV stuff, but nothing about UFOs.
 
  • #32
DavidSnider said:
The dad is a bit of UFO buff =) See his iReport on structures and faces on mars: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-65430
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-65548

That has nothing to do with UFOs. That is plain old pseudoscience.

...just as a matter of fact. :biggrin:
 
  • #33
Videos of the balloon show it tipping and tumbling. It didn't act like it had any payload at all, so it was highly unlikely that a 6-year-old was on board, even if that balloon could have gotten a 6-year-old off the ground in the first place. Grandstanding and hoax are tops, here. "Wife-Swap" reality show? Can these people be trusted?
 
  • #34
Kids speak the truth, don't they?

In a later interview with CNN's "Larry King Live," Falcon said he heard his parents call for him from the garage.

When asked by his father on-air why he didn't respond, the boy replied, "You guys said we did this for the show."

When the father was pressed by Wolf Blitzer, who was filling in for King, to explain what his son meant, he became uncomfortable, finally saying he was "appalled" by the questions, and then adding that Falcon was likely referring to all the media coverage
.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/15/colorado.boy.balloon/index.html

This whole thing stinks to high heaven.
 
  • #35
DavidSnider said:
This probably will not end well I'm afraid. Really sad.
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:
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar threads

My conversation with a six year old
    • General Discussion
2
Replies
38
Views
7K
Why is the U-2 nicknamed the Dragon Lady?
    • General Discussion
Replies
4
Views
7K
Things I Learned from Movies
    • General Discussion
Replies
1
Views
8K
News How long until the left labels Zell Miller a traitor?
    • General Discussion
Replies
27
Views
4K
Earth Day - My Contact Experience
    • Earth Sciences
Replies
16
Views
4K
Mathematica This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics (Week 257)
    • MATLAB, Maple, Mathematica, LaTeX
Replies
5
Views
3K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top