FoxNews.com Wrote:DEVELOPING: A homemade balloon slowly descended in a Colorado field Thursday, but the fate of a 6-year-old boy believed to be inside was not known, authorities said.

The bizarre scene played out live on television and prompted fears that the flying saucer-shaped balloon would crash with the young child inside.

The child was identified as Falcon Heene, the son of a Colorado weather-chaser. The boy and his family first appeared on the ABC series "Wife Swap" on Oct. 3, 2008 and was then voted back for the 100th episode of the show, which aired on March 13, 2009.

Click here for photos.

Police in Colorado were performing a ground search for the boy.

Cathy Davis of the Larimer County Sheriff's Department told reporters the balloon was owned by the boy's parents and tethered behind the family's home. She said two sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one go into a compartment at the bottom of the balloon and fly away.

"We'll just have to respond the best we can," Davis said. "This is a first and we'll do what we need to do."

She said the family was in contact with experts to provide details on the craft, including what it's made of and what might happen when it reaches the ground.

The Colorado Army National Guard sent an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter and was preparing to send a Black Hawk UH-60 to try to rescue the boy, possibly by lowering someone to the balloon. They also were working with pilots of ultralight aircraft on the possibility of putting weights on the homemade craft to weigh it down.

But the balloon landed on its own in a dirt field. Sheriff's deputies secured it to keep it in place, even tossing shovelfuls of dirt on one edge.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Eloise Campanella had said the device had the potential to rise to 10,000 feet

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency tracked the balloon through reports from pilots and that air traffic control facilities in the region are aware of the situation.

On ABC's Web site used to promote their show portrays the family as thrill-seekers.

"When the Heene family aren't 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," the Web site.

The Heene’s received criticism of their chaotic parenting style when Karen Martel of Connecticut entered the household as the new ‘wife.' Karen’s husband runs a child-proofing business and she knew a thing or two about safety.

According to a recap on TVRage.com, the 100th episode finds two families swapping with each other who are returning by a viewers vote.

"One mom believes she is psychic and can speak with the dead, plus has control over the weather. The other is a family of storm chasing science-enthusiasts. The kids in the families will face off in a table meeting"

Larimer County sheriff's spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said the device had the potential to rise to 10,000 feet. Sheriff's officials last saw the device floating south of Milliken, which is about 40 miles north of Denver. The craft was reportedly traveling at about 25 miles per hour.

The FAA cleared airspace near Denver International Airport.

"We were sitting eating, out looking where they normally shoot off hot air balloons. My husband said he saw something. It went over our rooftop. Then we saw the big round balloonish thing, it was spinning," said neighbor Lisa Eklund.

sTr Wrote:! just read this, almost posted it, but it's big time on CNN... pretty crazy story... watch the kid be down the block cause he wandered off and they thought he was in the balloon...

fred Wrote:the whole thing is fucking retarded, the baloon wasnt big enough, to have enough lift to get up i the air with a 6 year old inside it

sTr Wrote:bajaj, ! was right, they found him hiding in a box in their attic... in their house... bajaj....

Quote: But in a later interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Falcon said he heard his parents call for him from the garage. When asked by his father on air why he didn't respond, the boy replied, "You guys said we did this for the show."

When Richard Heene was pressed by fill-in host Wolf Blitzer to explain what his son meant, he became uncomfortable, finally saying he was "appalled" by the questions. He added that Falcon likely was referring to all the media coverage. Video Watch Heene respond to the question »

Paullehh Wrote:Bajaj there should be a investigation and the family charged with wasting the time and made to pay the costs of all the emergency services and the cost of investigation

N-Do Wrote:ForSure. But the real question is, Why?

N-Do Wrote:^ ^ - But they already were on Wife Swap or whatever, are they really that thirsty for it?

Toxic Love Wrote:What I don't get is... when they did a search for the boy initially, what kept them from looking in the attic? Did the cops just rule out searching the house since the dad swore the kid was in the balloon? I don't get it.

And bajaj @ the kid puking on TV twice this morning.

CBS/AP Wrote:The father at the center of the "Balloon Boy" controversy reiterated this morning that the reported disappearance of his 6-year-old son aboard a helium balloon in the skies over Colorado was not a hoax.

A crowd of reporters and others gathered in front of the Heene family's house in Fort Collins, after Richard Heene promised to make a "big announcement" at 10 a.m. Mountain time. But the announcement did not materialize.

When Heene appeared, he instead simply displayed a box into which he invited the media to submit questions, to be answered this evening.

Richard Heene has dismissed allegations of a hoax as "extremely pathetic." Yet doubts surfaced after a CNN interview in which Falcon Heene told his parents "you said we did this for a show" after his father asked why he did not come down from his hiding place during a search of the house Thursday.

Toxic Love Wrote:The kids at least once pissed on one of their neighbor's driveway.

N-Do Wrote:

Toxic Love Wrote:The kids at least once pissed on one of their neighbor's driveway.

Bajaj what does that have to do with anything?

Grimlin Wrote:

N-Do Wrote:

Toxic Love Wrote:The kids at least once pissed on one of their neighbor's driveway.

Bajaj what does that have to do with anything?

The kids are brats? Not surprising they pulled this?