Living in the Rockies, I’m not that far away from Larimer and Adams counties, at least as the unfoiled crow flies. And it took me a few minutes to get caught up mentally as the Denver news crew laid out the details. I had no idea, when I pushed the remote, that we were talking about the potential of a child being inside this spacey craft which caused a temporary shutdown at Denver International Airport.
I was talking with a friend of mine on the phone as details started to emerge. She’s a mom, and I am not. We talked about the safety of this little boy, Falcon, who apparently needed to get his wings clipped. When the touchdown was accomplished in an eastern Colorado farm field, it took seconds to realize Falcon had indeed never flown in the tinseled coop. The transition from relief, worry and eventual disgust began to roll quickly like a tsunami.
Relief in the sense that he was not aboard. Worry that he had fallen out and had been splat upon the earth without so much as a whimper. Disgust as the evidence began to quickly mount that this was a media hoax.
Richard Heene, Falcon’s flight instructor and perpetrator extraordinaire, may be getting worldwide media attention – something he apparently can’t live without. But as the Cajun Chef used to say, I gerontee he’s experiencing some radioactive fallout, as well he should. Coloradans, myself included, stopped accepting his moniker as a “mad scientist” almost instantaneously, and just look at him as mad and dangerous.
I worked in politics back in the post-Watergate era, never forgetting the antics of Tricky Dick and his cohorts. I also remember that the conspirators thought little of doing the time for their crimes and then going out on the book circuit to promote themselves after release from prison. They laughed all the way to the bank.
I guess if you’re willing to lose a few years of your life, you can reap the financial benefits. Doesn’t make an iota of sense to me, but is an image clear as day for someone like Richard Heene whose mental balloon floated away long ago.
It’s maddening to think our state’s emergency service personnel and the feds scrambled to find a boy presumably aloft in a flying saucer. What Heene did was to violate the public trust…because he was trying to negotiate a reality show. Huh???? This is not something sane people do. Perhaps some justice has already been served because the media outlet – which is presumably ABC – apparently has dropped him like a hot potato.
I seriously doubt the needs of social justice will be served as court proceedings get underway. He's expected to be charged next week with some felonies and one misdemeanor. Let's face it: the man is a flight risk. Questions have already been raised about the crowded condition of Colorado’s state prison system and the family’s lack of financial resources. Be that as it may, I hope the system throws more than the book at this man.
Somehow, I doubt he’s going to be a hot commodity when he’s done wearing orange. That is, unless he can “invent” a prison break.
Sounds like Richard Heene ran his household like a cult, placing himself and his overblown ego on the throne. I do feel sorry for the family's neighbors, who went on national TV to say how nice and normal the family was. Must be pretty hard for them to watch that footage now.
I do fault his wife, Mayumi, for not having the guts to look out for her children’s best interests. By what standard on this planet is this incident understood as normal behavior? There had already been one incident of suspected domestic violence earlier this year. Children need and love their parents. Although the kids sound like they’re bright, if not highly precocious, they’re still kids. They got sucked into a vortex they probably won’t escape for the rest of their lives. I can’t imagine how they are going to process this whole thing when they become adults.
Maybe this incident will make Richard Heene popular at UFO conventions. But I suspect the family’s welcome here in Colorado has been worn out. If the mom isn't charged as a conspirator, I expect she and the kids will leave the state. But with all the splashy media coverage, they'll be hauling significant baggage.
As someone observed, it’s going to be pretty hard for Falcon Henne when he starts dating. After all, who wants to go to the prom with Balloon Boy?
