Picket Fence Post

UPDATE: Good grief. The local sheriff in Fort Collins, Colorado says the whole thing was a hoax. Charges are pending. I complain about the fact that I gave the Heenes the benefit of the doubt here.

I’ve chronicled both in my pop culture blog, Notes from the Asylum, and in my new Mommy Tracked column the bizarre story of the Heene family, the runaway homemade helium balloon, the Black Hawk helicopter sent to save the boy in the balloon (who wasn’t actually in the balloon), the hiding 6-year-old, the 6-year-old telling Wolf Blitzer that he hid “for the show,” the family’s TWO appearances on the reality show Wife Swap (where the dad Richard swore at the woman who was his swapped wife, threw stuff at her and laughed as his children also swore at her and flipped her off), the rap video on YouTube featuring the three Heene boys called “Not Pussified,” and the multiple interviews the family did this morning on national TV even though the 6-year-old Falcon was repeatedly puking on live television. Then there was the report late today by the gossip site TMZ that the Heene family has reportedly been shopping a reality show around Hollywood. Oy.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this mess.