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Balloon Boy story: hoax or real?
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The story of 6-year-old Falcon Heene has been plausible. A curious boy plays around his dad's balloon which he knows he is not suppose to. During the course of his play, or shortly thereafter the balloon flies away and the child, feeling responsible, hides in the attic. When he is called he doesn't appear because he fears he is in trouble.
Heene's reaction to the incident would be developmentally appropriate. Other contributing factors causing Heene, or a child of his age to hide, would be the parents discipline style and whether or not he had been reprimanded in the past for similar behavior. Heene's father Richard, admitted to yelling at him earlier for playing with the balloon.
What caused authorities to reconsider was Heene's explanation, during a TV interview, that the reason he was hiding in the attic was because, "We did this for a show." While it would be important for the police authorities to see if the parents used their children for a publicity stunt, it is also understandable that a freightened and confused little boy might not be able to put the interviewer's question in context or understand the question. "Why questions" are not really very productive with this age group and children can also have difficulty with time frames. Plus, it might be a little anxiety producing to be interviewed both by law enforcement officials and then on multiple TV shows.
Falcon Heene's vomitting during follow-up interviews ,when he and his family are asked to clarify his previous statements, demonstrate his level of anxiety. Time will tell what really happened around this incident, but this might be another example of how exposing your child to media attention may not be very helpful. Over time the child can also distort the truth of the occurences, through sheer anxiety alone. Another interesting piece in this story is the sibling's report that his brother was in the balloon. The sibling might also be anxious about his part in how this whole incident occured and was resolved. The sibling might be an interesting place for the investigators to start. As well as supporting the sibiling around his fears or confusions as well.
In the meantime, a Denver-area student that claims to have worked with Richard Heene on a TV proposal, allegeds that this incident was part of a hoax and that he has proof for the highest bidder.
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