6-year-old Colorado boy floats away in balloon (6)
(CNN) — Officials are trying to rescue a 6-year-old boy who climbed into a balloon-like experimental aircraft built by his parents and floated into the sky over eastern Colorado.
Margie Martinez of the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said a sibling saw the boy climb into the basket before the balloon took off. Since the door on the balloon was unlocked, Martinez said it’s possible the boy had fallen out.
The balloon appeared to be a saucer-shaped, Mylar-coated helium balloon, not unlike a party balloon. The craft was drifting eastward, authorities said.
The helium balloon was tethered to the boy’s family home in Fort Collins, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department said. The boy got into the craft Thursday morning and undid the rope anchoring it.
The department said the dome-shaped balloon is 20 feet long and 5 feet high.
“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, according to CNN affiliate KMGH.
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Updates:
3:48 pm EDT, October 15th, 2009 — It’s now on the ground and rescue crews are with it.
3:53 pm EDT, October 15th, 2009 – 6-year-old missing after balloon lands in Colorado
4:48 pm EDT, October 15th, 2009 — “At this point, we are thinking that he did not fall out of the balloon and is somewhere on the ground,” Larimer County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said. “The basket itself was not breached. It does not look like he fell out of it, but again, this is all conjecture.”
Campanella said authorities are searching the neighborhood for the boy.
“I’m very confident we will find him. I think it’s a matter of him being a little scared,” she said. “Maybe he’s not ready to be found.”
5:12 pm EDT, October 15th, 2009 — (3 mins ago) Deputy thought he saw something fall, search ongoing
6:10 pm EDT, October 15th, 2009 — (Breaking on CNN TV): Child found and he’s OK…he’s at home.
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Mac Says:
The moral of the story? Tie up your kids when you’re building 20 ft mylar balloons.
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
beentheredonethat Says:
OK, happy ending. Now it’s safe to post this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWVe3AB8OY8
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Mac Says:
Bwahahaha!!
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
cantuc Says:
Heh , kids nowadays . Did they ever find that monk that had the lawn chair tied to a bunch of helium baloons in Brazil ( i think ?) and went floatin off into the sunrise ?
Posted on October 15th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Fredj Says:
Monk in Brazil? Wow, you’ve gotta start writing things down or you’ll never get them right.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
cantuc Says:
wow , ya think ?http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/04/22/brazil-priest-flying-party-balloons-lost-at-sea.aspx
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Mac Says:
Score: cantuc 1, Fredj 0.
Posted on October 16th, 2009 at 8:55 pm