The Muse is Loose

I had flipped to The Weather Channel to check the progress of a front supposed to bring us relief from oppressive October heat. On that channel, live, was the event capturing news today all over the country. A home-made helium balloon was soaring lop-sided in the wind across the plains of Colorado. Possibly a six-year old boy was inside, or had been. I got caught up in it and saw the tether grabbed by a policeman and then the drama of opening a door and there being no one inside. Had the boy fallen out? Had he never really been there? Was this some kind of hoax created to grab attention and make U Tube? The answers still are not clear. What IS clear is that the Heene family is an off-beat crew. The initial story is, to me, appearing less acceptable. Falcon, the six-year old, claimed to have been frightened by his father's anger and hid in a box. In other videos shown of the boys they all appear to be fearless, riding bikes on railroad tracks, etc. They have appeared on "Wife Swap". If THAT didn't scare Falcon nothing would. They did have pictures of the balloon escaping. Mayumi, the mother, had little to say in an interview. When Falcon claimed to have been sick and left the interview he was left to go it alone while she continued on set for the interview. Falcon flew back on the set in a very few minutes. It was ALL so weird. My vote is this: We have seen a hoax.... but it didn't go quite as planned. It did cause disruptions and thousands of dollars of expenses. The reality of it all is that if judged a hoax there should be some payment back to those involved. That would make it a true "reality" show.