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CNN Newsroom
Small Child Floats Away in Runaway Balloon
Aired October 15, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.
And, Chad, you have been monitoring the weather conditions, the winds, the temperatures. Bring us up to date on that. And then Craig can add in on how that is going to affect how long this is airborne, et cetera.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Just watching the pictures out of KUSA, the ones actually on the left there, it's concerning me now that the helicopter is shooting it from below. Does that mean that the helicopter can't go any higher, that the helicopter has reached its ultimate height, and basically the balloon is above it?
If that is happening, then this balloon is basically up into the cloud layer at this point, so the temperatures are well below freezing, certainly. But, also, there's a risk at some point of hypoxia, where this child may not have enough oxygen up there.
A Mylar balloon could stay in flight a very, very long time. If this does not have some type of release mechanism or a leak in it just naturally, this helium will stay aloft, stay afloat for basically an indefinitely amount of time here.
So, at some point in time, they may literally have to realize what's going to happen after dark? Because it is going to get colder. The real saving grace here is that the wind is coming from the west and pushing this into a lower and lower and into a very flat land, rather than blowing from the east and blowing this child directly into the mountains there of the front range -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Guys, as you know, it's about one minute past the hour. Rick Sanchez, this is normally his time. Now together we are watching these live pictures via our affiliate. Or actually this is video I'm being told now, Rick, from our affiliate KUSA out of Denver, Colorado. As you can imagine, we're on a delay.
The news helicopters are covering this. And basically let me bring you up to date, because I know you were working on your show. This is a first for those in Larimer County. And I was talking with Kathy Davis at the sheriff's department. And she said: "I have to be honest with you. We don't know what we're going to do.
"We have called in the Air Force. We have called in news helicopters. We have called in the FAA, air balloon company expert. We don't know what to do. All we can now do is track this 6-year-old in this Mylar balloon with helium." RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And pray, and pray for this little boy. He's six years old. And as I watch this, I'm thinking of my kids, who are not too far from that age, and what any parent would imagine having to deal with if their child were in this situation.
And you really hit it on the head, Kyra. I mean, this is a state of helplessness for all of us. We -- I want to grab through that screen, reach through that screen and grab that thing and bring it down to earth. But there's no Superman episode here. We're all really searching for some kind of solution.
And we heard your expert moments ago, Craig Kennedy, suggest that this is very much like what those helium-filled balloons are that we see kids at parties get. And, oftentimes, when the kids leave the parties, they release them into the air.
Well, I can tell you that living in South Florida, when I used to go into the Everglades, I would find those balloons. You know, eventually they do come down because the helium dissipates.
And as we look at this right now, I know many of you are joining us from all over the country, following this story for us.
Chad, as we watch this, does it look to you, or, Craig Kennedy, does it look to you like some of that helium is starting to dissipate from this balloon, especially as you look at the right side there?
(CROSSTALK)
KENNEDY: I just finally got a look at your signal, and I'm watching now on CNN seeing the shape of this balloon, and I see that this was actually recorded earlier from KUSA.
So, this looks like a giant Jiffy Pop. And what I see as a good sign is that it has not expanded. It's not growing any bigger. So, the likelihood of it growing higher has clearly been diminished. I don't know. The properties of the Mylar is that it will hold gas for a good long time.
SANCHEZ: And the Mylar, just so viewers who are catching up who may just now be watching, right, Kyra? You may have heard this before. That's the material that this balloon is made of, right?
PHILLIPS: Correct.
SANCHEZ: Craig.
PHILLIPS: Go ahead, Craig.
KENNEDY: Well, and now we're beginning to see the balloon tip on its side, so that would suggest to me that it's unstable, it is not taking its full rounded shape. It may be losing some of the gas that was lifting it.
Now that I'm looking at the altitude... PHILLIPS: Craig, let me add that this is tape from earlier and that right now news helicopters have lost sight of the balloon. We're being told that the news helicopters can actually -- they have lost sight of it. So, this is actually tape from earlier.
Is this a live picture now, guys, from another affiliate? Or is this tape as well? OK. We got it -- now we have got KMGH.
Go ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Craig, this is a live picture once again. As you look at this thing, you know what I'm most curious about? And I think it's just the question that comes to mind as you look at this.
Were this thing to continue on its course, given what you and I and Kyra and all of us who have been watching this for the last 45 minutes know, at what speed, given your expertise, would it most likely come down to earth?
KENNEDY: Well, there's no saying at what speed that the balloon would finally land. I'm seeing good news in that this balloon appears to be heading out over the eastern plains of Colorado and perhaps into Kansas and that if...
SANCHEZ: Why is that good news?
KENNEDY: Well, because it's wide-open area. It's not populated. We don't have a lot of power lines. It's an obstacle -- it's the obstacles upon landing that are the greatest concern to me and I think to anyone else familiar with balloons.
SANCHEZ: I will tell you, as we look at this, Chad, we learned a little while ago that the temperature in the area has a lot to do with how this balloon will behave. Can you bring us up to date? A lot of our viewers are very interested in what the behavior patterns are for this particular balloon, given the weather. Can you take us through that again?
MYERS: The wind is basically out of the northwest at all altitudes, northwest at 20 to 30 miles an hour at the surface. At about 1,000 feet above the surface, which would be about 6,000 feet -- you have to realize that we started this process at 5,000 feet, because that's where Fort Collins and Denver basically exist, the Mile High City.
And, so, as we push this balloon with these northwest winds increasing from 20 to 30, and even higher and higher at about 7,000 to 8,000 feet, this could be going 40 miles an hour. Now, that's a quick move, but there's no threat of it hitting anything at 7,000 or 8,000 feet.
There's a threat of a little bit of a lack of oxygen, but still, if you're talking a normal sea level pressure at 13,000 feet, that child has plenty of oxygen at this point. Now, there's no way to tell where this balloon is, because we haven't been contact with this helicopter.
But I have been looking from this helicopter up at this balloon now for at least 15 minutes, which means I know this helicopter can't go any higher or it would to give us a closer picture.
So, as it's shooting up, the top layer of where the altitude could be for a helicopter, probably 10,000 feet. It doesn't want to go much higher than that. There's just not much more air up there. There's not a lot of lift up above that.
So, this thing is pointing up at this balloon at this point in time, not a hot air balloon, Rick. This isn't going to cool off and go to the ground like a regular hot air balloon would if you shut off the propane. This is not going to do anything, except continue to float like that Mylar balloon that you were talking about at the Everglades, the Mylar balloons. Those big balloons, they keep going.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: Enough lift obviously to lift off the 6-year-old, whatever his weight is, 50, 60, 65 pounds, somewhere in there, and then this thing continues to rise. I'm just concerned that, at some point in time, this thing has to lose some air.
