cocheese 0 #1 October 18, 2009 It doesn't seem like that thing could lift a kid. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fossg 0 #2 October 18, 2009 I think the kid could have been lifted by that contraption. The parents excentric behavior in the past is just getting a lot of play. When the dust settles I don't think the parents will be charged with anything Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LisaH 0 #3 October 18, 2009 I don't think it was a hoax in the beginning, I think it turned into one for attention after the balloon got away. The lack of concern with mom when the little boy was getting sick on national tv is what struck a nerve with me. She had to be told by GMA, it's ok to leave the interview to go into the bathroom to see if he was ok. Be yourself! MooOOooOoo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pontiacgtp00 0 #4 October 18, 2009 That balloon was a flimsy pos and wasn't even fully inflated. It was fluttering around in the wind like a piece of paper. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CSpenceFLY 1 #5 October 18, 2009 No way that thing could have lifted a kid. Someone needs to figure that out and put an end to this shit. I think it was a prank put on by the parents Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969912 0 #6 October 18, 2009 Fox News is just now reporting that the Sheriff is going to file charges. No details yet. EDIT: Details now: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,568321,00.html "Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ." -NickDG Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #7 October 18, 2009 The whole thing stinks like yesterday's diapers. The entire event needs to be heavily investigated and if it turns out it was a hoax, which I believe it was, the family should be held responsible for the cost of the rescue efforts.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #8 October 18, 2009 I calculated that it would take about a 4 meter diameter spherical, not mushroom shaped, balloon to lift 25 kilos. The boy supposedly weighed 50 pounds, Light weight basket and balloon, maybe 15 feet in diameter would have done it. How big was the mushroom balloon? Still smells of hoax, especially with the parents' penchant for self promotion. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #9 October 18, 2009 Quote I calculated that it would take about a 4 meter diameter spherical, not mushroom shaped, balloon to lift 25 kilos. I made those same calculations years ago, but then decided the import/export business wasn't for me."There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #10 October 18, 2009 Depends on which way the wind is blowing, eh? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bluerosie 0 #11 October 18, 2009 You have an experimental flying object in the back yard. It gets away. You believe your 6 year old is on board. Why wouldn't your first call be 911? Ok, add to that that you've been shopping around a reality tv series based on your family and its quest for scientific information....and it's been turned down. Things that make you go, "Hmmmmm.....".. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sunshine 2 #12 October 18, 2009 he just wanted attention...sad really. ___________________________________________ meow I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 4 #13 October 18, 2009 Video of him in the backyard as it's being released and not recognizing the flight characteristics of an unladen balloon vs one that supposedly has a 50 lb kid in it?quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyrider 0 #14 October 18, 2009 Quote It doesn't seem like that thing could lift a kid. Xactly....that thing would have had to been at least 3 times that big to lift a kid....fake right from the very beginning! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ryoder 1,590 #15 October 18, 2009 And we have the story from the guy who says he helped Dad plan a balloon hoax: http://gawker.com/5383858/exclusive-i-helped-richard-heene-plan-a-balloon-hoax"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 16 #16 October 18, 2009 Quote he just wanted attention...sad really. Hey, don't we all? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyrider 0 #17 October 18, 2009 I'm curious what the 3 who think it wasn't a Hoax think! or if after reading everything here, they have changed their minds yet! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #18 October 18, 2009 I think that most (if not all) polls on here have folk that vote contary to popular opinion/wisdom.. just to fuck with us (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thedude325 0 #19 October 18, 2009 Quote I calculated that it would take about a 4 meter diameter spherical, not mushroom shaped, balloon to lift 25 kilos. The boy supposedly weighed 50 pounds, Light weight basket and balloon, maybe 15 feet in diameter would have done it. How big was the mushroom balloon? Still smells of hoax, especially with the parents' penchant for self promotion. I came up with the same numbers. After further reviewing the photos with the guys running after it and the vehicle in the background, I'd guesstimate the volume to be around 2/3 of that. So it's a no-go. The "scientist" who built it should know the lift. I think he's just an ignorant ass who thinks he is smarter than everyone else and wanted some attention. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #20 October 18, 2009 In the following video, Heene is hoping to dig up information that Hillary Clinton is a shape-shifting reptilian extra-terrestrial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu7Wwz5B9CE&feature=player_embedded# I think he may be onto something here Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CSpenceFLY 1 #21 October 19, 2009 I hope that guy is trying to be funny, other wise he is fucking whacked Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zep 0 #22 October 19, 2009 Quote I think that most (if not all) polls on here have folk that vote contary to popular opinion/wisdom.. just to fuck with us Guilty as charged. Interesting fact, Pols in Catalan means head lice,...............just saying Gone fishing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #23 October 19, 2009 Well, yes. I think he's full of shit but not for the hoax. I say he should go down as one of the great hoaxsters of all time. What a great one! Had everybody on the edge of their seats pulling for the non-boarded kid only to have egg splashed on their faces later. WHAM! GOTCHYA! Good one!My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrwrong 0 #24 October 19, 2009 I can't tell if he IS or ISN'T..... But my impression is that he (and his wife) are just media whores that desperately wants to get back into the spotlight.... My $0.02“The sum of intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.” - George Bernard Shaw He who dies with the most toys, wins..... dudeist skydiver # 19515 Buy quality and cry once! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #25 October 19, 2009 Quote I can't tell if he IS or ISN'T..... But my impression is that he (and his wife) are just media whores that desperately wants to get back into the spotlight.... My $0.02 They had been working on a new reality TV show and this was a stunt that they planned. Stupid fuckers! "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites