BALLOON BOY

THAT WHOLE "BALLOON BOY" THING FROM YESTERDAY WAS JUST A BIG MISUNDERSTANDING:

I don't know how you could have, but if you somehow missed the whole "Balloon Boy" thing yesterday, allow me to recap . . .

Yesterday afternoon, media outlets all over the country started reporting the story of 6-year-old Falcon Heene of Fort Collins, Colorado (--about 60 miles north of Denver). What we learned was:

#1.) Falcon's parents, Richard and Mayumi, are storm chasers who've been working on a homemade air balloon. They've also appeared on the reality TV show "Wife Swap" twice, most recently in March.

#2.) The balloon had been tethered to the Heenes' house. But somehow it came undone and floated off.

#3.) At some point in the day, Falcon's brother had seen him playing inside the balloon's basket, and now he was missing. The obvious assumption, which we were all DYING to jump to, was that Falcon was inside the air balloon's basket. That was it.

So a call was put in to the Air Force, the FAA grounded flights, and the Colorado Army National Guard even sent in two helicopters to keep an eye on the situation. --Then two hours and 50 miles later, the balloon finally landed. But when it did, Falcon was nowhere to be found.

Some people started reporting that they'd seen something drop out of the basket, and we all convinced ourselves that the worst had happened to the poor kid. --But two hours later, Falcon was FOUND . . . hiding in his attic. Which is where he'd been the ENTIRE DAY. So why all the confusion?

It seems the last anyone saw of Falcon before the whole mess unfolded, was when his dad Richard caught him playing in the basket and scolded him about it. But, let's face it, there are some holes in the story.

Last night, the Heenes were interviewed on CNN. When Falcon's dad asked him why he didn't come out of the attic when he heard them calling his name, Falcon said, quote, "You guys said that we did this for the show."

Take from that what you will . . . but according to TMZ, the County Sheriff's Department is aware of Falcon's comments on CNN . . . and they're, quote, "investigating the situation."

And when Richard was flat-out asked about it, he said, quote: "That's horrible after the crap we just went through. No . . . I'm kind of appalled, after all the feelings that I went through up and down, that you guys are trying to suggest something else." (Google News)

(--Honestly, I'm not sure if these people are attention seakers, really bad parents, or just completely OUT OF THEIR MINDS. Each one seems just as likely as the next. Who builds a homemade air balloon anyway?)

(--Check out some photos of Falcon and his family, and also a lame T-shirt some a-hole made at the height of yesterday's "insanity", here . . .)