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Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime is a production of I Heart Radio is Aaron?

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Speaker 1: What's up Elizabeth Dutton? That's much Hey, listen, you know

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Speaker 1: it's ridiculous. Yes, I do. And I've been waiting to

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Speaker 1: see you because this one is for you. Well, you

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Speaker 1: know how you like weird combos of food and stuff.

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Speaker 1: Oh are you doing a mashup? I found one for you, Yes,

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Speaker 1: and thais in Taipee City, Taiwan. There is a restaurant

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Speaker 1: you need to go to. It's called Modern Toilet. The

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Speaker 1: restaurant was the dream of a restaurant tour who had

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Speaker 1: this epiphany while he was on the john. He's like,

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Speaker 1: what did you get eat on the toilet? Out of

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Speaker 1: a toilet? So he put his money where his butt

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Speaker 1: was and he opened a toilet themed ice cream spot

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Speaker 1: to serve chocolate ice cream served in a toilet bo

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Speaker 1: The spot was a total hit, so then he's like, oh,

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Speaker 1: I should go bigger, so he opens a Modern Toilet,

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Speaker 1: a restaurant that's all toilet themes. So it's done so well.

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Speaker 1: It's now a chain that's you can find modern toilets

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Speaker 1: throughout Asia and the food is hot pots served in

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Speaker 1: toilet bowls. There's also d O G chocolate ice cream.

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Speaker 1: And then you get to sit on an actual toilet

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Speaker 1: while you eat food out of a toilet bowl or

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Speaker 1: a manager urnal and then you can keep it as

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Speaker 1: a souvenir from your time at modern toilet. And now

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Speaker 1: there was one family got confused by the concept and

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Speaker 1: he actually crapped at his seat in the toilet and

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Speaker 1: it wasn't connected any plumbing, so they had to evacuate

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Speaker 1: the restaurant and it took two weeks for deep cleaning.

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Speaker 1: But I know it's as weird as all of it sounds.

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Speaker 1: I checked the reviews because I wanted to be like, well,

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Speaker 1: Elizabeth needs to know this is a good restaurant. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to send a Taipei just for chasing nothing.

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Speaker 1: So I looked right and most of them were like,

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Speaker 1: it's so much fun. I took my kids at the

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Speaker 1: toilet restaurant. They loved it an experienced the food kind

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Speaker 1: of sucks right like That was the most of them.

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Speaker 1: But my favorite review was this one guy. He said, well, basically,

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Speaker 1: I'll just put it this way. He completely ignored the

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Speaker 1: toilet theme part of the restaurant and took it straight.

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Speaker 1: He's like and I quote. I ordered the milky hot

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Speaker 1: pot and the flavor was good. I read a review

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Speaker 1: that they have good proportioned hot pot, but that is

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Speaker 1: not true at all because they placed lettuce at the

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Speaker 1: bottom to make it look like there's a lot of meat.

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Speaker 1: The hot pot doesn't come with assorted meatballs, and there's

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Speaker 1: a service charge of ten. They also have a kids

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Speaker 1: playing area. I'd love to that review. It's like they

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Speaker 1: have farm to table and this is like table to

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Speaker 1: toilets to keep that cycle going? What nauseating? But tell

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Speaker 1: me more so that's for you. That's ridiculous, hand a

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Speaker 1: hand right, I thought on this, I'm like, and I'm

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Speaker 1: kind of short circuiting a little bit now because I've

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Speaker 1: got to cleanse my mind of toilet imaging. Well, my

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Speaker 1: idea is, if you can't beat them, join them or

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Speaker 1: john them, or that's ridiculous. Do you want to know

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Speaker 1: what else is ridiculous? Or I'm here for it, offering

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Speaker 1: up your kid to the sky gods for cloud. This

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Speaker 1: is a Ridiculous Crime A podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, heists,

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Speaker 1: and cons. It's always murder free and ridiculous. And when

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about Capers, not like the Briany Capers whatever. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so it's not like the ex convicts like Scott con. Yes,

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Speaker 1: there you go, the Capers and the Con family. So,

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Speaker 1: speaking of which, do you remember baby Jessica. Jessica fell

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Speaker 1: into the well. She's eighteen months old. She was in

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Speaker 1: there for fifty six hours until she was successfully rescued.

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Speaker 1: That was all over the twenty four hour news cycle.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember the kind of I mean, yes, I

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Speaker 1: do remember it being a thing and remember baby Jesse right,

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Speaker 1: and so it was like NonStop coverage. There have been

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Speaker 1: a number of other stories through the years about kids

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Speaker 1: falling in wells, and most of them had really grim

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Speaker 1: resolutions to them. So when Baby Jessica fell in the well,

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Speaker 1: people like, we're holding out hope for a miracle, and

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Speaker 1: they were able to watch moment by moment the rescue

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Speaker 1: efforts um. And then, don't forget there was the Thailand

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Speaker 1: rescue and of that boy's soccer team that stuck in

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Speaker 1: a cave cave almost save cage cave. Yes, I remember

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Speaker 1: the submarine and high stakes um so, but in between

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Speaker 1: those was another harrowing tale of a kid in danger,

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Speaker 1: played out on national and international news in real time.

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Speaker 1: That's what I want to talk to you today about

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Speaker 1: child in Danger sat hilarious. Okay, But first, Um, you

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Speaker 1: know that I don't like to judge, but I actually

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Speaker 1: do like to judge. I don't want to judge, but

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Speaker 1: I'm going to judge. Here are two things I'm judge about.

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Speaker 1: Of the many things. Participation in reality TV. Judge of

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Speaker 1: the fact someone participating participants. I'm judging of the people

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Speaker 1: who go on reality TV shows. Um, Like, I know

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Speaker 1: I say I don't watch television. We all know I'm

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Speaker 1: full of it, but I really actually don't watch reality

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Speaker 1: TV shows. Um, they bumped me out because it's not real. No,

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Speaker 1: people are willing to do whatever and look like a

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Speaker 1: fool just to be momentarily famous or like a miniscule

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Speaker 1: version of famous. Like I don't know, but it's not

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Speaker 1: even fame. It's more status, you know, because I'm not

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Speaker 1: really famous. More that people want to talk about them,

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Speaker 1: that people know who they are. So it's it's like

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Speaker 1: social they need to have some pride, like there's they

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Speaker 1: debase themselves. So whatever I'm judging, don't do it. But

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Speaker 1: do you judge the people who are like on Jackass.

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Speaker 1: I don't really think that as reality TVs, they're debasing themselves. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's a different and kind of thing. I'm not going

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Speaker 1: to say anything negative about the Jackass I mean, you

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Speaker 1: know me, I'm a huge fan of all jack at

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Speaker 1: all the franchises. But I was just curious where you

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Speaker 1: draw that line. No, I think it's the especially with Jackass,

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Speaker 1: they're debasing themselves. Uh honestly, whereas people on reality shows

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Speaker 1: are debasing themselves and deluding themselves that they're not doing

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Speaker 1: that interesting, you pity them. No, I just disgusted. But

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Speaker 1: so here's another thing that I'm judging about. When parents

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Speaker 1: put their minor children out there for public public consumption.

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Speaker 1: Oh yes, posting pictures on social public social media accounts.

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Speaker 1: It's one thing if it's lockdown and it's only people

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Speaker 1: you directly know, and it's basically like, yeah, obviously sharing

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Speaker 1: between your friends and family, sharing pictures of kids is

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Speaker 1: not terrible. But if you're like making your identity b

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Speaker 1: I'm mommy and so like all the blogs like mommy

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Speaker 1: bloggers who talk about their kids in their lives and

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Speaker 1: post their pictures, kids have no agency in that. And

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Speaker 1: also they're being used in a sense, like the identity

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Speaker 1: is based on proximity to the child. So creepy. Why

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Speaker 1: would you post a picture of your child with information

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Speaker 1: about them for every creep in the world to see.

