91. The Balloon Boy (Richard Heene)

Support for swindled comes from Simply Safe.

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This episode of Swindled may contain graphic descriptions or audio recordings of disturbing events which may not be suitable for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

And then there is this story of man's quest for the stars that does not involve a secret space shuttle, but a lawn chair, a lawn chair that went three miles up in the Earth's atmosphere.

No astronaut aboard, just a 33-year-old California truck driver, Larry Walters.

I was always fascinated by balloons, Larry Walters told writer George Plimpton in the early 90s.

When I was about eight or nine, I was taken to Disneyland.

The first thing when we walked in, there was a lady holding what seemed like a zillion Mickey Mouse balloons.

And I went, wow I know that's when the idea developed.

Larry Walters childhood idea was to float into the sky using nothing but a cluster of helium-filled balloons.

When he was 13, Larry recalled, that cartoonish vision became an obsession when he saw a weather balloon hanging from the ceiling at an Army surplus store.

He was already experimenting with hydrogen at home.

and trying to make his own generators and rocket fuel.

Larry Walters was destined to fly.

This fascination with aviation persisted throughout Larry's adolescence until he was old enough to join the Air Force.

The United States was at war with Vietnam at the time.

Of course, Larry envisioned himself as a pilot.

Ultimately, it was Larry Walters' vision that let him down.

His eyesight was so bad, the armed forces wouldn't let him near an aircraft, much less fly one.

Instead, he was handed a spatula.

and Larry Walters served the country as an army cook.

When he was discharged, Larry Walters continued on his trajectory of living an unexceptional life.

He returned to Los Angeles where he was born.

He got a job driving a truck for a North Hollywood company that made TV commercials.

He is the guy you barely know down the block, washing his car on a dull Sunday afternoon.

Columnist John Kiesler later wrote about Larry in the Miami News.

The guy you sit next to on the bus, all the frustrateds, all the regimented, all the conformists.

But But Larry Walters still had a dream.

It would gnaw at him every time a plane flew over his house, every time he witnessed a seagull soar above the Pacific Ocean, every time he saw a child flying a kite or holding a balloon by a string.

It's now or never.

Gotta do it, 33-year-old Larry Walters told himself one day in 1982 while eating at McDonald's inside a holiday inn.

He began drawing his plans on the placematch right then and there.

Larry's girlfriend Carol Van Dusen, who was with him that day, supported his quest for flight.

Carol thought that if Larry actually tried to do whatever he was planning to do, maybe at the very least, he would finally stop talking about it.

What Larry Walters planned to do was this.

He would drive out to the Mojave Desert with enough weather balloons and helium to lift him 100 feet off the ground.

The basket or gondola or whatever he decided to use would be tethered to something heavy to keep him from drifting away, and he would just float there for a while amongst the clouds.

and when he was ready to come down he would use a bb gun to shoot out some of the balloons and slowly descend back to earth like a god uh the idea was to be tethered at a hundred feet for approximately an hour and about a half hour before launch we were going to notify faa and a few airports

within weeks the plan was in motion larry had procured 45 weather balloons and 55 helium canisters, the latter of which he forged documentation from his employer to convince convince the supplier that he needed them for a commercial shoot.

Larry also took a parachuting class and purchased his own parachute.

He said the total cost to achieve his dream was roughly $15,000.

Carol went into debt to pay for it all.

After some initial testing, a few things became clear to Larry Walters.

For one, the Mojave Desert launch was no longer an option.

Turns out the 40-ish, 7-foot-wide inflated weather balloons it would take to keep Larry airborne could not fit inside his his Jeep.

Neither could the dozens of helium tanks it would require to inflate the balloons on site.

Obviously, a few details still needed to be ironed out.

However, Larry had decided that a lawn chair would be his cockpit of choice, an ordinary webbed seating aluminum lawn chair that he bought at Sears for $100.

It had survived what he called the Larry torture test.

He could sit in it comfortably and securely without a safety harness, and he was inspired by what a lawn chair represented, American ingenuity.

I call it American ingenuity.

Even though folding chairs date back to ancient Egypt, but I digress.

A new launch site was eventually chosen.

Larry Walters claimed that it was Carol's idea for him to take off from her house in San Pedro because there was a hospital half mile down the road.

Carol would later refute this claim to the New Yorker.

She said she was strongly opposed to the idea.

But on the first day of July 1982, Larry showed up at her house with all his gear and announced that he would be launching from her backyard the following morning.

He had already been storing the helium inside Carol's garage.

Begrudgingly, Carol helped Larry inflate the balloons.

The next morning, Larry Walters strapped on his parachute and took a seat in the Inspiration 1, which he had named the lawn chair.

42 beige weather balloons were floating above it, attached by nylon cables arranged in six tiers.

Four plastic jugs of water dangled from each side of the chair for ballast.

Larry could ditch the weight if he found himself descending too rapidly.

Other carry-on items included a flashlight with extra batteries, a package of beef jerky, a bottle of soda, a road map of California, an altimeter to determine altitude, a camera, a portable two-way CB radio to talk to Carol, a BB gun to shoot the balloons, a backup pair of eyeglasses, and at the last minute, a life jacket in case of a water landing.

One might think that seems like an overabundance of cargo cargo for a 100-foot controlled tethered float above a residential neighborhood.

But just think of the endless number of potentially nightmare scenarios.

Larry wanted to be prepared for everything.

The only people who knew about Larry Walters' planned flight were his girlfriend Carol, his ground crew, which consisted of a few friends, and his mom, who thought he needed help.

My mother thought maybe I was possessed by the devil, or perhaps post-Vietnam stress syndrome, Larry told George Plimpton.

She wanted me to see a psychiatrist.

Larry had declined, and at around 11 a.m.

July 2nd, 1982, it was time for liftoff.

Carol detached one of the three tethers, and the lawn chair ascended rapidly.

Once the slack ran out, the two remaining ropes snapped instantly.

Larry said it sounded like a gunshot from his vantage point.

The force of the lawn chair breaking free of its planetary shackles jolted the aircraft, causing Larry's eyeglasses to fly off his face.

Thankfully, he had that backup pair.

When Larry put them on, he could see Carol and friends getting smaller and smaller.

The Inspiration 1 was rising at a rate of up to 1,000 feet per minute.

Larry Walters, incomprehensibly calm during that supposed accidental moment, thought it might be a good time to check in with the ground crew using the radio.

Ron, the sentence inspiration, you read me over.

Ron, Larry, I can hear you.

Okay, evidently, I lost my glasses.

Ron, come Larry, cut him down.

You've got to come down if you can't see.

Cut him down.

I've got my other glasses.

I can see perfectly.

Don't worry.

Carol was worried.

Larry and his launcher were steadily rising higher.

2,300?

2,300.

And higher.

Elevation 2,500.

Everything's okay.

And higher.

Law limited says, uh, 8,750 feet.

I'm headed towards, uh, I can see Marine Line right now.

Hey, you can see Marine Land.

They're heading towards- Oh my god, they're going towards the ocean already!

Larry Walters remained calm as his launch air drifted west towards the open ocean.

