I talked about the Balloon Boy today on Star 102.5. In case you missed it, an experimental balloon in the shape of a flying saucer was untethered from a house in Colorado, and floated nearly 40 miles with the wind, supposedly with 6 year old Falcon Heene inside. All the news networks were covering the balloon’s flight live, until it landed nearly 3 hours later – with no 6 year old boy inside.

Where was he? Had he fallen? No, rescuers had traced the path of the balloon and found nothing.

Had he set the balloon free by accident? Could he be hiding out of fear of reprisal? That was my theory this afternoon on the air, and it appears I was right. CNN reports Falcon has been found, alive and well, hiding in the attic.

UPDATE: Charges will be brought against Falcon Heene’s parents, Richard and Myumi. Police were tipped off initially when the Heenes were interviewed on CNN following the incident. Falcon was asked why he did what he did, and he replied by saying, “You guys said we did this for the show.”

On Saturday, officials with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office announced that, yes, the whole thing was a fake, and that they expect criminal charges to be filed against Falcon’s parents. According to a department spokesman, “Needless to say, they put on a good show for us and we bought it.”

Richard and Mayumi could both be charged with conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities, and attempting to influence a public servant. If that’s the case, they could each be looking at several years in prison, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

Did You Know….

Teachers say they can identify the naughtiest kids, as well as the brightest and most popular kids, on the first day of school just by looking at their names? Bounty.com found in a study of 3,000 school teachers that more than one in three expect children with certain names to be more of a handful than others.

Bounty says keep an eye out for children with names like Callum, Chelsea, Connor and Jack. The study also revealed girls called Aliesha, Casey and Crystal put teachers on edge as do boys named Kyle, Liam, Jake and Brooklyn.

Interestingly, 57% of teachers said the naughtiest children at school are also the most popular, and often make friends easier than well behaved children. More than a third also claimed that the naughtiest children are often the brightest – and the most sensitive.

(note to self: should I be worried about my son, Connor?)

What is it about Beatles and car rides with my children?

I was driving home with my daughter, listening to the Beatles the other night.

I said “The Beatles are my favorite.”

Darcy said, “You’re my favorite, Daddy.”

And just like that, another unforgettable memory was created.

–Brian