The shepherd boy sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. He was bored. To amuse himself, the boy cried wolf. The wolf is chasing the sheep! Well, the villagers came running, but they found no wolf. Dont cry wolf when theres no wolf! they said, and went grumbling back down the hill.
On October 15, Americans watched in horror as a homemade helium balloon flew 50 miles through the Colorado skies as a six-year-old Fort Collins boy supposedly clung for dear life. Apparently, Falcon Heene had crawled into his fathers balloon, untied the rope and lifted off. Actually, Falcon never got inside the balloon. He hid upstairs in the attic and refused to come out even as family, police and friends called his name. Why? When his parents asked him that question on CNN, the boy said, You guys said we did this for a show Falcons unedited, spontaneous, damning words. Richard Heene, a veteran of reality shows, was apparently intent on having his own. Would he really go this far?
Later, the boy sang out again, Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep. To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help drive the wolf away. When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Dont cry wolf when there is no wolf!
The episode of the balloon boy captured hearts all over Colorado, the nation and even across the world. When the balloon finally landed near DIA, Falcons absence immediately conjured images of the boys quick and fatal descent to the ground. A few voices suggested that Falcon never got in the balloon and, scared of all the hoopla, was hiding from authorities. Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden assured the media that he believed the familys version of events. He went to some lengths, saying their emotional reaction to each turn of events was just what one would expect. Then Alderden changed his tune and said his department would conduct an investigation. Then he did an about-face and declared that the incident was a publicity stunt, saying the parents put on a very good show for us. As did Alderden. We now know that he realized the incident was staged as he was saying otherwise. Yet another liar stirs the pot.
One day, the boy saw a real wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leapt to his feet and cried, Wolf! Wolf! But no one came running, and many sheep were missing . . . At sunset, the villagers wondered why the shepherd boy hadnt returned with their sheep, so they went up to the hill to find him weeping. There really was a wolf here! I cried wolf! Why didnt you come? An old man comforted the boy. Well help you look for the lost sheep in the morning. But nobody believes a liar even when he is telling the truth.
On the October 21 Today Show, a neighbor of Heenes spoke bitterly. When I thought of having to tell my children that one of their friends was killed which many assumed once the balloon was found empty I just . . . She broke down in tears.
The balloon boy saga is still unfolding. We dont know with certainty what caused that balloon to lift off. But this we do know. The world prayed in terror as a six-year-old boy supposedly hung between the wild possibility of rescue and certain death. Individuals, law enforcement agencies and news stations frantically followed the crafts perilous course through the air putting their own lives at risk.
Children disappear. Some are found alive because they innocently wander away from home. Too many are discovered too late, or never recovered at all. When someone cries wolf for attention, or when police cry wolf for whatever reason, potential victims everywhere are endangered. That is the real moral of this story.