Luckily, he caught an easterly wind and was able to turn it inland.

Larry claimed he had complete control of his craft at all times.

Carol and his ground crew did not care.

She begged Larry to cut some of the balloons loose and return to Earth.

Hey, everybody, get your faster.

Cut him and get down now.

Cut your drugs and come down now.

Everyone wants you down now.

Can you please?

It would be unsafe.

There's hours of this.

This is unsafe.

If I get to a safe terrain, yes.

Larry Walters had been in the air for half an hour.

This track had taken him directly into the approach path to the Long Beach Municipal Airport.

Air traffic controllers received two reports from commercial airliners of a man floating through the sky in a chair.

From my altitude, which is approximate 15,000 feet, I'm over an airport.

I think it's Long Beach Airport.

Larry Walters reached a peak altitude of 16,000 feet, more than three miles high.

The air was thin and freezing cold.

Larry knew he couldn't risk going any higher, so he picked up his pistol and shot BBs at seven of the outer balloons.

They popped, just as he planned.

However, before he could pop more, a sudden gust of wind rocked the lawn chair, and Larry's BB gun fell out of his lap, plummeting to the earth below.

Larry Walters was seconds away from abandoning the lawn chair and using the parachute, but he decided to check his altimeter first and confirm that he was descending.

Again, Larry Walters' plan had worked, but he wouldn't count his lucky stars until he was back on the ground.

To further ensure his safety, Larry tried to alert the neighboring airport, whose protected airspace he had invaded.

Larry switched the CB radio to the emergency channel, Channel 9.

The Citizens Band Radio Monitoring Organization, React, answered his call and recorded their conversations.

What information do you wish me to tell them at this time as to your location?

Is there a difficulty?

The difficulty is

this was an unauthorized balloon launch,

and

I know I'm in a feral feral federal air stage,

and uh I'm sure my ground crew has a load of the proper authority,

but uh, just to call them and tell them that I'm okay.

Are you saying you have a cluster of 35 balloons?

These are 35 leather balloons, not one single balloon, sir.

It is 35 leather balloons.

I just took camera and I left her and I so far everything's making sound.

I'm fine.

Hold up.

And you are coming down at this time, Mike.

Alright, look, stay still.

Hold up.

Larry Walters navigated as best he could to land at the Virginia Country Club.

But it became evident that he would come up just short in the neighborhood across the street.

most likely due to the weight of his gigantic balls.

As the houses in Long Beach below him grew closer, Larry was faced with new fears.

He began dumping the ballast water to slow his descent.

All I saw were rooftops and power lines.

I thought to myself, my God, this is it.

You know, please God, you know, don't let me get fried.

Meanwhile, an airline pilot was sitting on his back porch reading the newspaper on his day off when suddenly a man in a balloon-powered lawn chair scraped across his roof directly into power lines.

The nylon ropes became entangled in the cables, which protected Larry Walters from electrocution and left him dangling five feet above the ground.

Lawn chair Larry was completely unharmed.

I'm in one piece, no broken bones.

And this thing, I say, it's been a dream for 20 years.

I've researched since I was a kid.

I've played around toy balloons and

I know how to maneuver balloons.

I had no trouble, you know, ascending or descending.

When Larry Walters climbed down to safety, he was mobbed by the neighborhood children for autographs and souvenirs.

One lucky kid even took home the lawn chair, an act of generosity that Larry always kind of regretted.

Reportedly, the only memento Larry Walters kept from his adventure was an empty plastic soda bottle.

At the time, Larry said he was going to have it bronzed, since he had forgotten to take any photos.

It was something I had to do, Larry told the LA Times, who was on the scene.

I had this dream for 20 years, and if I hadn't done it, I think I would have ended up in the funny farm.

Instead, Larry Walters would end up in jail for a few hours at least.

As he was being handcuffed, another reporter asked Larry Walters why he had undertaken such a risky endeavor.

Larry shot back, quote, a guy has to do something.

He can't just sit around in his backyard all day.

A Federal Aviation Administration official told the New York Times that the agency was certain that Walters had violated some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and some kind of charge would be filed, just as soon soon as they could figure out which part he had violated.

Ultimately, Larry Walters was fined $4,000 for violating controlled airspace, flying without a balloon license, and operating a non-airworthy craft.

In other words, that means flying a lawn chair without a license.

Did the Russians have the Pope shot?

Soviets say no.

We'll have more next.

The fine was reduced to $1,500 upon appeal.

It was worth it.

Lawn Chair Larry's 45-minute flight became international news.

He appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, late night with David Letterman, and numerous game shows.

The week after his stunt, Larry Walters was seemingly everywhere.

I would only do it again if it was sanctioned by the FAA and if it had FAA approval.

So it doesn't look like I'd be doing it again.

This was the fulfillment of a 20-year dream.

Yeah.

And I accomplished my dream.

Yeah.

Now, how does that feel having succeeded in achieving what you all want?

I achieved inner peace.

I've achieved inner peace in myself.

What, really?

I'm a happier person today.

Well, that's good.

Today, Walter said he has no intention of going ballooning again.

His first priority now is to sell the rights to his story.

But the story fizzled out.

Larry's motivational speaking gigs dried up.

He eventually had to take a job as a security guard.

In 1991, nine years after the flight, Larry was featured in a print ad for Timex, the watch company, for which he was paid $1,000.

With that, he had had finally broken even on the stunt, and it was probably the last $1,000 he earned from it.

So what was your feeling after it was all over?

asked author George Plimpton about the lawn chair voyage.

Life seems a little empty, Larry said, because I always had this thing to look forward to, to strive for, and dream about, you know.

It got me through the army and Vietnam, just dreaming about it, you know.

One of these days.

By the early 90s, in his early 40s, Larry Walters was unexceptional once again.

And alone.

Carol Van Dusen had left him after 15 years together.

People that know Larry say he never really forgave himself for it.

He eventually found solace in the Bible and nature.

He volunteered for the United States Forest Service and regularly hiked the San Gabriel Mountains.

I love the peace and quiet, he told the LA Times.

Others saw darkness.

It seemed like Larry came to the mountains because he was disappointed with the way his life was going, a fellow volunteer told People magazine.

But nobody knew how disappointed Larry was until it was too late.

On October 6th, 1993, at the age of 44, Larry Walters hiked to a remote spot in the Angeles National Forest and shot himself in the heart.

His mother told a New Yorker that Larry was found inside his tent in a sleeping bag, quote, everything was very neat.

His shoes were neatly placed outside.

The camp trash was hanging in a tree so the bears and the raccoons couldn't get to it.

He had shot himself in the heart with a pistol.

His nose had dripped some blood on the ground.

His head was turned, very composed, and his eyes were closed.

And if it hadn't been for the blood, he could have been sleeping.

Larry's mother said no one saw it coming.

Others say she was in denial.

because several signs were discovered afterward.

Larry had stopped making appointments in his calendar, and he had left behind a Bible with several passages earmarked that referred to the afterlife.

A few months after Larry Walter's death, Pennsylvania columnist T.W.

