Recently, I have been obsessed with watching documentaries about various things. One such doc that I saw was part of the trainwreck series on Netflix, called “Balloon Boy”. This film showed the harrowing chase that occurred back in 2009, when a boy supposedly got stuck inside a home-made UFO and caused a nationwide panic. Though the boy was revealed to have not been on the UFO at all, it spawned an entire controversy on whether the family had planned the whole thing for attention.
The documentary follows the accounts of the family on what happened before and after the balloon took off. The family’s story in the film is intertwined with the investigations of the local police department, who are convinced that the family is guilty of the hoax. As it went on, I found myself questioning each side of the story. Every time it seemed like I understood the full context of what occurred, some new information would drop that changed how I looked at the situation. On the one hand, many parts of the family’s recollections don’t add up, especially for Richard Heene, who seemed very eccentric and somewhat unhinged. On the other hand, many of the methods the police used were questionable and, at times, seemed like they were trying very hard to guilt the family into admission.
Although Richard did eventually admit to the hoax in court and spent some time in jail, the documentary frames it like he had little to no choice in the matter. In the end, the documentary leaves it open-ended for the audience to decide for themselves, which I think is the most engaging thing about the documentary. I highly recommend checking it out if you have an hour to spare!
