Jon and Kate Plus Envy: Heene family’s ‘balloon boy’ incident called a hoax

The October 15 incident in which America feared that little 6-year-old Falcon Heene had been carried aloft by an experimental balloon is being called a hoax by Larimer County authorities in Colorado. Here’s CNN:

The case of a giant Mylar balloon, which ascended into the sky late last week amid fears a 6-year-old boy was aboard, has been determined to be a “hoax” and a “publicity stunt,” Larimer County, Colorado, Sheriff Jim Alderden said Sunday.

The family of the Fort Collins boy, Falcon Heene, engineered the incident in order to better market themselves for a reality television show, Alderden told reporters at a news conference.

via Sheriff: ‘Balloon boy’ incident determined to be a hoax – The CNN Wire – CNN.com Blogs.

If the charges prove to be true, how awful that we live in a country where people will scam up the appearance of a horrific tragedy and waste mountains of taxpayer dollars in order to make themselves more palatable to reality TV producers. It sounds like we need to update Andy Warhol: In the future, everyone will be infamous for 15 minutes.

If we consider that someone as ridiculous as the Octomom, Nadia Suleiman, got a reality TV show, then Richard Heene, his wife Mayumi, and their three boys will likely get their own in spite of their willing engagement in fraud. Dealing with the law and the public’s likely disdain for it is a readymade storyline, even. I hope that whatever two-bit TV network offers them money for their story will be in turn making payments to the citizens of this country, and of Colorado, who paid for the massive response that the ‘news’ engendered.

For some more background, check out Gawker’s exclusive with a Heene collaborator who talked about the long-ranging UFO hoax that Heene wanted to plan. And for some comic relief from what turns out to be a social tragedy instead of one family’s, here’s our David DiSalvo pointing you to ‘Balloon Boy the game.’

Last, more on the reality TV psycho side, here’s The Wrap’s round up of tragedies linked to reality TV production over the years.