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Speaker 1: I'm not even talking about even know about traditional predators,

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Speaker 1: like I don't I don't need to know about a

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Speaker 1: stranger's kid. Yeah, screepy. So anyway, I'm judging judgment. Good,

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Speaker 1: So privacy is an illusion, but at least give the

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Speaker 1: kids a false promise of it until they come of

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Speaker 1: age and can find that out for themselves. Uh, there's

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Speaker 1: me judging. So the story I'm gonna tell you today, um,

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Speaker 1: the one about the kid in danger. It has both

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Speaker 1: reality TV and exploited kids, two of your favorites. Right.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever heard or seen a

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Speaker 1: show called wife Swap. Oh, yes, it sounds filthy, but

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Speaker 1: it's not. Yes, no, yes, it's the one where that

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Speaker 1: obviously you you swapped spouses. But usually there was like

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Speaker 1: a certain fraud nature, like one of them would be

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Speaker 1: black and a white copy, like two families on opposite

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Speaker 1: sides of like a familial spectrum. So like let's say

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Speaker 1: one is messy and artistic and the other one's like

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Speaker 1: super clean and athletics, and then they switch moms for

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Speaker 1: like a week or something, and then hilarity ensues, a

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Speaker 1: drama more likely, so they're trailed by cameras the public

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Speaker 1: gets to watch, like of course, the heavily edited, like

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Speaker 1: lowbrow Comedia dell Arte depiction of the culture class villains

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Speaker 1: are crafted, long suffering heroes emerged. You know, I would

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Speaker 1: love it if one of the couple's actually broke up

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Speaker 1: and they got together with I'm sure they you know what,

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Speaker 1: they'd be willing to do it if they thought they'd

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Speaker 1: become notable. Well, so, there was once a family on

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Speaker 1: wife swap named the Heinies, and like Bobby the brain

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Speaker 1: he and Heini sure Richard was the father, Mayumi the mom.

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Speaker 1: She They met an acting school in Hollywood, California, and

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Speaker 1: they have three boys. Right Rio, it looks like Ryo

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Speaker 1: R y oh, but apparently it's Rio Bradford and Falcon.

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Speaker 1: Wait a minute, Rio, Bradford and Falcon. Yeah. So like

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Speaker 1: you're like on the park and you're like, come here,

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Speaker 1: Falcon Bradford. Yes. So the family at the time they

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Speaker 1: lived in Fort Collins, Colorado. They switched mothers with a

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Speaker 1: Connecticut family who were in the childproofing business, like taking

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Speaker 1: care of card edges like those like crazy locks that

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Speaker 1: are hard to open from. Yeah, I'm miss savvy as

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Speaker 1: a three year old. Yeah. Um, but it was such

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Speaker 1: a hit there episode that they were voted back on

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Speaker 1: for the one episode again. Yeah, and they switched mothers

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Speaker 1: that time with a Florida family whose mom earned her

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Speaker 1: living as a psychic Florida psychic. Yeah, that's like jack pot.

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Speaker 1: Richard Heeney. He's a UFO enthusiast amate a meteorologist, and

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Speaker 1: he has a passion for storm tracking and chasing. Wait,

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Speaker 1: and they swapped and he gave him a wife who

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Speaker 1: was a Florida psychic. No. Yeah, he had to deal

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Speaker 1: with the psychic Miaumi, she had to go out and

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Speaker 1: deal with the psychic family. Yeah. So his wife totally

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Speaker 1: supports his efforts. Um she said quote wife swap was

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Speaker 1: just another adventure for us as a family. You know, Hey,

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Speaker 1: Richard total self promoter. He tried his hand at both

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Speaker 1: acting and stand up. Didn't go so well in his

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Speaker 1: life his passions and designed meteorologist. Yeah, okay, well do

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Speaker 1: I think about a weatherman to be that? Most of

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Speaker 1: them started. Yeah, I totally get it. David Letterman was

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Speaker 1: a weatherman. You're right. His passions and his desire for attention, though,

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Speaker 1: they really shape everything that this family does. He's an

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Speaker 1: amateur meteorologist, right. That all started in nineteen seventy nine

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Speaker 1: when he witnessed a tornado move a roof while he

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Speaker 1: was working as a contractor. Okay, he was hooked. He

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Speaker 1: was like, this is amazing. I need to get a

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Speaker 1: camera weather phenomenon to get a green screen. Uh. He

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Speaker 1: was the lead author of the National Weather Digest article

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Speaker 1: Electromagnetic Fields Recorded in mezzos Cyclones in nineteen nine. Two

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Speaker 1: thousand eight, he flew into Hurricane Wilma with the Noah

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Speaker 1: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Was that like difficult to do.

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Speaker 1: They can't get volunteers to fly into a hurricane. So

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Speaker 1: they're like, yeah, I would imagine that for like storm chasers.

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Speaker 1: That's like he was stoked. Um. His work with storm

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Speaker 1: chasing was like legit enough. He got profiled in the

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Speaker 1: Denver Post. So you know he's an amateur meteorologist but

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Speaker 1: doing work worthier. Yeah, doing like legitimate work in it. Um.

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Speaker 1: He'd packed the family into their suv to go storm chasing,

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Speaker 1: and they were especially looking for conditions in which he

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Speaker 1: could get on his motorcycle and ride directly into the storm.

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Speaker 1: He he'd have like all the weather equipment lashed to

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Speaker 1: his bike. A bike, he'd write, a motorcycle, okay, yeah,

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Speaker 1: a hog a chopper. So the families following behind in

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Speaker 1: the suv and the three kids. Um. He said he

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Speaker 1: only chased low grade tornadoes. I don't even know what that.

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Speaker 1: And he said he made sure that the family was

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Speaker 1: far away and like no one was put at risk. So,

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Speaker 1: like I said, he's a self promoter. Sounds like he

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Speaker 1: published a parody book called Offensive Driving like O F

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Speaker 1: yeah whatever, under the nom de plume Dick Weeney. I'm

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Speaker 1: just running down the highlights here. So he's also an inventor.

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Speaker 1: He invented the bear scratch back scratcher, which I don't

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Speaker 1: know whatever, the Keeney duty truck transformers, which I have

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Speaker 1: no idea what that is. That thing got a heeny

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Speaker 1: headbanger energy shots headbanger energy. I hope that comes a

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Speaker 1: free heavy metal I think so like literal heavy metals

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Speaker 1: floating in it. And then there's the blow jab. It's

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Speaker 1: a battery operated fan that gentlemen can put in their

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Speaker 1: crotch to like keep their undercarriage cool. The blow jab

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Speaker 1: the crotch pot cooler. Yeah, for all that swamp rock

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Speaker 1: going on, he said, I want to sell that one

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Speaker 1: to tract or supply farmers sweat a lot our number.

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Speaker 1: They're like suing him for defamation. So Richard has all

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Speaker 1: this stuff going on. He gets his family on wife swap,

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Speaker 1: but nothing comes of that, like, no big deals, seconds

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Speaker 1: of fame. He wanted his war Houlian fifteen minutes. He's like,

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Speaker 1: I'm still I'm you ohe me. So, then two thousand

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Speaker 1: nine happens. Okay, great recession. Oh I was wondering, Well,

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Speaker 1: if you remember he was a contractor, his home renovation

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Speaker 1: and remodeling business took it. That was rough. I was

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Speaker 1: in construction and we all thanks some prime lending. Mayomi.