Berger wrote about the lawn chair legend, quote,

I have never flown, not like he did, not with the vast world spinning away from me like a vast circus.

That makes me feel curiously unaccomplished, sitting here at a computer, heavy as a stone, while the air whistles at my window.

Others have felt more inspired by Larry Walters' accomplishment and have kept the legend alive.

Like Kent Couch, a gas station owner from Bend, Oregon, who made numerous cluster balloon flights in the lawn chair to satisfy a similar childhood dream.

And Joe Barbera in Washington state, who launched a lawn chair with balloons to celebrate his 60th birthday.

Joe got stuck 40 feet up a tree and had to be rescued.

Still, a fate far more desirable than Adelaire Antonio De Carli, the Roman Catholic priest in Brazil, who in 2008 used 1,000 balloons to reach an altitude of 20,000 feet.

After eight hours in the air, all contact was lost with De Carli, who had been blown off course by strong winds.

An offshore oil rig crew found the lower half of his body nine days later.

But for this Brazilian priest, the quest turned into a search as helicopters and rescue patrols scour the coastline for any signs of life or balloon.

But the most infamous lawn chair Larry imitation of all happened the following year.

In 2009, the world watched in horror as a homemade helium-filled aircraft captained by a six-year-old boy trekked across the skies of Colorado, 7,000 feet in the air.

Then, the world watched in horror again at the aftermath, trying to figure out the truth.

Had we all been manipulated?

Had we all been deceived?

Was the balloon boy reality?

reality?

Or just another dying gasp of a corrupted culture?

And it's reality TV.

Find out on this episode of Swindled.

They bribed government officials to find accounting for violations of the A state law earlier in the unethical pay to plagiarism.

Dummy up its books and records to hide the falsifying its code

responsible for the collapse of the entire system.

Support for swindled comes from Simply Safe.

For the longest time, I thought home security meant an alarm going off after someone broke in.

But if the alarm is already blaring, it's too late.

The damage is done.

That's a reactive approach.

And it leaves you with that awful feeling of violation, even if the intruder runs away.

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They've completely changed the game with Active Guard outdoor protection designed to stop crime before it starts.

Their smart, AI-powered cameras don't just detect motion.

They can tell you when there's a person lurking on your property.

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The agents can actually intervene while the intruder is still outside.

Talk to them through two-way audio, hit them with a loud siren and spotlight, and call 911 if needed.

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Let's face it, the schools weren't working for the children in New Orleans before the storm.

And

what has happened is that

this community has actually used the crisis as an opportunity to start rebuilding and try to experiment with new ways of learning.

I can work hard.

States can work hard, city can work hard,

every government official

can work hard to try to improve our schools, but if our parents don't

insist

on excellence from their children,

we won't succeed.

Just that home training

makes a big difference.

Now,

not every child, not every child is going to get the support they need at home, let's face it.

But all of us, in one way or another, in our communities, can be supportive of our children, helpful in making sure that they've got it.

All right, we're going to step away from the president for a moment.

Here, some pretty unbelievable pictures coming to us live from KUSA.

And we have this on delay and for very good reason.

A six-year-old boy, we are being told, is actually

inside what is being called an experimental aircraft.

Around 11.30 a.m.

on October 15th, 2009, national news stations in the United States interrupted their regularly scheduled broadcasts with live images of a flying saucer in the skies of Colorado.

The experimental aircraft was about 20 feet in diameter, 5 feet tall, silver, puffy, and reflective.

It was a giant balloon covered in aluminum foil.

One of the news anchors compared its appearance to a freshly popped bag of Jiffy Pop stove pop popcorn.

You couldn't tell on the live broadcast, but underneath the aluminum layer were sheets of plastic held together with duct tape.

And there was some kind of box attached on the bottom, later discovered to be constructed of a thin piece of plywood, cardboard, and a string.

And according to police, inside that small box was an undoubtedly terrified six-year-old boy.

Imagine the terror right now of this six-year-old little boy and the family far away on the ground.

According to one reporter, the saucer-shaped balloon was traveling southeast from Fort Collins towards Denver at what appeared to be speeds of up to 500 miles per hour.

The actual rate was closer to 20 miles per hour.

Our apologies.

Bear with us.

More information was coming in by the minute.

Police did just release the boy's name.

His name is Falcon Heaney.

His age six years old.

The last name is spelled H-E-E-N-E.

The father is Richard Heaney.

Same spelling on the last name.

According to police, father and son had been doing experiments on this homemade balloon, letting it hover just off the ground a couple of feet.

That morning, the Heaney family of Fort Collins, Colorado were working on the balloon in their backyard.

It was a prototype for what Richard Heaney, the father of the family, called a 3D low-altitude vehicle, a new form of office commuter that would allow a person to skip automobile traffic in the future.

The Heaney family had reportedly spent a month building the balloon together.

They were always doing those kinds of things.

The original plan was to execute a test launch on October 12th, 2009, to celebrate Richard and his wife Mayumi's 12th wedding anniversary.

However, the craft still needed some work and the weather did not cooperate.

The launch was rescheduled for Thursday the 15th because the Heaney's three sons, 10-year-old Bradford, 8-year-old Rio, and 6-year-old Falcon, had the day off from school thanks to a teacher in service day.

The Heaneys spent that morning inflating the balloon with five tanks of helium.

Richard attached the stun gun to the box and connected it to the outer aluminum lining.

His theory was that the quote, one million volts of electricity would help propel and maneuver the balloon while in the air.

Though for this test, there would be no need.

Richard Heaney planned to tether the balloon to the ground and let it hover about 10 to 13 feet in the air, and then he would reel it in and make alterations.

Richard would also review the video footage because the family recorded everything.

Usually, Mayumi was behind the camera, filming her four boys, husbands included.

But that morning, oldest son Bradford manned the handheld with another stationary camcorder set up on a tripod.

Together, The Heaney family counted down from three.

Richard pulled the release, and the balloon floated up, hovered momentarily, and then floated away.

Are you mad?

Tether!

Tether down!

Are you mad?

I got it!

Come on, man!

My Yumi, you didn't put the fucking tether down, Richard yells as he dramatically kicks the railing of the wooden launch pad.

His exclamations continue.

until Bradford interrupts to inform his father that Falcon, the youngest brother, is on the ship.

Dad, Dalcon's in the ship!

Silence!

Dad, Falcon's in there!

Where?

In the ship!

He was just here!

No, he's in there!

Brad!

He's in there!

Don't throw in!

No, he's not!

Yeah!

He was just right here!

Falcon!

No!

Falcon!

No, man!

Brad turns the camera off to show his parents what he had just recorded.

Sure enough, there was Falcon, crawling inside the battery box.

Panic ensued.

I heard some commotion in the backyard, and then later two of the boys were up on the roof of the house telling me something about their younger brother, Bob Licko, a neighbor told Nine News.

There was a lot of panic in the backyard.

The mother seemed distraught.

The father was more in a panic.

At around 11:29 a.m., Richard Heaney called 911.

All right.

My family and I made an experimental

flying saucer.

It wasn't supposed to fly.

Okay.

We thought he had his thing tethered down.

Okay.

