Police to reinterview balloon drama family

Police are to reinterview a Colorado couple today as speculation mounted that the balloon drama that sparked a frenzied search for their six-year-old son was a huge publicity stunt.

By all accounts, Richard Heene is an unapologetic self-promoter whose off-the-wall activities have included flying saucers, mountaintop helicopter stunts, storm chasing and reality TV shows.

Now, many suspect Mr Heene hid his son Falcon in the rafters of his garage in Fort Collins for five hours to make it seem as if the boy floated away in a home-made helium balloon.

Thursday's balloon drama unfolded live on television before Falcon was found.

Mr Heene vehemently denied that the events were a hoax, dismissing the claims as "extremely pathetic".

The doubts surfaced after a series of bizarre TV interviews, including one on CNN in which Falcon told his parents: "You said we did this for a show", when asked why he did not come down from the garage rafters during the search.

The family made the rounds on the morning talk shows yesterday and Falcon was sick during two separate interviews when asked why he hid.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden admitted that Falcon's comments on CNN had clearly "raised everybody's level of scepticism" but investigators had no reason to believe the incident was a hoax.

Sheriff Alderden said the family seemed genuine during the panic and he believed events could have unfolded just as they described - Falcon got frightened when his father scolded him for playing inside the balloon and hid in the garage out of fear.

The sheriff said his office has been flooded with calls and emails about the matter. He added that officials "have to operate on what we can prove as a fact and not what people want to be done".

The sheriff said that because of the "magnitude" of the balloon event, his office contacted social workers, but investigators asked them not to speak to the Heenes until the family had talked to authorities again.

Major Justin Smith of the sheriff's office said social workers were asked to get involved because of concerns about the family's storm-chasing. He said authorities wanted to make sure the children are in a healthy environment.

The sheriff was also asked about the sequence of events when the Heenes reported their child's disappearance to authorities.

The Heenes called the Federal Aviation Administration first, followed by a local TV station with a news helicopter, and then called police. The sheriff said the TV station call made sense because the helicopter could have provided immediate assistance.

In the call to police, the boy's mother, Mayumi Heene, told a dispatcher in a panicked voice that her child was in "a flying saucer". She sobbed and said: "We've got to get my son."

It was not the first time someone from the Heenes' home has called police. A Colorado sheriff's deputy responded to a hang-up in February at the home, hearing a man yelling and noticing Mayumi Heene had a mark on her cheek and broken blood vessels in her left eye. She blamed a problem with her contact lenses.

Richard Heene said he had been yelling because his children stayed up past their bedtime. The husband and wife said nothing had happened and the deputy concluded he did not have probable cause to make an arrest.

If the balloon ordeal was a hoax, the parents could be charged with making a false report to authorities, a low-level misdemeanour, Sheriff Alderden said.

He said authorities would need to bring a criminal case before attempting to recoup costs for the thousands of dollars spent to search for the boy, an effort that involved military helicopters, a ground rescue and even a mounted posse.

Officials also rerouted planes around the balloon's flight path and briefly shut down Denver International Airport.

Deputies searched the family's home and considered going into the attic, but they "just didn't think it was possible that six-year-old boy would be able to get up to that space, so they didn't look there", Sheriff Alderden said.

A video of the balloon launch shows the family counting down, in unison, "3,2,1" before Richard Heene pulls a cord, setting the silvery craft into the air.

"Whoa!" one of the boys exclaims. Then his father says in disbelief: "Oh, my God!" He then says to someone: "You didn't put the (expletive) tether down!" and kicks the wood frame that had held the balloon.

Richard Heene's actions have drawn scrutiny and puzzlement on many occasions. He has worked as a storm chaser, a handyman and a contractor, and an aspiring reality-TV star.

He and his family appeared on the US version of the TV reality show 'Wife Swap', receiving no more than a few thousand dollars for each show, according to a person familiar with the production.

The producer of 'Wife Swap' said that it had a show in development with the Heenes but that the deal was now off. TLC also said Mr Heene had pitched a reality show to the network months ago, but it passed on the offer.