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Speaker 1: She had an at home video editing business, which already

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Speaker 1: sounds like as technology is becoming more accessible, Yeah, family

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Speaker 1: videos anyway, So that that was going down the tubes.

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Speaker 1: He's got a lot of time on his hands, got

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Speaker 1: all these wacky ideas. Richard decides to come up with

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Speaker 1: his best invention yet and it's a foil backed, helium

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Speaker 1: filled balloon. He thought that when he made it, it

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Speaker 1: would inspire others to construct their own. And he figured

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Speaker 1: that then people they would organize um balloon races. I mean,

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Speaker 1: obviously that's like the first thing you think of. First thought,

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Speaker 1: I had sponsors airtime for balloon races, Aaron Nascar. And

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Speaker 1: then he also kind of thought that like commuters could

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Speaker 1: eventually use them. I'm not stopped laughing, you know, but

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Speaker 1: here's the things like when in doubt, get famous, step one,

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Speaker 1: build the giant balloon. These are giant balloons, not like

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Speaker 1: little he has nineties mind, I love it. A giant balloon,

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Speaker 1: Get famous, Dark balloon race. Family pulls together all their

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Speaker 1: spare cash, of course, and since like this is the

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Speaker 1: possibility for a new path to fame, they film everything naturally,

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Speaker 1: you know, wouldn't you. They shot documented, They shot footage

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Speaker 1: of their trips to home depot. They recorded the three

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Speaker 1: brothers like all excited talking about the impending launch. Richard

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Speaker 1: gathers all the supplies he starts building. The balloon was

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Speaker 1: twenty feet in diameter and it was made from sixteen

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Speaker 1: pie shaped plastic sheets. It took two rolls a duct

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Speaker 1: tape two whole roles. That doesn't sound like Still, yeah,

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Speaker 1: it looked like a flying saucer is trying to It

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Speaker 1: makes sense because like that he's all Alienum. There's like

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Speaker 1: a little basket under the balloon. It's sort of like

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Speaker 1: a canister with a tiny door cross over all the

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Speaker 1: perfect stuff. It's upology and meteorology and like weather balloon.

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Speaker 1: He's at the next silver weather balloon. That's me exactly.

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Speaker 1: So like it has this little basket, this canister underneath,

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Speaker 1: like ostensibly someone or something could be put into the

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Speaker 1: little carriage area. So the basket is much like a

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Speaker 1: normal balloon where I'm picturing about it suspended by some

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Speaker 1: kind Yeah, but it's not like wicker. No, it's attached

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Speaker 1: to the balloon like fixed, and there's no window or anything.

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Speaker 1: It's just like just looks like a tuna can sum

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Speaker 1: so um. Once he determines that the balloon's airtight, he

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Speaker 1: covers the plastic sheets with aluminum foil. Why because of

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Speaker 1: he likes the look. The foil was for conducting the

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Speaker 1: electricity that would propel the balloon. Stop laughing, Okay, see

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Speaker 1: the balloon. Now this is the part. Please don't. This

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Speaker 1: is very very serious. The balloon is going to be

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Speaker 1: hooked up to a stun gun like a cattle broad

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Speaker 1: like a sun. Like I'm getting into my car at

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Speaker 1: night and someone turns up behind yeah, and they're like, oh,

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Speaker 1: I was just telling you dropped something. Well too late, buddy. Um.

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Speaker 1: So it's gonna be hooked up to a stun gun

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Speaker 1: that's gonna run millions of volts of electricity across the

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Speaker 1: surface of the balloon. Okay, very safe, very l It's

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Speaker 1: the Bifell Brown effect, which is quote to quote, Wikipedia

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Speaker 1: defines the Bifell Brown effect as an electrical phenomenon that

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Speaker 1: produces an ionic wind that transfers its momentum to surrounding

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Speaker 1: neutral particles. I don't know what that means. Yeah, well,

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Speaker 1: basically you're just creating difference pressures and it moves to

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Speaker 1: the low pressure as opposed to the high pressure. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's done. So that's not going to work for a balloon.

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Speaker 1: Well that's what you say. Launch Day, October fifteen, two

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Speaker 1: thousand nine, Richard fills the balloons with five tanks of helium.

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Speaker 1: He then launched that stun gun, or he attached the

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Speaker 1: stun gun to the basket, got the juice running all over.

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Speaker 1: The balloons just left open. Yeah, it's just like yeah, right,

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Speaker 1: And then the plan was to release this tethered balloon

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Speaker 1: into the air. You got the static field surrounding this balloon,

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Speaker 1: and you're hoping to like basically electrify the air around

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Speaker 1: it to create right, to create effects the effect. They're

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Speaker 1: going to release it like tethered, but into the air

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Speaker 1: for about high Yeah, and then he was going to

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Speaker 1: use electricity to maneuver it. I don't know how. He

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Speaker 1: sets up a video camera on a tripod. The Heeney family.

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Speaker 1: They count down from three. Richard pulls the release pin.

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Speaker 1: When we come back from this break, I'll tell you

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Speaker 1: about the launch of this giant silver balloon and the

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Speaker 1: infamy that accompanied it. Okay, Zaren, we're back. Hey. When

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Speaker 1: we left off, the Heeney family, Richard, Miomi, Rio, Bradford

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Speaker 1: and Bradford and Falcon, they just launched their latest endeavor

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Speaker 1: into their quest for fame. Giant thirteen foot flight. But

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Speaker 1: it's a balloon and it's huge, and it zappens and

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Speaker 1: it looks like pollen on water floating around. Yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: a long boy up there. In the air. The balloon

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Speaker 1: was powered by the stun gun zapp and all the

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Speaker 1: silver foil um. It was hoped that it would become

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Speaker 1: this big thing. Right, the people are going to have balloon.

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Speaker 1: Commuters are going to climb up into the little you know,

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Speaker 1: curl up in the little ball whereas my zapper. I

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Speaker 1: gotta get to work, honey, he so okay, October two nine,

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Speaker 1: the he needs countdown three two one? Really is the balloon.

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Speaker 1: They're so excited. The family gives this cheer. They're so

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Speaker 1: so excited. The balloon comes free from its tether. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it starts floating off into the sky above Fort Collins, Colorado.

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Speaker 1: There then there are cries of anger. Richard is yelling

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Speaker 1: at Mayomi for not properly tethering the balloon. Like he

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Speaker 1: just is like, oh yeah, there's studio obviously. I mean

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Speaker 1: they taped everything right. It's horrible. There's cries of panic

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Speaker 1: because Bradford starts screaming at his parents. Falcons in there.

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Speaker 1: What falcon lose a kid, Ladies and gentlemen, we have infamy.

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Speaker 1: Six year old falcon heeny is now balloon boy. Oh

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Speaker 1: my god, so falcon takes a flight. I need to

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Speaker 1: remind you again they're filming this whole thing. Yes, they

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Speaker 1: have it. Where at this point of panic? So your

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Speaker 1: kids floating away into the sky and an improvised high

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Speaker 1: voltage device. Who do you call? Who would you call? Zarin?

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Speaker 1: What I call? Oh my god, I don't know exactly?

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Speaker 1: A team of therapists the National Weather Service and tell

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Speaker 1: them please be on the lookout for my boy. I

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Speaker 1: don't cloudy with a chance of falcon um. No. The

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Speaker 1: first call he makes was to the f A A okay, okay.