And

I think my six-year-old boy

got inside

and it took off.

Yeah.

Okay.

Where is he at?

He's in the air.

He's in the air?

Yeah.

He's only six.

He's only six.

Can anybody rescue him?

Okay.

When's the last time you saw him?

About 15, 20 minutes ago.

Larimer County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the Heaney's house to assess the situation.

They searched the bedrooms, basement, and garage to confirm Falcon was not at home.

They scoured a nearby wooded area and reservoir.

They knocked on neighbors' doors.

There was no trace of Falcon Heaney.

Everyone's worst fears were confirmed.

Do we know for sure if Falcon is inside the basket right now?

He is.

And what is the family doing at this point?

Are they watching this unravel on TV?

The Heaneys weren't watching it unravel on TV, but everyone else did.

Local news agencies sent helicopters out to track down the balloon.

Over the next two hours, the balloon traveled over 60 miles out of Larimer County, over Weld County, and into Adams County, reaching a peak altitude of 7,000 feet.

Denver International Airport rerouted its northbound flights to avoid accelerating a tragedy.

In addition, the National Guard sent up two helicopters around 12.30, one to observe and another for medical personnel, just in case.

Millions of people watched transfixed as the local broadcast was picked up by news outlets worldwide.

Between the cinematic helicopter view to the Kini driveway scenes to the interviews with people who knew the family, it was captivating TV.

It is like a horrific version of the movie UP that was released earlier this year.

There's more information that's coming out about the Haney family,

including this that suggests that they devote their time to scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials, according to one dispatch, and building a research gathering flying saucer.

There's even one account that suggests that they believe in psychics and that they can somehow, that the psychics can somehow control the weather.

Again, estimates this being as high as 10,000 feet right now as it travels pretty quickly through the skies of Colorado.

As I watch this, I'm thinking of my kids who are not too far from that age and what any parent would imagine

having to deal with if their child were in this situation.

We had to double check all this to make sure it wasn't a hoax because it seems like just the most extraordinary story, but in fact, this is very true and something of a nightmare.

It looks like the helium helium is starting to bend or leak out of that out of that balloon.

So the big question is, how fast is it leaking?

Because the other question becomes, if it is leaking and that is moving at 15 to 20 miles an hour, when it finally does come down, what's it going to hit?

Around 1.30 p.m., the balloon had dropped significantly.

It was leaking helium, and a crash landing was imminent.

News channels cut their feeds or plated on a delay as the aircraft descended the last 500 feet to avoid broadcasting live catastrophe.

To the relief of everybody, the Heaney's experimental aircraft landed softly into a freshly plowed field on the Abbott family farm 12 miles northeast of the Denver airport.

Rescue workers were waiting on it.

They threw ropes over it to keep it grounded and punctured the balloon with pitchforks, pocket knives, and shovels.

They yelled Falcon's name.

There was no answer.

I've got got some information that

I'm not quite sure how to say it, but I don't believe that they found anybody with this balloon.

There's no basket, and they're not pulling anybody out of it at this point.

There was no boy inside the balloon.

The fact that only opened the door to more sensationalist speculation.

I mean, there wouldn't be any concern.

I mean, I guess the big question is, is the kid in there?

Right, exactly.

Because we did hear some reports earlier that he possibly may have fallen out.

Weld County Sheriff's Deputy Jared Webb reported seeing an object fall from the balloon somewhere over Platteville, Colorado.

He said he was parked off County Road 41, watching from the top of a hill.

I didn't see it detach, but I did see something fall, Webb told the Denver Post.

The rescue mission morphed into a search and rescue mission.

Law enforcement explored the entire flight path by car, foot, all-terrain vehicles, and horseback.

The National Guard sent one of its helicopters back into the sky.

Almost three hours into the search, there was still no sign of Falcon Heaney.

At 4.14 p.m., Larimer County Sheriff Jim Aldriden addressed the media.

The news was grim.

Quote, obviously, at this point, we're looking at a recovery type of operation.

Mere seconds later, there was a commotion among the sheriff's office personnel behind him.

According to the Denver Post, Alderton conferred with his team and and then walked back to the reporters, holding his hands high in a thumbs-up gesture.

He's been located, Sheriff Alderden said.

He's alive.

He's at the house.

He's located.

He's alive.

He's at the house.

So all of the reports that we had earlier

were unfortunately misinformation.

I don't know.

I was just running.

He's alive.

He's at the house.

We just got the page from somebody on the scene that he's at the house and he's been located.

Confirm.

Richard and Mayumi Heaney were sitting on their sofa, waiting for the worst, when six-year-old Falcon came running into the room.

Mayumi screamed in shock.

She had already prepared herself for bad news.

This is, uh, I thought it was going to be the worst day, but now it's at this day my life.

When asked where he had been, Falcon said he had been hiding in the attic.

He said he played with toys and then took a nap.

He had been missing for five hours.

When asked why he went up into the attic, Falcon said he was scared because his father had yelled at him after climbing inside the balloon.

He didn't want to get in trouble, he said.

I was in the attic

and

he scared me because he yelled at me.

That's why I went in the attic.

I heard Shannon.

I didn't even want to come out really soon or else he would yell at me.

I'll probably get in trouble.

I yelled at him for going inside of it.

It's potentially dangerous if you get inside and then the electricity comes on.

At a press conference following Falcon's reappearance, Richard Heaney got emotional.

He said he had shouted at Falcon because the balloon was highly charged and dangerous, but now all he felt was relief.

This little guy got inside of it.

I thought he did anyway.

According to Brad Bratt said, he saw it.

And then he said he videotaped it and we watched it back, and sure enough, he got in.

But

obviously, he got out.

So, we don't know.

He says he was hiding in the attic.

And

because I yelled at him,

I'm really sorry I yelled at him.

The press conference spread more questions than answers, mainly regarding 10-year-old Bradford's eyewitness account.

He was interviewed several times by investigators, and his story was consistent.

He said he had seen Falcon climb into the balloon's battery compartment, but did not see him come out.

Neither had anyone else.

None of it made sense.

It didn't take long for people to ponder if this incident might be a publicity stunt or a hoax.

But Richard Heaney dismissed those rumors.

There's been rumors that this might be a big publicity stunt or a hoax.

Please address that.

That's horrible.

I mean, you know, after the crap we just went through, no,

not enough.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden did not think it was a hoax either.

He believed Richard and Mayumi had been forthright and honest with investigators.

The sheriff's office was given full access to the house and the children.

The parents' emotions, their body language.

Everything felt genuine.

Until, later that night, the Heaney family appeared on Larry King Live on CNN to discuss the day's events.

Larry King had the night off.

He was probably getting married or something.

Instead, the Heanies were interviewed by longtime CNN correspondent Wolf Blitzer.

Say Say hi to Wolf, everybody.

Say hi to Wolf.

His name's Wolf.

Hi.

Hi, guys.

Hi, who the hell is Wolf?

We believe 100% that he was on board.

And Falcon was really in the garage this whole time.

I don't know if Falcon can hear me, but was he, because I know at some point he fell asleep in that garage, but he was hiding out because he thought you were going to punish him for something that happened earlier in the day.

