Thaindian News

April 22, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): This was the classic case of a hoax backfiring, badly! The Balloon hoax story made headlines in 2009 when Richard Heene staged a complicated drama with his wife and son to magnetize concentration. Richard and Mayumi Heene had generated a big hue and cry when they had asserted that their son Falcon had somehow floated away on an airborne balloon.

The incident occurred on October 15, 2009 when the Fort Collins residents contacted the neighborhood police. They expounded that their 6-year-old Falcon had escaped in the home-grown helium balloon and was somewhere over Colorado. The news disseminated rapidly and soon random gossip commenced to be distributed. It was reported that the boy had reached an elevation of 7000 feet. The Heenes were in the glare of publicity as the media bawled for more information. The establishment swung into action. They followed the soaring saucer -shaped balloon in close proximity to the Denver Aiport, but did not discover the boy in it. That is when they suspected that something was underhanded.

The whole story then unwrapped itself. It was established that Falcon was, in fact, concealed at home itself. The Heenes had endeavored this stunt to procure media hype. They had desired to land a spot in a reality show post the hype created by the incident. They faced several criminal indictments. Richard accepted guiltiness on November 13 last year for the charge of trying to manipulate a public servant. On December 23 last year, Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in prison and Mayumi Heene to 20 days weekend jail. He was also commanded to shell out $36,000 in restitution. The ‘Balloon Boy’ operation had the Federal Aviation Administration, National Guard as well as the local establishment drawn in. Heenes now has to pay the price for messing with the establishment and a bulky one at that.