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Speaker 1: He wanted him to track the runaway balloon on radar

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Speaker 1: and then like shut down the airspace in case any

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Speaker 1: other low flying plane like some like you know, some

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Speaker 1: chap in his cessna who's just out for a pleasure

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Speaker 1: trip doesn't actually get them, like caught up in the propellers. Good,

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Speaker 1: so Todd, the ghost of Tommy fits coming in hot Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So wait, So falcon ostensibly is in this undersized tune

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Speaker 1: a canistan strapped to this balloon. It's just floating up

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Speaker 1: in helium. It has no ability to be directed other

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Speaker 1: than the zapper that's supposed to guide it on to

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Speaker 1: find the low pressure spot. And then now we have

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Speaker 1: wind carrying it. Yeah, okay, I'm just worry. That's where

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Speaker 1: we are. Okay, poor falcon. So what did the f

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Speaker 1: A tell him? Nothing we can do, bro, call nine

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Speaker 1: one one. What the cops going to shoot down the balloon? Yes,

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Speaker 1: you don't want to crash? No, call nine one one.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. Get a get a fire truck out there,

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Speaker 1: whatever you need, like those people in like those squirrel

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Speaker 1: flying suits. You just come exactly what they need, fly in,

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Speaker 1: hit and just grab it and take it down to

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Speaker 1: Earth with you on the way jet tax and there

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Speaker 1: you go with those guys with like fly off the

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Speaker 1: the Well, we didn't have drones then the way we

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Speaker 1: do now, oh wow, yeah, like an Amazon delivery drone

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Speaker 1: could have intercepted him. So Mayomi, she calls nine one one,

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Speaker 1: but like English is not her first language, and she's

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Speaker 1: crying uncontrollably. So the dispatchers like, I'm so sorry. I

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Speaker 1: have no idea what you're saying. And what is the

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Speaker 1: is the husband just holding the cameras he's on the

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Speaker 1: phone to the f A great drama. He's like, we

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Speaker 1: have a problem. So Richard, he like, she's struggling on

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Speaker 1: the phone with nine one one. He gets off the

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Speaker 1: phone with the F A A. He makes another call.

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Speaker 1: Who do you think he called? Um? You suggested the

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Speaker 1: weather John Walsh from America's Most Wanted Almost He called

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Speaker 1: k USA Denver's Channel nine news. What are they going

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Speaker 1: to get the helicopter out there? Well, that's what you want,

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Speaker 1: he said. He wanted them to get their helicopter into

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Speaker 1: the air. Quote, get eyes on it because no one

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Speaker 1: else can see what's going on. So he's just scrambling resources.

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Speaker 1: He hangs up from the news station and then he

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Speaker 1: goes over and he gets the phone from Miaomi and

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Speaker 1: he's like, hello, nine one one, my baby. So meanwhile,

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Speaker 1: it's like news is starting to spread of this because

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Speaker 1: he's talked to the news cameras. It's it's going on

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Speaker 1: to going viral. As we say, the local news stations

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Speaker 1: are not picking up Channel nine's coverage. Yeah, and the

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Speaker 1: national news starts to pick it up. Um. Diana Fields,

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Speaker 1: Richard's sister, she sees it on TV and she said,

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Speaker 1: quote the news anchor said a boy might be inside.

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Speaker 1: I saw it was in Colorado, and I felt sick.

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Speaker 1: I knew it had to be Rick. That's Rick. Um.

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Speaker 1: So there's this reporter Richard Sanchez. He had this to

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Speaker 1: say about Falcon's introduction to the world. Quote that moment

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Speaker 1: that there was this balloon in the air, it was

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Speaker 1: just so absurd. But the interesting thing I thought was

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Speaker 1: that it was a very unifying event. People look at

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Speaker 1: social media and TV is something that can tear people apart.

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Speaker 1: But the Balloon Boy incident, at that moment when the

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Speaker 1: balloon was in the air, when people thought six year

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Speaker 1: old Falcon Heeney was in there, it was this unifying

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Speaker 1: moment people. At one moment in our country's history, we're

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Speaker 1: all thinking about this one boy and this one family

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Speaker 1: and really hoping things turn out well for them. It's

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Speaker 1: a little grand but okay, ill Smidge, the one moment

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Speaker 1: our nation came together and said blue boys, Richard Sante's

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00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:15,920
Speaker 1: bringing together. I remember this happening, and I remember following

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Speaker 1: along online with the breaking news, all the theories. Of

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Speaker 1: course I did what I did. It was a heady time,

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Speaker 1: early Twitter, you know, um, and there was a lot

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Speaker 1: of really good Twitter content on this r I p

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Speaker 1: cool Twitter, That's what I have to say. Yeah, So,

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Speaker 1: after Richard makes all these calls, air traffic was brought

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Speaker 1: to a halt by the airport over Denver Airport because

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Speaker 1: they're like, we can't have they shut down Denver airports

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Speaker 1: and they can't have like Delta flight eight three crashing it.

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Speaker 1: I mean, how low are these players? Yeah, I mean

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Speaker 1: the National Guard deployed two helicopters and Larimer County Sheriff's deputies.

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Speaker 1: They showed up at the Heeney house and they started

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Speaker 1: searching the bedrooms, basement, the garage just to make sure

421
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 1: is Falcon actions home and they just didn't know it,

422
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,879
Speaker 1: and maybe the boy's wrong. They're searching, they're like yelling

423
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,800
Speaker 1: for him. No sign of Falcon. So who is the Bradford.

424
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:16,359
Speaker 1: Bradford pair said, yeah, that's like, so they widened the

425
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 1: search to the homes of like Falcon's friends. Well, maybe

426
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 1: he snuck off to a friend's house. They go to

427
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 1: the nearby was a park of reservoir. I mean this

428
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:30,120
Speaker 1: is good. Yeah, for two hours, the world was transfixed.

429
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,000
Speaker 1: Everyone's watching helplessly as a giant silver balloon containing a

430
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 1: small boy floats listlessly across the sky. And at this

431
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:38,440
Speaker 1: point are their cameras on it. We were able to

432
00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:44,440
Speaker 1: watch there's cameras on It's incredible, Sarah, And it was

433
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,399
Speaker 1: amazing you missed out. I just remember the movie with

434
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,240
Speaker 1: Jack with Jake Jillenhall, where he was in the bubble,

435
00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:54,080
Speaker 1: The Boy and the Bubble. He had like a terminal disease.

436
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 1: It's not he said, like a terminal disease inside of bubble,

437
00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:59,280
Speaker 1: and people talked about balloon Boy. I kept thinking they

438
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,399
Speaker 1: were talking about confused, like that was so sad for

439
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 1: Jake that happened to them. So like the storm chasers

440
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:12,000
Speaker 1: Richard loves so much news, cruise rescuers, nosey civilians physically

441
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:15,439
Speaker 1: chased after the balloon of course. Yeah, so the two

442
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,880
Speaker 1: hours after it initially takes off from the Hiny home,

443
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:20,800
Speaker 1: it's softly sank to the ground and landed in a

444
00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:28,520
Speaker 1: freshly planted field. I guess about fifty miles from the house. Yeah,

445
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,719
Speaker 1: some reports said sixties, some said ninety, but let's be real,

446
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 1: it's probably fifty. Um. So there are two white SUVs

447
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,199
Speaker 1: trailing it on its journey, and like as the balloon

448
00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 1: came down, a man jumped out of one and like

449
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,119
Speaker 1: chased after the balloon. Everything's on. We have film of

450
00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 1: all this ambulance. Isn't like deputies surround the device. First

451
00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: responders sprinted over to it, only to find that Falcon

452
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:58,040
Speaker 1: was not inside. Falcon must have fallen out. Yeah. In fact,

453
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 1: a deputy said he saw something fall out of the

454
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:05,040
Speaker 1: balloon a few miles before Atlantic. This is a this

455
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 1: is a very special episode. It's funny. Yeah, Zaren, close

456
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:22,760
Speaker 1: your eys. What are you doing with me? Closed? You're

457
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,160
Speaker 1: a reporter with k w g N Channel five out

458
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,240
Speaker 1: of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Fort Collins is in your market, so

459
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,280
Speaker 1: you were dispatched out to the scene as soon as

460
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 1: word came in that there was a possible media spectacles Colorado.