Did he hear anything?

Did he hear you screaming out Falcon Falcon?

he's asking falcon did you hear us calling your name at any time

you did you did

why didn't you come out

um

you guys said

that

we did this for the show

man

did you hear that we did this for the show

falcon said of course

wait

what What show?

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This week, a family of storm chasers, the Heanies from Colorado.

Mayumi and Richard pull their kids out of school in order to chase tornadoes.

They head straight towards the storm with their kids in the car.

Then Richard rides a motorbike into the center of the tornado to take readings for research.

The Wild Heany kids are encouraged to live a life of fun, adventure, and excitement.

There's a storm coming, and the Heanies of Colorado are headed straight into it.

Richard Heaney and Mayumi Iizuka met in 1997 at the Lee Strasburg Theater and Film Institute in Hollywood.

By the end of the year, they were married.

Both of them were in their early 30s and trying to make it in the entertainment industry.

Richard was an actor and a comedian who barely had a foot in the door.

Mayumi had only recently moved to America when she enrolled in the acting school.

She had played guitar in a rock band in Japan where she was born.

She came to the States to be an actress and to escape her overbearing, abusive father.

The couple lived in Burbank, sinking deeper into debt every day.

Their home video production company wasn't paying the bills, probably because Mayumi was the only one working.

She would edit demo reels and audition tapes for actors while Richard researched UFOs on his computer.

Finances grew even tighter in 1999 when the Heanies welcomed their first son Bradford.

Rio would follow two years later.

Falcon two years after that.

Each one genetically predisposed to their parents' eccentricities.

I give you a dollar for every pound of dog shit you get.

But you gotta hurry because whoever has the most dog shit wins.

I got ten!

You got ten?

Tell them what?

Check dog shit.

Can you go pick it up?

Richard and Mayumi incorporated the kids into their dreams.

In 2001, Bradford and Rio appeared in an instructional video produced by their father called Boxtime, in which the basic ideas of carpentry are taught using song and dance.

The description reads, Boxtime encourages the use of artistic creativity and individualism, helping our viewers to realize how important and unique they are.

The Heanies were definitely unique.

The following year, Richard began conducting amateur lab experiments at his house and studying the weather.

He would intercept thunderstorms and dust devils in the California deserts, trying to prove his theory that rotating storms create their own magnetic fields.

And he would take his wife and kids along on the journeys.

The family's red minivan was pockmarked with hell damage.

The back glass after it shattered had been replaced with a trash bag and duct tape.

Nothing could slow them down.

Richard would upload the footage to his science detectives YouTube channel to Little Fanfare.

I'm Scott Stevens.

I'm Richard Heaney.

And I'm Barb Slusser.

And we're the science detectives.

Richard Heaney was one of three co-hosts on a web show called The Science Detectives.

He used the platform to discuss his theories on things like the Mayan calendar and how the world would end in 2012.

His partners, Barb Slesser and Scott Stevens, would eventually abandon the show because of Richard Heaney's insistence on bringing its children along to their dangerous storm-chasing expeditions.

Slusser told Nine News that Richard crossed the line when he drove his family into the eye of Hurricane Gustav and submitted the footage to CNN.

Now, on his own, Richard Heaney kept the science detective name alive.

Apparently unaware that mythbusters already existed, Richard developed an idea for a new show where he would prove or disprove one of his wacky science theories.

It was called Richard Heaney, Science Detective.

When you want to learn the mysteries of how things work, the weather, the planets, the whole universe, tune into the show that clearly affects and watch Richard Heaney, science detective!

In 2006, Richard Heaney recruited a fellow struggling actor named Perry Caravello to work on his new show.

He wanted to ride a motorcycle into the middle of a tornado, Caravello told the Denver Post.

It was stupid, out-of-the-world stuff, but Perry went along with it until the two men got into a physical altercation while chasing a tornado in Wyoming and never speaking again.

When you saw the interviews with Richard and Mayumi and the children, well, what did you think?

Scumbag.

After the balloon boy fiasco, Perry Caravello accused Richard Heaney of being desperate for attention.

Any stardom to him is good stardom.

Whether it's good or bad, it's still good stardom.

Perry Caravello didn't have much room to talk.

I'll do anything to be an actor.

Anything to be a star.

A star more than an actor.

A star.

I'll do anything.

to be a star.

That's Perry Caravello in a 2003 reality show movie called Windy City Heat, a classic, by the way.

Perry plays himself in the film, the butt of every joke.

In an elaborate prank, Caravello's real-life comedian friends convince him that he has beaten out Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, and Carson Daly for the lead role in a detective movie.

The entire hilarious process was captured on tape from audition to movie premiere.

One of the producers of Windy City Heat was late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who Caravello later sued for $10.5 million, alleging Kimmel falsely and fraudulently represented the Windy City Heat project and promised him, among other things, that he would be paid $10 million if he placed his penis in a mousetrap.

A small confidential settlement was agreed upon, and Perry Caravello and Jimmy Kimmel buried the hatchet.

After the balloon boy incident, Caravello was even invited to talk about it on Jimmy Kimmel Live since he had been personal friends with Richard Heaney.

In the last week, you've done interviews with the Associated Press, with The Today Show, Fox News,

e-news, Inside Edition, The Insider, Radio State, the Joy Behart Show.

What do you think of people like Richard Heaney who obviously crave attention from the media?

Two words.

Media whore.

Mm-hmm.

Media whore.

Him, right?

That's right.

Okay.

Jimmy Kimmel had actually met Richard Heaney once through Perry Caravello.

Richard had offered to put the talk show host's name on a rocket and shoot it into space, but only if Kimmel agreed to invest $25,000 into Richard's science detective show.

Jimmy Kimmel never made that investment, and by 2007, the Heaney family's financial struggles had only worsened.

There were multiple tax liens against their production company, checks were bouncing, and a former landlord said the Heaneys walked out owing her $6,000.

So the Heaneys packed their notebooks of bad jokes and dusty headshots and left California.

They settled in Fort Collins, Colorado, where Miumi continued operating the video production company while homeschooling the kids.

Richard worked as a handyman, which is what failed actors had to do before podcasting went mainstream.

However, Richard Heaney's thirst for the limelight never wavered, and in 2008, the entire family landed the role of a lifetime.

The Heaney family had been chosen to participate in Wife Swap, a reality show on ABC where two families with dramatically different lifestyles swapped matriarchs for two weeks.

In their episode, which aired in October 2008, the Heaneys were paired with the Martells, a family in Connecticut that owned and operated a home child-proofing business.

Karen Martell struggled to manage the three Heaney boys and Richard, who ramped up his obnoxiousness for the cameras.

Hey, Karen.

Yeah, what?

Could I ask you to- You know what?

This is exactly what I've been talking about.

What's that?

This is really

a perfect example.

Go get this.

Go get that.

Go do this.

Go do that.

Okay, you're supposed to live the life of My Yumi.

My Yumi doesn't jack camera me.

She doesn't go

And I really really don't want to hear that because you're entering into a huge negative feel.

