A couple of Americans convicted in 2009 for having made believe that one of their sons was on board a drifting experimental balloon, was pardoned Thursday by the governor of Colorado.
Richard and Mayumi Heene were sentenced to 90 and 20 days in prison respectively for the "balloon boy" hoax, which quickly became one of the most famous hoaxes in modern American history.
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Accused of having invented this hoax to land a reality TV contract, they benefited Wednesday from a pardon from the governor of this western American state, Jared Polis, saying that the parents had
"paid the price in the eyes of the public ”.
On October 15, 2009, millions of viewers had watched with anguish for several hours the course of the flying saucer-shaped balloon, broadcast live by the camera of a helicopter, believing that the six-year-old Falcon had accidentally taken off at edge of the machine.
Traffic at Denver airport had been suspended for fear of a collision with the balloon.
When the balloon landed, empty, after 110 km of flight, the parents announced that they had finally discovered their son hiding in the attic of the house for fear of punishment.
The authorities soon suspected a deception and Mayumi Heene confessed to the police.
At trial, prosecutor Andrew Lewis had asked for prison terms to deter other adventurers in need of publicity.
Richard Heene's lawyer compared the hoax to the legendary 1938 radio show in which filmmaker Orson Welles made believe there was an invasion of Earth by Martians, and which caused panic.
Mayumi Heene has since retracted, saying she confessed only for fear of being deported to Japan, her country of birth.
Her husband also assured in 2019 that they were convinced that their son, Falcon, was on board the balloon.
The family now lives in Florida.
After his adventure, Falcon, now a teenager, founded a hard rock group with his two brothers and released a song “Boy in a Balloon, Not a Hoax”, accompanied by a video clip featuring the UFO balloon.