Word: falcon
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Granted, it was impossible to know for sure that Falcon Heene was not inside the balloon. However, the mainstream media’s utter lack of skepticism is troubling and was far from prudent or excusable. The first phone call made by Falcon’s father to the local television affiliate was met by a stubborn, “I don’t believe you.” It was only after Heene put a police deputy on the line that the local station reluctantly sent up its helicopter to investigate. In contrast to this commendable local reporting...
...that, at least, there was a glimmer of truth. When the balloon landed in a soft, freshly ploughed field north of Denver International Airport, there was a leap of hope; when the rescuers found no one inside to rescue, a second, sinking fear took old. Had Falcon fallen out, or tried to jump; would his body be found broken somewhere near his house...
...says something about either our goodness or gullibility, or both, that when Falcon was found to have been hiding out in the attic the whole time, we still sought the gentle explanation. Maybe it was an accident? He'd unleashed the balloon and then hidden out, for fear of getting in trouble. On Oct. 16, Larimer County sheriff Jim Alderden announced that he was "convinced" the parents were telling the truth about thinking their son was truly in peril; so were many other people when they heard the frantic father and sobbing mother on the 911 call. But this time...
...computers and financial records. But by then we already knew. We had watched the family ricochet from one talk show to the next like marbles in the pinball machine, tripping the lights, ringing the bells, savoring the spotlight until the moment on Larry King Live when Richard asked Falcon why he hadn't come down from the attic when called, and the child murmured, inconceivably, devastatingly, "You guys said that, um, we did this for the show." (Read "Balloon Boy on Larry King: 'We Did It for the Show...
...another chance to appear on Wife Swap maybe? Or the new show Richard was trying to develop, called Richard Heene: Science Detective? When it was the morning shows' turn to ask what had really happened, Falcon left the screen to go be sick; eventually he vomited on camera on Good Morning America. Richard, insisting this was no hoax, on Oct. 17 announced he would only answer questions submitted in writing and left in a cardboard box outside his home. It turns out that he and his wife had met at the Lee Strasberg acting school in Los Angeles. ABC News...