Okay, here you go.

Here's how I handle this

Hey, baby, come on in and get my jack camera.

You know what I'm gonna do?

Hey, is this a rental store?

I got a broken jack camera over here.

I think the switch is broken.

How do you turn the jack camera off?

I've been listening.

You're nagging.

You're moaning.

You're groaning all day long, and I don't want to hear it.

Really?

Richard said, once a woman hits 25, it's downhill from there.

How dare he say something like that?

That's just sexist.

You look at Karen's eyes.

I think she likes me.

Deep down.

I really do.

I'll betcha.

She wants her husband to be more like me.

I'll betcha.

The Heaney's appearance on Wife Swap was so memorable that the audience voted for them to return for the show's 100th episode, which aired in March 2009.

This time, they were matched with the Silver family from Florida.

Sam Silver was a landscaper with a gnarly mullet, and his wife, Dr.

Cherie Silver, was a psychic who believed she could communicate with the dead.

Richard Heaney had no trouble reprising his role.

Don't you ever tell her to shut up?

She's obnoxious.

She talks nonsense.

Okay,

I gotta ask you this.

I need to know.

I need to know.

Go ahead, ask.

What's with the haircut?

Though Richard, admittedly, walked away impressed with Cherie.

And I'm going to tell you something.

She is a real psychic.

In the wake of the balloon boy incident, the media contacted Cherie Silver for insight into the Heaney family and then regretted it immediately.

As this thing has unfolded over the last 20 hours or so, there's just been this sort of feeling like something's not quite right.

Could you describe in 20 seconds, do you have some, do you have a similar thought?

No, I just feel that strange things happened to us even on the show.

I mean,

it was Friday the 13th when the show aired.

You know, and there were all these really, really strange things that happened.

I did a past life aggression on him.

He talked about being a commander of a ship.

We got to go.

We got a trace.

Richard Heaney was confident that his wife swap performance would finally land him a show of his own.

He was still pitching the science detective program and was in discussions with multiple networks to produce it.

But by September 2009, it had become clear that nothing would come of it, leading skeptics to believe that the balloon boy incident was nothing more than a publicity stunt designed to get Richard Heaney's name back in the news.

That theory grew wings as more and more people learned about the Heaney family's reality show past.

The media had also dug up Richard's criminal history, and it wasn't pretty.

In 1984, he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.

In 1991, he was arrested for corporal injury to a spouse, but not convicted.

In 1997, he pleaded no contest to vandalism, vehicle tampering, and disturbing the peace.

And most recently, in February 2009, a Larimer County Sheriff's Deputy responded to a 911 hangup at the Heaney home and found Mayumi with a mark on her face and a broken blood vessel in her left eye.

Mayumi said she was having trouble with her contact lenses.

No No arrests were made.

Skeptics believed that Richard Heaney was entirely capable of pulling off such a stunt, but the sheriff's office wasn't convinced.

The day after Falcon was thought to have flown away in the balloon, Sheriff Alderton reiterated that he believed the Heaneys were telling the truth.

Investigators had even consulted a professor at Colorado State University who confirmed that the homemade aircraft was more than capable of lifting a 37-pound boy like Falcon.

However,

however, as you all also saw, there was an interview conducted last night, I believe, by Wolf Blitzer on CNN.

We're asked why he did this.

He, I believe, responded,

Mia,

we did it for the show or something of that nature.

Clearly, that has raised everybody's level of skepticism again, and we feel it's incumbent upon us as an agency to go back to the family and attempt to re-interview them and establish whether this is in fact a hoax or if it's an actual event.

We believe at this time that it's a real event.

The morning after the event, the Heaney family appeared on NBC's Today show to tell their side of the story and to defend themselves from unsubstantiated rumors.

Richard explained that Falcon had reenacted climbing into the attic for the media.

That's what his son was referring to when he told Wolf Blitzer that they did it for the show.

He did answer other questions kind of on the same level.

Anyway, somebody had asked him if they could show, he would show them how he got in the attic.

So he was obliging them.

And one of the guys told me it was for some...

One of the guys told me it was for some TV show.

So that's what he was referring to.

That's what he was referring to when

he made that statement.

Richard Heaney's explanation was interrupted by Falcon vomiting on live TV.

So they tried again on Good Morning America.

Again, the Heaneys were asked what Falcon meant by his remarks.

And again, Falcon got sick.

Falcon?

You okay there?

You okay there?

Hmm?

You sure?

He's extremely tired.

Quite awake.

No, mom.

I feel like I'm gonna vomit.

Um

you okay, buddy?

Yeah, he's I think he's queasy.

Um

should we should we take it to the bathroom or something?

Yeah

Okay.

Okay, cool.

Good buddy.

This time, however, Mayumi took Falcon away while Richard completed the interview.

Predictably, he was asked if the balloon stunt was a hoax.

Richard lost his patience while Falcon puked in the background.

For you to deal with, so let me just ask you right now, just put it out there and get your honest answer.

Was this a hoax or a publicity stunt?

Absolutely not.

Absolutely not.

And now I'm starting to get a little ticked off because I'm repetitively getting asked this

in the last couple of interviews.

And

what have I got to gain out of this?

And I'm not selling anything.

I'm not advertising anything.

My family and I, we do this all the time.

You know, we're always doing some kind of scientific research.

We're always building something together.

I teach my kids how to shoot cameras.

Meanwhile, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office had reopened its investigation.

In addition to the suspicious interviews conducted by the Heaney family, Some new evidence had come to light.

First, it was reported that before calling the police when Falcon Falcon supposedly floated away, Richard Heaney had called Channel 9 News first.

It was a bad look, but it wasn't even true.

Richard called the Federal Aviation Administration first to see if they could find the balloon on the radar or use a helicopter to track it down.

The same reasons, he claimed that he did eventually call the news station, but not before calling 911.

But the court of public opinion did not care.

Also, the sheriff's office backtracked on its assertion that the balloon was capable of carrying Falcon.

The original calculation was based on dimensions provided by Richard.

When investigators measured the craft for themselves, they found it to be 18 pounds heavier than initially thought, thus impossible to lift off with Falcon's extra weight without a more powerful balloon.

Professor Jones has re-examined that, has recalculated it, and based on the accurate information and the accurate weight of this device, we now now know that it was not capable of lifting off.

That same day, Robert Thomas, a Denver area student, approached several gossip publications with relevant information for sale.

He said he had worked with Richard Heaney on a proposal for his science detective reality show.

Robert still had a copy.

The website Gawker bought the document from Robert Thomas, interviewed him and published both on Saturday, October 17, 2009, two days after the balloon boy took flight.

The proposal was basically a list of 50-plus ideas for the show, including ghost hunting, storm chasing, and experiments with magnets and electricity.

But the most notable idea was number 16, which asked, can we attract UFOs with a homemade flying saucer?

Quote, we will modify a weather balloon so that it resembles a UFO and will electrically charge the skin of the craft.

We will capture the footage on film and will utilize the media as a means with which to make our presence known to the masses.

This will not only provide us with incredible footage, but will also generate a tremendous amount of controversy among the public, as well as publicity within the mainstream media.

