Balloon boy 'was hiding in the attic'
The balloon came down with the child nowhere to be seen
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By Matthew Champion. |  |
Friday, 16, Oct 2009 11:01
By Matthew Champion.
A missing six-year-old boy believed to have travelled 60 miles in a weather balloon has been found alive and well hiding in a box in his parents' attic.
Reports from the boy's brother he had climbed into a helium balloon built by his father and untied the rope tethering it to the family home had sparked a frantic rescue operation in Colorado.
It is now thought the boy, named as Falcon Heene from Fort Collins, remained in the attic the whole time after cutting the balloon's cord.
A spokeswoman for the local sheriff's department said his parents were "very traumatised" by the incident.
TV crews had captured the dramatic moment the 20ft by 5ft balloon came down in a field near Prospect Springs, 40 miles north of Denver, with Falcon nowhere to be found.
The balloon, built by Falcon's scientist father Richard Heene, reached heights of 7,000ft and speeds of 25mph before coming down, CNN said.
Police earlier told reporters that the compartment had not been breached, raising hopes that the boy had not fallen out.
Eloise Campanella of Larimer County sheriff's department told CNN: "The bottom of is contained and hasn't been breached.
"So at this point we are thinking he did not fall out of it. He has to be somewhere on the ground near his home."
Other reports had said a basket was seen falling from the balloon during its flight.
Various news network helicopters captured the balloon's dramatic midair journey. It has been widely reported the Heene family featured in the 100th episode of ABC's Wife Swap programme.