SANCHEZ: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: In order to lose air, it may have to e put some type of hole in this thing to slowly allow that air to release.
SANCHEZ: Chad, let me get back to you in just a little bit.
The question here is, Kyra, of course what can they possibly do about this?
PHILLIPS: Well, and that's what the sheriff's department -- when I talked to Kathy Davis at Larimer County, said, look, we don't know what to do. We have contacted the FAA. We have contacted news helicopters, the FAA, air balloon companies.
Jeanne Meserve, our homeland security correspondent, actually made contact with the FAA.
Jeanne, what are your sources telling you? I mean, what can they do? What are they doing at this point, Air Force-wise, FAA-wise?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, NORAD at this point says it's just been monitoring this situation. It is aware of it. It has not been asked for any assistance. It's a local matter at this point. They haven't launched aircraft or anything like that.
But we did speak to someone with the Colorado State Police. He said that a National Guard rescue helicopter has been launched to head in the direction of this balloon, but this state police spokesman was unaware of what they might be able to do about this situation.
He said they're just evaluating it at this point in time, trying to figure out what sort of action they might be able to take. The best-case scenario he said was that this should gradually lose some helium and gradually descend.
But the problem as he pointed out is where it's going to put down, if it's going to be someplace with power lines and buildings and things that would make it a dangerous landing.
(CROSSTALK)
MESERVE: At this point, very much wait and see.
SANCHEZ: Stay right there, if you would.
Speaking of dangerous, Craig -- are you still there?
KENNEDY: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I'm just wondering given what we just learned in that report, whether putting a helicopter close to this helium balloon, for lack of a better description, would be more dangerous than staying away from it?
KENNEDY: You know, that's a difficult question to answer.
Any rotor wash coming from that helicopter is going to certainly affect the flight of the balloon. I would think that the very best outcome, again, would be for the cooling of the day to begin and for the sun to start going down and for that balloon to start coming down gently out over wide open areas.
I just -- would it be worth a shot? Of course it would. If you could start to force that balloon down towards the ground with rotor wash, I mean...
PHILLIPS: Is that a safe way to do it, though? Is that your only option?
(CROSSTALK)
KENNEDY: I have never heard of it being done. I have never heard of such a thing.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Have you ever heard of any type of aircraft bringing down a hot air balloon or, I mean...
KENNEDY: I have not. That's not to say that it hasn't happened before. But I certainly have not seen such...
(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: You would just think -- and any one us who have been on helicopters and been around helicopters -- and you certainly do it a lot in local news when you're all working it -- that the thrust that those rotors give off would be much stronger than what is being felt by the winds that this -- this giant balloon is feeling, right? I mean that's just a layman's perspective. Am I wrong?
PHILLIPS: You know what, Rick? This may change the whole face of this conversation.
Apparently, they think the boy might have fallen out of that helium balloon.
SANCHEZ: Oh, no.
PHILLIPS: An undersheriff is coming forward saying that, when that balloon drifted away from his parents' Fort Collins, Colorado home, that maybe the boy had already fallen out of that craft.
Maggie Martinez (ph) of the Weld County Sheriff's Office is saying that a sibling saw the boy climb into the basket before the balloon took off, but, since the door of the balloon was unlocked -- and if you see a close shot of it -- we did a little while ago -- this is tape. No, no, we're back at live right now. Now we're at live.
You can see that there is -- the door is sort of opened. It's unlatched. As it twirls around, you will be able to see that. So, it's possible that the boy...
SANCHEZ: Well, why are they saying possible? Have they not been able to nail down yet whether he has been found or not?
PHILLIPS: No. No. No, they haven't.
SANCHEZ: So this is according to something that someone saw? That is what we're reporting?
PHILLIPS: A sibling. A sibling, apparently. They saw that the door was unlock and that, when it took off, that the boy might have fallen out of that door before it went airborne. So, right now, we can't even confirm if that little boy is in there.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Boy, I will tell you, Kyra, that's heartbreaking news.
Hopefully, it's wrong for some reason. Sometimes, in news, all we can do is hope that the information we get is wrong. It's not truly confirmed, other than just what Kyra read you, that someone said they saw that.
What we should try and maybe do is get Kathy Davis back on the line. You were talking to her just a little while ago. She's with the sheriff's office out there.
In the meantime, Chad -- Chad, what do you make of this? MYERS: Well, you know what? I'm still looking at this thing, and now I'm not looking at the bottom of it anymore. It appears that either the helicopter is up now to it's level, which is great, which means -- because the helicopter is not going to go above hypoxia level, 15,000 feet. It's not going to go that higher. And so maybe we're OK with this child, if he's still in there, having oxygen.
So, let's kind of fly you into Colorado. Here's Denver, Fort Collins to the north here. The north part in the South Platte River right through here, the interstate going north and south I-25 right out of Colorado. We know that the child or the balloon itself -- we will just call this the balloon at this point in time -- left Fort Collins and has been drifting to the south and to the southwest.
It went over the town of Evans and is now continuing to the southwest at about 20 to 30 miles an hour. We have not been able to definitively figure out what the altitude of this child or this balloon is simply because, well, we're already starting out -- we're starting out here at 5,000 feet. That's where the elevation is here.
Now, guys, as we move away, and let's say this balloon is now over this area, now we're down to 4,500 feet. And now we're going to go down to 4,400 feet. So, as the balloon flies away from the mountains, literally, the land falls away from the balloon, so there's nothing to run into.
And eventually if this balloon does run out or slow down of helium, and the winds die off, because they will around sunset, this balloon could literally make a very soft and gentle landing.
But, at this speed, as I look at these pictures, this thing is going at least 30 miles per hour. Hard to tell because the helicopter is moving, too.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Chad, let get back to you in just a minute. Kyra and I were going over some of the information here. And we're kind of trying to deal with it as it comes. I understand now that Jeanne Meserve might have some information that she's going to be able to share with us.
Jeanne, I apologize. We cut away from you just a little while ago. What do you have for us now?
MESERVE: Just to tell you that I now have from a second source that indeed the National Guard is launching a helicopter to go up in the air and evaluate this situation from the air to try and figure out what they can do.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Jeanne, sorry, we have got to take you straight to a press conference right now, we have just been told. Let's go there live.
MESERVE: Sure.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
QUESTION: Do you have any information about what Falcon may be wearing, as far as clothes to keep him -- is he cold up there? Do you have any indication of that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't, no, not at this time.
QUESTION: OK. Any idea about what he's wearing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not at this time.
QUESTION: OK.