This will be the most significant UFO-related news event to take place since the Roswell crash of 1947, and the result will be a dramatic increase in local and national awareness about the Heaney family, our reality series, as well as the UFO phenomenon in general.

After his first appearance on Wifeswap, Robert Thomas told Gawker that Richard Heaney had become a publicity monster.

He claims Richard was convinced that the world would end in a solar flare in 2012, so he was on a mission to make as much money as possible so he could survive.

Richard also told Robert that he would use his celebrity platform to expose the shape-shifting reptilians that were running the shadow government.

Robert Thomas claims he was never paid for his work.

The media had some questions.

Several news outlets staked out the Heaney home in Fort Collins that morning.

Richard appeared outside around 5:30 a.m.

with the promise of a press conference at 10 a.m.

that would include a big announcement, he said.

Instead, at 10 a.m., Richard re-emerged with a box in his hand.

Richard Heaney instructed reporters to write down their questions and put them in the box.

He said he would answer them at 7:30 p.m., which elicited a collective groan.

I don't know how to, quite frankly, answer any of them other than I've got a box, and so later on tonight, 7:30, I want to meet you guys again.

I can look these questions over and then I can answer them.

Okay, so I'm going to place the box up front.

Please write your questions down because I've got stuff

friends are telling me they're saying this and that.

I have no idea what the news is saying.

I'm not, uh, I don't have a cable, so okay,

no,

not at all.

I want to

friends,

could you just say once and for all,

was this some sort of publicity stunt?

Was this a hoax?

And will you talk to the police today?

Absolutely no hoax.

I want your questions in the box.

I'll get right back to you, okay?

Richard Heaney never held that press conference.

Richard Heaney had better things to do, like picking up his experimental aircraft from the sheriff's office, which they had invited him to do.

But without realizing it, Richard had fallen right into their trap.

When he arrived, investigators convinced Richard to take a lie detector test because it was the only way the media would get off his back, they said.

Richard agreed, but feigned sleep under questioning, claiming he was having a diabetic reaction.

He failed the test, but the sheriff's office gained nothing from the interview because Richard maintained his innocence.

He was sent home without his aircraft, and when given a choice between leaving through the back door secretly or through the front entrance into the waiting arms of a throng of media, Richard chose the latter.

I was

talking to the Sheriff's Department just now to further things along, and

we're doing well.

At the same time, investigators were at the Heaney House questioning Mayumi.

Their strategy to glean new information by separating husband and wife was about to pay off.

Mayumi Heaney agreed to go to the sheriff's office for further questioning.

After failing a lie detector test, Mayumi told investigators everything about the family's efforts to pitch a reality show, their financial difficulties, and how they'd known all along that Falcon was in the residence when the balloon was in the air.

We tried working so hard to make money, to survive.

It's a shame to come up with this idea, Mayumi admitted to investigators.

This was something that could take me, take us to the point we wanted to be at.

Did you tell the boys what you were doing?

They told them.

Okay, and how'd you get them to go along with it?

Did you just ask them to act like your brother got up in the plane or up in the balloon?

Something like that.

Mayumihini said the family had planned the stunt two weeks earlier.

She said she and Richard had instructed their children to lie to authorities in the media.

We wanted to make it on Monday, which was our anniversary, but

we need to get it finished.

And

so naturally for waiting to Thursday, but King said a lot of school, so we thought that was perfect.

When asked why they would orchestrate such a hoax to make the family more marketable for future media interest, Mayumi said.

It was official.

The balloon boy incident was confirmed to be a hoax.

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As I said, this is, it has been determined that this is a hoax,

that it was a publicity stunt.

We believe that we have evidence at this point to indicate that it was a publicity stunt done with the hopes of

marketing themselves or better marketing themselves for a reality television show at some point in the future.

After the fact, we have since learned, as many of you have, that these people are actors.

Not only have they appeared in several reality reality television shows and on YouTubes, we have since determined that in fact they met together, the way that they met and established a relationship, was in acting school in Hollywood.

So needless to say, they put on a very good show for us, and we bought it.

The Larimer County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant on the Heaney's home the same night that Mayumi Heaney confessed.

They seized the family's computer equipment and video cameras, a document titled Ways to Get Funding, and one photo of a flying saucer.

The next morning, Sunday, October 18, 2009, Sheriff Jim Alderden held a press conference to provide updates on the investigation.

Alderden stated that the sheriff's office had remained skeptical about the Heaney's version of events the whole time, even though the department's public statements were dismissive.

He said it was all part of the game plan to gain the family's trust.

I think we came close to misleading the media, Alderden realized.

I apologize.

The sheriff continued.

The only way we were going to get to the bottom of this was through a confession.

Without a confession, we couldn't prove it was a hoax.

So now, with confession in hand, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office would recommend several criminal charges to be filed against the Heanies, including conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, false reporting, and attempting to influence a public official.

The FAA also proposed a fine of $11,000 for the launching of an unauthorized aircraft.

And it was possible that the family would be on the hook to repay the search and rescue costs, which the New York Post estimated to be as much as $2 million.

The helicopter flights alone cost more than $14,000 each.

Richard Heaney claimed this was all a big misunderstanding.

English is Mayumi's second language, he pointed out.

He suggested that her so-called confession have been lost in translation.

My wife's first language is Japanese, not English.

They simply asked her a lot of yes and no questions initially.

And

the first question that she did answer was, Was this a hoax?

She said, Yes.

And I want this very clear.

My wife came home in tears, wondering what she might have said.

She opened up this Japanese-English dictionary and she walks up to me, just crying her head off.

She said,

I thought

hoax meant

an exhibition.

Anyway, I gave her a big hug.

I know it's not her fault.

Richard was defiant.

He claimed that Sheriff Alderden was just trying to make a name for himself and was using the publicity from the balloon boy incident to promote his own name.

I've done absolutely nothing wrong to deserve this.

I'm being persecuted, I think, for the benefit of Alderden.

His term runs out in 2011.

He's probably going to run for governor, who knows, but not off my back.

I I need to clear my name.

I need everybody to know that this was not a hoax.

Absolutely not.

Even if it was a hoax, did the proposed criminal charges really fit?

Not at all, according to Richards attorney David Lane.

The Larimer County Sheriff's Office was just throwing shit at the wall.

Because it's piling on and it's using charges that really are not designed to fit this sort of an allegation.

I mean, an attempt to influence a public servant fraudulently, that's bribing a public official.

That's not what happened here.

I mean, to complicate matters even further, Mayumi Heaney was not yet an American citizen.

Felony charges meant certain deportation.

Richard Heaney had no other choice.

He accepted a deal to plead guilty to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant on November 12, 2009.

As a result, Mayumi would be mostly spared, and Richard would face up to 90 days in jail.

Why did I plead guilty?

Well, I pled guilty because I've got to salvage my family.

I've got to keep them together.

First off, how would I afford the attorney's fees for two to three years if I went to trial?

How am I going to find 12 jurors whose opinions were not swayed by the media?

I've got a whole slew of lying cops willing to take the stand against me, and you know damn well that the jury is going to believe them before they believe me.

