A 6 year old boy in Fort Collins, CO has managed to climb into a hot air balloon and float away. Officials are scrambling to figure out a rescue.
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A 6 year old boy in Fort Collins, CO has managed to climb into a hot air balloon and float away. Officials are scrambling to figure out a rescue.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A 6-year-old boy is floating over northeastern Colorado in a homebuilt balloon and authorities are racing to try and rescue him.
The balloon, in the shape of a flying saucer is covered in foil and filled with helium. It has a compartment for a passenger underneath. It lifted the boy into the air near Fort Collins Thursday morning after the balloon became untethered at the boy's home.
The father and son had apparently been working on the aircraft for some time.
Fort Collins police and other authorities have been alerted and Airtracker 7 has launched in an effort to locate the boy.
Airtracker 7 located the craft at 12:35 p.m. at about 8,000 feet in Weld County. It appeared to be slightly tilted. The altitude of the balloon was fluctuating between 7,500 and 8,500 feet.
Skies in the area are partly cloudy and southwest wind speeds are 15 to 20 miles per hour.
"It is believed the device could rise to 10,000 feet," said Eloise Campanella, Larimer County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
"The structure at the bottom of the balloon that the boy is in is made of extremely thin plywood and won't withstand any kind of a crash at all," said Erik Nilsson, Larimer County Emergency Manager.
Deputies from Larimer and Weld counties are tracking the balloon as it drifts.
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the agency has been notified and it was unclear whether traffic controllers had picked it up on radar.
The balloon may drift into air traffic control corridors used by Denver International Airport, based on its current location and direction
latest i heard was that the kid may have fallen out and that the balloon landed. wonder how long he's gonna be grounded for....
Yeah the balloon is on the ground now...no word on the kid....
If he fell out, permanently. Hopefully he wasn't actually on board and we've been hoaxed.Quote:
Originally Posted by cancidas
Yeah hopefully he was never even on board...Quote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
It's too late now, but I was thinking a couple of F-16s could have ended this right away :shock:
Or an archer (not the kind made by Piper).
He was found in his attic, hiding in a box, thankfully alive.
If he had fallen out, he'd have died for sure.
If his attic has carpet im sure he would survive the fall :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil D.
Balloonboy let the cat out of the bag to Wolf Blitzer tonight...the whole thing was orchestrated by his parents as I suspected.
Falcon: "You said we did this for a show."
Parents: "Errrrrr ummm"
The more I read about the family the more I thought this was something that the parents orchestrated.
Wow, talk about getting busted. They should be prosecuted. If they were at least honest that he wasn't in the baloon one helo could have followed it and no police would have been involved racking up 2 million in cost.Quote:
Balloonboy let the cat out of the bag to Wolf Blitzer tonight...the whole thing was orchestrated by his parents as I suspected.
They very well can be held liable for the costs associated with the rescue efforts. People like this who use their kids for potential profit are scum.
You guys see this? OMG this is too funny. These parents are way out there. I mean I think they reason they chase UFOs is because they are trying to get a ride back home. They are so nuts!
Watch the whole thing, it's so funny. One of the Henne kids tells their swap mom to shut up with expletives. He throws milk on his swap wife. Tells her she sucks and that she sits on her big butt.