BALLOON BOY CHARGES: Authorities Expect To Charge Balloon Boy Father Richard Heene (VIDEO)

CNN:

Authorities in Colorado say criminal charges are expected to be filed against Richard Heene, a storm-chasing father whose giant Mylar balloon ascended into the sky earlier this week -- sparking fears that his 6-year-old was aboard.

Richard Heene offers a cardboard box Saturday to receive questions about his son and about his famous balloon.

"We anticipate criminal charges will be filed sometime in the near future," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told CNN.

Watch Press Conference:

Read the whole story: CNN

Comments

[JT16682]

Even little Falcon got disgusted by his dad's behavior -- that's why he puked.

[CAmbiguous]

Has anyone heard the Balloon Boy Father's - New Revelation? WOW!
http://concretelyambiguous.com/todays-truth/balloon-boys-father-a-new-revelation/

[Mark Reilly]

I was pretty sure this was a hoax when I first saw it in a 2 minute news clip about a balloon landing empty. Its really amazing that they could fool the sheriff for so long. I mean, really, I saw a clip of Richard Heene expressing teary-eyed relief. Wow, what a phony.

The media probably suspected it was a hoax but didn't care (actually its a bonus since they can cover how it was a hoax later). Come on people! Hold your news agencies accountable. Quite frankly, they are the ones most responsible for wasting your time. They continually show no discernment and will air anything for sensational ratings. Next up, there will be WMD floating around in balloons (most likely in the form of a mutant swine flu)...

As for Richard Heene, I hope they throw the book at him. As a society, we are already rewarding our out-of-line attention-seekers entirely too much (Kanye West or Joe Wilson, anyone?) Are we prepared for a plague of pranksters to flood our national emergency system next?

[RuWii]

In a way, the family has done us a service by showing us just how easy it is to pull one over on our world class crack investigative journalists.

You can't breath helium. There was no substantial corroboration of the story. But it had legs, run with it. the 24 hour spectacle (aka news cycle) must be fed.

Arriana is completely right in her comments. The media sells us what we want to buy. It doesn't say much about our tastes as a nation.

[DingoDave]

They should have waited until April 1 to pull this stunt.

[shanghaislim]

Well......­.........t­he Sheriff has spoken.

It was a hoax.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_balloon_boy

[zeke7237]

It seems to me that everyone's jumping on this poor guy too soon. What about this scenario? Boy's dicking around with balloon, which he knows he's not supposed to do. Balloon launches, boy freaks out, hides in attic afraid of consequences. Given his age and the recent wife-swap experience, the boy's comments on cnn might not be as reliable as everyone is assuming.

just sayin ..

[shanghaislim]

Uh........they videotaped the launch with the whole family around. Somehow they just forgot to include the missing Falcon in the countdown? Not one "hey, where's your brother for this family video?"

[WhereIsTheTruth]

That was, as far as I'm concerned, the first fatal flaw in their story. The whole family counts down, daddy releases the balloon, then the oldest child says, "Oh, Falcon's in there!" They didn't wonder where the child was before that moment? Was the oldest kids timing that bad? Their next bad move was calling the FAA first, the media, then calling 911.

[Bitsko]

Too bad the media didn't give this much scrutiny to the Bush administration.

[shanghaislim]

.........a­aaaahhhhhh­.....the thought of all the Bushies floating away in a UFO majestically off into the sunset???????????

[Lulubelle1]

From what I've seen of him (and no, I didn't watch the Wife Swap episodes, just brief excerpts of the "interviews", as well as some people who know him speaking about him), this father seems to have a grandiose, narcissistic personality.

I don't presume to diagnose him clinically -- I just get the distinct impression that he's an attention hog who longs for the spotlight, and will use his kids or whatever "tools" are at his disposal to get it.

The whole situation would be far less serious had so many critical resources been expended to follow the balloon and attempt a rescue of the child. Other people may have gone without help because the balloon hoax was presumed to be a paramount concern with a young child at great risk.

If further investigation confirms that the child was coaxed, and was deliberately hidden while the father maintained that he was in the balloon, he deserves not just jail time, but a bill so large that his assets should be seized.

Ridiculous. Despicable.

[Mohd Ashaari]

http://news.limauais.com/sheriff-charges-imminent-in-balloon-boy-case/

[traumabob]

A gas that allows a balloon to float is not breathable. Anyone "in" the balloon would have died in a matter of minutes from lack of oxygen. Could we get a few reporters out there who passed a high-school science class?

[RuWii]

They go into reporting for the same reason people go into teaching: they s.uck at math and science.

[getoffmedz]

This entire incident is being grotesquely blown out of proportion by MSM.

WTF "Reality News?"

hey, slim

[shanghaislim]

Wassup?

Man.......all these new trolls are like a swarm of gnats? You keep swatting at them but they are so small, fast and irritating to squash?

[getoffmedz]

whatever happened to the really good trolls?

can Arianna say "mission accomplished?" I think so.

who could have imagined?

[shanghaislim]

They seem to justify his calling in this order......

Federal Aviation Administration
Local TV News Station (.....for their helicopter of course....such quick thinking on his part)
9-1-1

I would think a panicked parent would have called 9-1-1 first? To notify authorities, maybe they had a police helicopter already in the air?? Or just for the first "cry out" for help.

Then proceed to call the FAA and the local news........or other suggestion the police dispatcher's may have given???

The order of the calls just doesn't seem right?

[hottingers]

I'm sorry, but everybody seems to be missing the worst thing about this being a hoax. Now Nancy Graceless will have another thing to be outraged about, another couple to feel superior to, more kids to feel sorry for, another reason for her phony moral outrage to boil over. People wonder why anyone believes anything Glenn Beckerhead says but I never hear it said about NG. Her obnoxiouness, her phoniness, her holier than anyone attitude is worse than GB because she chothes it in righteousness.

[slaxx]

omg! you are so right! i hadn't thought about that...thank dog for remote controls.

[Tulka2]

Google: Baba Yaga. In a former life, i saw Nancy Grace running that dunking machine where if you drown you are innocent.

[hereinlou]

Nancy Grace will SO be ON THIS!

[CompashCat]

Every time I scroll past her program, there is something on the news crawl about a "tot" Wassup with that? Does she not report on anything other than a scandal involving a tot?

[JJinWI]

Is it just me.....or did anyone else thing that was a pretty flimsy weather balloon, incapable of actually lifting a small child off the ground????

Seriously, if that had a child in it, it would not have gone very far. I understand the concern of those involved but use some sense people, that thing was a joke.

In my opinion, many of the responses concerning the father being a bit unbalanced are justified from the interviews he gave. I realize the boy was under pressure, but he was definitely afraid of telling the truth about what happened. He went of script and slipped out enough of the probable truth to warrant further investigation into this family business.

It's truly a shame what some people will do for a little bit of fame. Reminds me a bit of an ex-governess from Alaska. She'll do or say just about anything to keep her name in lights, regardless of who she hurts in the process.

[JJinWI]

sorry, OFF SCRIPT/not of script

[BannedInBoston]

I'd have a doctor take a look at that complexion problem too.