BALLOON BOY

BALLOON BOY

In 2009, the news reported live as a six-year-old boy careened through the air at 7,000 feet trapped inside a homemade balloon craft. Millions tuned into the harrowing saga, but once the balloon finally hit the ground, no little boy was found inside. Details then emerged that seemed to indicate it was all a hoax created by a family as part of a PR stunt for a reality TV show. On this episode, we explore the story of Balloon Boy, ask whether the event was indeed a hoax, and look at the early history of the hot air ballooning craze in the 18th and 19th centuries where hoaxes and wild spectacles were a foundational part of the emerging scientific field. Become a Patron⁠ to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content Or subscribe to American Hysteria on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline at ⁠americanhysteria.com⁠ Sound Designer and Associate Producer: ⁠Riley Swedelius-Smith⁠ Producer and Editor: ⁠Miranda Zickler⁠ Voice Actor: ⁠Will Rogers⁠ Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episoder(292)

DINOSAURS pt. 1

DINOSAURS pt. 1

The dinosaur craze of the 1990s, inspired largely by the Jurassic Park movies, led to a legion of children dreaming of becoming paleontologists. In the century before, these beloved prehistoric beasts...

23 Mar 1h 5min

The Spooky Side of Pokémon with Guide to the Unknown

The Spooky Side of Pokémon with Guide to the Unknown

The extended media universe of Pokémon has been an obsession for young people since the late 1990s, and for this goofball episode my friends from the Guide to the Unknown podcast are here to dive into...

16 Mar 1h 25min

The Corporate Takeover of Caring with Dr. Mara Einstein

The Corporate Takeover of Caring with Dr. Mara Einstein

Have you ever been suspicious of a corporation showcasing their commitment to the environment, to marginalized groups of people, or to those suffering through a deadly disease? Dr. Mara Einstein is t...

9 Mar 1h 19min

BUGS!!!!!! with Akilah Hughes

BUGS!!!!!! with Akilah Hughes

We have had many media panics about swarms and hordes, about infestations and plagues of dangerous insects and arachnids that promise to rain destruction down on the defenseless American public. My gu...

2 Mar 1h 2min

Talking to the Future: Nuclear Semiotics (rerun)

Talking to the Future: Nuclear Semiotics (rerun)

[We are taking a break this week so please enjoy a re-release of one of our favorite episodes!] How do we warn people 10,000 years in the future about nuclear waste sites that will remain extremely da...

23 Feb 1h 7min

JINGLES pt. 2 with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'

JINGLES pt. 2 with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'

If you thought the first part of our series was catchy, wait til we enter the modern era where all the jingles that played throughout our lifetimes will be activated like sleeper cells inside us. For ...

16 Feb 1h 32min

Introducing Mind Games

Introducing Mind Games

We’re excited to share a preview of a new podcast we think you’d enjoy: Mind Games. What if you could hypnotize yourself into a better you? Or.... secretly hypnotize others into giving you anything...

12 Feb 1min

JINGLES pt. 1 with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'

JINGLES pt. 1 with Sarah Marshall of 'You're Wrong About'

We all contain within us the many cheesy tunes of catchy capitalism that marked our childhoods, those hyper-memorable earworms that, depending on your age, feel like an invention of the 90s, of the 80...

9 Feb 1h 24min

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