( CNN ) -- The whole world watched Thursday as a lighter-than-air craft set loose by a 6-year-old boy floated above eastern Colorado . Several media outlets offered to help track the balloon with their helicopters , a sheriff 's spokeswoman says . Web sites as diverse as Al-Jazeera and Australia 's Sydney Morning Herald carried news of the wayward aircraft with reports that authorities feared the boy , Falcon Heene , was inside . The Web sites for The Sun , Britain 's largest newspaper , as well as the BBC , posted by-the-minute updates on the aerial odyssey , as did many international sites . The story was a bonanza for social networking sites . Facebook , in a little more than an hour , had three fan pages and three groups dedicated to `` Balloon Boy . '' Members were piling on as the story developed . After the balloon landed near Colorado Springs , law enforcement authorities found it empty , according to CNN affiliate KMGH , which cited a police report . But while the aircraft was airborne , it was the saucer seen round the world . Watch `` unbelievable '' footage of `` homemade flying saucer '' » . Michael Karns , director of marketing at Zazzle , an online customized products platform tied to trends and ideas , said the balloon excursion sparked the creation of 6,000 `` products , '' ( shirts , bags , shoes , doggie attire , etc . ) tied to the news event . `` What 's interesting about this story is that it played out over a significant period of time , '' Karns said . `` Expressions [ on the T-shirts ] changed from `` Go , Falcon , Go '' ( when the boy was believed afloat ) to `` I Believe '' ( when he was reported missing ) and once it came clear the kid , Falcon , was hiding in the attic , the products changed to sort of making fun of the whole thing . '' Karns said the Redwood City , California , company received about 200 orders of shirts related to the event by 8 p.m . ET Thursday . Karns predicted the `` Balloon Boy '' may become a hot Halloween costume as well . The attention it garnered also gave some indications of how a real-life flying saucer , an unidentified flying object , may be documented in a high-tech world . Watch report on shifting attitudes towards `` balloon boy ' saga » . Twitter was inundated with news about Falcon , with the updates occupying seven of the 10 trending topics on the site from 3:30 p.m. to nearly 5 p.m . ET . While most of the tweets were repeating national headlines about the balloon , some people expressed their opinions along the way . Mleswan tweeted , `` Oh sweet irony . The kid 's name is FALCON ? ! ? ! Oh that 's classic . '' Tmilewski tweeted , `` I call both horrible parenting AND horrible craftsmanship on this one ! '' On Reddit , a social networking site known for its hilarious discussion threads about news events , the topic elicited fun and fast dialog . Neoncow said : `` I do n't care what they say . A father who builds a flying saucer hot air balloon with his son is a good father . '' Lyrus said : `` What did Beyonce say to the parents of the 6-year-old kid that flew away in a balloon ? If you liked it then you should have put a string on it . '' Mossyskeleton : `` I wonder if his dad is going to ground him when he gets back . '' Falcon 's parents , identified as science enthusiasts and storm chasers Richard and Mayumi Heene , were featured earlier this year on ABC 's prime-time program `` Wife Swap , '' ABC said . The Heene family was involved in `` scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials and building a research-gathering flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm , '' the network 's Web site said . Richard Heene , who has posted at least one iReport , calls himself a general contractor , published scientist and inventor . The aircraft , which appeared to be a Mylar-coated helium balloon , had been tethered to the Heene home in Fort Collins , Colorado , the Larimer County Sheriff 's Office said . Falcon evidently untied the rope anchoring the balloon , and it was feared that he had fallen from the craft . Authorities say that after ground and air searches , he was found hiding in a box in the attic of his family 's home Thursday .
Parents had fan pages , groups dedicated to ` ` Balloon . '' International Web sites tune in as family 's wayward aircraft captivates the world . T - shirt campaign quickly responded to the changing news stories . Parents ID 'd as science enthusiasts , storm ##ing , and Mayumi ##n .