Tragedy as balloon boy vanishes in Colorado

By Keith Coffman
From: Reuters
October 15, 2009 6:48AM



A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy has vanished in extraordinary and heartbreaking circumstances after he climbed into a home-made helium balloon at his family home and flew away.

The balloon landed about 6.40am Australian time in Colorado in the United States after a frantic rescue effort by emergency authorities - but tragically there was no sign of the little boy.

Emergency workers are now clinging to faint hope that the boy somehow managed to escape the balloon early in its flight and could be alive. Worst fears are that he either jumped or fell during its two-hour flight.

When the balloon hit the ground, rescue workers surrounded it quickly to secure it - but then made the discovery they dreaded most: the boy was not inside.

Television images showed the silver balloon, resembling a flying saucer and about six meters across, floating across the Colorado skies at an estimated 1800 meters, moving at an estimated 50km an hour.

CNN reported that the US. National Guard had scrambled helicopters to monitor the balloon's progress but authorities struggled to work out how to safely land the contraption before it hit the ground.

A Larimer County Sheriff's spokeswoman said that the boy had climbed into the balloon, which she described as "a homemade helium balloon made to look like a UFO" at his family's home in Fort Collins.

The craft then apparently broke away from a pair of tethers holding it to the ground and floated away.

Aviation experts said that the boy could survive the flight but would be cold and possibly disoriented at high altitudes.

Television channels showed live images of the balloon zipping over countryside, twisting around as it moved.

Local police said the boy, Falcon Heene and his father, Richard Heene, were working on the craft in the family's backyard when the boy was believed to have climbed into a plywood enclosed structure beneath the balloon.

The father said the craft was hovering above the ground, but slipped its rope tethers.

The Huffington Post reported that the boy is the son of Richard and Mayumi Heene of Fort. Collins, Colorado.

“Richard is a storm chaser and scientist. The parents were on "Wife Swap" and returned for the 100th episode, so information on the family is online. They apparently sleep in their clothes so they can leap from bed and run after a storm,” the Huffington Post reported. “Falcon has two older brothers, Bradford and Ryo.”

Another website, tv.com, said the family were known risk-takers. The LA Times reported: "The Heene family, with its three rowdy boys, is anchored by father Richard, whose anger arrives in sudden bolts between his fringe science projects."

The US ABC site said the Heene family were science obsessedThe ABC site says the family is "science-obsessed" and the Huffington Post said ABC wrote the following for their second TV appearance:

“When the Heene family aren't chasing storms, they devote their time to scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials and building a research-gathering flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm.

“In this ultimate swap, the Heenes swap lives with a psychic mom who speaks to the dead and can control the weather, her husband and her children -- who believe they are destined to be stars.

“This show will feature aliens, punk rockers, past-life regression and, for the first time ever, the children from the two families will face off in a kids' table meeting. "Heene/Silver," the 100th episode of Wife Swap, destined to become a classic!”

The Wife Swop TV show website describes the family as such: “The Heene family from Colorado live life on the edge. Wife Mayumi (43) and storm scientist Richard (45) take their three kids, Bradford (8), Ryo (7) and Falcon (5), out of school to go on storm chasing missions to prove Richard's theories about magnetic fields and gravity.

“If conditions are right, Mayumi wakes her family by shouting "Storm Approaching, Storm Approaching!" into a bullhorn. The family sleep in their clothes so they can leap out of bed and into the storm-mobile.

“Richard calls Mayumi his 'ninja wife'; she maintains equipment, drives the storm-mobile, films tornadoes and waits with the kids while Richard jumps on his motorbike, heads into the eye of the storm and launches rockets to measure magnetic forces.

“At home the family are as chaotic as a twister: the kids have no table manners and throw themselves around the house, and while Richard devotes every moment to his research, he expects Mayumi to cook, clean and run the house without any help.

“Meanwhile on a quiet street in Connecticut, the Martel family -- wife Karen (43), husband Jay (50) and their two kids, Max (11) and Dean (10) -- live a life of calm and safety.
“Dad is so committed to safety that he runs a child-proofing business devoted to identifying dangers and risks and making sure kids stay out of harm's way.

“With all the precautions taken to keep them safe, Max and Dean seem to be afraid of everything..."you can fall down the stairs, get cancer from the microwave, get tapeworms from sushi, and the lava lamp could explode..."

“The Martels conduct safety fire drills, make sure the kids wear protective gear on their bikes and pogo-sticks and never let the boys out of their sight. The atmosphere in the house is calm and serene, and Karen and Jay are equal partners.”