A little boy from Colorado took us all on a big adventure Thursday, without ever leaving his home.  Everyone in the newsroom was captivated by the images of a giant UFO-shaped weather balloon being chased by news helicopters as it floated over the Colorado countryside.  

In case you were under a rock, 6-year-old Falcon Henne and his 2 brothers were playing near their father’s giant silver weather balloon in the backyard, when it accidentally floated away.  One of the older brothers said he “thought” Falcon was inside the balloon.  Authorities started chasing the balloon into the wild blue yonder and soon news cameras were also in on the chase.  The balloon landed, and authorities found no sign of the boy.  Then they feared Falcon may have fallen from the balloon.  The ground search was on.  Finally, Falcon emerged from a box in his attic, telling his family he’d been hiding the whole time, reportedly because his father had yelled at him.  Whew, quite a story.

Everyone took a deep breath and was relieved that the boy was safe.  I was watching it live with my two boys, telling them this is an example of why they shouldn’t hide when I call out to them.  A life lesson right on live TV.

But the drama was just beginning.  On CNN, little Falcon told Wolf Blitzer “we did it for the show.”  What does that mean?  Now questions have been raised about the validity of the whole story.  Did the family stage the whole thing as some sort of publicity stunt?  After all, they are a bit eccentric.  They’ve appeared on the show Wife Swap not once but two times.  The father is a scientist and storm chaser by trade.  Here's the link to the CNN interview so you can judge for yourself.  http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/16/colorado.balloon.boy/index.html#cnnSTCVideo  

As reporters, we are encouraged to maintain skepticism about any story.  Could the parents could fake the emotion  as they talked about finding their boy safe?   Authorities are going to re-interview the family to make sure the story was legit.  I hope it’s not a hoax. 

At the end of the day, all of us can relate to this story.  Who doesn’t remember a time when we hid from our parents because we were in trouble?  I remember climbing out my bedroom window at the age of 9 and climbing up my favorite tree in our backyard on a cold fall day.  I stayed there for more than an hour because I was mad at my parents, and no amount of shouting could make me come down.   What parent doesn’t recall a time when you lost track of your child, if only for a moment, and felt the terror race through your heart?  If nothing else, it’s a story that got us all talking, and got me singing the song “Up, Up and Away” by the 5^th Dimension.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWVe3AB8OY8

Thanks for reading and watching, Kelli

PS Update:  Ok, I just watched a clip from the family's bizarre appearance on Wife Swap.  My skepticism is growing....watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr_zA5E7n7A&feature=player_embedded