Now, given all that,

I'm looking at the possibility of getting a felony for my wife and she'll be deported out of the country.

No.

And we thought the best way out of this thing would be to take the friggin 90 days if I get 90 days and then fight it later.

You know,

at least I got my family together.

Now, I'm here talking to you now because I've got to restore my good name so that I can go back to work.

I've got to support my family.

And that was the other issue was how would I gain work for two to three years during a trial process?

Who's going to hire me?

While everybody thinks I'm guilty.

So it was,

in this country, it just seems like, especially in this case, I was guilty before proven innocent.

What this case is about is deception, exploitation, exploitation of the children of the Heaneys, exploitation of the media, and exploitation of people's emotions and money.

District Judge Stephen Schapanski said in court on December 23rd, 2009, as he handed down the sentences.

Richard Heaney was given 90 days in jail and 100 hours of community service.

He was also ordered to pay $36,000 restitution and write a formal apology to the agencies who had searched for Falcon.

Additionally, the Heaneys were banned from profiting off the balloon boy hoax for several years.

But I do want to reiterate, I'm very, very sorry.

And I want to apologize to

All the rescue workers out there

and the um

the people that got involved to the community.

Mayumi Hini pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities.

She was sentenced to 20 days in jail to be served through jail-supervised community service, which would begin after Richard served his sentence to ensure the children would have at least one parent at home.

Richard and Mayumi Heaney were allowed to report to jail after the holidays.

In May 2010, after the Heaneys had served their time, they were finally reunited with their infamous balloon.

Richard demanded to spread it out and measure it right there at the sheriff's office just to make sure it was his.

A few months later, the balloon and the rest of the Heanys' belongings were packed up and transported to Florida, which the family would now call home.

Richard continued working as a contractor.

He was reportedly excited about all the new opportunities and his new inventions, which included the Richard Heaney Bear Scratch, which was essentially a stick of wood that mounted to the wall.

It could be yours for one low payment of $19.99.

Hi, I'm inventor Richard Heany.

If you itch like a son of a twitch, then you need my latest invention, the patent-pinning bear scratch.

Check it out.

You never walk out in the woods and see a bear break off a branch to scratch his bag.

No, he uses the entire tree.

But wait, there's more.

Richard Heaney also promoted a robotic lift device for maneuvering massive material in and out of a truck.

He called it the Heaney Duty Truck Transformer, and honestly, it looked pretty useful.

Hi, I'm Inventor Richard Heaney and fully I love my truck.

That's why I would never permanently mount toolboxes or a lumber rack in the back.

No, I'm gonna use my pickup to pick up hot chicks.

that's why I invented the all-new Heany Duty truck transformer yes yes yes yes yes oh yes

the only problem was that the Heeny Duty truck transformer cost almost $14,000 it wasn't exactly flying off the shelves so later Richard found something more practical to shill a battery operated fan that men could shove down their pants to cool their genitals.

He called it the blowjab.

He used promo code swindled.

Just kidding, unfortunately.

But yeah, Richard Heady was full of ideas.

What are you wearing?

Oh, this is the Illumina Man outfit.

Okay.

Illumina Man suit, technically.

Okay, is Illumina Man a superhero?

Illumina Man is a superhero, and Illumina Man, uh, the song is actually the anthem for Occupy Wall Street.

After a few relatively quiet years, Richard Heaney started making the media rounds again in 2015 to promote his children's new heavy metal band, the Heaney Boys.

Naturally, every talking head asked about the Balloon Boy incident.

Richard maintained that the event was no hoax and said it had brought the family closer together in the long run and that they had since moved on.

Although, one of the first songs the Heane Boys wrote as a band was titled Balloon Boy, No Hoax.

The Heaneys reappeared in 2019 for the 10th anniversary of the balloon boy incident.

I've lost many opportunities.

I've lost a lot of opportunities.

I've had people contact me about things I've invented, and the deal went south, you know, because they find out who I am.

And the thing that gets me is the media never tells my side of the story.

In October 2019, Denver's 5280 5280 magazine allowed Richard Heaney to tell his side of the story.

Journalist Robert Sanchez spent several days with Richard, Mayumi, Bradford, Rio, and Falcon, who was now 16 years old.

Sanchez gained access to an archive of files for the story from Mayumi's attorney.

Included were handwritten notes by Mayumi that spelled out the timeline of events leading up to the balloon launch.

The first entry, dated April 27, 2009, was about how the Richard Heaney science detective reality show show had been rejected five times in five months.

The family was getting desperate.

Then, on October 6, 2009, nine days before the launch, Mayumi wrote that they had a video of Falcon saying that he wants to get inside the experimental aircraft the family had built.

Then, on October 14th, Mayumi recalls a conversation with Richard about Lawn Chair Larry, ending with, quote, Falcon can hide in the closet with a safe in the basement.

It's all right right there.

In her notes, Mayumi admits that it was a hoax.

She spelled out the motive and the plan.

But then, on October 15th, 2009, the day of the launch, Mayumi wrote that the deliberate hoax turned into real panic when they couldn't find Falcon, who was supposed to be hiding in the basement but instead had climbed into the attic.

Mayumi writes that there was genuine fear that Falcon had really floated away with the balloon.

Richard Heaney, who had adamantly maintained his innocence for a decade, was confronted with the notes by 5280 magazine.

Never happened, he told Robert Sanchez.

Richard claims he hadn't heard of Launch Hair Larry until someone mentioned it after the incident.

Suddenly, Mayumi interrupted the questioning and confessed to writing the journal after the fact to save her family's reputation.

Oh my god, fuck.

What the fuck?

Richard is quoted as saying.

Every time you write something, you cause a fucking shitstorm.

Hi, I'm Richard Heaney, and this is my wife, Mayumi Heaney.

Recently, we went on the internet and we saw that over 18,000 people have perished over in Japan because of that tsunami.

Well, we thought, how can we help out?

We can't with our hands, but we have something that we think could help.

What we want to do is put the flying saucer that we had built, the ephemeral craft, up for auction.

For charity.

In July 2011, Richard and Mayumi Heaney auctioned off the the balloon to raise money for tsunami relief efforts in Japan.

Richard suggested a purchase price of $1 million.

The balloon was sold to the owner of a sports card shop in Aurora, Colorado, for $2,500.

Gone, but not forgotten.

However, forgiveness is the hard part.

That would come nine years later, on December 23rd, 2020.

when Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced a pardon for Richard and Mayumi Heaney, saying they had already paid the price in the eyes of the public.

Polis commended the Heaney's efforts to become better citizens.

He noted that Richard Heaney is now running a small business to educate people about the weather, and Mayumi recently became a U.S.

citizen.

Governor Polis said today, We are all ready to move past the spectacle from a decade ago that wasted precious time and resources of law enforcement officials and the general public.

Richard and Mayumi have paid the price in the eyes of the public, served their sentences, and it's time for all of of us to move on.

Swindled is written, researched, produced, and hosted by me, a concerned citizen, with original music by Trevor Howard, aka Deformer, aka Belowjab.

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