balloon situation. Next time I hope the father gets in the basket and ends up in Oz, in the wicked witch's tower with no way out.

Watch the video clip in the link below. And judge for yourself.
Check out the father doing most of the talking and the (seemingly) pathetic mother... Look at all their body language. Poor kids.

When asked by a reporter why he (the little boy) hid, he looked at his father and said, "You had said that we did this for a show." I hope his father doesn't get mad at him for spilling the beans. AND, I hope the father stops using his kids; they are not things to be manipulated for his own attention seeking purposes.

I feel sorry for the kids. Their parents are weird, to say the least... <link>

If true, and it's looking that way, the most incredulous thing to me about this is that two adults (a husband and wife) would both agree to something so brazen and sick ---- not to mention actually thinking they could get away with it.

Maybe we should be grateful they weren't so insane as to really send that kid up in that balloon which would have made them even more famous and fawned over by the world.

yeah. the sheriff's office ruled it wasn't a hoax. im still a bit suspicious.... but hoax or not, they media whore'd it up from the start. he called the FAA and the media before he even called 911. and really? did they need to appear on all these news shows? with the kids? and the kid throwing up on live tv? twice?

The first thing the father did was call a local news show. And then asked for a helicoptor.

We have people purposely creating high speed chases to gain television notoriety. People line up left and right to eat bugs and worse for the chance to be on television. Its all about the "look at me" mentality of so many poeple that its almsot sickening "Lets be famous maybe we'll make some money and at least we'll get some attentioon". The media wants such stories and will hype them so they can air their commercials to more people.

In the age of so much electronic media and entertainment humanity is being lost to the quick of the pixel. As such, the shameful display seen here is only a symptom of the problem., "poor kids "is right. While I absolve the parents of nothing, all of us are partially at fault.

flick Up? Maybe the family planned a cross-promotion with its upcoming DVD release featuring special audio commentary, "Adventure Is Out There". Who found him in the attic crawlspace, anyway? Maybe they were planning to sneak him out somehow and let him be "found" at Six Flags or Mile High or something.....

TV station (9-KUSA-TV, the NBC affiliate) to see if they could get a HELICOPTER up there to look for the balloon. (The Larimer County Sheriff's Dep't. doesn't have their own helo. and told him it would be hours before they could get one in the air.) He called the FAA at the local Fort Collins/Loveland airport because he figured they could intercept the balloon far more quickly & expeditiously than he did. Get your facts straight, please. The Sheriff agreed that that was a more sensible thing to do. They called 911 after making those two calls.

I'm not defending the father here (he looks like a newshound whack job to me) but I am just so sick and tired of people picking up wrong info. from the national media & presenting it as fact.

Try these sources instead: Ft. Collins Coloradoan (Ft. Collins, CO daily newspaper), www.denverpost.com, www.9News.com, or Channel 7 (ABC affiliate here)'s website at www.thedenverchannel.com

And the sheriff is going to "re-investigate" them either today or tomorrow. He wanted them to have a chance to rest up and get their heads-on straight, before he interviewed them. A rep. of the County's Social Services (and Child Protection Division) will most likely be there and is on alert ref.this situation. His press conference yesterday was streamed live by both "7" and "9" and is prob. still available on their sites.

Last, there is nowhere near as much 'suspicion' and skepticism about the parents & their actions here in Colorado as there seems to be, nationally. Although folks here are wondering about all the media coverage the parents accepted (sought?) the first night, and given their two Reality TV shows background. I have a feeling this one is going to turn out to be "simply" the result of some very poor judgment. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, would you all (Galatea, that includes you...) stop just blindly taking the word of the national (and international) press on this one? Do some local searching, people. Thanks.

SN/t, a (very) longtime Colorado resident

The first thing he did was call the FAA, see below for why. The second call was to KUSA-9-TV asking the News Director for the use of their helicopter, see below for why. She said Yes, btw. Their website address is below; her name is Patty Dennis, she's been at "9" for years and is a highly experienced, quite skeptical newsperson and manager. She grilled the father on why he was asking for a helo. They have a Northern Colorado operation in Ft. Collins & he was prob. comfortable calling a news outlet well-known in his / their community.

Really, Mary Anne, from you, I expect better fact-checking before posting. Where are you guys getting all this misinformation? Best to you as always. "T."

JV-12, Hopefully they'll get more than a misdemeanor and a fine.

You might have heard the sheriff's office is now thinking differently and wants to bring charges against the demented attention seeking pimp daddy and zombie mother. I hope the kids come out of this alright.

Their children do not look happy at all. And what's with the mother... My gut tells me something is really wrong in that family situation. And the news tells us there's something wrong with that little kids gut. This is truly making him sick.

NickD, I see your points and very much agree. I appreciate your thoughtful reply.

Oh Tempo, shut up.

Hahahaa. Good points Inkberrow . . . Disney or not those kids deserve some good pure fun after having been put thru this crap from their parents. They should each get to choose a movie, at the very least. And the parents shouldn't be allowed to go! LOL