461
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,720
Speaker 1: They count on me. Yeah, you and your camera person

462
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:41,640
Speaker 1: have posted up in the parking lot outside of the

463
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: Larimer County Sheriff station. There's a podium set up in

464
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 1: front of the doors to the station, and you're waiting

465
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 1: on a press conference to begin. You're scrolling on your

466
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,800
Speaker 1: brand new iPhone three G checking out what the public

467
00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:57,520
Speaker 1: has to say about this, and getting messages from your

468
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,520
Speaker 1: editor back in the newsroom. You have unconfirm and reports

469
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,240
Speaker 1: that the balloon has landed, and you're there to see

470
00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,600
Speaker 1: what the sheriff has to say about this. A hush

471
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,440
Speaker 1: falls over the media scrum. As Sheriff Jim Alderden makes

472
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,480
Speaker 1: his way to the podium. The click of cameras crackles

473
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 1: around you as print media photographers catch this moment for posterity.

474
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 1: He clears his throat. He announces that the balloon has

475
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,800
Speaker 1: made landfall and that young falconheeny, is not inside the basket.

476
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 1: Our long national minor. This situation is, he says, has

477
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,480
Speaker 1: gone from a rescue effort to a recovery effort, meaning

478
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 1: they're looking for a body because his soul has left

479
00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 1: this mortal coil. Yeah, dark, there's no way he could

480
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,200
Speaker 1: have survived a fall like that. A murmur rolls through

481
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:47,680
Speaker 1: the assembled media outlets. Everyone's trying to process this tragedy.

482
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,520
Speaker 1: Suddenly a deputy walks up and whispers, in the Sheriff's here.

483
00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 1: The sheriff looks up at the people gathered before him.

484
00:29:54,840 --> 00:30:01,440
Speaker 1: Falcon has been found and he's alive. Baby dang. So

485
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,800
Speaker 1: it turns out Falcon was in the attic the entire time,

486
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,040
Speaker 1: and then one checked the attic. That the bedrooms are

487
00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 1: like that, I'm not going up the stairs. He told

488
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,120
Speaker 1: the police he was afraid to come out because he

489
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 1: thought he was going to get in trouble, and he

490
00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:16,480
Speaker 1: said his father had already been yelling at him for

491
00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:21,080
Speaker 1: climbing around inside the balloon basket earlier. Richard said, quote,

492
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,200
Speaker 1: my biggest fear was that he would become electrocuted. So, uh,

493
00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,720
Speaker 1: Falcon goes to the attic, plays with his toy cars

494
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 1: and apparently fell asleep. Okay yeah, and then sees all

495
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,560
Speaker 1: this action and decides, well, I got my toy cars. Well.

496
00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 1: The sheriff was like, I'm just relieved that he was

497
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 1: an injured and that we didn't have to go find

498
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,760
Speaker 1: a body. Um. The rest of the world everyone's like, oh,

499
00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:47,120
Speaker 1: thank god. You know kids, these rascally kids. Um, but

500
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,360
Speaker 1: most people kind of helped to the fact that some

501
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:51,960
Speaker 1: of this is just not adding. I'm thinking that the

502
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:56,640
Speaker 1: guy who was chasing Cloud his entire life the truth. Well,

503
00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 1: and there are all these things like okay, so how

504
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,600
Speaker 1: sound asleep was this kid if he's got sheriff's deputies

505
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,440
Speaker 1: clamping around his house yelling his name, yes, exactly, I'm

506
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 1: not believing any of this. Yeah. So the Heeney family,

507
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 1: they were super willing to be in the limelight after this,

508
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,000
Speaker 1: after this like terrible, scary incident. So the first thing

509
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,720
Speaker 1: they do that evening is go on Larry King Live

510
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:22,120
Speaker 1: that's being guest hosted by Wolf Splitzer. They're like, this

511
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,000
Speaker 1: has been really difficult and exhausting. Let's go on CNN.

512
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 1: We got breaking news. So they're sitting in a row

513
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 1: of kitchen chairs and what looks like their living room,

514
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 1: and during the interview, Falcon was asked if he could

515
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 1: hear people calling for him, and he replied m And

516
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:41,400
Speaker 1: his dad asked, well, why didn't you come out and

517
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 1: let everyone know you're okay? And Falcon said, um, you

518
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:47,080
Speaker 1: guys said that, Um, we did this for the show

519
00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:58,720
Speaker 1: on live television. Richard Richard goes man and then no,

520
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 1: so well, Flitzer asks Richard like, what did Falcon mean

521
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,640
Speaker 1: by that? So there's this long pause and then Richard says,

522
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:11,120
Speaker 1: I can see the direction you guys are hedging on this.

523
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 1: I'm kind of appalled after all the feelings that I

524
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 1: went through that you're trying to suggest something else. He's like,

525
00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:19,400
Speaker 1: I can't hear you that we're losing signal well, and

526
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 1: then he goes on. He says that like Falcon used

527
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:24,120
Speaker 1: the word show as like an innocent reference to when

528
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,200
Speaker 1: they were back on wife Swap before he's like, he's

529
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 1: talking about I don't know if you've heard what we

530
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 1: were on wife Swap. We were kind of a big deal.

531
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,840
Speaker 1: So then like that, that's just like this crazy bombshell.

532
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 1: Instead of retreating, he takes the family out on TV again.

533
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 1: The next morning, they were on their lined up in

534
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,640
Speaker 1: the same chairs and they're talking Diane Sawyer on Good

535
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:50,840
Speaker 1: Morning America Always Show. She's like very gentle and she's

536
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:53,520
Speaker 1: you know, but also pushing them about the hanky parts

537
00:32:53,560 --> 00:32:56,120
Speaker 1: of the story and what Falcon said the night before

538
00:32:56,200 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 1: on CNN. So it's also asking Rio and Bradford. Oh,

539
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,440
Speaker 1: they're all all the kids. It's like the parents are

540
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,640
Speaker 1: bookending them and the kids are just all squeezed in

541
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:06,600
Speaker 1: like sharing a couple of chairs and they're just like

542
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,640
Speaker 1: lazing on each other. Um. It starts getting uncomfortable and

543
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 1: Falcon he's aren't. Falcon is already like wrapped in the

544
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,360
Speaker 1: thin blanket. He announces that he's going to throw up,

545
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,520
Speaker 1: and he he like heaves and puts his hand over

546
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:24,160
Speaker 1: his mouth and walks off camera. His mom and dad

547
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 1: don't get up to help him. He's a six year old,

548
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:29,360
Speaker 1: he's six years old. They watch as he walks off,

549
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,760
Speaker 1: and then Diane Sawyer asked him, like, is there someone

550
00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:33,480
Speaker 1: who can help him? You want to take care of

551
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:35,880
Speaker 1: your child, and the mom's like, is that okay, and

552
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:39,560
Speaker 1: then gets up to tend to her sick child. Then

553
00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:41,840
Speaker 1: they do the same thing on the Today Show. That

554
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,520
Speaker 1: one was taped after the g m A segment. Falcon,

555
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,000
Speaker 1: he's like leaning on his dad. Richard is walking through

556
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 1: how they found him in the attic. Falcon mutters something

557
00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 1: to his mom, who then holds out a tupperware container

558
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 1: and then Falcon pukes into it on live television loudly,

559
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:02,160
Speaker 1: Oh my god, can we see it? Can we see it?

