A most harmful hoax

Some hoaxes are so silly and trivial - or poorly done - they're harmless, even funny.

The "balloon boy" episode, a hoax according to his mother, was none of those.

It was cynical, greedy, manipulative, deranged and dangerous.

When the homemade flying saucer-like helium balloon was reported by the parents to be carrying the 6-year-old boy, it captivated a fretting live television and Internet audience across the country. The spinning, floating silver craft that resembled a Jiffy Pop carton seemed to hold the fate of a frightened 6-year-old in its whirling basket. It appeared to be deflating by the moment, as a news helicopter tracked its random flight. How hard would it land? Would the young boy be unhurt?

When the balloon came to rest gently in a Colorado farm field, rescuers carefully spied for a glimpse of the boy, feeling for the hatch that allegedly let him climb in unbeknownst to his distraught parents. There was no sign of the boy.

Then the question became: Did he fall out? Did his container fall off? Was he, as is the mother's nightmare, lying in a ditch somewhere?

Now, of course, we know the boy was hiding in the attic all along, likely part of the plot authorities say was hatched by his attention-craving father - a reality-show veteran said to be pining for his own show.

The parents face felony and misdemeanor charges, as they should. Officials should also investigate whether the home's three children - 10, 8 and 6 - are in a healthy environment: If this was indeed a publicity stunt, as the mother reportedly admits, then the children have been taught to "lie to authorities as well as the media regarding this hoax," an official affidavit says.

A prank is one thing. This calculated caper endangered the lives of rescue workers, news crews and other needlessly concerned citizens.

This is how low our society's sometimes psychotic need for celebrity - defined loosely here as undeserved, unwarranted and hopefully fleeting fame - has gone.