QUESTION: Do we know, were they doing an experiment? We had earlier that they had been -- hover over the ground a little bit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Possibly. I can't confirm that right now.
QUESTION: How is the family -- is the family able to give information or are they just too distraught?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they are. They're able to give information. Like I said, Richard is talking on the phone with different agencies that are involved with this type of experimentation.
QUESTION: Do you know how high the balloon reached at all? Do you have any information?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, that, I don't, yes, but it's pretty high.
QUESTION: Kathy, I understand (INAUDIBLE) school district was off today for elementary students. Is that why Falcon was at home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably, I believe so.
QUESTION: Did the father know that Falcon was in the basket when it took off?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, because he was in the house. The son is the one that came in and told him that his brother had climbed in the basket when it took off and watched it go up.
QUESTION: Kathy, as we look at the house behind you, it's not a big lot. Where was this balloon? On the backside? In the driveway?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is. It's about directly right through there. It's in the backyard. The backyard's not very big. Probably on the left side when you go out the back.
QUESTION: All right, well, thank you very much for the update.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're welcome. Good?
Yes, those are all things that I just didn't get yet.
PHILLIPS: Yes, it -- sorry about that. We just got away out of that news conference, didn't give us very much new information, did it, Rick?
SANCHEZ: Well, I think -- one of the things that I think most people are watching this -- certainly, I'm curious about this -- is how this little boy was able to get into that situation without adult supervision? Or was there adult supervision? What did his parents say?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And I don't know. We may have possibly clipped the beginning of that.
But Jeanne is back up again.
Jeanne Meserve, we got you back, right?
MESERVE: Yes, you do.
Listen, I'm going to read this off my BlackBerry since I'm looking at it for the first time. This is from Captain Troy Brown of the Army National Guard. He says they have an OH-58 helicopter, a smaller helicopter, en route to get eyes on this balloon now. Also, a UH-60 Black Hawk with hoist capability could go to the scene and ascertain the best method to try and get this aircraft down.
Also working with ultralight aircraft people to maybe put weights on the balloon, to see if there's a way they can hoist someone down. Their understanding is that this balloon is about seven feet in diameter. It says a long line hoist maybe could get near it and grab it. Considering it's obviously a very unusual event, they would lower someone from the Black Hawk, the UH-60.
How far away? They say, we're about eight miles south of Denver International Airport. That's where the Army -- the National Guard is. At last report, the balloon was about 25 miles northwest of the Denver International Airport.
So, once again, one -- one helicopter in the air, another to be dispatched shortly, and discussion of how to hoist somebody down out of this balloon.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Jeanne Meserve.
Let's go back to our expert, Craig Kennedy, who knows a lot about these types of balloons.
Mr. Kennedy, you heard what she just said. I was most interested when she talked about the hoist capability of that Black Hawk and then she mentioned that might be a chance of perhaps using an ultralight to try and maneuver some kind of a rescue. What is your take on that, sir?
KENNEDY: You know, I just have not had any familiarity at all with such an attempt to bring such a balloon down.
But in hearing something else that Jeanne Meserve was saying, she said, if I heard correctly, that that balloon was only apparently seven feet in diameter. The more I have been watching these pictures of the helicopter circling the balloon, the more I'm questioning whether or not there is much of a payload aboard.
PHILLIPS: We're being told 20 feet long, Craig, 20 feet long, five feet high.
KENNEDY: OK. OK.
Based on what I am seeing, the balloon is listing. It is not sitting in stable flight with the basket directly below it. The more weight that would be in that basket, the greater the likelihood that the balloon would appear to be stable and floating flat.
Do you follow what I'm saying? So, when you were talking earlier about the possibility that the child may no longer be aboard, from what I'm seeing, I think there's a lot of credibility to that theory.
PHILLIPS: Really? Because, if he were on board, that the way it would be floating would be how so?
SANCHEZ: Much more vertical.
KENNEDY: Much more vertical.
SANCHEZ: Right.
KENNEDY: Right now, the balloon appears to be listing a great deal and it seems to be changing in the wind. So, that suggests to me that there's not much of a payload aboard, other that whatever that apparatus is at the bottom, the area where the child in theory went in, in the first place.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So, essentially, what you're saying is his weight would stabilize the balloon.
Now, for the sake of the viewer, let's see if we can get that up again. All right, you're saying the boy would obviously be in that little area down at the bottom, that cylindrical area, right?
(CROSSTALK)
KENNEDY: That is what everything is suggesting right now.
Now, look at that balloon totally listing going up on its side. I think, if you were to have a payload in there, even the size of a 6- year-old child, I think the balloon would be flying much more stable, much more horizontally. SANCHEZ: And, once again, as an expert, we certainly appreciate this educated guess that you're giving us.
But at this point, it really is in many ways a guessing game as to what is going to happen, what can possibly be done about it and what's going to happen to that child, although, Kyra, we should probably remind them again of the report that you just gave a little while ago, right?
PHILLIPS: Six-year-old -- we had reports, I guess it's been about 30, close to 30 minutes now, Rick. We got reports that a 6- year-old boy got his way into this what the parents call a homemade flying saucer. It's basically a Mylar balloon filled with helium.
Apparently, the 6-year-old got inside the basket there, but now there's reports that maybe a sibling saw the little boy get in, possibly fall out. So, whether there's a 6-year-old in there or not, we don't know.
Captain Troy Brown with the Colorado Air National Guard on the phone with us now.
Captain, we got word that two helicopters were being launched to try and figure out how to bring this Mylar balloon down. Are those helicopters out of your base?
CAPTAIN TROY BROWN, COLORADO NATIONAL GUARD: Yes, ma'am. Good afternoon to you, Troy Brown, Colorado Army National Guard.
We have got an (AUDIO GAP) helicopter, similar to the ones you have see with the newscasters. (AUDIO GAP) team now assessing the situation.
And, additionally, we have a UH (AUDIO GAP) helicopter that left Buckley Air Force Base about four minutes ago en route. They have with them a rescue hoist capability, a long cable that can be extended down below the helicopter 120 feet.
Our understanding is the object is about seven feet in diameter and about 55 pounds. So, it's a very delicate and unusual operation. So, we have got a full crew up there, including a flight medic on the rescue hoist operation to assess the situation and see if it's even feasible to try to some way extend the cable medic down to the balloon and try to recover it.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Captain, let me try and picture this. Are you saying that somebody is actually going to rappel out of a helicopter to try and come down on that balloon? Or are you talking about trying to bring the balloon down in its entirety?
BROWN: That's what we're -- we're looking at as an option.
Obviously, a most unusual situation -- first and foremost, we're there to observe and develop the situation and come up with the best solution at the time. We're not looking to put anybody at risk (AUDIO GAP) if there is the child in the balloon at risk.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: But that is a potential option we're looking at.
