Grounded … boy thought to be in balloon found in garage

Published on Thursday 15 October 2009 22:07

A YOUNG boy thought to have climbed inside a makeshift hot-air balloon aircraft which floated off from his home in the United States was found safe and well – in his garage.

The flying saucer-shaped balloon drifted off thousands of feet above Colorado for more than two hours.

Six-year-old Falcon Heene was believed to have climbed inside his father's experimental aircraft at the family home in Fort Collins, Colorado, before the tethers came loose.

However, after millions of television viewers had watched pictures of the craft floating into the sky, it was eventually found to be empty when it landed about 50 miles away.

It had been thought Falcon climbed into a box or basket attached to the 20ft long craft, which was covered with foil, but there was no sign of anything attached to the balloon when it landed.

Jim Alderden, Larimer County Sheriff spokesman, said the boy had been found in a box above the garage.

The sheriff indicated he did not think Falcon Heene's parents knew the boy was there.

"They thought he was missing," he said.

Earlier, Bob Licko, 65, a neighbour, said he was leaving home when he heard commotion in the backyard.

He said he saw two boys on the roof with a camera, commenting about their brother. "One of the boys yelled to me that his brother was way up in the air," he said.

The craft, which soared up to around 7,000ft, is thought to have had some kind of electric power unit.

Eye-witnesses told police they saw an object fall from the balloon as it sailed over Platville, Colorado.

According to reports, the child's father, Richard Heene, built the craft as part of his work as an experimental scientist. He and Falcon's mother, Mayumi, who have described themselves as "storm chasers", have appeared twice on the hit reality TV show Wife Swap.

Publicity material for the show stated: "When the Heene family aren't chasing storms, they devote their time to scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials and building a research-gathering flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm."

The silver-coloured balloon floating through the sky sped off at around 30mph, before landing in a field near Denver International Airport, around 50 miles north of the Heenes' home.

But when rescuers rushed to hold down the balloon and open it up, it was obvious no-one was inside.

Police officers across two counties were conducting searches on the ground underneath the path of the balloon.

The Colorado Army National Guard sent an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter and had been preparing to send a Black Hawk UH-60 to try to rescue the boy, possibly by lowering someone to the balloon.