October 17, 2009 Investigators say runaway balloon story is genuine Play video

(NECN: Ally Donnelly) - Police in Colorado say they have no reason to believe yesterday's balloon flight and missing child case was a hoax. The family is coming under scrutiny for comments made during television interviews last night and this morning.

Police believe Heene balloon story is 'credible'

“There’s a lot of pressure to do something, to charge these people with committing a crime of false reporting.”

In a Friday afternoon press conference, the Colorado sheriff in charge of the massive manhunt says investigators do not believe the family of a 6-year-old boy was trying to pull off a hoax when they reported the child had floated away in a homemade helium-powered balloon.

Sheriff: “Those of us in the law enforcement profession have to operate on facts and what we can prove and not what the public might think without any proof.”

Speculation ignited after 6-year-old Falcon Heene told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in a live interview that quote "we did this for a show." Falcon, of course, was found safe and sound hiding in a garage attic space.

The Heene's are not strangers to the reality show circuit -- the parents are storm chasers and the family twice appeared on the reality show "wife swap."

In a 911 recording, Mayumi and Richard Heene sound frantic. The possibilities horrific to imagine. The balloon

The sheriff says the Heenes made a number of calls when Falcon went missing. He says first to the FAA, then to a local TV station asking them to track the balloon with its helicopter and then to 911.

The family also made the rounds on morning network television. And when questioned about why he said they did this for a show, during two separate interviews, Falcon became sick.

Dr. Michael Rich: Rather than taking this moment to hash through whether lying or telling truth, whether bad parents or good parents it's a moment for us to understand and really think about what we assign importance to.

Doctor Michael Rich is the Director of the Center on Media and child health at Children's Hospital Boston. He says a question for parents and a child to examine is -- is celebrity something special?

“Are we living through our kids by the grades they get or the sports they play or the dramatic prowess they show.”

He says reality TV along with the public and media appetite for sideshow television does true damage.

“Children are not capable of really understanding the implications of what they are doing. This child is a non-consenting person in this who will end up paying the price. Whether that price is celebrity or whether that price is infamy.”