6 Yr Old Boy Floats Away In Balloon

Daedalus and Icarus

Also: WHAT THE ****?

I'm relieved to hear little Falcon is safe and sound, okay? No qualifiers there. But I would not have wasted 15-20 minutes watching a balloon sail over greater Denver had I known there was no boy inside. I feel like an ass (yeah, I know, I know).

But it was exciting while it lasted.

Nope...as it transpires, Daedalus and Atticus.

oh, well . ..

I'm not blaming the father...really. But if you have little boys - and have seen them in action...I mean they do get curious and have more ability than common sense MOST of the time. Being mom to three of the little boogers - I would never park a balloon they could possibly get inside and float away in, in my back yard...UNLESS I had them locked in their rooms and the windows nailed shut.

I am sure that is not what he wanted to happen...but it seems to me - he either parked it in the back knowing that a 50lb child could not get in it and float away - or - he just didn't think it through all of the way. Maybe he just trusted that his child would obey, not factoring in the possibility of curiosity.

It just seems it could have all been avoided had he parked it in a barn that had a good lock on it. Maybe.

You are right. A little common sense precaution would have prevented all this.

Grounded? On the other thread on this subject it was reported that he was being "debriefed" by his father. Gotta love a euphemism like that!

"You guys said.... that, uhm, we did this for the show"






Now that was awkward.

Oooof.

That's a distressed kid.

I wonder at what level this was "for the show"? The whole thing, start to finish? Making him hide to drag out the attention/ drama?

I agree, Soz. Six year olds tend to be really bad liars. At that age, most know the difference between the truth and a lie and have been taught to tell the truth. This kid looks very conflicted and obviously is trying to figure out WTF these grown-ups want from him.

This soz, is a Wah Wah moment.

given what I recall of this family from Wife Swap - obeying isn't part of the family gig - encouraging adventure/exploration is - locks on barns would probably be seen as discouraging the children's natural instincts

odd family. I'll bet that Wife Swap episode gets some re-runs (or is on Youtube already)

People are lame.

Video shot by family of balloon taking off here:

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/interview-sets-off-skeptics-of-balloon-drama/?hp

(Couldn't imbed.)

Lookin' fakier and fakier. If I saw that on America's Home Video's I'd be calling fake and set-up.

And DEFINITELY no basket on the bottom, hanging off as reports had it yesterday, which again makes me cry foul. Interest was waning, he's not in the balloon, the bottom wasn't breached, he must be on the ground and safe, just a matter of finding him. Then -- stop the presses! -- actually there was a basket hanging from the balloon and he must've been in that... uh huh... that's the ticket...

The mom's in the video so she must be involved too.

Agreed, Gargamel.

Watched it with sozlet, she says they do a 3-2-1 countdown... but they say they didn't know their son might be in it?

Does this make sense to anyone?

So I'm gettin' hitched in about a year and I've begun to think more concretely about what kind of father I will eventually be. A primary goal, I've decided, is to never appear on television. Particularly the news. Nor will I ever whistle at a woman who is not my wife, like in traffic or something, and say to my son, "Check that out, Chief." But now I'm starting to ramble.

Worthy goals, all.

This is driving me crazy... what actually happened?

Dude was trying to launch a "flying saucer" and freak everyone out, then it wasn't getting enough attention on its own so he did a quick backup "my son's in that hot air balloon" attention-getting plan? (He called a television studio about half an hour in to ask that they send a news helicopter to keep track of what was going on.)

Was the "boy in balloon" angle intended from the beginning?

The mom seemed genuinely surprised on the Blitzer tape when the kid said he heard them calling his name but didn't come out.

OK, that video clearly shows that that balloon couldn't have lifted a boy. The parents would have known.