The Balloon Boy Saga: Was this over 5 years ago already? For those of you not in the know, in October of 2009, Richard Heene (a father in Colorado) caused a media sensation when he claimed that his 6-year-old son was trapped inside a runaway gas balloon. People all over America watched live as the balloon sped through the sky, presumably with a child stuck inside. Turned out, though, that it was all a ruse, and the kid was safely at home the whole time. For orchestrating this event, Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail and had to pay $36,000 for wasting the time of rescue personnel (who prefer to assist people with actual emergencies, not reality TV sizzle reels).