POLICE ARE to interview the family at the centre of a runaway balloon drama in Colorado amid suspicions that the episode may have been a costly hoax.
Richard Heene, the father, yesterday dismissed the sceptics as “pathetic”.
US television channels ditched all other coverage on Thursday to provide live pictures of the escaped home-made helium balloon which was thought to have six-year-old Falcon Heene on board. When the balloon came to earth hours later, the police and other rescuers found no boy inside and feared he may have fallen out. As searchers combed the route, Falcon emerged unscathed from an attic in the family’s garage in Fort Collins.
But the mood of rejoicing turned to scepticism when, during a CNN interview, the boy was asked by his father why he had not responded to calls from the family as they hunted for him.
“Why did you not come out?” Mr Heene asked. Falcon replied: “Um . . . You had said that we did this for a show.” When the CNN interviewer pressed the father for an explanation, he became defensive, saying he was appalled at the suggestion that it might be a hoax.
Sheriff Jim Alderden said yesterday that while his department was sure the incident had not been a publicity stunt, he would seek to clarify Falcon’s remark.
Mr Alderden told KUSA-TV he did not know what to make of the comment, but added in the boy’s defence that it had come after hours of dealing with questions from reporters. Officers trained in reading body language had been at the family home throughout the drama and were convinced that they had been telling the truth.
If it turned out to be a hoax, Mr Heene, one of a band of amateur weather-watchers who chase storms, could face a huge bill. The balloon, which had been tethered in the family’s backyard, created mayhem, with flights in and out of Denver International Airport disrupted and the police and National Guard called out.
The National Guard had scrambled two Blackhawk helicopters to intercept the balloon.
Mr Heene, who has appeared with his family on the reality show Wife Swap, carried out a series of television interviews seeking to clarify his son's remark. He said that the boy had had trouble understanding a question during the interview because he was unused to the earpiece.
Mr Heene dismissed those who questioned the incident: “I went through such a rollercoaster of emotions yesterday, to have people say that, I think, is extremely pathetic. I’m not selling anything.”
– (Guardian service)