Via NYTimes -
The episode that transfixed the nation last week — a spaceship-like balloon floating through the Colorado skies with a 6-year-old boy named Falcon believed to be inside — was declared “a hoax” by the Larimer County sheriff’s office on Sunday.
“It has been determined that this is a hoax, that it was a publicity stunt,” the Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said at a news conference in Fort Collins, Colo., one day after re-interviewing members of the now-famous Heene family about the case. “We have evidence to indicate it was a publicity stunt done with the hope of marketing themselves to a reality television show sometime in the future.”
Richard Heene and his wife Mayumi have not yet been arrested, but the sheriff said that among the charges being considered are three felonies: conspiracy between the husband and the wife to commit a crime, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and an attempt to influence a public servant., the last of which carries a prison term of six years. The charges could also include a misdemeanor, filing a false report.
The sheriff said his conclusions were based on separate interviews of the Heenes and their three children as well as searches of their computers, e-mail records and documents found in their home. He said the plot to launch a balloon and tell authorities that Falcon was aboard was planned two weeks ago, with the aim of obtaining a contract to do a reality TV show. He said authorities had asked a professor of physics at Colorado State University whether the balloon could actually fly with a 37-pound boy inside. The professor determined that this particular balloon could not even though the compartment, patched together with duct tape and plywood, could carry the boy.
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