because Balloon Boy is the defining moment of our generation

There’s a documentary about the Balloon Boy incident coming our way soon, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. In it, we will learn that Balloon Boy dad Richard Heene is not, in fact, the world’s worst father, but actually a savior of humankind:

Steven C. Barber, a 48-year-old filmmaker, says he believes Richard Heene really thought his son was in the balloon as it spun through the Colorado skies Oct. 15. And he plans to prove it when he releases the documentary Balloon Boy: Guilty Until Proven Innocent later this year.
Barber has known Heene for more than 10 years and says he has dozens of hours of film of the backyard inventor. He compiled much of that footage to help Heene land a TV reality show.

What Heene was trying to do with the balloon, Barber says, was solve the world's traffic problems by creating a cheap, lighter-than-air vehicle that would allow people to float over congested freeways.

Or perhaps because there really is no such thing as bad publicity.

This has been your WTF Thought for the Day.

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posted by Psyclone (Fri Jan 22 10, 5:31PM)

Weren't the Heenes legally forbidden from profiting from the scheme for four years? If this movie is being made to get them a reality show deal (their objective all along), surely it would fall inside that restriction?

And how the HELL could that balloon possibly be any sort of basis for a personal lighter than air vehicle? How would it be steered? What kind of ballast would be used to make it go up and down? How on Earth would we obtain enough helium to mass manufacture these cheaply?

posted by Psyclone (Fri Jan 22 10, 5:37PM)

OK, looking at this more carefully, I see that the movie itself isn't being made to get them a show, but the point still stands: this WOULD get them further attention. Attention that they don't deserve.

posted by Dave (Fri Jan 22 10, 5:38PM)

I wish I had a flying car!

Seriously, though, the slick-haired weasel needs to go away. Have him take the Octomom and Jon/Kate with him. Please. For the kids.

posted by Paul (Fri Jan 22 10, 5:44PM)

And the parking...

posted by Victor Plenty (Fri Jan 22 10, 7:35PM)

From what we've seen in the last few years, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that the media got this story completely wrong. I wouldn't mind seeing a court order prohibiting every major news outlet from making any profit whatsoever off of it for the next four years.

Give NPR Science Friday or NOVA ScienceNOW the exclusive rights and let them sort out fact from fiction for us.

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posted:
Fri Jan 22 10, 5:02PM

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Balloon Boy
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because Balloon Boy is the defining moment of our generation

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