You have to wonder -- what was going through the mind of Richard Heene when he went about setting up the hoax of the month? Unless you have been living in an igloo, you know that Heene claimed that his young son, aptly named Falcon [I don't make this up] was aloft in an homemade weather balloon that accidentally took off from its moorings. Fortunately, the son was found hiding in the attic of a garage on the Heene property. None the worse for wear it seems.
Anyhow- Heene is now being charged with arranging the news story as a publicity stunt for one venture or another. So, what's the problem? It seems that he caused the local constabulary to itself spend a lot of time and money and caused others to do the same in connection with the evil plot. And the officials want payback.
I have absolutely no quarrel with the concept. The guy's a little flaky, and he comes up with a great attention getter. And he is getting the attention. That's my problem. The institutions that are griping about him are giving him the publicity he craved.
What to do? No press conferences by government officials, no 2-minute talking head interviews granted to the media by these folks, and, most of all, don't hold a public perp walk. The sooner the media gets this non-story off the air, the better off we'll all be. Who needs a copycat?
So far, Heene is the winner in this story.
Read the full story at 1010 WINS Balloon Boy Hoax
Well, that's what I think.
Stephen M. Flatow
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