6 year old floats away in balloon...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A 6-year-old boy climbed into a homemade balloon aircraft in Colorado and floated away Thursday, forcing officials to scramble to figure out how to rescue the boy as the balloon hurtled through the air.

The bizarre scene played out live on television and prompted fears that the flying saucer-shaped balloon would crash with the young child inside. The balloon rotated slowly in the wind, tipping precariously at times.

FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the agency has been notified and it was unclear whether traffic controllers had picked it up on radar.

Larimer County sheriff's spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said the device had the potential to rise to 10,000 feet. Sheriff's officials last saw the device floating south of Milliken, which is about 40 miles north of Denver.

"We were sitting eating, out looking where they normally shoot off hot air balloons. My husband said he saw something. It went over our rooftop. Then we saw the big round balloonish thing, it was spinning," said neighbor Lisa Eklund.

Additional details about the child and the balloon were not immediately available.

Shopaholic wrote:The wild thought in my mind is that someone snatched the kid and let loose the balloon hoping to divert attention.

LTRT wrote:http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/balloon-boy-home-safe-family-facing-questions-disappearance/story?id=8842957

Parents behaving badly.

WTF, what a fame hound, his kid is projectile vometing on GMA...oh he just haaaaad to do the interview eh? This arse needs his clock cleaned and his subservient wife needs to grow a pair (she asks if it was OK to go w/her sick child). I for one got caught up in this media frenzy yesterday as well, but this is becoming even more scarier to watch, it's so easy to pass judgement and I want to believe them, but give us better lines Richard Dick.

Markwes wrote:Appearing on Larry King the same day your kid was missing for hours? Yeah, that's a little strange. And I heard something about their first phone call being to a news station and not the police. Did I hear that right?

meta4 wrote:I think he's just not tuned into the "real" world. He considers himself an amateur scientist, and no doubt... he's a smart guy. He's just a little too full of himself, and a bit of a megalomaniac. It would not surprise me to hear that he and his wife think their rightful place is on TV. They feel they have some "purpose" or "gift" to give to the entire world. I predict they will have their own show soon.

Shopaholic wrote:Not to mention, they think they are descendents of aliens...

Markwes wrote:

LTRT wrote:http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/balloon-boy-home-safe-family-facing-questions-disappearance/story?id=8842957

Parents behaving badly.

WTF, what a fame hound, his kid is projectile vometing on GMA...oh he just haaaaad to do the interview eh? This arse needs his clock cleaned and his subservient wife needs to grow a pair (she asks if it was OK to go w/her sick child). I for one got caught up in this media frenzy yesterday as well, but this is becoming even more scarier to watch, it's so easy to pass judgement and I want to believe them, but give us better lines Richard Dick.

Appearing on Larry King the same day your kid was missing for hours? Yeah, that's a little strange. And I heard something about their first phone call being to a news station and not the police. Did I hear that right?

(CNN) -- Authorities in Colorado say criminal charges are expected to be filed against Richard Heene, a storm-chasing father whose giant Mylar balloon ascended into the sky earlier this week -- sparking fears that his 6-year-old was aboard.