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The balloon boy hoax occurred on October 15, 2009 in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States, when Richard and Mayumi Heene allowed a gas balloon filled with helium to float away into the atmosphere, and then claimed that their six-year-old son Falcon was inside it. At the time, it was reported by the mass media that the boy was apparently traveling at altitudes reaching 〔 above local terrain, in a homemade balloon colored and shaped to resemble a silver flying saucer-type of UFO. The event attracted worldwide attention. Falcon was nicknamed "Balloon Boy" by some in the media. After more than an hour-long flight that covered more than across three counties, the balloon landed about northeast of Denver International Airport. Authorities closed down the Denver International Airport and sent several National Guard helicopters and local police in pursuit. After the balloon landed and the boy was found not to be inside, authorities began a manhunt of the entire area, raising fears that he had fallen from the balloon; it was reported that an object had detached from the balloon and fallen to the ground.〔 Later that afternoon the boy was reported to have been hiding in his home's attic the entire time. Suspicions soon arose that the incident was a hoax and a publicity stunt engineered by the boy's parents Richard and Mayumi Heene, particularly following the Heenes' interview with Wolf Blitzer on ''Larry King Live'' that evening. In response to a question about why he was hiding, Falcon said to his father, "You guys said that, um, we did this for the show." On October 18, Larimer County sheriff Jim Alderden announced his conclusion that the incident was a hoax and that the parents would likely face several felony charges. Richard Heene pleaded guilty on November 13, 2009, to the charge of attempting to influence a public servant. On December 23, 2009, Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail and Mayumi Heene to 20 days of weekend jail;〔()〕 Richard was also ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution. The story gained great popularity on the Internet and Twitter with events being parodied as a meme, and was later adapted into comedy. ==Background== Richard Heene and first met at an acting school in Hollywood, California, and married on October 12, 1997 in Clark County, Nevada. Heene had pursued careers in acting and stand-up comedy without success and, for a time, he and his wife ran a home business producing demo reels for actors. Heene is a handyman and an amateur scientist, whom associates have called "a shameless self-promoter who would do almost anything to advance his latest endeavor". Heene is a storm chaser who started in the 1970s after a storm ripped the roof off a building he was working on.〔 Heene's storm chasing has included riding a motorcycle into a tornado and reportedly flying a plane around the perimeter of Hurricane Wilma in 2005.〔 He regularly involved his children in his endeavors, taking them along on UFO-hunting expeditions and storm-chasing missions.〔 The Heenes have three sons named Falcon, Bradford and Ryo. The family had been featured on the reality television show ''Wife Swap'' on two occasions, the second time as a fan-favorite choice for the show's 100th episode.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=ABC )〕 During his time on the show, Heene expressed his belief that humanity descended from aliens and spoke of launching home-made flying saucers into storms.〔 Heene had unsuccessfully sought the media's interest in a proposed reality show called ''The Science Detectives'', which he envisioned as a documentary series "to investigate the mysteries of science".〔 Months before the balloon incident on October 15, 2009, Heene pitched a reality show idea to the television channel TLC, but the network passed on the offer. After the balloon incident, the producer of ''Wife Swap'' said that a show involving the Heenes had been in development, but that the deal was now off. The producer declined to provide specifics.〔 The Lifetime channel had been set to air one of the ''Wife Swap'' episodes involving the Heenes on October 29, 2009, but the station pulled the episode because of the balloon incident. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Balloon boy hoax」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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