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Tags: Breaking News / Balloons / DIA / Denver / Denver Travel / → All Tags

Homemade Balloon Lands Near Denver Airport, Wife Swap Son Missing

Update 8am EST 10/16: The boy was found hiding in the attic at this house. Since then, the family has been interviewed several times, managing to embarrass themselves when the boy possibly revealed it all as a hoax on Larry King Live and then vomited live on air during the Today Show. We're sure this story will continue.

This afternoon, an emergency story gripped the nation and the internet as it was announced that a 6 year-old boy, Falcon Heene, had taken off in a homemade UFO-shaped balloon and was floating towards Denver International Airport, causing helicopters and air traffic authorities to mobilize in order to track it and bring it safely to the ground.

The balloon, a weak craft with a plywood bottom and a small door through which it is believed the child entered, floated between 5,000 to 7,000 feet for hours, taking off from near Ft. Collins and landing a field near Hudson, CO. The child was not inside of the craft and the search for him continues.

In the meantime, we have realized (as has Huffington Post) that the boy is the son of one of the families featured on the popular TV show Wife Swap. The family, the Heenes, were the reckless family who were stormchasers and daredevils; the wife was switched to a ultra safety-conscious mom. The episode was so spectacular that it opened the season for the show, and one of the children notoriously says "F*ck these rules" to the swapped mom. Check out a clip of that here.

The video, after the jump.

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Tags: Denver / Art / Museums / → All Tags

To Do in Denver: Art Museum Expansion

Got a thing for starchitects? Us too. That's why we're hyped about the new Daniel Libeskind addition to Denver Art Museum. Built to mimic the jagged Rocky Mountain peaks to the west of the city and the original building of Gio Ponti, the expansion almost doubles the size of the museum complex. It's also next door to the Michael Graves-designed Denver Central Library.

And, of course, the building is filled with one of the largest art collections west of the Mississippi. A number of exhibits take up residence in the new building this fall. The first floor features an expansive collection of Japanese art. Upstairs, modern and contemporary art is on view, with paintings from private donors, works from San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and contemporary Native American pieces all part of the mix.

[Photo: ishrona]

Tags: Airports / Travel Jams / Denver / United / → All Tags

Travel Jam: Snow Grounds Some DIA United Flights

Skiiers in Colorado and those headed to the Rocky Mountains are stoked to hear that 18 inches of snow has been dumped on cites from Denver to Colorado Springs.

However, Travelers flying out of Denver International Airport on United will be pretty pissed.

Up to 80 outbound flights were canceled at Denver International Airport, mostly on United Airlines, the airport's busiest carrier. United, Frontier and Southwest airlines all reported delays.

"We expect it to be slow going through mid-afternoon," Southwest spokeswoman Paula Berg said.

Some things to do in the Denver Airport? Why you can check out one of those ridiculous internet kiosks, ask TSA if you can play in the Puff Daddy machine, or check-out the airport's random art display which happens to be the second-largest in the state.

Or else you can just take some Tylenol  PM.

[Photo:  AP]

Related Stories:
· Colorado storm dumps up to 18 inches of snow [MSNBC]