6 yr. old alone in runaway experimental balloon (1 Viewer)

[Pooh Tong and Nemo]

CNN is reporting the boy may not have been in the ballon to begin with, so let's hope that's the case.

I SOOOO hope this is true

 

[General Malaise]

You know, had I known that "Experimental Balloon Expert" was an occupational choice in life, I would have totally done things over in life.

seei lean towards crypto-zoologistspend your life studying animals that do not existfreaking brilliant

How on earth is that better than Experimental Balloon Expert??? Yours sounds like work. My occupational choice gets to speak to CNN on the phone everytime a 6 year old takes off in some sort of balloon like aircraft! Who's getting the hot tail at the bar now, mister? Huh?

 

[rodg12]

Hoax?

I'm starting to think so. This family looks like they are the "Otis" of their town.

 

[Sarnoff]

It is going to come out that this is a hoax............ETA why else would the Dad have called the media?

To get his accidentally released balloon back for free?

 

[kutta]

This better have a good payoff or I'm going to be pissed. I invested a couple hours of emotional equity into this story.

I just heard that they have searched around the home and didn't find the kid hiding anywhere. WTF is going on?

 

[B-Deep]

It is going to come out that this is a hoax............

i hope somuch better than some other outcomes

Of course we all hope nothing happened to that boy. However, if this is a hoax this is still very serious and the tools behind it need to be dealt with. If the parents are involved and actually used their kid as a diversion in this that is just whacked! Where is this kid at right now and where are these parents?

absolutelyand if it was not a hoax and the kid just released the balloon and hid, they should still be dealt with, because we could have just seen a balloon land with one frozen child in itall in all the parents are grade a nozzles no matter how this turns out

 

[Phase of the Game]

These people were on a reality show as well. This whole thing could be staged.

Pretty sure we all just got Punk'd.

If it is a hoax hopefully the dad will get punk'd often in jail.

 

[Chairshot]

Holy Crap! If he gets above ~12,000 feet w/o oxygen, he'll be done for quickly.

What? I was at 14,000ft in August (Mosquito Pass, Colorado) without oxygen and had no problems.

FAA requires any plane flying above 12,000 feet to have supplemental oxygen or a pressurized cabin due to hypoxia.Not saying you're dead, but I'm sure you didn't get to 14,000 feet as fast as this kid could've...I'm sure that's part of the issue.

there were really no ill effects at that altitude. Sure, if you jogged or climbed a rock face you got winded easier, but I think the altitude required to cause any sort of issues is a good bit higher than that... likely in the 16,000-18,000 range. JMHO from some limited experience in amateur mountaineering.

I lived in Colorado for years. Colorado has a number of 14,000+ feet peaks (often called "fourteeners"). People routinely climb them and don't need oxygen. You have less oxygen at 14,000 then at sea level, but there is still plenty to live on. 14,000 feet, in an of itself, is not a life-threatening situation.

 

[FavreCo]

Now I have to come to grips with the fact that I just spent 45 minutes watching an empty balloon on teevee.

You want one of those things don't ya. You know you do.

 

[wadegarrett]

What's the motivation? Attention?

To prove his contraption worked...ETA: I hope for the best, obviously

guy just got two free hours on major network tv promoting his "product" obviously hope the kid's ok, but nothing surprises me anymore

 

[Ditka is God]

The Family , per 9News.com.

 

[Fat Nick]

Holy Crap!

If he gets above ~12,000 feet w/o oxygen, he'll be done for quickly.

What? I was at 14,000ft in August (Mosquito Pass, Colorado) without oxygen and had no problems.

FAA requires any plane flying above 12,000 feet to have supplemental oxygen or a pressurized cabin due to hypoxia.Not saying you're dead, but I'm sure you didn't get to 14,000 feet as fast as this kid could've...I'm sure that's part of the issue.

there were really no ill effects at that altitude. Sure, if you jogged or climbed a rock face you got winded easier, but I think the altitude required to cause any sort of issues is a good bit higher than that... likely in the 16,000-18,000 range. JMHO from some limited experience in amateur mountaineering.

