# Scary stuff: the boy in the balloon **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940 "2009-10-15T18:58:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/141 "2009-10-15T23:44:38Z")
There’s no way that balloon is anywhere near big enough to lift a 6 year old. Not even close. And I would think the father, an experienced weather ballooner would know that quite well. The whole thing seems a little fishy if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/142 "2009-10-15T23:48:29Z")
I think the six-year-old was busy typing up the captions on the [newspaper photos](http://photos.denverpost.com/photogalleries/coloradoimages/#id=album-71788&num=1417530): > [@](#): > > A bollon floats over Denver area potentially wirh a 6 year old child in the ballons basket ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/143 "2009-10-15T23:57:38Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I wish I had the balls to say it before little Fallcon was found. I certainly thought it. The most important thing is that it got said. A line like that is a terrile thing to waste. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/144 "2009-10-16T00:04:20Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Is the thread title going back to “hero?” If he had been in the balloon, survived the trip, and popped out after the landing with a big smile on his face, then yeah, he would go back to being my hero! But releasing the balloon and then hiding in the garage gets him a major timeout and no Hero badge. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/145 "2009-10-16T00:05:50Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Local news reported during a live news conference that the investigator got a page. It appears the boy was hiding in a cardboard box in the attic of the garage. And the maiden flight of the Airship Hiderberg reaches an end. Maybe with any luck the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum will be able to display it. Though not fully accepted, many historians trace the death of Ann Frank to her fathers woefully inadequate abilities as a balloon designer/maker. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/146 "2009-10-16T00:20:36Z")
Eh, I’m sure there are kids on farms in Iowa who get up to hijinks with the tractor while Pop is trying to fix the sprinklers. Fortunately, this had a happy ending, so I’ll just leave it that I hope everyone learned a very valuable lesson. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/147 "2009-10-16T00:32:51Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > The previous guy in the flying lawn chair didnt fair too well. IIRC he got stuck with one hella fine. I think he begged it way down though. > > Whether todays FAA is a kinder gentler FAA will be seen shortly I guess. I, uh, work for HQ (I’m a contractor). I’ll try to find out any scuttlebutt tomorrow… ---
**Author:** ![dubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dubs)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/148 "2009-10-16T00:33:00Z")
I don’t know anything about weather balloons, but when I first heard the story earlier today, I wondered why the family would make a balloon with a basket that could hold a little kid. Was it meant to be for the equipment? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/149 "2009-10-16T01:06:09Z")
> [@dubs](#): > > I don’t know anything about weather balloons, but when I first heard the story earlier today, I wondered why the family would make a balloon with a basket that could hold a little kid. Was it meant to be for the equipment? That’s what the reporter just said on MSNBC, it was to hold equipment for their tracking. It was also reported that the police had gone through the house twice during this whole process to confirm the kid wasn’t there, but that he’d managed to sneak into the attic area of the garage or something like that and hide out very well. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/150 "2009-10-16T01:07:57Z")
Apparently the “attic” he was in was really just a crawl space with open rafters, above the garage. We have something similar in our house. It’s just insulation up there. Apparently the kid had to shimmy up a pipe to get into it. Good hiding place! ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/151 "2009-10-16T02:07:09Z")
[Forty seconds in on this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI6UONWCq7A&feature=player_embedded) the kid says, “We did this for a show.” I see. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/152 "2009-10-16T02:21:36Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > This will inadvertently serve the purpose of raising these folks’ profile. So I hope there were no hijinks involved. But obviously ABC will re-run the Wife Swap episode, they’ll be on Larry King Live, there will be a tv movie about this, or maybe a book… An endorsement deal from [Jiffy Pop](http://www.best-horror-movies.com/image-files/scream-forgotten-popcorn.jpg) seems inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/153 "2009-10-16T02:28:00Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > [Forty seconds in on this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI6UONWCq7A&feature=player_embedded) the kid says, “We did this for a show.” > > I see. Like I said all along, publicity stunt! Yep, that was me. Saying that. - ahem \* Okay, some days I fear I’m just not cynical enough. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/154 "2009-10-16T03:12:54Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > Like I said all along, publicity stunt! Yep, that was me. Saying that. > > - ahem \* > > Okay, some days I fear I’m just not cynical enough. “No matter how cynical I get, I just can’t keep up.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/155 "2009-10-16T03:13:39Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > [Forty seconds in on this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI6UONWCq7A&feature=player_embedded) the kid says, “We did this for a show.” > > I see. Creepy. Poor kid. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/156 "2009-10-16T03:34:05Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > [Forty seconds in on this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI6UONWCq7A&feature=player_embedded) the kid says, “We did this for a show.” > > I see. I don’t. The kid seems confused about the question. I don’t think “we did this for a show” is terribly damning. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/157 "2009-10-16T03:42:50Z")
Reminds me of a magic show. No one actually _saw_ the kid go up with the balloon, but everyone assumed he had because…how’s that again? Talk about misdirection. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/158 "2009-10-16T05:19:07Z")
So I wake up this morning to discover the end of a non-story, that I didn’t even know had begun, plastered all over the News. What a waste of everybody’s time and resources. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/159 "2009-10-16T05:20:49Z")
Has \*\*Scylla \*\*been accounted for? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940/160 "2009-10-16T07:04:52Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I don’t. The kid seems confused about the question. I don’t think “we did this for a show” is terribly damning. How about when the interviewer asks for clarification and the father goes into story mode? Officer Barbrady, I call Shenanigans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scary-stuff-the-boy-in-the-balloon/513940.md?page=9)