Balloon Boy, internet sensation

Yesterday afternoon, seven of Twitter's top 10 trending topics were related to a the "Balloon Boy" story out of Colorado, which made for riveting TV until it turned out the Jiffy Pop popcorn-looking homemade spaceship actually had nobody inside.

It was enough to make you miss the innocent, bygone days when you knew there really was a kid stuck down in a well and could get good and justifiably worried sick about them.

In case you just stepped out of a spaceship yourself (and if so, you really should post to YouTube immediately), much of the nation watched on live television yesterday as a weather balloon zipped around Colorado, supposedly with 6-year-old Falcon (really) Heene in the payload. It turns out that young Falcon hid in a box in the attic while the nation hoped and prayed he would not crash into power lines on live TV. Spicing up the story is the fact that the family appeared on "Wife Swap," an ABC reality show with -- despite the title -- not near the ratings of the balloon escapade. Then young Falcon threw up on the "Today" show this morning as father Richard insisted he and his wife were not in on any kind of hoax. (And authorities now say there is no evidence the parents were involved. Making Falcon the king of all 6-year-old pranksters.)

You just can't make this stuff up. By the time it was all done, even Middle East news service Al Jazeera was coving the story. There must be an easier way to become an internet star, but effectively viral this spectacle has certainly been:

Huffington Post is aggregating the best Balloon Boy jokes online, so you don't have to chase him all over creation to get the goodies inside.

On Facebook, folks are writing a folk song for the new folk hero, set to the tune of the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme. New groups are popping up like crazy. And (lame) Balloon Boy T-shirts ,as well as other products, are for sale.

Over on YouTube, there are more than a dozen videos of young Falcon throwing up on the "Today" show this morning. (I kid you not, people want to watch this. Forgive me for not providing a link.)

I couldn't find a Balloon Boy presence on LinkedIn (proof again that it is the most reasonable of social media platforms). But if he's smart young Falcon will slap up a resume, pronto, before his star fades.

Question: Can you really blame a kid whose parents appeared on "Wife Swap" for thinking it's cool to grab attention?

Should you think we're done with this, just look ahead to Halloween, coming up in two weeks, and all the balloon boys who will be competing for attention then.