6-year-old boy authorities thought had been inside

FORT COLLINS. Colo. - A family's runaway experimental balloon aircraft crash-landed in a field after floating away from home for about two hours, but there was no sign of a 6-year-old boy authorities thought had been inside.

The bizarre scene played out live on television. The balloon rotated slowly in the wind, tipping precariously at times during its journey, before coming down in a field in Weld County, miles away from where it began its journey.

Deputies rushed to the scene but found no sign of the boy. Authorities feverishly searched for the child on the ground, including in the neighborhood where he lives.
The boy's family had been building an experimental aircraft that had a large helium balloon attached to it at their home, KUSA-TV reported. The aircraft, which resembled a flying saucer, was approximately 20 feet by 5 feet and had a foil top.

On Thursday morning, according to the family and officials, the boy got onto the aircraft and it came loose from a tether. Larimer County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said she was told the boy climbed into the access door and the device took off.

Several people in the neighborhood saw the aircraft floating over their homes and some snapped pictures.

"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.
Television news helicopters also tracked the craft, beaming the precarious flight live to viewers.

Officials scrambled to figure out how to bring down the craft, believing it was carrying the boy. The craft floated for about two hours before coming down on its own.

The boy's father, Richard Heene, is an amateur scientist, according to a 2007 Denver Post article on weather chasers. He joined a retired TV weatherman, Scott Stevens, to form a Fort Collins-based weather-research team they called The Science Detectives.