560
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:03,959
Speaker 1: I thought it was a bit the first time. Oh.

561
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,600
Speaker 1: He like legitimately pukes into some tupperware and then they

562
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,399
Speaker 1: wipe his face with paper towels. In the interview keeps

563
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,000
Speaker 1: going for another like forty five seconds. They keep talking.

564
00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 1: When we come back from this break, I'm gonna tell

565
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,279
Speaker 1: you how that one little remark on CNN started to

566
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:45,480
Speaker 1: unravel the whole business. Oh my god, yes, Saren, are

567
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,719
Speaker 1: you doing. I am over here on the edge of

568
00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:50,200
Speaker 1: my seat waiting. Did he see and hear how this thread.

569
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:55,480
Speaker 1: Unroun oh, don't stop. When we left off, Falcon heeny

570
00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,840
Speaker 1: safely recovered, not in the weird giant balloon, but instead

571
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,600
Speaker 1: toys in the attic. Um he couldn't hear all the

572
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:06,520
Speaker 1: sheriff's deputies prior to the CNN interview with Will Splitzer,

573
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,759
Speaker 1: the sheriff did not think this was a hoax. Uh.

574
00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:12,920
Speaker 1: He shared with the public that the department spoke with

575
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:17,080
Speaker 1: a Colorado State University professor who determined it was scientifically

576
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,520
Speaker 1: possible for the balloon to carry up to eighty pounds.

577
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:22,480
Speaker 1: He could hold it could hold Falcon in the little

578
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:27,279
Speaker 1: tunicn um per. Reports made by the sheriff quote up

579
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,759
Speaker 1: to this point, all interactions showed emotions consistent with a

580
00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,320
Speaker 1: grieving process or concern for a lost child. So he's like,

581
00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 1: you know, they have me, so they're pretty good. But

582
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 1: then Falcon spills the beans on CNN. Polygraph tests are ordered,

583
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:46,319
Speaker 1: which Richard and Miomi agreed to take separately. Like legal,

584
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:51,799
Speaker 1: the cops are don't like doctor phils Like all right,

585
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:57,680
Speaker 1: come yeah, um Richard fell asleep during his well he said.

586
00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 1: He blamed it on having type one diabetes. Okay, yeah, Maomi,

587
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:05,080
Speaker 1: she confessed the entire thing was planned from the beginning,

588
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,279
Speaker 1: and then she said they wanted media attention because they

589
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:13,279
Speaker 1: wanted to get a show greenlit, like a science based

590
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,960
Speaker 1: reality TV show that they had pitched to ABC. UM

591
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:21,360
Speaker 1: Richard said that Miaomi didn't understand what she was saying

592
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,080
Speaker 1: and that she had misinterpreted the word hoax because Japanese

593
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:26,360
Speaker 1: was her native language. Oh yeah, you know how that

594
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,759
Speaker 1: grows hoax in Japanese? Is it sounds a lot like

595
00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:34,799
Speaker 1: um so that she He said that her English wasn't

596
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,840
Speaker 1: good enough to sufficiently understand or answer polygraph questions, and

597
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:40,760
Speaker 1: that she didn't know she could have stopped the process

598
00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:45,080
Speaker 1: at any time to request an attorney. He is. David Lane,

599
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:48,800
Speaker 1: the Denver criminal defense attorney who represented Richard, said, quote

600
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,360
Speaker 1: the Fort Collins d a's office basically said, if Richard

601
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,520
Speaker 1: doesn't take a felony and go to jail, they will

602
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 1: prosecute Miaomi, who is not a US citizen, She's a

603
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:03,040
Speaker 1: Japanese citizen. I think that it's an unconscionable position for

604
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,320
Speaker 1: any prosecutor to take every bit of what happened to

605
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:11,200
Speaker 1: the heenes was an injustice huh. I did not say Okay, yeah,

606
00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 1: I didn't see that one coming to the internet. Uh So,

607
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:16,600
Speaker 1: he claimed the d a's office put the family in

608
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:19,759
Speaker 1: this absolutely unsound position. If the case goes to court,

609
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:24,840
Speaker 1: Miaomi loses, they're going to deport her. Yeah. Um, so

610
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:27,160
Speaker 1: the attorney goes on quote it would have been great

611
00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:28,759
Speaker 1: to take the case to trial and make them all

612
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,440
Speaker 1: look stupid. But was Richard really going to take the

613
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,479
Speaker 1: unconscionable risk to his family over it. You're talking about

614
00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:36,840
Speaker 1: tearing a loving mother from her children and her husband

615
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,560
Speaker 1: as some kind of revenge. It was morally repugnant for

616
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,279
Speaker 1: the prosecutors to put the heenes in that position, to

617
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:45,120
Speaker 1: let this case turn into a circus. For God's sake,

618
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,319
Speaker 1: it was a balloon. Richard was not willing to risk

619
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:50,960
Speaker 1: the basic structure of his family having his children's mother

620
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,359
Speaker 1: and wife and his wife deported, so he took all

621
00:37:53,440 --> 00:38:02,040
Speaker 1: the weight. It was a blow. It was uh come,

622
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,800
Speaker 1: it was a bloom. November two thousand nine, Richard Heeney

623
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:09,160
Speaker 1: pleads guilty for attempting to influence a public official. At

624
00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,600
Speaker 1: least he took that way class for felony, and he's

625
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,400
Speaker 1: sentenced to ninety days in jail. Sixty days to be

626
00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:20,120
Speaker 1: served through work release Miami. He pleaded guilty to a

627
00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:23,480
Speaker 1: misdemeanor count of false reporting and was sentenced to twenty

628
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 1: days alternative jail due to her lack of past criminal

629
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:29,279
Speaker 1: history and her cooperation. Okay, it's basically house arrest. So

630
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:34,439
Speaker 1: on January seven, Richard Heeney appeared on Larry King Live Again.

631
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,759
Speaker 1: He's back in his like wheelhouse. He told Larry King

632
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 1: that the only reason he pleaded guilty was to protect

633
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:44,799
Speaker 1: Miaomi from deportation spare his children the loss of their mother. Uh.

634
00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:49,520
Speaker 1: A couple of days later, four days later, he starts

635
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:51,640
Speaker 1: his ninety day prison sentence and he had to pay

636
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:57,960
Speaker 1: thirty six thousand in restitution in August of that year

637
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,759
Speaker 1: for shutting down Denver. You think so August of that

638
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 1: year they moved from Fort Collins to Spring Hills, Florida,

639
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:10,080
Speaker 1: so they just cut down. July Heeny auction the balloon

640
00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:14,879
Speaker 1: Boy balloon off and Mike Fruitman of Aurora, Colorado, come

641
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,680
Speaker 1: on down because you placed the winning good at two

642
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:26,319
Speaker 1: thousand five two dollars. Mike Fruitman of Aurora, Colorado a balloon. Yeah,

643
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,400
Speaker 1: but it's infamous, infamous. Um I wonder like does he

644
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:31,680
Speaker 1: display it is just in a box in his garage

645
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,319
Speaker 1: museum or some kind of thing. Don't make his kid

646
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,920
Speaker 1: ride in it? Roside track could be Alderden said. Investigators

647
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 1: discovered eight to ten outlines for different reality show ideas

648
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:44,840
Speaker 1: the Heenies had pitched, and the balloon plan was in

649
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:48,360
Speaker 1: one of them. Oh, so they had proof, like the

650
00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:51,960
Speaker 1: sheriffs like look I got the documentation. April two thousand nine,

651
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:55,120
Speaker 1: the family signed an option with The Wife Swap producers

652
00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:59,400
Speaker 1: to pitch a series about outrageous homemade science experiments and

653
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:02,680
Speaker 1: the equal the outrageous family that created them, And a

654
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:04,880
Speaker 1: balloon in the shape of a flying saucer was one

655
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 1: of the ideas. So they had all this evidence that

656
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:15,359
Speaker 1: this has been cooking. Gawker r P gawker dot com

657
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:18,760
Speaker 1: connected with Robert Thomas, a student in Colorado who claimed

658
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:21,320
Speaker 1: he not only worked with Richard on the balloon hoax,

659
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:24,800
Speaker 1: but was now making a public offer to sell his story.