SANCHEZ: Who is going to do that? Who are the experts, the scientists or the aviation officials who are going to sit down now and assess this situation and try and come up with some kind of solution?
BROWN: Obviously, the flight crew that's there. We had one of our senior colonels and a very experienced pilot, he's going to assess the situation, communicate back through our (AUDIO GAP) and, as experts go, it's just going to be a team of aviators and, you know, rescue personnel we have gathering together now to try to make that best assessment.
SANCHEZ: But, to a certain extent, sir, I guess you would admit you're in many ways, pardon the term, but you're kind of flying blind on this, right? Has there ever been a situation like this that you can recall where you have had to use this particular expertise?
BROWN: Well (AUDIO GAP) object with a child (AUDIO GAP) the bottom of it using an Army helicopter and a rescue hoist, no, sir.
But we can draw some parallels in as much we conduct (AUDIO GAP) using the mountains, where we use a rescue hoist and a medic on the end of the hoist extended 100-plus feet below the aircraft and retrieve people off the side of mountains when they have fallen and hurt themselves, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Well, off the side of mountains. The difference here obviously would be, because I know our viewers may be having a tough time hearing you -- you're comparing a rescue on the side of a mountain to a rescue of a moving vehicle, which is what we have here. Obviously, you would appreciate the fact that that might just be a little more perilous, right?
BROWN: Exactly. And that's why we're taking a very slow approach to this and developing the situation and come up with as many options (AUDIO GAP) we considered and kind of started out with. There may be better options that come to light. We're just kind of starting with one, sir.
PHILLIPS: Captain, let me ask you this. We're talking to Captain Troy Brown with the Colorado Army National Guard that has launched two helicopters to try and figure out what they're going to do about this rogue Mylar balloon being fueled by helium.
Have you even gotten confirmation, Captain, that a 6-year-old is indeed on board this homemade helium Mylar balloon? Because we're getting conflicting reports that possibly he fell out of that basket before this thing even took off. Do you know for sure that a 6-year- old boy is inside that balloon? BROWN: No. We're dealing real time as you are with the information that's coming across. Assuming the worst and that the child is in there, we're preparing for that. So, we don't have confirmation one way or the other. As I said, we're working real time as you are with information that has come across.
SANCHEZ: Well, the fear is that you're running out of time. You just heard -- Kelly (ph) just told us in our ear that just a moment ago this was only 1,000 feet off the ground. This experimental balloon was only 1,000 feet off the ground. So, I'm just wondering, sir, if you're concerned about getting out there and getting out there quick. And how far away are you from it now?
BROWN: I have stepped away from my operations desk. I have got a couple people managing that.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: It looks awfully close to the ground right now.
SANCHEZ: It sure does.
PHILLIPS: I mean, look at the live pictures.
And I don't mean to cut you off, Captain. I apologize. But just as we were getting word it was about 1,000 feet from the ground, we're getting a live shot here via one of our helicopters, and you can actually -- for a moment there, you got a pretty good shot of the ground.
So, it looks like we could be close if -- this thing finally coming down for good. Are you getting any -- as you're talking to us, are you getting any information or any radio traffic about where those helicopters are and if indeed anybody's made a decision on what to do?
BROWN: I'm researching it right now.
We have one aircraft that's orbiting the craft right now and the Black Hawk I mentioned is -- it's just probably about five minutes from (AUDIO GAP) location.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So that's the OH-58. That is about -- is orbiting it now. And the Black Hawk you say is about five minutes away?
BROWN: (AUDIO GAP) right, sir.
SANCHEZ: All right.
PHILLIPS: So, what are they saying? What are they saying on coms right now?
BROWN: I don't have the coms -- I'm not in the middle of that communication cycle right now. But they're getting on scene, they're just assessing it as the situation is developing. I'm not even familiar right now what you're saying, the craft is 1,000 feet above the ground. I'm looking at the news as well now as I'm speaking with you. And...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: What about -- sir, what about -- Captain, what about that ultralight that we heard Jeanne Meserve report that might be a possibility, because it might be a safer vehicle for doing something like this? Do you know anything about that?
BROWN: All I know is what I heard about 15 minutes ago is we were just looking at courses of actions. Our joint operations center and our state headquarters was working with some local ultralight (AUDIO GAP) to see if there was a way to actually catch weights to the bottom of the vehicle.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: All right, we're looking at some pictures now. It looks like we're getting some vehicles. We have got some police there. I'm looking at KUSA and KMGH's signal. There we go. We got fire rescue.
It appears to be following it. We don't have that shot.
Captain, bear with us, if you would, for just a moment.
We lost the aerial shot that actually had the experimental balloon. And now we're getting shots of these vehicles on the ground. A moment ago, we saw the vehicles going at a rapid speed. Now it looks like they have slowed down. We don't know at this point if this balloon, supposedly with this 6-year-old boy on board, has in fact touched down.
We do not know that at this point. All we can judge by are these pictures and the reports that we're getting up to now -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, and I know, too, that the news agencies, in particularly those inside those helicopters with the news agencies, want to be sensitive, Rick.
SANCHEZ: That's file video, by the way.
PHILLIPS: Correct.
SANCHEZ: I don't want our viewers to think that's -- those are pictures from earlier today.
PHILLIPS: The live picture is on the left-hand side there...
SANCHEZ: The one of the right.
PHILLIPS: ... for -- actually, the right-hand side -- if you're looking at the screen, it's the left-hand side -- of the emergency vehicles that are on the ground. The other is tape of earlier because we're not quite sure how close this balloon is from coming down on the ground. We want to have it on a bit of delay out of respect for -- we still do not know if that 6-year-old boy is inside that Mylar balloon, that homemade Mylar balloon with helium, that, apparently, according to a 911 call, came into dispatch that a 6-year-old has gotten himself inside that Mylar balloon.
Back to a live picture right now, thanks to our affiliate there, KUSA and KMGH. You can see that coming lower definitely than it was at one point. It was 5,000 feet up in the air.
SANCHEZ: Kelly (ph), did you just tell -- I think I heard you tell me in my ear a little while ago that it may have been as low as 500 feet at some point recently. Is that right?
PHILLIPS: Fifty-five hundred.
SANCHEZ: And it dropped to 1,000, from 5,500 to 1,000.
PHILLIPS: Right.
SANCHEZ: Well, thank you for clarifying that.
As you look at it, though, Kyra, you see, this is what our expert was discussing a little while ago. Look at how it's really not flying in a horizontal position. It's almost vertical, and it seems to list from one side to the other. And when you look at it, you see that the one angle -- see the bottom right there? It did right there -- just as we were talking about it, it did just that.
