Si prenda un pallone aerostatico costruito nel garage di casa da una sorta di scienziato domestico , tale Richard Heene di Fort Collins, in Colorado.
Si prenda una intera famiglia alle prese col suddetto pallone dalla forma di un disco volante che, nell'intenzione del suo ideatore, dovrebbe costituire un modello di aerostato di basso costo che permette di volare a 50, cento metri d'altezza per superare gli ingorghi stradali. Si prenda un ragazzino di sei anni di nome Falcon che sparisce da casa mentre il piccolo pallone si stacca da terra e se ne va a dondolare a tremila metri nel cielo. Si prendano le televisioni che si scatenano sulla notizia. Il piccolo Falcon e' sicuramente nella navicella del pallone, le autorita' mandano in volo gli elicotteri per cercare di agganciarlo, milioni di telespettatori seguono con la bava alla bocca l'avventura, i cronisti inventano quello che possono perche' si tratta di una non notizia. I genitori del piccolo si spremono in lacrime e autolamentazioni temendo che il pallone possa andare a toccare i cavi dell'alta tensione. Il pallone si sgonfia a 50 miglia di distanza dalla abitazione degli Heene. Ma del ragazzino nessuna traccia. C'e' chi asserisce di avere visto durante il volo seguito da televisioni ed elicotteri qualcosa cadere fuori dal cestello del pallone. Il dramma si aggiunge al dramma e vengono intensificate le ricerche del corpo di Falcon su una larga areaa senza alcun risultato. Poi la storia si sgonfia all'improvviso (e' proprio il caso di dirlo): Falcon e' stato ritrovato nell'attico di casa sua dove si era nascosto perche' i genitori lo avevano sgridato. Interviste ai familiari che dichiarano di essere dispiaciuti di avere rimbrottato il piccolo imbecille. La domanda che ci si pone e': chi paga per le spese sostenute dalle autorita' locali per la ricerca el ragazzino e la caccia al pallone? Non vorremmo essere nei panni dello scienziato domestico.
Richard Heene holds his 6-year-old soeenen, Falcon, as he talks to the media after his son was found hiding in the attic of his family's garage in Fort Collins, Colorado. Oct. 15, 2009.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The storyline was bizarre, dramatic and terrifying. A 6-year-old boy, trapped inside a helium balloon, racing across the Colorado sky at high altitude with very little chance of survival. Thankfully, it wasn't true.
The flying saucer-shaped experimental aircraft drifted away from a backyard in Fort Collins Thursday morning, setting-off a media frenzy amid reports that 6-year-old Falcon Heene, whose father built the contraption, had climbed inside.
According to the family, Falcon's brother, Brad, told his parents that Falcon climbed into a utility basket attached to the balloon and, somehow, the rope holding it in-place became untied, allowing the balloon to drift away around 11:00 a.m.
The boy's father, Richard Heene, said the family was tinkering with the balloon earlier in the day and that he scolded Falcon for getting inside a compartment on the craft.
Fears the boy was inside the balloon prompted a massive emergency response. Helicopters tracked the balloon in-flight, waiting for it to come down on its own. Authorities also planned for a possible mid-air rescue in case it did not.
Authorities say the balloon may have risen as high as 15,000 feet in altitude as it drifted over Colorado's eastern plains. Around 1:40 p.m., it crashed into an open field near 160th Ave. & County Road 79 in Adams County, approximately 50 miles southeast from where it first took flight.
Once the balloon crashed without Falcon inside, authorities intensified their search for the child. Reports that something, or perhaps someone, had fallen from the balloon shortly after it took flight only helped fuel speculation that Falcon had suffered a terrible fate.
A little over two hours later, the drama came to an abrupt end.
"He's been located. He's alive. He's at the house," Larimer County Sheriff Alderden told reporters, giving a 'thumbs-up.'
After the balloon floated away, the boy apparently fled to the family's garage, climbing a pole into the rafters and hiding in a cardboard box.
The Heene family addressed the media a short time later.
"It was in the really early stages of the invention," Richard Heene said of the experimental aircraft, holding Falcon in his arms. "This little guy got inside of it...I thought he did anyway, according to Brad."
"He videotaped it and we watched it back and, sure enough, he got in," He said. "But obviously he got out."
