http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8309818.stm
TV news crews in the US tracked the balloon as it landed
Police are searching for a six-year-old boy missing after he reportedly floated away in a helium balloon that later came down with no sign of him aboard.
The drama was played out on TV, with US networks devoting their airtime to live footage of the balloon over Colorado.
Two hours later it came down in fields and was surrounded by rescue vehicles.
A sheriff's spokeswoman said the boy had reportedly climbed into a basket attached to the balloon but the basket was not attached when it landed.
Spokeswoman Kathy Messick said investigators were looking at every possibility, including whether the boy was ever on the aircraft.
Police officers are searching on the ground in the direction in which the balloon flew, as well as the neighbourhood where the family lives.
She said his parents were "very traumatised".
Access door
The silver balloon, apparently made by the boy's father, reportedly reached heights of 7,000ft (2km).
It was floating about 40 miles north of Denver before it came down.
Balloon on the ground
Emergency vehicles surrounded the aircraft as it landed
Earlier, Larimer County sheriff's office spokeswoman Cathy Davis told reporters the balloon had been tethered in the back garden of the boy's family home.
She said two of the sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one climb in, apparently through an access door, and the balloon fly away.
The boy has been named by police as Falcon Heene.
His father, Richard Heene, apparently used the balloon to track the weather.
Live footage of the balloon, which was being tracked by media helicopters, showed it soaring high above the ground.
TV news crews in the US tracked the balloon as it landed
Police are searching for a six-year-old boy missing after he reportedly floated away in a helium balloon that later came down with no sign of him aboard.
The drama was played out on TV, with US networks devoting their airtime to live footage of the balloon over Colorado.
Two hours later it came down in fields and was surrounded by rescue vehicles.
A sheriff's spokeswoman said the boy had reportedly climbed into a basket attached to the balloon but the basket was not attached when it landed.
Spokeswoman Kathy Messick said investigators were looking at every possibility, including whether the boy was ever on the aircraft.
Police officers are searching on the ground in the direction in which the balloon flew, as well as the neighbourhood where the family lives.
She said his parents were "very traumatised".
Access door
The silver balloon, apparently made by the boy's father, reportedly reached heights of 7,000ft (2km).
It was floating about 40 miles north of Denver before it came down.
Balloon on the ground
Emergency vehicles surrounded the aircraft as it landed
Earlier, Larimer County sheriff's office spokeswoman Cathy Davis told reporters the balloon had been tethered in the back garden of the boy's family home.
She said two of the sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one climb in, apparently through an access door, and the balloon fly away.
The boy has been named by police as Falcon Heene.
His father, Richard Heene, apparently used the balloon to track the weather.
Live footage of the balloon, which was being tracked by media helicopters, showed it soaring high above the ground.