PHILLIPS: Nine hundred feet now off the ground we're being told. And as you mentioned, Craig Kennedy, our expert, saying the way it's moving could be a good sign and could coordinate with the information that we are getting that possibly that 6-year-old is not inside that balloon -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Do we have Chad?
Chad are you still there?
MYERS: Of course.
SANCHEZ: Chad, I'm just wondering, how fast does helium deplete?
MYERS: Well, it depends on the structure itself. I mean, you literally can have a good, solid helium Mylar event that could last for days and days.
This does not look like a 100-percent sealed balloon to me. It seems to me that that one side has lost significant inflation, and due to that lack of inflation -- and maybe if the 6-year-old is in there, he knows how to release some of this helium.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Well, and it's not that big, right? Size must have something to do with it. We're told it may only be seven feet across.
MYERS: I think, Kyra, did you say something around 20 feet ?
PHILLIPS: Yes, they were reporting that it's 20 feet long and five feet high.
SANCHEZ: Five feet high.
PHILLIPS: That's what authorities were...
MYERS: But you can clearly see the one side is now losing some inflation, and that's good, because that's getting the balloon closer to the ground. That's eliminating the hypoxia, which means that this child may not have enough oxygen.
That's not going to happen. He's plenty low enough. Plenty of oxygen in the air here, plus it's warmer. At the surface, the temperature is 66. At 3,000 feet, the temperature is 32, and that's above the ground, not above sea level, because we're already starting out here at 5,000 feet above the ground. That's Mile High City, 5,280 feet.
And this wind though is still blowing this at about 25 mils per hour. So, even if it does slowly make its way to the ground right here, that's still going to be a pretty impressive 25-mile-per-hour crash for this child. And certainly a survivable event, no question about it, depending on how it comes down. But I can see it getting closer and closer to the ground, everything on the ground getting larger and larger.
SANCHEZ: Boy, that does look close right there.
PHILLIPS: Do you see power lines? I don't see any power lines. Do you?
MYERS: There are power lines all the way across eastern Colorado.
PHILLIPS: But do you see anything right now as we're watching?
MYERS: No.
PHILLIPS: I mean, it looks like if that balloon is going to come down, it's in a pretty darn good spot to come down. And you can see all the emergency vehicles that are already there in the area arriving -- I mean, they're basically on all four sides of that entire area, so wherever that balloon comes down, they'll be able to get right to it.
SANCHEZ: Can you guys make me understand, can you help me with this? Who makes experimental balloons in their back yard and flies them? And what is an experimental balloon?
I mean, I know the Navy uses them. I know the Air Force uses them. And I've certainly read all the stories about the problems in New Mexico and all the theories about that.
But I have never heard of someone just building one of these in their back yard. Can somebody help me?
PHILLIPS: You know, I think that we would have to talk to the parents about that.
I mean, think about how many people like to build things. I mean, whether it's vehicles, whether it's balloons. I mean, it's very possible -- I mean, we need to get a background on this family, the parents.
I mean, this could have been something that they were having fun with. I'm being told 400 feet now, by the way. Four hundred feet from the ground, possibly a 6-year-old boy in this balloon that was tethered in the back yard of somebody's home on Fossil Ridge (ph) Road in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Rick asking, why? Why even have this? You know, it could be a curious family, this was their joyride, this was their fun.
SANCHEZ: For those of you joining us now, many of you just now getting home and looking at these images, it's certainly a haunting situation, as we have been following it now for about one hour and four minutes since we first got the reports and the pictures of this.
It's a 6-year-old boy who is inside an experimental balloon that, according to all reports, as far as we know, was being made -- or had been made by his parents -- and we have just been told this thing is now down to 300 feet, now it's at 100 feet. Let's stall, take a deep breath.
If you are predisposed to do so, and you want to say a little prayer, you might want to do so now, because this 6-year-old boy is about 100 feet from the ground.
PHILLIPS: Let's be clear, we still don't know -- we still don't know. There are reports that he may not be in there, and we're going to show impact. We will be on a delay.
SANCHEZ: But it looks like it's coming down quite softly. There's a man coming down to it now.
PHILLIPS: You know what? Yes, there we go.
SANCHEZ: He's grabbing it. We're trying to find out.
PHILLIPS: And in a moment, we're going to see right now if indeed there is somebody in that balloon.
SANCHEZ: And don't let it fly away again. A big gust of wind...
PHILLIPS: All right. It's come down. We have all been holding our breath for about an hour now, trying to figure out if indeed a 6- year-old boy is inside that balloon.
You can see sheriff's deputies surrounding it, emergency vehicles trying to assess and figure out if indeed anybody is inside that balloon. We're going to know within seconds, Rick. SANCHEZ: And by the way, I don't know if you noticed, but as it was flying, there was a rope or a tether that was hanging off of it. I'm sure by now for those of you worried that this thing could be flying away again at some point, that it's probably already been held, that tether, that line. It's probably been secured by these officials.
And as you can see, they're now all having their fingers crossed that the boy the is in there and is OK and didn't fall out.
PHILLIPS: They're calling out...
SANCHEZ: And didn't fall out of it, as was reported by one of his siblings earlier, which might be even more difficult or more dangerous.
PHILLIPS: Well, and the question is, if he fell out of that balloon, Rick, where is he? Did he get out in time to where he's OK, or is he someplace else and nobody knows where he is yet?
They're not approaching the balloon, getting close to the door. They're staying away from it. They're calling it to.
It looks like they're calling for somebody's name. They're now getting shovels out.
It looks like they're going to put some weight on the back of that balloon so it's not going to fly away. Digging dirt, putting weight on the back of the balloon so it won't take off again.
But I'm trying to figure out, where is the door where possibly he got inside of that balloon? And if indeed he is inside, is he there on the bottom of the Mylar balloon?
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you, this is one of those stairs that really will tell itself shortly here. The picture...
PHILLIPS: Rick, I don't know if anybody's in there.
SANCHEZ: ... describe it for us.
PHILLIPS: They would be going right in.
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you, you can only hope he's in there. But right now I have not seen them go in. And I have not seen them go in and get the little boy out. It doesn't even look like they're making an effort to -- I'm confused, because there doesn't -- you know what I also haven't seen, to be honest with you, I haven't seen them go in and check yet.
Let's stay on the picture as much as we possibly can. We certainly thank our affiliate for providing us with this picture.
Now you see a guy taking the helium -- they're popping the balloon. There you go again. They're popping the balloon, removing whatever helium is left inside. But, you know, I know what you all are thinking. I mean, to heck with the balloon, where is that little boy and what happened to that little boy, and did he fall out or not?
