Was the Balloon Boy a hoax? Details from Netflix’s Trainwreck, explored

Netflix's Trainwreck, the anthology docuseries that covers the most chaotic headlines that have ruled people's memories in recent times, featured the 2009 Balloon Boy incident in the latest episode.

In October 2009, Richard and Mayumi Heene filed a 911 report about their six-year-old son Falcon being trapped inside a helium-filled balloon (shaped like a flying saucer), which took flight and reached 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in 90 minutes.

However, the authorities found no traces of Falcon when the balloon landed near Denver International Airport. Later, the young boy was found hiding in his home's garage attic, and the incident was termed a hoax.

While the Heenes pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges and were sentenced to 90 days (Richard) and 20 days (Mayuni) in jail, they were pardoned by the Colorado Governor in 2020.

Announcing his decision in a press conference, the Governor stated that people and the Heenes need to move on with their lives, and it is time to put this bizarre headline behind.

A decade after the Balloon Boy was termed a hoax, Trainwreck features a new side of the story.

More on this in our story.

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Trainwreck: Was the Balloon Boy a hoax? Exploring the details of the 2009 incident

After Falcon was found hiding in his attic, Balloon Boy hoax suspicions started making rounds in the news, which blew out of proportion after the Larry King interview.

In the infamous interview, which went viral after the incident, Falcon said:

“You guys said that we did it for the show.”

This statement was dissected by every news outlet, and the Heenes were accused of making a false report and wasting precious time and resources of the police.

After five years of their pardon, Trainwreck: Balloon Boy finally features Falcon's side of the story, who was dubbed the Balloon Boy in 2009.

As Falcon (now 22) said in the docuseries, his father often conducted bizarre science experiments and filmed them with his children. The infamous helium-filled balloon was another of his experiments, but he never intended it to become national news.

As reported by Falcon in the latest episode of Trainwreck, the balloon would only hover for about 20 feet over their yard, and his father had strictly asked him not to climb in the balloon, after he tried doing that a few times.

Scared by his father, Young Falcon climbed to his favorite place in the house, the garage attic, and fell asleep there. He woke up to disturbing noises in his house, following which he was interviewed by Larry King, as he said on Trainwreck:

“I remember feeling bad that I did something wrong. But just looking back on it now, I was six-years-old and all these adults took whatever I said they were able to string together what they thought was something else and make it so, so big. It’s baffling.”

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Trainwreck: What has Richard Heene said about the Balloon Boy hoax accusations?

While the Balloon Boy incident was considered a hoax, the Heenes never admitted to the accusations, and the recent episode of Trainwreck paints a different perspective of the incident.

After Falcon was found, Richard and Mayumi Heene were accused of staging the whole incident to land their own reality show. In 2008, the Heenes were contestants on Wife Swap, and it was speculated that they performed the whole incident to gain fame in the public eye and an entry into another reality TV show.

Debunking all these rumours, Richard Heene said in the docuseries:

“People were accusing us of being fame hungry because we were on Wife Swap, which is completely not true. I would have never done Wife Swap in a million years. It sounded gross to me. But they offered to pay us, and we needed money.”

He added:

''Why would I even consider doing something that’s going to turn on me, potentially sending me to jail. Like how am I going to get a TV show doing that?”

Trainwreck: Balloon Boy is now streaming on Netflix.

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