On October 15, 2009, Richard Heene from Fort Collins, Colorado reported that his ‘experimental flying saucer’ had unintentionally taken off with his six-year-old son trapped inside. The story was tailor-made for television. News outlets around the world followed the supposed perilous journey of the ‘balloon boy’ for over an hour until the object eventually landed—without the child inside. It was later revealed that the boy had been safe all along, hiding in the family’s attic, and the entire incident was part of what appeared to be a calculated publicity stunt by Heene.
The short documentary Balloon Boy, made entirely from archival footage, chronicles the news coverage of the event, highlighting the frenzied reporting by global news channels both during the flight and after the balloon had landed. Directed by Arlin Golden and Brian Gersten and produced by Nathan Truesdell, a filmmaker known for his tragicomic archival documentaries on institutional failures, this work sharply critiques profit-driven news media. As viewers revisit the absurd spectacle, they may find themselves questioning their role in the media systems that reward entertainment over actual information.