Remember This in 2009? ‘Trainwreck: Balloon Boy’ Netflix Doc Trailer
by Alex Billington
June 18, 2025
Source: YouTube
“What if my stupid experiment kills my son?” Who remembers this story? Of course we all do… How could anyone forget?! Netflix has revealed an official trailer for the doc Trainwreck: Balloon Boy, the next in their Trainwreck series of unforgettable moments from history. A homemade flying saucer lifts off, and a 6-year-old boy might be inside. National panic ensues when the media begins to cover it non-stop — but what truly happened? This documentary investigates the real story of the Heene Family. It is made by filmmaker Gillian Pachter and delves into this breaking news story in October 2009. A dad claims his son is trapped in a runaway helium balloon – a “flying saucer” from his backyard. News helicopters follow the chase live once they spot the silver UFO. However, the balloon lands safely and there’s no one inside, sparking outrage at the family as the story becomes one of America’s most infamous hoaxes. The boy was just hiding in the attic all along. It makes me sad they had go to through this – especially when everyone really was safe and sound.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Gillian Pachter’s doc Trainwreck: Balloon Boy, from YouTube:
On October 15, 2009, a father in Fort Collins, CO calls 911, claiming that his home-made flying saucer has escaped from the back yard, carrying his 6-year-old son inside. This stranger-than-fiction claim is backed up by footage from a news helicopter, which catches up with the balloon and is live-streaming the chase. What starts as a local emergency quickly escalates into a national one, as everyone from the Sheriff, to the National Guard, and Homeland Security, struggles to come up with a plan to safely rescue ‘Balloon Boy’. As the balloon softly lands, people pray for a miracle reunion – but instead they discover no boy inside. What appears to be a tragedy takes a sharp turn into something else. Public sympathy quickly turns into righteous outrage, as Balloon Boy quickly becomes one of America’s most infamous & bizarre news stories.
Trainwreck: Balloon Boy is a documentary directed by veteran doc filmmaker Gillian Pachter, director of many docs including Britney: Off the Rails, Repossessed, James Bulger: The New Revelations, The Ruth Ellis Files: A Very British Crime Story, and others. Made by RAW and BBH. Produced by Ben Rumney. This is part of the Trainwreck doc series on Netflix – “delve into the spiraling disasters and epic fails that the world could not look away from.” Executive produced by Sheun Adelasoye De Nicola, Alexander Marengo, and Tim Wardle (RAW); Casey Feldman, Erica Roberts, and William Swann. Netflix will debut Trainwreck: Balloon Boy streaming on Netflix starting July 15th, 2025 this summer. Anyone interested in watching?