US authorities say the runaway balloon saga that gripped the United States was a hoax concocted by the entire family to drum up publicity for a future reality television show.
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Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden told reporters on Sunday that Richard Heene and his Japanese-born wife Mayumi had fabricated Thursday's drama in which their six-year-old son Falcon was reported to have flown away on a home-made helium balloon.
The couple previously appeared in the reality show Wife Swap.
Falcon Heene was later discovered alive after hiding in an upstairs attic at the family home for several hours, a bizarre ending to a televised drama that drew immediate suspicions of a hoax.
Footage emerged over the weekend showing the moment the balloon lifted in the sky, with Richard and Mayumi Heene standing only metres away.
Alderden revealed at a press conference that the Heene parents had first met during a Hollywood acting class - and successfully conned officers last Thursday into thinking that they were distraught as the tension mounted. Mayumi Heene was reportedly born Mayumi Iizuka around 1964 in Japan.
"Needless to say they put on a very good show for us and we bought it," Alderden told reporters. "These people are actors ... we were manipulated by the family and the media were manipulated by the family.
"The plan was to create a situation where it appeared Falcon was in the craft and that his life was in jeopardy in order to gain a lot of publicity with the ultimate goal of gaining some notoriety and perhaps furthering their careers by gaining a contract for a reality TV show," Alderden explained.
Alderden also revealed for the first time that the Heenes' three sons - aged 10, eight and six - were also in on the scam.
Alderden confirmed that Heene and his wife are expected to face felony and misdemeanor charges of conspiracy, contributing to delinquency of a minor, attempting to influence a public servant, and filing a false report. The couple's children are unlikely to face charges because of their young age.
The most serious felony charge - attempting to influence a public official - could in theory see the Heenes jailed for between two and six years and a $US500,000 fine, a law enforcement source said.
However, Alderden said that due to the crowded nature of Colorado's prisons, jail time is unlikely.
It was unlikely authorities could recover costs of the rescue operation from the family given their financial situation, he said.
Alderden had emphasised at a press conference on Friday that authorities were convinced the Heenes had been telling the truth.
However Alderden said on Sunday that authorities' public statements of support for the family were part of a strategy to lull the Heenes into a false sense of security.
He insisted that authorities' suspicions had first been raised late on Thursday when Falcon Heene blurted out during a television show on CNN that "we did this for a show".
"If you look at the non-verbal responses as well as some of the verbal cues, not only from him but from the family, from the children, the reaction, it became very clear to us at that point that they were lying," Alderden said.
Armed with those suspicions, police interviewed Richard Heene and his wife separately on Saturday, Alderden said.
Richard Heene was invited to be interviewed on the pretext of returning his "spaceship" to him, CBS said, while Mayumi was interviewed at home.
"Based on the interviews that were done yesterday, we obtained enough probable cause to execute search warrants at the house last evening," Alderden said.
The protective services unit has been called in to deal with the children.
AFP and Anne Davies and Arjun Ramachandran
