Balloon Fallacy

For 3 hours this week the world watched nervously as a helium balloon thought to have accidentally carried a young 6 year old stowaway flew across the Colorado plains. Was he inside?

I immediately thought of a past Mythbusters episode. Actually, it was more Darwin Awards. Could this really happen?

Based on the dimensions of the balloon, it could have contained enough helium to lift a 50 pound object. Based on University of Google, it takes a 15 cubic feet to lift 1 lb, CNN says the balloon was around 20" across x 5" high so ((pi * r^2)*5 = (3.14 * 10*10)*5 = 1570 ) . However, forget the physics for a moment. Take a look at the balloon in flight and at takeoff. If there had really been a 50 pound boy in the base it would have looked like an upside down teardrop and there's no way it could have lifted off so lightly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djz3i-ZjC64

Another fine example of media manipulation.