PHILLIPS: Well, which leads me to believe, is there a little boy in there or not?
We're getting information from one of our producers. You were asking about the family, Rick. Apparently, dad is a weather chaser. That he lives in Colorado, his dad has had a fascination.
He's a contractor and a retired weatherman. And he's had a tremendous interest in chasing weather and experimenting with things like this.
This is to "The Denver Post," coming through. My producer just sent it to me.
Here we go. We're bringing it up right now. There it is online with "The Denver Post."
OK, Rick, I don't think there's a little boy in that balloon. They have...
SANCHEZ: Right.
PHILLIPS: ... taken it apart.
SANCHEZ: And we should probably say, for that reason, we're looking at the article here in front of us, and we have the father's name. But we don't think it would be prudent at this point to release the information about his father, other than what we just read to you from "The Denver Post," and that is that his father is an avid weather chaser.
Given the fact that it appears that the boy may have fallen out of the balloon, if in fact he's not found there, which is what one of his siblings has said, then I'm sure you understand why we're going to withhold that information until officials tell us it would be the correct time to do so, if in case there is an issue here. We want the family to be notified before we announce it on national television.
PHILLIPS: But we do want to point out there, you see some deputies, they have folded over to the balloon. They have folded over that basket there.
They're -- you don't see medics going through that balloon. I mean, do you see any paramedics? Do you see anybody -- they're taking the balloon apart now, looking inside. They have completely gotten the helium out of that balloon. So far, right now...
SANCHEZ: By the way, we've got a guest standing by now who's an expert on these types of experimental balloons. Stan Hess is joining us.
Mr. Hess, are you there, sir?
STAN HESS, DIRECTOR, U.S. HOT AIR BALLOON TEAM: I'm here.
SANCHEZ: Hey. You have been watching this, I imagine, with us for quite some time.
First of all, just give us your take just generally before I ask you any specific questions.
HESS: Well, it's obviously landed. And they've taken the helium out of the aircraft so that it's no longer going to go back into the sky. So, we're trying to determine, I'm sure, whether or not the child was aboard.
SANCHEZ: Well, wouldn't we have known already if that child was aboard? I mean, wouldn't we have seen some official take him out of there and carry him to a rescue vehicle?
HESS: We would hope so.
PHILLIPS: Yes. And right now, we're just seeing cameramen and firefighters and deputies -- I mean, there are no medics responding to anything right now. As a matter of fact, you can see the medics, Rick, in the whites shirts standing away from the balloon.
So, we don't know yet, but right now, from what we can see, this could be a very good ending from this point. But the question is, where is that 6-year-old boy?
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's the part of the story that's not -- Stan, let me...
PHILLIPS: Here we go. We're getting word from our affiliate, according to police, there is no one inside that balloon.
SANCHEZ: Right.
PHILLIPS: KMGH, our affiliate there out of Denver, Colorado, is reporting that police said there is no one inside that balloon.
Now the question is, Rick, where is the 6-year-old boy?
SANCHEZ: And what was seemingly obvious to us in pictures is now being confirmed by that report.
So, now we go to the possibility that something else happened.
And let me read to you, sir -- expert Hess with us -- and let me read to you what they said. I'm going to read to it you one more time.
And for the viewers joining us now, this is the report that we received, that Kyra read about 20 minutes ago.
"Margie Martinez (ph) of the Weld County Sheriff's Office says that a sibling saw the boy climb into the basket before the balloon took off. Since the door on the balloon was unlocked, Martinez (ph) says it's possible the boy had fallen out."
That doesn't sound like it's nailed down, but it sounds like at least the report of something that may have happened earlier. We weren't sure.
Mr. Hess, would you describe to us, if that is in fact the case, can you give us a sense of when he fell out, how high this balloon could have been in, how dangerous the fall would have been?
Can you help us at all?
HESS: I have no idea other than seeing it in the air. I believe that if he did get out, he must have gotten out early on, or else he was distraught, or maybe he's hiding under his bed so his father wouldn't be upset that he let his balloon fly away.
SANCHEZ: You know about these balloons, do you?
HESS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: How fast -- when it first took off, filled with helium, and it became cut or untethered, how fast was the takeoff? And how soon did it rise to, let's today, 500, 1,000 feet?
HESS: It's going to go up about as fast as a Ferris wheel is going to take you up, and take you up to 500, or 1,000 feet within a minute or two.
SANCHEZ: As fast as a what, sir? I'm not sure I heard you.
HESS: A Ferris wheel.
PHILLIPS: A Ferris wheel.
HESS: On an amusement park ride, on a Ferris wheel.
SANCHEZ: It just kicks you right up, in other words?
HESS: Exactly.
SANCHEZ: So, what we would be hoping for at this point, for the sake of the child, is that the sooner he would have fallen, the more chances that he would survive that fall, correct?
HESS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Because eventually this thing got up there pretty high.
At some point, what, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well, 5,500 feet.
And Craig Kennedy -- I don't know, Stan, if you heard Craig Kennedy, who also has the kind of background that you did. He said as soon as he started watching the balloon, and as it lost helium, and the way that it was moving, the odds were that was not anybody inside that balloon.
So, for a while, we got some good news that, more than likely, he wasn't in there. SANCHEZ: I'm not sure that's good news, though.
PHILLIPS: But, best-case scenario, he fell out of that balloon well before it took off. I mean, as Stan says, those things take off like a Ferris wheel. That's pretty darn fast and pretty quickly.
SANCHEZ: Was that your take as well, Stan, because of the way it was flying, it was looking like he probably wasn't in there?
HESS: That would have been my guess, yes.
SANCHEZ: What are these balloons all about? Would you tell us what this is and why someone would make something like this?
HESS: Well, this -- clearly, a Mylar balloon shaped like a flying saucer with helium that could be used for any purpose, just for fun.
SANCHEZ: What do you mean for fun?
HESS: For fun, if somebody wanted to have a model, or maybe they were using it -- apparently he's in the weather business, so maybe they were using it to fly into the sky to gauge and do some meteorology.
SANCHEZ: Meteorology. But uninhabited, right? The purpose of this thing is not for someone to be on it, correct?
HESS: No, no. I -- I don't think so.
PHILLIPS: What would make sense then is we're seeing this report about the family and the father that owns this balloon, you know, there was a profile on him in "The Denver Post", talking about him being a weather chaser. He's a retired weatherman, lives out in that area and it's very possible that this was something for fun, to gauge weather and hopefully -- we're keeping our fingers crossed, Rick, that his son was just checking it out, playing around and it took off without him even inside.