660
00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,680
Speaker 1: Thomas claimed that he and Heeney had a verbal agreement

661
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:32,480
Speaker 1: that if and when the reality show was accepted by ABC,

662
00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:36,319
Speaker 1: Thomas would be one of his lead research assistants. Here's

663
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:40,120
Speaker 1: he Need's concept can we attract UFOs with a homemade

664
00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:43,239
Speaker 1: flying saucer. We will modify a weather balloon so that

665
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:46,279
Speaker 1: it resembles a UFO and will electrically charge the skin

666
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:49,400
Speaker 1: of the craft by field brown effect. We will capture

667
00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:52,200
Speaker 1: the footage on film and will utilize the media as

668
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:54,239
Speaker 1: a means with which to make our presence known to

669
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,600
Speaker 1: the masses. This will not only provide us with incredible footage,

670
00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:00,360
Speaker 1: but will also generate a tremendous amount of cont reversity

671
00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:03,840
Speaker 1: among the public as well as publicity within the mainstream media.

672
00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:07,359
Speaker 1: This will be the most significant UFO related news event

673
00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:12,120
Speaker 1: to take place since the Roswell crash, and the result

674
00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:15,040
Speaker 1: will be a dramatic increase in local and national awareness

675
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:20,279
Speaker 1: about the Heeney Family are reality series, as well as

676
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:28,640
Speaker 1: the UFO phenomenon in general. Cheney Family awareness of what

677
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:34,239
Speaker 1: color ribbon is Heeney Family aware. So. Thomas claimed that

678
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:37,400
Speaker 1: Heney was also a paranoid conspiracy theorist who believed in

679
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 1: lizard people. Oh Thomas. Yes. Thomas claimed that Heney was

680
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:52,399
Speaker 1: also concerned about proving to be apocalyptic into the Mayan philosophy. Yeah,

681
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,440
Speaker 1: he's anything out on the fringe. He's just grabbing to

682
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,920
Speaker 1: folds of it. Um. T J. Holmes, that's sassy g

683
00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:02,239
Speaker 1: M a home wrecker. Oh. He interviewed the family in

684
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:06,160
Speaker 1: nineteen for a ten year anniversary story. Richard stuck to

685
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:10,160
Speaker 1: the whole It wasn't a hoax thing. Okay, it was

686
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:14,719
Speaker 1: the most uncomfortable, had two guilty that it was a hoax.

687
00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 1: It wasn't. It wasn't a hoax. Yeah. Um, remember Richard

688
00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:22,400
Speaker 1: Sanchez a reporter about the gravitas of balloon boy. Um,

689
00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:27,080
Speaker 1: exactly that one unifying moment that we all needed in

690
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:30,560
Speaker 1: the face of economic tragedy. He visited the Heeney family

691
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:34,360
Speaker 1: in October at their new home in New York to

692
00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:36,800
Speaker 1: do a ten years on thing. Their new home was

693
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:39,160
Speaker 1: actually a camper trailer that they all lived in together

694
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,000
Speaker 1: while working on renovating a one hundred and sixty year

695
00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:46,920
Speaker 1: old farmhouse, which was some project. It was a project

696
00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:49,360
Speaker 1: for a Florida investors, So like, I don't know what

697
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:53,400
Speaker 1: they're up to. A month after his visit, Sanchez received

698
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:59,080
Speaker 1: an email from Miami's attorney, Lee Christian Huh. The email

699
00:42:59,440 --> 00:43:02,239
Speaker 1: stated that he found Miami's case file and he would

700
00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:04,680
Speaker 1: be willing to share it with Sanchez if given permission

701
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,920
Speaker 1: from Miaomi. That's weird. That is very weird. He does

702
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:11,080
Speaker 1: the interview and then her attorney is like, hey man, Yeah.

703
00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:15,320
Speaker 1: A week later, Sanchez is in Christian's office with total access.

704
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:22,240
Speaker 1: I'm hoping he discovered handwritten notes made for her attorney

705
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:24,520
Speaker 1: that she wrote that gave a blow by blow of

706
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:29,320
Speaker 1: the events. They confirmed without a doubt that everything was staged. However,

707
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:31,800
Speaker 1: the notes also revealed the plan was for Falcon to

708
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:34,640
Speaker 1: hide in the basement, not the attic where he would

709
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:36,839
Speaker 1: have been discovered. Yeah, so when he wasn't found as

710
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:39,960
Speaker 1: planned in the basement, they really did become genuinely worried

711
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:43,440
Speaker 1: that Falcon was actually in the balloon and carried away olive.

712
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,840
Speaker 1: That's why they were able to wrap that exactly. But

713
00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:49,520
Speaker 1: Richard never backed down from saying it wasn't a hoax.

714
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,680
Speaker 1: Sanchez said quote at some point, I really believe Richard

715
00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:56,240
Speaker 1: and Miomi thought that Falcon had been taken by the balloon,

716
00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:59,840
Speaker 1: like taken by the balloon, like a sentient thing, like

717
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:03,160
Speaker 1: a human trafficker, because he was nowhere to be found.

718
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:05,919
Speaker 1: And that's why it appeared so real when he saw

719
00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 1: the reunification with the parents. So whatever, Sanchez decided to

720
00:44:10,239 --> 00:44:13,000
Speaker 1: call Richard and tell him what he found. Caught off guard,

721
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,480
Speaker 1: he need asked Sanchez where he got the information. Meanwhile,

722
00:44:16,560 --> 00:44:19,200
Speaker 1: Sanchez could hear Mayomi in the background, denying she had

723
00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:23,120
Speaker 1: written anything. Sanchez then emailed he need the pictures of

724
00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:27,839
Speaker 1: the notes. Two days later, he reaches back to Sanchez

725
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,040
Speaker 1: and then this is the exchange that takes place, Richard,

726
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:35,040
Speaker 1: this whole thing that never happened, Sanchez. So you didn't

727
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:37,080
Speaker 1: suggest that Falcon could hide in the closet with the

728
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:41,720
Speaker 1: safe in the basement. Mayaomi, I made the whole story up. Richard?

729
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:46,000
Speaker 1: What Mayumi? I wrote it? She starts crying, Richard, what

730
00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:48,320
Speaker 1: do you mean you wrote this? What the are you

731
00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:50,520
Speaker 1: talking about? You said you didn't know what this was.

732
00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:53,920
Speaker 1: Why would you write this, Mayaomi? To save myself because

733
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:58,480
Speaker 1: of our kids, Richard, Oh my god, what every time

734
00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:02,520
Speaker 1: you write something you cause storm. It's gonna be a

735
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:07,680
Speaker 1: fun bleat fest. Post balloon Boy, the boys were homeschooled

736
00:45:08,239 --> 00:45:10,520
Speaker 1: to get ahead of any possible concerns that they'd be

737
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:13,439
Speaker 1: like yeah, and they have to suffer for their death.

