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Helium balloon floats away with boy,6, inside: After landing, child is missing from balloon


The helium balloon Halcon Heene was in

A huge helium balloon that has spent the last hour or so floating through the Colorado sky has landed, and the 6-year-old boy that is believed to have been inside was not within the compartment of the balloon. Falcon Heene is now missing and the search is on for the child, who may have fell out of the balloon at some point during the ride or jumped off. In any case, this is a frightening situation and the country is watching breathlessly to find out the fate of the young child.

The boy's 11-year-old brother reportedly saw the child climb into the balloon, which was being built by his parents as an experimental aircraft. Somehow the craft became untethered and floated as high as 2500 feet off the ground before landing gently in a field one county away.

Police are now investigating the incident, and there is speculation that it could be a hoax. There is rumored to be an additional compartment that was not attached to the balloon when it landed, giving concern to the theory that perhaps the by was in there and it detached at some point.

Many are now looking critically at the parents of the child and are wondering how safe the children are in that home. The parents have been described as a "mad scientists kind of family" with the father allegedly working on anti-gravity machines among other items.The father was said to be working with the National Guard on how best to guide the balloon to a safe landing. Most disturbing is that the child was allowed to play unattended around the aircraft. The family was also part of the ABC reality show, "Wife Swap," last year.

The helium craft looked very much like a floating mushroom or even a UFO. Neighbors in the family's Fort Collins neighborhood reported seeing it float away from an area typically used for hot air balloon launches. Now the job for police and rescue workers is to determine the path of the balloon and do a search on the ground. Hopefully this boy will be found quickly and safely. Regardless of choices his parents have made or the lifestyle they lead, he is still their son and any parent knows they must be terrified.

Sources: MSNBC, CNN

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Comments

  • Jay 2 years ago

    Hope everything turns out OK.

  • Jane 2 years ago

    Yeah ok. I bet the kids set if off and told everyone he was in it. The parents should check all the good hiding spots inside the house. Hope he's ok!

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