SANCHEZ: Was it able to take off because of the weight of the young man? Because he was only six years old and probably didn't weigh much? Would one of us -- you, me...
PHILLIPS: Be able to keep it down?
SANCHEZ: ... we'd probably be able to keep it down? Or would we?
HESS: I would suspect that if he was very, very light it may be able to lift off with him, but it would not be capable of lifting an adult.
SANCHEZ: So, generally speaking, it was the fact that he was there and he didn't weight that much, it made it take off? I'll tell you, what a -- what a thing to watch, and still not sure about answers. The one thing we are sure about is that this -- this experimental balloon has flown for miles and miles and finally come down. You watched it happen. It was quite a dramatic moment. We might see if we can cue that up and you could see it again, if we possibly can do that.
I think maybe what we'll learn is exactly what they were doing when the -- what these officials were -- were intending to do when they tried to drop it, stop it, let the helium out and tether it so it wouldn't take off. The bad news is that as soon as they got to it they were able to make a determination that the -- that boy was not in there.
Now, what's interesting is that I -- I never saw any of them actually go to the balloon itself to check, which makes me wonder if they had already been told that perhaps the boy is not in there.
PHILLIPS: Well, we've been talking about the little boy, we've been talking about his dad, we've been talking about his family. We've now been told that we can now show a photo of the family, Rick. This is the Heene family, the family that owns what they called a home-made flying saucer, aka a weather balloon of sorts for this retired weatherman.
Apparently -- we got this from the "Wife Swap's" Web site from ABC. They appeared on this show -- "Wife Swap" -- I've never seen it, but I've heard of it. So it looks like this family is known for being in the spotlight on a number of ways. So that's where that photo is from. That was the Heene family, the owners of that balloon.
But still, I think you and I would feel a lot better if we knew where the 6-year-old boy -- 6-year-old in this picture was, if he is OK, if he was not in that balloon, they didn't fall out of that balloon. We still don't have confirmation. We know that no one was in that balloon, obviously, when it came down after going airborne for almost an hour, 5,500 feet in the sky.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Kyra...
PHILLIPS: Yes?
SANCHEZ: I -- I think we got somebody who might be able to give us some information here.
PHILLIPS: All right.
SANCHEZ: We have Eloise Campanella with the Sheriff's Department out there. I'm sorry, I didn't here which Sheriff's Department? It's Larimer County -- Larimer County Sheriff's Department.
Eloise, are you there?
ELOISE CAMPANELLA, LARIMER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Could you bring us up to date on what the condition of this young man might be?
CAMPANELLA: Well, we have no idea at this time. We have not located him. But since this whole incident started, we have had people on the ground searching for him at the parents' home, in the area of the parents' home. When we have a search incident with a child, we constantly do that. We have found them hiding under beds, under laundry, what have you. So that has not stopped since the beginning of the search.
At this moment, we have not located him.
SANCHEZ: How -- how big an area are -- are we talking about?
CAMPANELLA: It's a neighborhood, lots of homes in the area, so I don't know exactly how to answer that question. But as I say...
SANCHEZ: But we don't know -- but we -- we don't know if or when he may have fallen out of the balloon, and -- I don't know, Chad, Kyra, maybe you can help us here. How long -- how far did this thing travel?
CAMPANELLA: OK. It -- it traveled, you know, many miles, but the bottom of it is contained and that hasn't been breached. So, at this point, we are thinking that he did not fall out of it, that he has to be somewhere on the ground near the home.
So that is what we are acting on at this time. We are looking for the child in the neighborhood.
SANCHEZ: Well, hold on. Not fall out of it would mean that he never was in it to begin with.
CAMPANELLA: Right, right. So that is what we are looking into now. Well, actually...
PHILLIPS: He's just missing (ph)?
CAMPANELLA: Actually, that has been a possibility from the beginning, and we haven't stopped searching for him in and around the home. But it has -- the basket itself has not been breached, so it does not look like he would have fallen out of it. But, again, all this is conjecture at this point.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, let me ask you this -- are you able to see our air right now? Can you see our -- our live broadcast?
CAMPANELLA: No. I'm on the phone at a desk.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, we've -- we've got a picture of the family -- if we could bring that picture up again -- and this is storm chaser Richard Heene and his wife and his three kids: 6-year-old Ryo, 7-year-old Bradford and 4-year-ol Falcon, and it's the 6-year-old Ryo that you're looking for. If, indeed, you believe he's missing, he could be running around somewhere, maybe scared. Maybe realizes what he did.
CAMPANELLA: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: He could be afraid he's going to get in trouble. CAMPANELLA: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: OK. We're looking at a picture now of the family. Can you just describe him to us? Can you tell us anything about him, what he was wearing?
CAMPANELLA: No, no. I do not have that information at all. I'm sorry.
PHILLIPS: Am I saying his name right, Ryo?
CAMPANELLA: I'm sorry?
PHILLIPS: Is it -- am I saying the name right, Ryo?
CAMPANELLA: I don't know. I'm sorry. I am not in front of the TV. I can't help you with that.
SANCHEZ: Well, let -- let's talk about the search, then. How many people are you using to search for this young man in that area?
CAMPANELLA: We have everyone out there in -- in our agency. There's got to be 20 people on the ground searching for him, in addition to all of patrol driving the area, and we have been doing this since the beginning of this incident.
So, you know, I'm very confident that we will find him. As you say, I'm sure -- I think it's a matter of him being a little bit scared. He did something wrong. He's probably trying not to be found. But we're certainly...
SANCHEZ: That would be fantastic. That -- that would be the greatest...
CAMPANELLA: I know.
SANCHEZ: ... ending to this story at all (ph). Now what -- what are the -- what is Mr. Heene, Richard Heene or Heene -- what do -- what are they saying? What has been your contact with them thus far, the parents?
CAMPANELLA: I -- I don't know. I have not been out in the field. I know that our patrol people have been with him since the incident started. And, you know, I -- I have -- don't have that information. I'm sorry.
But I am getting someone who might be able to shed some light on it. If you can hold on just for a moment, I'm getting Erik Nilsson. He's our emergency manager for the county. Please hold on.
SANCHEZ: We will. We'll be standing by for Erik Nilsson -- is that what she said? Erik Nilsson.
PHILLIPS: Right. And I'll recap real quickly...
SANCHEZ: Go ahead. PHILLIPS: ... just to bring people up to date. If you're just tuning in live to CNN, Rick and I for the past hour and a half basically with a lot of questions unanswered -- still questions unanswered, and that is where is the 6-year-old boy that for a very long time we all thought had floated away in this homemade weather balloon -- a Mylar helium balloon, property of the Heene family out of Colorado, Ft. Collins, Colorado.