738
00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:15,920
Speaker 1: They learned how to play guitar and drums, and they

739
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:19,960
Speaker 1: started a metal band, Heeney Boys. At the end of Boys,

740
00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:22,840
Speaker 1: Oh my God, I love this, yeah. He Richard markets

741
00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:29,120
Speaker 1: the band. Richard markets the band is the youngest metal

742
00:45:29,239 --> 00:45:32,600
Speaker 1: group in the world, and they have a song entitled

743
00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:38,240
Speaker 1: balloon Boy No Hoax. There's a video for it. It's terrible.

744
00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:40,600
Speaker 1: I'm not going to post it because I feel like

745
00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:44,160
Speaker 1: if I did, they'd sue me. No, but yeah, I

746
00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:48,200
Speaker 1: feel like yeah. Richard also wrote a heavy metal rock

747
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:53,239
Speaker 1: opera called American Chili C H I L Y, and

748
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:55,680
Speaker 1: that was performed by the brothers at a theater while

749
00:45:55,719 --> 00:45:58,600
Speaker 1: they were living in Florida. Richard tried pitching it to

750
00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:00,759
Speaker 1: a Hollywood agent, but he didn't to response. So the

751
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:04,800
Speaker 1: rock opera they performed in a Florida dinner theater for

752
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:11,960
Speaker 1: like a local Yeah didn't now. December twenty three, Governor

753
00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:15,880
Speaker 1: Jared Paulis paulis is how you say it? Of Colorado?

754
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:18,080
Speaker 1: I don't know whatever p O l I s. I've

755
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:21,080
Speaker 1: heard it a million times. If you get one thing

756
00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:25,680
Speaker 1: I can guarantee is that I'm going to screw up

757
00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:29,640
Speaker 1: someone's name and feel terrible about it. So the Governor

758
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:33,360
Speaker 1: of Colorado, he granted full and unconditional pardons to the

759
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:36,320
Speaker 1: genies Richard and Miomi. This is what he said, quote,

760
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:39,160
Speaker 1: we are ready to move past the spectacle from a

761
00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:42,040
Speaker 1: decade ago that wasted the precious time and resources of

762
00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:45,800
Speaker 1: law enforcement officials and the general public. Richard and Miyomi

763
00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:47,840
Speaker 1: have paid the price in the eyes of the public,

764
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:50,600
Speaker 1: serve their sentences, and it's time for all of us

765
00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:54,440
Speaker 1: to move on. He said. It's time to no longer

766
00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:57,920
Speaker 1: let a permanent criminal record from the Balloon Boys Saga

767
00:46:58,280 --> 00:47:01,080
Speaker 1: follow and drag down the parents the rest of their lives.

768
00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:04,359
Speaker 1: They shouldn't have to suffer. Sound like like a line

769
00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:09,200
Speaker 1: from The Simpsons. From the Balloon Boys Saga, Richard said

770
00:47:09,239 --> 00:47:11,359
Speaker 1: that the pardon was quote the best news I've heard

771
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:14,000
Speaker 1: in my entire life. Oh not that your son didn't

772
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:17,000
Speaker 1: get creamed falling out of a balloon. That's the best news.

773
00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:23,959
Speaker 1: Come ONOMI isn't divorcing you. What's your ridiculous takeaways, Aaron,

774
00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:29,120
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. One. I'm surprised at myself for believing

775
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:31,759
Speaker 1: even a moment that maybe Falcon was in there, because

776
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:34,000
Speaker 1: I had every instinct, cause hey, I don't believe this,

777
00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:36,800
Speaker 1: but yet I still for a moment. I was like, no,

778
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:39,200
Speaker 1: falcon when you said something dropped out, So I have

779
00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:43,239
Speaker 1: to admit even I was taken in. I'm just I'm

780
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:47,680
Speaker 1: I'm suspicious, you know. In this case, I was like, well,

781
00:47:48,239 --> 00:47:50,880
Speaker 1: the three boys, I thought, well, maybe one of them did. Anyway,

782
00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:57,400
Speaker 1: the ridiculousness is that these three boys their names like Bradford.

783
00:47:57,480 --> 00:47:59,800
Speaker 1: I got to the takeaway that I'm going with this.

784
00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:03,120
Speaker 1: I'm worried about bradfor because he didn't get the weird name.

785
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:06,160
Speaker 1: He's got the weird families. So I'm worried he's going

786
00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:08,719
Speaker 1: to act out and we're gonna hear about Bradford. I

787
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:13,279
Speaker 1: worry about the kids free interview. They seem kind of

788
00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:16,040
Speaker 1: uncomfortable and like they really wish they weren't being interviewed

789
00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:19,000
Speaker 1: or on camera. They're still making bad metal songs about

790
00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:22,520
Speaker 1: their dad's laying up. Every team is allowed to make

791
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:26,520
Speaker 1: an encouraged make bad metal. Shouldn't be about your dad's

792
00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:29,759
Speaker 1: hoaks exactly, your dad's fights with the public. Yeah, those

793
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:32,200
Speaker 1: poor boys. Um, it should be about how your dad

794
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:34,120
Speaker 1: is a jerk or whatever you want with you. I

795
00:48:34,239 --> 00:48:39,480
Speaker 1: think that they're my takeaway Since you asked curious what's

796
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:41,959
Speaker 1: your ridiculous take? Oh? Thanks, thanks, you know, I hadn't

797
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:46,160
Speaker 1: even thought about it. I think, um, it's interesting that

798
00:48:46,320 --> 00:48:49,520
Speaker 1: their desire, they're like naked desire for attention is there

799
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:53,120
Speaker 1: is there undoing. If they hadn't gone on Larry King

800
00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:56,120
Speaker 1: and talked to Will Splitzer, if they hadn't have like

801
00:48:56,520 --> 00:48:59,680
Speaker 1: barfed on Morning TV, you know, we wouldn't I wouldn't

802
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:01,560
Speaker 1: be telling you the store. So maybe thank you for

803
00:49:01,680 --> 00:49:04,360
Speaker 1: that to them. I have this to tell you. That's it.

804
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:07,920
Speaker 1: That's all I got. You can find us online at

805
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:11,920
Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime on both Twitter for the talking and Instagram

806
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:15,560
Speaker 1: where we show you what these look like. Email us

807
00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:18,239
Speaker 1: if you want to at Ridiculous Crime at gmail dot com.

808
00:49:19,640 --> 00:49:28,120
Speaker 1: Tune in next time. Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth

809
00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:31,400
Speaker 1: Dutton and Zarin Burnett, produced and edited by senior Ridiculous

810
00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:34,720
Speaker 1: Crime Lizard person Dave Kuston. Research is by Balloon Truther

811
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:38,680
Speaker 1: or Andrea Song Charpentier. The theme song is by Heeney Boys, Rhodes,

812
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:42,120
Speaker 1: Thomas Lee and Travis Dutton. Executive producers are Duct Tape

813
00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:52,560
Speaker 1: and Tinfoil Baron's Ben Bolan and Noel Brown. Say It

814
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:57,480
Speaker 1: One More Time. Dequeous Ridiculous Crime is a production of

815
00:49:57,520 --> 00:50:00,399
Speaker 1: My heart Radio four more podcasts. My heart Radio visit

816
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:03,000
Speaker 1: the ir heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

817
00:50:03,080 --> 00:50:04,320
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.