I need to check my FAA regs...it -could- be 12,000 feet AGL (Above Ground Level) versus MSL (Sea Level)...THIS should shed some light...I guess it's a better safe than sorry scenario up to a point.

 

[Jambi]

There's no way anyone was ever inside that thing. No chance.

What are they saying on the street out there?

I have some friends who have indirect ties to the family. They're calling hoax. Everybody relax. I'll probably take a drive up there later and figure things out first hand. When the new says "20 people have mobilized" for a search I'm going to say they don't think a kid fell out of that thing.

 

[Tigran Petrosian]

Suddenly, CNN is all skeptical of this.

Way to ferret out the facts here. Jesus, these people are hopeless.

 

[KCC]

They are now speculating the balloon didn't have enough lift to get a kid off the ground.

 

[Two Deep]

The spectacle of grown men whacking that balloon into submission was oddly comical.

Super

maybe they should start on the kids old man and get some answers

 

[krista4]

Suddenly, CNN is all skeptical of this. Way to ferret out the facts here. Jesus, these people are hopeless.

They're acting like it was completely obvious all along.

 

[Third]

The Family , per 9News.com.

One of those "older" boys is the sole source for the "facts" that have been broadcast nonstop for the past 3 hours.

 

[pantagrapher]

What's the motivation? Attention?

To prove his contraption worked...ETA: I hope for the best, obviously

guy just got two free hours on major network tv promoting his "product" obviously hope the kid's ok, but nothing surprises me anymore

What is the product? A balloon? We already have those.

 

[JoeTall]

CNN is reporting the boy may not have been in the ballon to begin with, so let's hope that's the case.

I SOOOO hope this is true

Looks like no boy in the ballon but he is missing.What's really odd is here is the family: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/f...y_n_322736.html

Check out the YouTube rap video of the boy and his brothers.

 

[Fennis]

Oh my God there is a kid in that thing...

"Poor Kid!"

Turns out there the kid was never on it, I'll never believe anything without more information!

I bet the parents set it up as a publicity stunt...

"Kill the parents!"

 

[Brutis]

What the....!!!!!

Is this real??

 

[Death Bytes]

Now I have to come to grips with the fact that I just spent 45 minutes watching an empty balloon on teevee.

You want one of those things don't ya. You know you do.

I bet the father is estimating at least 30,000 sales of his balloons by Christmas based on today's TV coverage alone.

 

[The Noid]

Ok, assume this is a hoax...where the heck is the kid? Locked in the basement or something? They had people searching the ground for him for 3 hours.

 

[Ozymandias]

Suddenly, CNN is all skeptical of this. Way to ferret out the facts here. Jesus, these people are hopeless.

Maybe they're hoping the Nobel Committee will give him a prize for Aeronautics.

 

[pantagrapher]

Suddenly, CNN is all skeptical of this. Way to ferret out the facts here. Jesus, these people are hopeless.

They're acting like it was completely obvious all along.

My favorite line was "that's the story we were given so we went with it."JOURNALISM

 

[Tigran Petrosian]

So dad is a kook.. this is good to know an hour too late.

 

[-jb-]

Suddenly, CNN is all skeptical of this. Way to ferret out the facts here. Jesus, these people are hopeless.

Was thinking the same thing. Like they knew all along. "Well, it was only logical..."desuches

 

[KCC]

Suddenly, CNN is all skeptical of this. Way to ferret out the facts here. Jesus, these people are hopeless.

They're acting like it was completely obvious all along.

Hoax or not, they had a lot of people watching - that's all they care about. It was a good day for them given network "good-day" standards.

 

[JoeTall]

Here is the family: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/f...y_n_322736.html

Check out the YouTube rap vid that I assume includes the boy and his brothers.

