Exclusive: I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax

[kpete]

Exclusive: I Helped Richard Heene Plan a Balloon Hoax

Wow. Ready to have your mind blown? A former research assistant who slaved for Richard Heene is revealing the deceptive, tragic master plan that Heene concocted to manufacture a media thunderstorm. This...is completely insane. Here's a bullet-point summary:

................

* Heene's big idea to launch the show: to manufacture a UFO controversy bigger than Roswell, bigger than anything the world had ever seen before.

..................

* Thomas never got paid for the TV work he did with Heene. He passed out a lot of fliers for Heene's general contractor business, which wasn't bringing in cash. Probably because Heene spent too much time on his conspiracy theories and fame attempts. Heene reassured Thomas that it'd pay off. Thomas saw the crazy and got out of dodge.

* On Thursday, he sees the balloon go up. And then Heene's lie about the kid. And a friend, remembering a story Thomas once told him about this guy he worked with, called him up and told him he had to turn Heene in.

* Thomas notes: Heene's attic is too small and difficult to access for a small child to hide in without assistance. Also, that Falcon was the most social, and that those kids never got disciplined by Heene. He never would've hid and feared retribution.

And that's how it went down.

more:
http://gawker.com/5383858/exclusive-i-helped-richard-heene-plan-a-balloon-hoax

[Swamp Rat]

1. Might as well post it, because the media will cover it all next week anyway.

[kestrel91316]

2. Seems to explain why, on the 911 call, the wife kept referring to the thing

as a "flying saucer" and not a "weather balloon", like a legitimate weather researcher would have. And why the thing was designed to LOOK LIKE a UFO.

[malaise]

13. But if the plan was a UFO hoax

why did they push the line that Falon was on board. That makes no sense.

[snagglepuss]

16. I've been wondering that myself. I hate to be the first to say it but

"the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry"

[REP]

19. Because when we think of the children, we just stop thinking: kid in jep = guaranteed coverage

Balloon that looks alien? After the UFO cloud didn't get much coverage, no guarantee, but missing cute kids are media gold. No one stops to think things through when dingoes ate my baby!

[tridim]

3. My initial gut reaction was "UFO hoax"

Looks like I should trust my gut.

[question everything]

4. Depends on what you eat

:P

[Robb]

5. I'm very disappointed in this post.

I thought for a moment it would be revealed you helped plan a balloon hoax. :D

[snagglepuss]

6. At first I thought this was another effing hoax. It doesnt appear so and

Heene is really irrational. This story is stranger by the minute. Bets are on that this will be a movie in within 2 years.

Question what actor will be Heene?




"But he was motivated by theories I thought were far-fetched. Like Reptilians — the idea there are alien beings that walk among us and are shape shifters, able to resemble human beings and running the upper echelon of our government. Somehow a secret government has covered all this up since the U.S. was established, and the only way to get the truth out there was to use the mainstream media to raise Richard to a status of celebrity, so he could communicate with the masses.

As the weeks progressed, his theories got more and more extreme and paranoid. A lot of it surrounded 2012, and the possibility of there being an apocalyptic moment. Richard likes to talk a lot about the possibility of the Sun erupting in a large-scale solar flare that wipes out the Earth. It got to the point where he was really pressing me, saying we're running out of time, we're running out of time, the end of the world is coming. And we have to take necessary precautions to make sure that we're not among the majority that's going to be killed.

It got to the point where I was just nodding my head and going along with what he said, because it was easier than trying to debate with him. (See audio at bottom of post.)"

[ThePantaloon.com]

8. Mel Gibson as Heene...

[snagglepuss]

9. Ouch. I think you nailed it.

[GReedDiamond]

18. Gibson is perfect for the part...

...and while it would be typecasting (crazy person/actor, playing a crazy person/factually-based, but fictionalized movie character), I think The Melster could do this Heene guy GREAT, up on the Silver Screen!

Furthermore, I think the physical resemblance is reasonable enough, even if Mel is at least 20 years older than Heene. Anyway, all of that kinda cosmeticky shit can be special make-up fx/cgi'd away, no?

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Mr. Heene, I predict, will stick hard to his claim that he thought the Balloon Boy was in the air...and he FEARED for the Balloon Boy's life, as any father of a Balloon Boy would. It was all a mistake. No harm done, Balloon Boy is OK after all! Sorry 'bout the 2mil NORAD taxpayers' funded expense but, that's "what I pay my taxes for," right? They woulda spent the 2mil on sumthin else anyways, I figure.

[eShirl]

10. lol

[BobTheSubgenius]

11. Peter Griffin as Heene.

You just know this is going to turn up on Family Guy.

[eShirl]

15. and South Park

[ret5hd]

17. I would think Stewie.

[REP]

20. Stewie's balloon would actually work

[IDemo]

21. Christopher Lloyd

[snagglepuss]

23. He looks like a close second. But I think Mel Gibson would nail it.

[SoCalDem]

25. Keanu Reeves, of course..or maybe Jim Carrey

[snagglepuss]

7. This new information puts a whole different light on this story..

On one hand its another sensetionalist story exploited by the media but on the other hand I find it fascinating glimpse into human nuture.

[jeffbr]

12. It wasn't just a balloon, it was a MILLION VOLT balloon

that emitted A MILLION VOLTS on the outer skin.

Maybe a TRILLION amperes at the same time.

[adamuu]

14. sounds like a KBR jerry-rig. n/t

[IDemo]

22. True, but for the obvious difference

KBR would have been awarded a no-bid contract to build multi-million dollar multi-million volt balloons to safeguard the US embassy.

[inna]

24. this whole thing is ridiculous.

[OneBlueSky]

26. could it be that this whole "I helped him" story is itself a hoax? . . .

fwiw, follow some of the links regarding this fellow . . . seems he has a rather interesting past himself . . .