Stacy Nick

The Coloradoan

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Though the Heene family had 15 minutes of unwanted fame five years ago after they reported that their 6-year-old son had been lifted away in a giant weather balloon, family members still are trying to find their way into the spotlight.

In September 2010, Richard and Mayumi Heene moved to Florida and created a family act, The Heene Boyz, which call themselves "the world's youngest metal band." The couple's frantic — and later determined false — 911 call on Oct. 15, 2009, that their 6-year-old son, Falcon, had just floated away gave the youngster a new nickname in the public's mind: "Balloon Boy."

Falcon later was found hiding in the family's attic, and the world breathed a sigh of relief after seeing TV footage of a balloon 20 feet across and 5 feet high shaped like a flying saucer, which Richard Heene said he built in his back yard, soar across the sky with helicopters in pursuit.

But when Falcon and his family landed on a morning TV show for a network interview, the boy let slip that what happened was "for the show" and things quickly fell apart. Richard and Mayumi Heene wound up serving jail time and agreed in 2010 to pay $36,016 in restitution for the hoax.

Though Richard Heene maintained his innocence even into a 30-day jail sentence, a video later revealed Mayumi Heene repeatedly confessing that the family staged the event to boost their reality TV prospects. The family had appeared on the reality show Wife Swap in 2008.

Today, The Heene Boyz features all three of the couple's sons, including Bradford and Ryo, with now-11-year-old "Balloon Boy" Falcon as lead vocalist.

The band has three self-released CDs, including its latest, Finger it Out, with the song Balloon Boy No Hoax. The group also puts out a series of comic books and Heene Boyz merchandise.

The family wouldn't comment for this story but did release a publicity photo of the band.

While the public quickly drifted away from the Balloon Boy saga, one 16-year-old high school student was so captivated that he penned Balloon Boy: The Musical. This summer, Billy Reece's show about the family's attempts to get a reality TV show won the national Thespian Musicalworks contest and was produced as part of the International Thespian Festival.

Richard Heene's other inventions

Richard Heene found his way into the world spotlight after claiming his then-6-year-old son had floated away in one of his inventions, a giant weather balloon.

While that invention turned out to be a bust and eventually was auctioned off to a memorabilia shop in Aurora, Colo. Heene continues to invent things. Here are a few of his most recently advertised:

• Bear Scratch. The back scratcher attaches to a wall, allowing a person to scratch his back like a bear, $19.99.

• YourShakeDown. The device shakes the lingering remains of items from jars, such as ketchup and mayonnaise, and sells for six payments of $29.99

• HEENEDUTY Truck TransFormers. The "truck robot" loading device picks up heavy items and places them in the bed of a truck. Price not listed, but in 2011 AutoBlog.com said it cost almost $14,000; the website is offline.