A six-year-old boy named Falcon Heene was thought by many to have
been floating alone through Colorado skies on Thursday in a silvery
weather balloon created by his inventor father. It turned out that he
was safe at home hiding from his parents (so goes one story), but the
news caused a media frenzy as many watched the unfolding coverage.

What
has been lost in all the finger-pointing and confusion is that a lying
(or mistaken) eyewitness was at the root of the concern.

The
fact that a large silver balloon flew in the air was, by itself, hardly
worth noting. No, what propelled the story to international importance
was the first-person eyewitness account of Falcon's brother Brad.
According to Sheriff Jim Alderman, police questioned Brad several times
about what he had seen shortly before the balloon flew away. "He said
he saw his brother climb into that apparatus and he was very adamant,
they interviewed him multiple times and that was his consistent story."

At
that point the concern became for the safety of the young boy, not an
escaped balloon: Had he fallen to his death? Was he still aboard the
balloon? He had been abducted? Where was the child?

Police were at
first skeptical, but the boy repeated his story and insisted on the
truth of what he'd seen. Many people (and journalists) probably
thought, "Why would a child lie about something like that?"

Perhaps it
was all a publicity stunt or hoax, and the boy lied because his parents
told him to. Or perhaps the boy had some strange, sudden hallucination
that made him think he really did see his brother climb about the
craft. Or maybe sometimes kids just lie about anything, for no
particular reason [parents are known to lie to their children, a lot].

Much is often made of first-person
eyewitness testimony in our society; some people have even been
convicted of crimes based on little more than one person saying, "I saw
this happen." But just because a person swears to have personally seen
something, and consistently sticks to his or her story, does not mean
it's true.

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Benjamin Radford is managing editor of the Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and investigator with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. His books, films, and other projects can be found on his website. His Bad Science column appears regularly on LiveScience.

Original Story: Balloon Boy Saga Offers Lesson in Eyewitness TestimonyLiveScience.com chronicles the daily advances and innovations made in science and technology. We take on the misconceptions that often pop up around scientific discoveries and deliver short, provocative explanations with a certain wit and style. Check out our science videos, Trivia & Quizzes and Top 10s. Join our community to debate hot-button issues like stem cells, climate change and evolution. You can also sign up for free newsletters, register for RSS feeds and get cool gadgets at the LiveScience Store.