There were reports that possibly he had untethered that balloon in the backyard, stepped inside and was basically airborne and we were all wondering how that balloon was going to come down, if indeed he was going to be OK. The balloon has since come down. Nobody was found inside that balloon and now the search is on for that 6-year-old boy.
SANCHEZ: Unbelievable to watch this thing progress, and I guess the best -- the best news is the one we received just moments ago, and that was from Eloise Campanella. She's with the Larimer Sheriff's Department. She's standing by. She's about to give us access to Erik Nilsson. Erik Nilsson is one of the emergency specialists there in that particular county, and he may be bringing us the very latest information as to what's going on in the neighborhood.
And here's why that's so important. There now appears to be the possibility that this little boy was never in that experimental balloon to begin with, and there's the possibility he would probably not have fallen out, which means he might just be, as little curious children will do, feel bad and be hiding from his parents because he knows he was doing something maybe he wasn't supposed to do. That would be, without any question, for all of us watching this for the last hour and a half, the best news that we could possibly deliver, and hopefully that's what we will be learning moments from now.
PHILLIPS: And you were asking, you know, why would anybody have this type of experimental balloon in their backyard? And now we are finding out more about the family, the Heene family. Richard Heene, storm chaser. He's a meteorologist. He's a former TV weatherman. He's been profiled in "The Denver Post" for all types of different experiments that he's done, and he's got three boys. One of those boys that they believe they are looking for now, the young boy that was not inside that experimental balloon -- dad used it for weather, to track weather. And it's --
You're right, Rick. I mean, hopefully, he just untethered it and it went airborne, scared him to death, and he's hiding somewhere because he's afraid he's going to get in trouble.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, we've been talking a lot about working theories for the past hour and a half, and the latest working theory that's on the table is just that, that somehow, because that bottom of that balloon was not breached, officials are confident -- although not certain -- confident, although not certain, that he actually never got inside but actually ran away when people saw the balloon take off. I think there may have been a supposition that the little boy was in there, but now they're coming back to the possibility that he was never in there to begin with. But now here's the problem we're faced with. Where is he? Where is that 6-year-old little boy if he wasn't on the balloon and why hasn't he been able to be spotted by his family up to now?
They -- as we just learned from Eloise Campanella in Larimer County, they have a search underway right now, scouring the area. They're asking volunteers to go around and see if they can find the little boy, but up to now they have not been able to find him. And if she's still listening to me -- I don't know if she is or if we're in contact with her -- she's going to be bringing Erik Nilsson to the phone here shortly and as soon as Mr. Nilsson -- Deputy Nilsson, I imagine -- comes to the phone, hopefully we'll be able to get some answers to this question, and all we can do at this point is cross our fingers.
PHILLIPS: A lot of resources were launched to try and figure out what to do about this Mylar balloon. When word got out that possibly a 6-year-old boy was inside that balloon -- I mean, all the resources that were called in to help, the Air Force, news choppers, the FAA, air balloon companies.
And then we got word that two Army National Guard helicopters were launched, and Rick, you and I talked to Captain Troy Brown of the Colorado Army National Guard. They were talking about the Black Hawk with the hoist capability, and they were actually talking about somebody repelling out of that, you know, hanging off the skids (ph) of that Black Hawk, coming down on a rope and trying to figure out how to rescue somebody if, indeed, they had to, or how they were going to bring that Mylar balloon down.
I mean...
SANCHEZ: But you know what the key words...
PHILIPPS: ... how do you do that when you're flying, you know, 30 miles an hour alongside a balloon?
SANCHEZ: As I'm listening to you say that, I think the key words were "trying to figure out." It didn't seem like they knew exactly what their MO would be. They just knew they were looking for one.
Chad Myers following this with us. Chad, what do you make of this latest news that we reported from Larimer County, and that is that there's a possibility that the thing was never breached there by the fact that the boy was never in there, and then where in the world he would be?
If there's anybody in this NEWSROOM who knows anything about things as strange like weather balloons, it would probably be you.
PHILIPPS: How about storm chasers? Dad was a storm chaser. This is a lesson to -- to all families about, you know, what you're building in the backyard.
SANCHEZ: What is -- what is that balloon and how do we know that he may not be in there? That's what I'm trying to get from you. MYERS: It always -- in the back of my mind, I was thinking if this balloon is only as big as they were saying, I don't know if it would have had 65 pounds of lift to literally get a child off the ground. Of course, that was the story, so we went with it.
Now the problem is this is -- there's an awful lot of distance between where that balloon went up and possibly where that balloon came down. So we're talking about Denver right here. I mean, we'll just zoom back out. I'll give you the whole US. We'll zoom into Denver and -- and show you how much square footage or mileage now that these searchers are using and -- and have to find out from where it took off. It literally was in the air for well over an hour at 25 miles per hour.
Here's Ft. Collins and the -- the subdivision where this thing basically left the ground. And so, all of a sudden, the good news is it didn't go to the west where the mountains are. It actually went to the southeast, which is essentially away from all the land mass. Away from the -- certainly away from where the -- the bad part would be if he would be crashing into the mountains.
Now let me just continue to move you out here. Miles and miles of empty space -- I mean, literally, all the way from eastern Colorado, from -- from I-76 all the way down to the Denver International Airport, there literally is not much out here. So there are miles and miles of search patterns where -- they're going to take and they're going to figure out where this balloon was and see if hopefully -- I just hope that this thing could never have taken off with a 60-pound child in it in the first place.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: And so there's no way that this kid fell out at 100 feet or 200 feet, whatever it was because there just wasn't enough lift for this thing to get in the air.
SANCEZ: Or flown the way it did. I mean, it -- it just -- when you looked at the flight pattern -- you and I were sitting here looking at this with one of these experts a little while ago it was flying a little bit...
PHILLIPS: And so (ph) the odds...
SANCHEZ: It didn't look like it had weight on it.
PHILLIPS: ... were in favor that nobody was in that Mylar.
SANCHEZ: Right. Right. It just seemed to make the most sense.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's been quite an interesting afternoon, to say the least. We got word that possibly a 6-year-old boy was in this Mylar helium balloon. Turns out he was not inside that balloon. Now we're keeping our fingers crossed that authorities will find him, hopefully, just hiding out in the backyard, afraid of getting in trouble. SANCHEZ: And -- and that's what -- that's what we're going to try and do here, I mean, as a network. We know that the next question that needs to be answered is where is the little boy? Was he ever on the balloon? If he wasn't, where's he hiding and has he been found?
We're going to stay on top of that story, obviously, and as soon as we get the answer, we'll nail it down for you and Wolf Blitzer will be reporting it from "THE SITUATION ROOM."
