No Hoax Here ! " He's The Real Balloon Boy "

Forget about that hoax in Colorado--Dan Nowell is the real "Balloon Boy." In 1964, Nowall , then 11, achieved unintenional fame when his hand got caught in the rope of a hot air balloon. Up, up he went, high into the sky until he was dangling 3,000 feet in the air. He traveled 2 miles until he was lowered to the ground. I got letters from all over the world addressed to the "Balloon Boy", said Nowell, now a 57-year-old building contractor in Corte Madera, California.
On the day he soared skyward, Nowell recalled how he and his buddies rode their bikes to a field near a hgh school in Mill Valley, California, to watch the launch of a hot air balloon. Someone asked Nowell and his friends to hold a rope before the launch. He wrapped the nylon rope around his left hand. But he failed to hear the :cast off" command over the roar of the balloon's hot air burner. Suddenly, nowell's feet flew off the ground, the rope tightenig around his hand.
As 200 spectators looked on, Nowell was lifted skyward, screaming forhis life as the pain shot through his hand.Worse yet, he couldn't get the attention of the pilot over the roar of the burner. The people on the ground was getting smaller and smaller, Nowell recalled. Fortunately, at 3,000 feet, balloonist William Berry turned off the burner and heard Nowell's cries for help. He was able to sit down the ballon in a back yard. Although, Nowell slammed into a plum tree, he landed safely and except for some temporary numbing in his hand, was otherwise uninjured. His 10-minute sky-high trip made international headlines, and Nowell got to appear on the popular game show "to Tell The Truth." On October 15, Nowell, like millions of others,watched the TV coverage of a saucer-shaped ballon with 6-year-old Falcon Heene supposely inside. Falcon wasn't in the balloon. Authorities say it was a hoax to promote a reality show that the boy's father , Richard Heene , waned to launch. Nowell said his firstthought when he saw the recent coverage was: Somebody is trying to steal my thunder.
My take on this: Parents/guardians, let this be a lesson to you, children learn from you, by what you do/say and your daily habits, set a good examples for them. The Heenes are teaching their kids it's okay to get whatever you want if by hook or crook, no matter who it hurt.......Remember chichen little , the sky is falling. What happen to raising your kids by the "Golden Rule." But hey, that's just me. Stay tuned: more to come.
Kicking back & keeping it real...
http://dgentile@nationalenquirer.com