Balloon Boy is an example of a hoax gone too far. The Balloon Boy hoax was first broadcast in October 2009, when a floating silver balloon was reported on various news channels as containing a six year old child. According to the reports, young Falcon Heene had climbed inside the balloon and somehow caused it to take off, casting him hundreds of feet into the air. When it finally landed, the balloon was empty, and there was a brief fear that Falcon had fallen to his death. Around four o'clock in the afternoon, however, Falcon showed up at his parent's house, claiming to have fallen asleep in the garage. Falcon said he had become frightened that his dad would be angry at him for playing with the balloon. Over the next few days, various interviews were conducted, and Falcon acted extremely bizarrely, once even vomiting while being questioned. He also made a strange comment about doing the whole thing for a show. In the end, it was revealed that it was just a hoax cooked up by his parents in order to try and get a reality TV deal. The hoax received a massive backlash from the media and the public, who accused Heene's parents of wasting police and medical time, as well as causing unnecessary grief around the world.
