Where is Balloon Boy now? New Netflix doc revisits the media frenzy

First things first — Balloon Boy is not the same as Bubble Boy. The latter is a hilarious 1992 Seinfeld episode (and a not-so-hilarious 2001 Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle). The former, on the other hand, might be funny in retrospect, but it certainly wasn’t at the time.

On Oct. 15, 2009, the world watched in horror as a homemade balloon designed to look like a flying saucer soared over Fort Collins, Colo. According to Richard and Mayumi Heene, who released the balloon, their 6-year-old son, Falcon, was inside it. The balloon was going to crash eventually, which spelled trouble for the vulnerable child.

But the story didn’t play out as they’d feared. Instead, it cast a light on a peculiar family and inspired debates about fame in the nascent days of online virality.

Now, more than 15 years later, Netflix is revisiting the incident with Trainwreck: Balloon Boy, a new documentary directed by Gillian Pachter. The film features new interviews with Richard, Mayumi, Falcon, and others who knew the Heene family.

Read on as we unpack the alleged hoax, Richard’s strange background, and where the “Balloon Boy” is now.

What was the Balloon Boy controversy?

According to the Heene family, they launched the balloon only to learn after the fact that their 6-year-old son, Falcon, had climbed inside. Though Richard later called 911 about his son potentially being in the craft, the New York Times reported that he first called KUSA-TV, a Denver NBC affiliate, asking if they could send a news helicopter.

Local and national news outlets quickly picked up the story as the balloon traveled dozens of miles over 90 minutes, with authorities estimating it reached an altitude of up to 7,000 feet, according to CNN. Colorado sheriffs and the National Guard got involved in the rescue efforts, and commercial flights were diverted as the craft touched down on a farm north of the Denver International Airport, per the Denver Post.

But when rescue teams approached the downed balloon, Falcan was nowhere to be found.

The boy had apparently been hiding in the attic of the family’s garage the whole time. This came as a surprise to the local sheriff’s deputies who had already searched the house twice.

“I played with my toys and took a nap,” Falcon told reporters in the aftermath, per CNN.

Allegations of the incident being an elaborate hoax arose later that night, following the family’s interview on Larry King Live. Host Wolf Blitzer, who was filling in for King, asked if Falcon heard his parents calling for him from the attic. Falcon said he did, and when asked why he didn’t respond, he replied, “You guys said we did this for the show.” (Falcon vomited during two more media appearances the following morning, according to the Associated Press.)

Three days later, on Oct. 18, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden declared the incident a hoax. “They put on a very good show for us, and we bought it,” he said at a news conference, per the New York Times.

“These people wanted to get some national attention, with the ultimate hope that they would end up with some form of a TV deal,” added the Larimer County undersheriff, Ernie Hudson.

The Heenes initially denied the allegations, though Mayumi later told Larimer County investigators that both she and Richard knew that Falcon was in their home the entire time, per court documents released on Oct. 23 (via Fox News).

“Mayumi described that she and Richard Heene devised this hoax approximately two weeks earlier,” read an affidavit. “She and Richard had instructed their three children to lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax.” The goal, she added, was to make the family more marketable for media opportunities.

Ten years later, a reporter for Denver’s 5280 was able to access Mayumi’s case files. In them, he found notes written by Mayumi for her attorney that broke down the plan to launch the balloon, gin up media interest, hide Falcon, stage a tearful reunion with him, and reap the benefits of the subsequent media attention.

What complicated matters, according to these notes, was that Falcon hid in the attic instead of the basement, where he’d been told to hide. Unable to find him, his parents reportedly became worried that he had climbed into the balloon.

“That’s why Mayumi’s reunion with Falcon was so believable: For a few hours, she and Richard honestly worried their son had been swept away,” reads the 5280 feature.

When confronted with the information in these notes by 5280, Richard continued to deny that a hoax had been perpetrated. Mayumi claimed that she “made the whole story up,” causing Richard to berate her. “Every time you write something you cause a f—ing s— storm,” he said.

Who is Richard Heene?

Richard is an inventor and was known among friends as a “mad scientist,” per 7NEWS in Denver. His creations include a wall-mounted back scratcher, among others. He says in the Trainwreck trailer that he thought the balloon would be a “fantastic project” for he and his three sons.

He was also a former actor and stand-up comedian, having met Mayumi at acting school in Hollywood. As the New York Times reported at the time, Richard had long been pursuing fame. In previous years, he’d produced a tornado-chasing documentary in which he advertised an invention called the “tornado cannon” that he believed could “dissipate” a tornado, per the Associated Press.

He and his family had also appeared on the ABC reality series Wife Swap. The show’s production company had reportedly been considering a program about the Heenes, but told the Times in the aftermath of the incident that it was “no longer in active development with the family.”

The profile in 5280 reported that the series would center around “outrageous homemade science experiments and the equally outrageous family that created them.”

Heene had also reportedly pitched a reality show to TLC, though the network passed, per the Associated Press.

What happened to Richard Heene?

After declaring the incident a hoax, the New York Times reported that Sheriff Alderden said he was considering charging Richard and Mayumi with felony counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and attempting to influence a public servant.

In November 2009, Richard pleaded guilty to the latter charge, while Mayumi pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to authorities, per CNN. Prosecutors agreed to a sentence of probation with the possibility of up to 90 days in jail for Richard and up to 60 days for Mayumi.

As reported in 5280, Richard served 30 days in jail and 60 nights of work release. In August 2010, he moved from Colorado to Florida. Nine years later, they moved to New Hampton, N.Y.

He continued to deny that the incident was a hoax, later claiming that he and Mayumi only pleaded guilty to ensure she received a misdemeanor charge, as a felony could potentially have seen her deported back to her native Japan, per the LA Times.

Heene continued to dream of reality TV stardom, telling 5280 that one of the tragedies of his felony was that it disqualified him from appearing on Shark Tank, the ABC reality series in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of potential investors.

“I know I could impress the Sharks,” he said. “Just give me the shot and let me do my thing.”

Where is Balloon Boy now?

Falcon Heene, a.k.a. Balloon Boy, is now 22 years old and specializes in building tiny homes. Per the New York Post, he owns and operates Craftsman Tiny Homes in Archer, Fla.

Falcon maintains an active Instagram, where he films tours of his tiny homes and posts comedy skits.

In the years following the hoax, Falcon and his brothers formed a metal band called Heene Boyz, releasing a single called “Balloon Boy, No Hoax.” According to 5280, Richard wrote a “heavy metal rock opera called American Chilly that featured the Heene Boyz,” and he dreamed of it finding a streaming home.

“I can see that on Amazon Prime, for sure,” he said.

In a 2019 interview with ABC News, Falcon said he doesn’t remember much about the incident. He also appears in the Netflix documentary.

“I think it’s crazy how I was six years old, and I was able to affect the whole state of the country,” he says in the trailer.

Where can I watch Trainwreck: Balloon Boy?

Trainwreck: Balloon Boy is currently available to stream on Netflix.

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