Little-Acorn
Well-Known Member
No joke. This is happening right now. Fox News and CNN websites are showing video live, from a news helicopter that's chasing it.
God help that kid. Hope he comes down in a farmer's field somewhere, and not on a powerline or into a lake.
I used to live in Ft. Collins, a nice town, college and farm town on the eastern edge of the Rockies. Elevation is 5,000 feet, the kid is like 3,000 feet higher than that, drifting to the northeast. Nothing out that way but flat ground for hundreds of miles, aka "Nebraska".
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http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/21306839/detail.html
Colorado Boy Floats Away In Balloon
Frantic Search Under Way To Rescue Boy
POSTED: 12:01 pm MDT October 15, 2009
UPDATED: 1:10 pm MDT October 15, 2009
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A 6-year-old boy is floating over northeastern Colorado in a homebuilt balloon and authorities are racing to try and rescue him.
The balloon, in the shape of a flying saucer is covered in foil and filled with helium. It has a compartment for a passenger underneath. It lifted the boy into the air near Fort Collins Thursday morning after the balloon became unhooked at the boy's home.
"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.
The father and son had apparently been working on the aircraft for some time..
Airtracker 7 located the craft at 12:35 p.m. at about 8,000 feet in Weld County. It appeared to be slightly tilted. The altitude of the balloon was fluctuating between 7,500 and 8,500 feet.
Skies in the area are partly cloudy and southwest wind speeds are 15 to 20 miles per hour.
"It is believed the device could rise to 10,000 feet," said Eloise Campanella, Larimer County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
"The structure at the bottom of the balloon that the boy is in is made of extremely thin plywood and won't withstand any kind of a crash at all," said Erik Nilsson, Larimer County Emergency Manager.
Deputies from Larimer and Weld counties are tracking the balloon as it drifts. Experts said it could remain airborne for up to 12 hours.
Larimer County fire dispatchers are asking if a helicopter can use it's speaker to ask the boy if he has a valve to release helium.
"Is there a way to release some of the helium that this kid may know?" the dispatcher asked. "Maybe we can get him to lower it."
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the agency has been notified and it was unclear whether traffic controllers had picked it up on radar.
The balloon may drift into air traffic control corridors used by Denver International Airport, based on its current location and direction. Deputies alerted DIA air traffic controllers to warn them about letting aircraft fly through the area.
7News confirmed the boy is the son of Richard and Naomi Heene appeared on an episode of ABC's "Wife Swap."
LIVE VIDEO: AirTracker 7 Looks For Floating Boy
God help that kid. Hope he comes down in a farmer's field somewhere, and not on a powerline or into a lake.
I used to live in Ft. Collins, a nice town, college and farm town on the eastern edge of the Rockies. Elevation is 5,000 feet, the kid is like 3,000 feet higher than that, drifting to the northeast. Nothing out that way but flat ground for hundreds of miles, aka "Nebraska".
-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/21306839/detail.html
Colorado Boy Floats Away In Balloon
Frantic Search Under Way To Rescue Boy
POSTED: 12:01 pm MDT October 15, 2009
UPDATED: 1:10 pm MDT October 15, 2009
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A 6-year-old boy is floating over northeastern Colorado in a homebuilt balloon and authorities are racing to try and rescue him.
The balloon, in the shape of a flying saucer is covered in foil and filled with helium. It has a compartment for a passenger underneath. It lifted the boy into the air near Fort Collins Thursday morning after the balloon became unhooked at the boy's home.
"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.
The father and son had apparently been working on the aircraft for some time..
Airtracker 7 located the craft at 12:35 p.m. at about 8,000 feet in Weld County. It appeared to be slightly tilted. The altitude of the balloon was fluctuating between 7,500 and 8,500 feet.
Skies in the area are partly cloudy and southwest wind speeds are 15 to 20 miles per hour.
"It is believed the device could rise to 10,000 feet," said Eloise Campanella, Larimer County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
"The structure at the bottom of the balloon that the boy is in is made of extremely thin plywood and won't withstand any kind of a crash at all," said Erik Nilsson, Larimer County Emergency Manager.
Deputies from Larimer and Weld counties are tracking the balloon as it drifts. Experts said it could remain airborne for up to 12 hours.
Larimer County fire dispatchers are asking if a helicopter can use it's speaker to ask the boy if he has a valve to release helium.
"Is there a way to release some of the helium that this kid may know?" the dispatcher asked. "Maybe we can get him to lower it."
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the agency has been notified and it was unclear whether traffic controllers had picked it up on radar.
The balloon may drift into air traffic control corridors used by Denver International Airport, based on its current location and direction. Deputies alerted DIA air traffic controllers to warn them about letting aircraft fly through the area.
7News confirmed the boy is the son of Richard and Naomi Heene appeared on an episode of ABC's "Wife Swap."
LIVE VIDEO: AirTracker 7 Looks For Floating Boy
