"Balloon boy" - missing

Warbird · October 15, 2009, 04:32:11 PM

I think (and hope) this is all a scam for attention:

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/21306839/detail.html

If the boy did fall from it, I would so not want to be that father. Talk about being devastated. I am also glad this didn't happen while I was a 911 dispatcher in that area 10+ years ago. All of the local authorities have got to be going crazy doing crowd control, setting up searches, etc.

Modat22 · October 15, 2009, 04:58:50 PM

I hope it is a scam or that the boy is hiding because he released the balloon.

SPIKER · October 15, 2009, 05:47:08 PM

I heard about this on the radio on way to work: sad for sure... Not heard anything since.

isawlogs · October 15, 2009, 06:12:36 PM

Boy has been found , he was hidding out back of the house .... 8)

red oaks lumber · October 15, 2009, 06:18:04 PM

that is crazy, hope the kid is just scared.

Warbird · October 15, 2009, 06:23:08 PM

Heh. They are now saying he was hiding in a box in the attic above the garage. He probably accidentally let it go then figured he was in for a whippin' and ran and hid.

metalspinner · October 15, 2009, 06:57:39 PM

This will be a story told at every Thanksgiving dinner he attends for the rest of his life. :D

Of course, we can laugh about it now, but a couple hours ago i was very sad for him and his family.

beenthere · October 15, 2009, 07:09:07 PM

The other things written about this family are as weird as this story.
Sounds like a family set out to get their name in the headlines and are successful at meeting their goal.
Whatever it takes.

Warbird · October 15, 2009, 07:10:44 PM

Yeah, that was my initial thought, too. I wonder if this whole thing was set up.

Ianab · October 15, 2009, 10:28:08 PM

Well the good news is, he was hiding in the attic cos he though he would be in trouble for letting go the ballon.

Thought it was a bit suspect, as it wasn't a very big balloon.

Ian

rickywashere · October 16, 2009, 12:17:47 AM

lol i was sad a well for a while watched the balloon come to earth was yelling at the fat cops to hurry and get it tied down then they said it was empty ... had to go out in the work shed for a while came back and the dad was holding his so that was a big weight off my heart .. thank god

Modat22 · October 16, 2009, 08:23:17 AM

I'm glad. I was figuring that a 20 foot diameter x 5 diameter helium envelope would probably not have enough lift for much more than 20 pounds if there was a 1/4 inch plywood box on the bottom. but I can't figure out the volume of the gas from the info on the news.

beenthere · October 16, 2009, 09:38:44 AM

And the boy said when asked why he didn't answer when his name was called.."I thought we did it for show". Guess he had it figured out all along.
This family is ..... well, I won't say what I'm thinking. There are a slew of YouTube videos out on it already, and the family being interviewed on every TV show that can get them on. The father acting insulted that his crying act was in any way all put on "for show". Even the police involved are soaking up the publicity, and acting like it was not a hoax.

ely · October 16, 2009, 09:52:13 AM

i heard the kid or family was on a tv show this last season. not sure what it was though.

glad he was safe though.

Ron Wenrich · October 16, 2009, 11:13:43 AM

I saw a blurb that said they were on "Wife Swap". Nothing I watch.

Warbird · October 16, 2009, 12:10:56 PM

Nothing we watch, either. And I'm with you, BT. Not going to say what I really think other than yeah, it probably was "all for show".

Kansas · October 16, 2009, 01:33:53 PM

The worst part is is that there is no earthly reason for that 6 year old boy to be plastered all over the news, show after show.
Whatever happened, that kind of exploitation is just dead wrong, in my opinion.

Fla._Deadheader · October 16, 2009, 02:50:29 PM

He's not a criminal. Criminals have the right to have their faces covered. :

:

CJennings · October 16, 2009, 08:27:03 PM

That whole family strikes me as nuts and they should pay every penny the search cost. Seems they seek every bit of publicity they can, the parents are into some real weird stuff.

Beweller · October 17, 2009, 07:37:22 PM

You can get about 0.07 pounds of lift per cubic foot of helium, or 14 cubic feet per pound of lift. A type K cylinder holds about 200 cubic feet, so you get maybe 14 pounds of lift per cylinder of gas.

It's going to take 4-5 cylinders of gas to lift the balloon and boy, and the balloon is going to be something like a 14 ft diameter sphere.

Did anyone check to see if the balloon was big enough, or if the father had purchased enough helium (it's not cheap)?

Tom · October 17, 2009, 08:12:57 PM

It sounds to me as if the father is going to be made a bad guy in all this whether it was intentional or not. If my son were missing when the balloon went up, I would suspect him to be on it too, regardless if it were possible or not. I'd have been nuts.

I lost one of my boys one evening. We were motorcycle riding on a large vacant piece of land with sand dunes on it and a few lakes. The sun went down before we found him. I was beside myself. Gael called the police and they brought all kinds of 4 wheel drive vehicles, including atv's. They also had a helicopter in the air. We had other bike riders looking too.

At midnight they found him. He had parked under some small trees, leaned up against his bike and went to sleep. He had run out of gas. He could hear us yelling for him but said he didn't figure we would hear if he yelled back and decided that we would find him. People, including me and his brothers, had been within 100 feet of him. Go figure? What goes through a kid's mind?

I was a nervous wreck for days after that.

Kids use strange logic for their actions and, ultimately, are embarrassed and afraid of retribution. I think that there is a good chance that this was all an accident and the best thing for the family is to be left alone. I wouldn't have been looking for an interview, if it were me, but then it was kind of a national event.

beenthere · October 17, 2009, 08:55:07 PM

The balloon flew for several miles. Must a been enough helium.

Pretty clear the stunt was for publicity, and has been planned for sometime prior to lift-off.
This guy has a strange history. On Fox news, the "swapped wife" was interviewed. There's no end to these weirdo's.

Appears the Larimer Cty sherriff's office is enjoying the publicity as well.

Warbird · October 19, 2009, 11:03:12 AM

Welp, they are going to officially face many charges now. Some quite serious. Apparently the cops have enough evidence to publicly charge them now.

Some people need serious mental help.

beenthere · October 19, 2009, 12:04:36 PM

Here is an interesting 5 act play that has been suggested for this cherade - in jest I'd guess. ;D

http://www.freep.com/article/20091018/COL04/910180468/1070/Opinion02/Balloon-boy--A-set-piece-in-five-acts

Unfortunately, our media and peoples desire to get in front of the cameras makes it lucrative for these 'nuts' to proliferate and act crazy to weasle big bucks out of the public under the guise of entertainment.

And I'd guess this act was entertaining, but expensive to the taxpayer.

Modat22 · October 21, 2009, 08:37:14 AM

Quote from: Beweller on October 17, 2009, 07:37:22 PM
You can get about 0.07 pounds of lift per cubic foot of helium, or 14 cubic feet per pound of lift. A type K cylinder holds about 200 cubic feet, so you get maybe 14 pounds of lift per cylinder of gas.

It's going to take 4-5 cylinders of gas to lift the balloon and boy, and the balloon is going to be something like a 14 ft diameter sphere.

Did anyone check to see if the balloon was big enough, or if the father had purchased enough helium (it's not cheap)?

news stated the balloon was 20 feet in diameter by 5 feet thick saucer shaped and that it had a plywood something or other on the bottom.

beenthere · October 21, 2009, 12:40:05 PM

There are a lot of pics of the balloon and it's construction on the net.
And as someone said, adding a 50 lb boy would have meant it wouldn't get off the ground. Without the boy, it did.