The dad is such a nutjob, it's not surprising it was tough reading him. But, there are some other points: Anybody who heard their initial 911 call and then saw the home video of the balloon launch instantly would have known they were lying, as the stories don't agree. (In the 911 call and statements to the authorities, the parents say they weren't there for the balloon launch, yet they're in the video launching it.) Also, if you believe what the sheriff has said, they actually caught on to these people early on and just played along. The local media have made a pretty big stink over this, as they felt duped by the sheriff essentially lying to them and using them as pawns.

No, the sheriff said they caught on when the kid said what he said on television. Until then, they were pretty well duped. Its true they played along for another day in order to keep the parents from believing they were on to them, but as far as the sheriff department's BS detectors - they seemed to be completely out of order until the kid basically admitted the hoax on national television.

is that they have no choice but to act as if someone who is SAYING that a child is in danger is actually telling the truth. Even if they don't believe the person reporting something, they have to make absolutely sure the kid is safe and to do that, they have to pretend that the truth is being told in the first place.********* *********** ********* *********** *********** ********** *********** ************** *********** ********* *********** ******* I disagree that the father is crazy. Crazy like a fox, maybe. He might have some sort of lack of a conscience given the way he's able to manipulate people but that is not insane, that's a character flaw, and even that judgment is subjective. You can call him a jerk, and he's certainly a liar, but he knows what he's doing at every stage. If he were truly insane, then he would never be able to manage things the way he did. *********** ******* ************ *********** ********* ************* *********** ************** ********** ******** ********* ******** "He/she is crazy" is only a way of making sense of actions that don't make sense to us on a personal level. WE would never do what they have done, so it's outside our experience. It makes us feel better to think that no one could possibly do some of the horrendous things that people do to each other unless they were insane at the time. It's a lie, but it makes people feel better to think so.

You appear to be arguing over semantics, Messy, so feel free to put in any word that fits in place of "crazy." But the guy's history practically screams mental illness: The road rage incident where he rammed the car in California, getting busted for menacing somebody with a gun, the alleged spousal abuse...and that's without mentioning his lust for fame and whacko beliefs that aliens are living among us.

As for being crazy like a fox, perhaps you're referring to the end of the hunt when the fox is cornered by the hounds. This guy's stunt killed any chance at the reality show he was hoping for, there isn't going to be any money coming in from this, and he'll be facing charges and a bunch of legal bills. Plus he and his family are the focus of absolute ridicule. He completely wrecked their lives for 15 minutes of fame.