At what point do the media acknowledge their role in promoting this hoax? They showed footage of the balloon in flight, but with no other point of reference it made the balloon look enormous. When it landed and I saw how small it was I did a quick and dirty calculation to see how much it was capable of lifting. Although it's been a while since high school physics, it took only about 5 minutes for me to calculate the balloon was capable of lifting about 50 pound, most of which was the Mylar envelope and the gondola. It was obvious that there could not have been a 70 boy aboard as well. Why didn't any of the media do this elementary calculation? was the sensationalism of the story more importatn than the accuracy? Sorry, I answered my own question.

He's not going to jail because he fooled the authorities, he's going to jail because he hoaxed the media. All the networks and "news" channels scrambled live coverage of it and pounded each other to get a story that didn't exist, forcing the authorities to chase the balloon instead of searching for the kid locally as they probably would have done first in any other situation.

It infuriated the media, and you can see it in every news reaction to the story. One simply does not treat one's betters in the media that way, and they will be made to pay for it.

The real victims, as always, are the viewers.

they shouldn't even do jail time, just toss them a fine and be done with it! seriously, I've seen people do far worse and get less time in jail.

Some hoax Mr.Heene did. He probably stood there watching in a hysterical mood. I think,the man needs a mental doctor before he spends his life in prison. As for,hiswife,i am sure she was going along with this stunt. I think Falcon will never forget this dumb ass hoax.

Couldn't the judge have the authority to change his name? Falcon?

Too lax? How do you figure a harsher punishment is going to help the children. You worry about people remembering this kid as balloon boy but not the scars of having his mother and father in jail for a longer time. I'm not condoning what they did but come on! Keeping them in jail longer or assesing a larger fine isnt the answer either. Does anyone even think anymore? Larger fine = more debt for a family in these harsh economic times. How does that help? Longer jail time, soo less paychecks, nevermind whoever is watching the kids while they serve this time and the sacrafices that THEY will have to make in the interim. Criminal record that he has to declare on any job he tries to get? Imagine if she she was convicted of a felony too instead of just a misdemeanor. Yes their parenting skills are crap and maybe the judge could have sent them to some kind of parenting skill workshop but they didnt abuse the kid they didnt starve him or anything they made a dumb mistake. Last I checked everyone makes mistakes some dumber then others but i feel the punishment most assuredly fit the crime. Exploitation of media??? Is that some sort of joke? The media reports what underwear celebrities wear and who puked on what. They love this stuff. If it was a real situation this would have lasted maybe a week after the child was rescued maybe a little longer and back to obscurity. Now the media has all this extra "oh how could theys!!!" to fill in air time and "what should we do?" and of course "they get jail time....but ....IS IT ENOUGH!?!" I understand maybe you have to put a spin on the report so that you can post it here and make it exciting without just rehashing the information thats already out there, but the "is it enough" approach was weak at best. Falcon will be just fine growing up..hes six. in 10 years i doubt anyone will even remember this event just like the millions of other asinine incidents people have done in the years before. does anyone remember the name of the guy who pretended he had cancer so he could win tickets to the superbowl in colorado? without googling it? or what he looked like? i dont and i lived there when it happened. And if worse comes to worse he can always change his name...i mean come on his name is falcon...

What's the punishment for the media?

To quote Keanu Reeves in Parenthood (1989): ". . . You need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father. "

Neither the sentence, nor the future fines were enough. Both are too lax, for all the time and work put into finding aluminum foil. This won't be the last time they seek fame... sure, they can't sell a book about balloons, but they can still do something just as dumb down the road. They're going to have to make money somehow.