The whole world knows 6-year-old Falcon Heene as “Balloon Boy” because of last Thursday’s scare that he flew across part of Colorado in a homemade, UFO-like weather balloon. But after today’s news that it was all a hoax, he deserves a new nickname: Bamboozle Boy.

Here’s the scoop from Reuters based on a press conference by the local sheriff who investigated the case:

The bizarre flight of a home-made helium balloon, thought to have a 6-year-old boy aboard, was a hoax and publicity stunt, a Colorado sheriff said on Sunday.

“It has been determined that this is a hoax, that it was a publicity stunt and we believe we have evidence at this point to indicate that this was a publicity stunt in hopes to better market themselves for a reality show,” Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told reporters at a press conference. …

Alderden said the parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, could face charges of conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, filing a false report with authorities and with attempting to influence a public servant.

I’m glad to hear police are considering charges more serious than the misdemeanors that Alderden had hinted at yesterday. The parents need to do some jail time and definitely should have to reimburse the government for costs of the hoax.

Social services should get a call, too. “Contributing to the delinquency of a minor” is an understatement of the sins the Heene parents committed against their children. They conscripted all three into a criminal conspiracy and then repeatedly forced their young son to lie on national television. He couldn’t do it. The stress was obvious when Falcon barfed twice.

The Heene children need some adult supervision in their lives. They clearly haven’t gotten any from their parents, who have shown themselves to be more immature than most kids.