 

[Jambi]

The media isn't helping matters much. They're playing it off as a "mystery". Is in not professional to inject some sanity into things?

"Well there's no hatch visible"

"The balloon doesn't look large enough to carry a child away"

The news needs a story. They'll milk the kid who flew away for a while then they'll turn to the attention starved family with an egomaniac father from Fort Collins who committed the hoax of the decade.

 

[Emerson Biggens]

supposed kid's name was Falcon?? Nice.

 

[Tigran Petrosian]

http://www.thepsyiencedetectives.com/

 

[Fennis]

Ok, assume this is a hoax...where the heck is the kid? Locked in the basement or something? They had people searching the ground for him for 3 hours.

Playing x-box

 

[Ozymandias]

Kid fell out of a Honda.

 

[Sarnoff]

Suddenly, CNN is all skeptical of this. Way to ferret out the facts here. Jesus, these people are hopeless.

They're acting like it was completely obvious all along.

My favorite line was "that's the story we were given so we went with it."JOURNALISM

They didn't have any high school kids to come in today to sing about Cap and Trade, or any funny SNL sketches to debunk from the weekend. Gotta fill 24 hours somehow.

 

[Billy Bats]

This is a complete abomination. News channels are a complete comedy show anymore. I can't stand any of these talking heads. What a bunch of smacked asses.

 

[TxBuckeye]

Charge them for every penny that was spent on the search and rescue effort. Then the family won't be laughing or profiting...

 

[FavreCo]

It is going to come out that this is a hoax............ETA why else would the Dad have called the media?

To get his accidentally released balloon back for free?

Yeah, well they beat the #### out of that Jiffy Pop. He can have it now.

 

[Death Bytes]

Lifetime just offered $250K for the rights to the movie.

It'll be a made for TV movie though. Who should the cast?

 

[B-Deep]

well at least we know everything is ok because this thread is becoming the same garbage as everything else in the FFA

 

[JoeTall]

Here is the family: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/f...y_n_322736.html

Check out the YouTube rap vid that I assume includes the boy and his brothers.

Intro to rap video that has the missing kid in it: "overprotective people make their children into #######"

 

[Balco]

I can't think it is a hoax orchestrated by the parents.

There are two scenarios in my mind:

1. Kid let the balloon fly, and now is scared to get in trouble.

2. He did get in the balloon and fell out. I hope this didn't happen, but I have a bad feeling it did.

You have to think the police did an exhaustive search around the house.

 

[Fat Nick]

Anybody recall just how many helium balloons they needed to lift that little girl on Mythbusters? It took A LOT of helium.

I'm starting to question this thing's lifting ability now too...

 

[Ditka is God]

Ok, assume this is a hoax...where the heck is the kid? Locked in the basement or something? They had people searching the ground for him for 3 hours.

School?

 

[Tigran Petrosian]

http://www.thepsyiencedetectives.com/

They accept PayPal, folks.

 

[Jewell]

What's the motivation? Attention?

To prove his contraption worked...ETA: I hope for the best, obviously

guy just got two free hours on major network tv promoting his "product" obviously hope the kid's ok, but nothing surprises me anymore

Doing something that douchey just for media attention? Who's this kid's dad, Al Sharpton?

 

[Adebisi]

well at least we know everything is ok because this thread is becoming the same garbage as everything else in the FFA

 

[PatsFanCT]

I can't think it is a hoax orchestrated by the parents.There are two scenarios in my mind:1. Kid let the balloon fly, and now is scared to get in trouble.2. He did get in the balloon and fell out. I hope this didn't happen, but I have a bad feeling it did. You have to think the police did an exhaustive search around the house.

3. The father killed the kid and used the "he flew away in the balloon, but it looks like he fell out, poor thing" routine to get away with it.

 

[TobiasFunke]

http://www.thepsyiencedetectives.com/

They accept PayPal, folks.

I'm just getting a blank page on that link. What is it?