Balloon boy dad 'fears apocalypse'
Father of six-year-old child dubbed balloon boy in US fears world will end in 2012, reports claim
Wednesday, 21, Oct 2009 03:57
By Matthew Champion.
The father of the six-year-old child dubbed balloon boy in the States fears the world will end in 2012, it has been claimed.
Richard Heene faces charges over allegedly orchestrating a media stunt that saw airspace cleared and emergency helicopters dispatched to a weather balloon that he and his wife Mayumi claimed contained their son Falcon.
It later emerged Falcon was in fact hiding in the attic at the family home in Fort Collins, Colorado, leading to allegations the incident was faked.
After local police claimed Mr and Mrs Heene wanted to use the alleged stunt to increase their chances of gaining a reality TV show about their 'wacky' family, a researcher has said he has evidence of the father's plans.
Robert Thomas said Mr Heene was "obsessed" with the idea of raising enough money to build a bunker he needed to hide in to save his family from a looming apocalypse in 2012.
"Heene believes the world is going to end in 2012," Mr Thomas' lawyer Linda Lee said.
"Because of that, he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can be safe from the sun exploding."