A court in the US state of Colorado has jailed the parents responsible for the balloon boy hoax; on 15 October, Richard Heenes and his wife Mayumi told the authorities that their six-year-old son had climbed into a helium balloon and floated away.

A massive air and land search was launched and flights to Denver international airport were diverted during the search. Radio and television programmes were interrupted with coverage of the drama. The hoax was revealed when the six-year-old emerged from his hiding place in the family home. The couple staged the drama in the hopes of getting their own reality TV series
 

Richard Heenes was sentenced to 90 days in jail while his wife was sentenced to 20 days. Judge Stephen Schapanski said: "This in simple terms was an elaborate hoax that was devised by Mr and Mrs Heenes. This case is about deception and exploitation, exploitation of the Heenes' children, exploitation of the media, exploitation of the feelings of people. And it was all about money, making money".