"I was in the attic and he scared me because he yelled at me," Falcon said. "That's why I went in the attic."
"I yelled at him. I'm really sorry I yelled at him," Heene said, choking up and hugging Falcon to him during the news conference.
Heene said the balloon wasn't tethered properly, and "it was a mishap. I'm not going to lay blame on anybody."
Richard Heene, a self-described amateur scientist, said the balloon was a "3D-LAV" - an experimental, futuristic low-altitude vehicle that would hover above the ground at an elevation of 50 to 100 feet.
He said there was an electrical charge on the outside of the balloon designed to steer the aircraft.
"Our biggest fear is that he was inside, he would kick the wires and get electrocuted," Heene said.
Should the Heene family have to pay for the search-and-rescue operation? Vote Here
The Heene family appeared on the ABC television show "Wife Swap." A website for the show said when the family isn't together 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."
A photo of the family on the show's website shows what appears to be the helium saucer in the background.
When Falcon's family was last on "Wife Swap" in March, favorites of the audience who had voted to have them featured again on the show's 100th episode. In "Wife Swap," two mothers trade places for a few weeks. Producers try to match families with wildly different attitudes and lifestyles to see if sparks fly.
The flying saucer-shaped experimental aircraft drifted away from a backyard in Fort Collins Thursday morning, setting-off a media frenzy amid reports that 6-year-old Falcon Heene, whose father built the contraption, had climbed inside.
According to the family, Falcon's brother, Brad, told his parents that Falcon climbed into a utility basket attached to the balloon and, somehow, the rope holding it in-place became untied, allowing the balloon to drift away around 11:00 a.m.
The boy's father, Richard Heene, said the family was tinkering with the balloon earlier in the day and that he scolded Falcon for getting inside a compartment on the craft.
Fears the boy was inside the balloon prompted a massive emergency response. Helicopters tracked the balloon in-flight, waiting for it to come down on its own. Authorities also planned for a possible mid-air rescue in case it did not.
Authorities say the balloon may have risen as high as 15,000 feet in altitude as it drifted over Colorado's eastern plains. Around 1:40 p.m., it crashed into an open field near 160th Ave. & County Road 79 in Adams County, approximately 50 miles southeast from where it first took flight.
Once the balloon crashed without Falcon inside, authorities intensified their search for the child. Reports that something, or perhaps someone, had fallen from the balloon shortly after it took flight only helped fuel speculation that Falcon had suffered a terrible fate.
A little over two hours later, the drama came to an abrupt end.
"He's been located. He's alive. He's at the house," Larimer County Sheriff Alderden told reporters, giving a 'thumbs-up.'
After the balloon floated away, the boy apparently fled to the family's garage, climbing a pole into the rafters and hiding in a cardboard box.
The Heene family addressed the media a short time later.
"It was in the really early stages of the invention," Richard Heene said of the experimental aircraft, holding Falcon in his arms. "This little guy got inside of it...I thought he did anyway, according to Brad."
"He videotaped it and we watched it back and, sure enough, he got in," He said. "But obviously he got out."
"I was in the attic and he scared me because he yelled at me," Falcon said. "That's why I went in the attic."
"I yelled at him. I'm really sorry I yelled at him," Heene said, choking up and hugging Falcon to him during the news conference.
Heene said the balloon wasn't tethered properly, and "it was a mishap. I'm not going to lay blame on anybody."
Richard Heene, a self-described amateur scientist, said the balloon was a "3D-LAV" - an experimental, futuristic low-altitude vehicle that would hover above the ground at an elevation of 50 to 100 feet.
He said there was an electrical charge on the outside of the balloon designed to steer the aircraft.
"Our biggest fear is that he was inside, he would kick the wires and get electrocuted," Heene said.
Should the Heene family have to pay for the search-and-rescue operation? Vote Here
The Heene family appeared on the ABC television show "Wife Swap." A website for the show said when the family isn't together 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."
A photo of the family on the show's website shows what appears to be the helium saucer in the background.
When Falcon's family was last on "Wife Swap" in March, favorites of the audience who had voted to have them featured again on the show's 100th episode. In "Wife Swap," two mothers trade places for a few weeks. Producers try to match families with wildly different attitudes and lifestyles to see if sparks fly.
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