Balloons can be mysterious! Jack and Katy take listeners on a double-decker journey through two balloon-related tales. First they revisit Cleveland’s 1986 Balloonfest, a Guinness World Record attempt that went spectacularly wrong, and may (or may not) have contributed to two unfortunate deaths. Then, they jump to 2009 in Colorado, where a homemade silver balloon and a six-year-old boy named Falcon sparked a national media frenzy, only to reveal a shocking twist.

Follow Mystery For Two Podcast on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mysteryfortwopodcast/

Sources:

Time.com – https://time.com/7302213/trainwreck-balloon-boy-netflix/

Fox8.com – https://fox8.com/news/balloonfest-86-35-years-since-downtown-cleveland-event-turned-disastrous/

NPR.org – https://www.npr.org/2009/11/13/120399278/balloon-boy-parents-plead-guilty

SmithsonianMag.com – https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/cuyahoga-river-caught-fire-least-dozen-times-no-one-cared-until-1969-180972444/

MentalFloss.com – https://www.mentalfloss.com/cleveland-balloonfest?

YouTube.com – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx-HRMgwrOI

KOAT.com – https://www.koat.com/article/a-decade-ago-the-balloon-boy-hoax-captured-the-nation/29475231

People.com – https://people.com/trainwreck-balloon-boy-true-story-11772282

Time.com – https://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/10/balloon-boys-father-attempts-to-prove-theres-life-on-mars/

NYTimes.com – https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/us/19balloon.html

All stories are researched and shared following careful research and sincere effort. Though we are not professionals, we welcome corrections and strive to promptly correct any errors as new information comes to light.

In the very first episode of Mystery For Two, Jack and Katy unpack a 1964 jewel heist at the American Museum of Natural History, and the mysterious 16 carat uncut diamond sold for just $1.

J & K discuss the thieves’ unlikely break-in, the investigation, the bizarre recovery operation involving snorkels and a red Cadillac, and the very unfortunate murder that occurred later in connection to one of the thieves.

Follow Mystery For Two Podcast on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mysteryfortwopodcast/

Research sources:

NYTimes.com – https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/nyregion/natural-history-museum-jewelry-heist.html

WisconsinHistory.org – https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS2503

MSU.edu (Project GEO) – https://project.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/kimberlites.html

VanityFair.com – https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/01/murf-the-surf-docuseries-jack-murphy

NYTimes.com – https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/21/us/murph-the-surf-ends-prison-term.html

WallStreetJournal.com – https://www.wsj.com/articles/murf-the-surf-jewels-jesus-and-mayhem-in-the-usa-review-a-dashing-thiefs-darker-side-11675368747

NYTimes TimesMachine – https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/12/12/95007027.html?pageNumber=81

Newspapers.com – https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/464307937/

Newspapers.com – https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/534341997/?match=1&terms=terry%20rae%20frank

Village of Eagle, WI – https://www.vi.eagle.wi.gov/

MacFound.org – https://www.macfound.org/press/40-years-40-stories/accessible-billionaires-legacy

Amazon.com (Real Gems Store) – https://www.amazon.com/stores/REAL-GEMS/page/DFDB896E-F8D5-48D6-B61A-62B929357446?lp_asin=B07PZ5YVS1

StuffNobodyCaresAbout.com – https://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2016/10/19/color-views-manhattans-skyline-1960s/

CNN.com – https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/europe/louvre-password-cctv-security-intl

AMNH Digital Collections – https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/archive/The-DeLong-Star-Ruby--100-3-carats--Burma--Myanmar--2URM1THISUT9.html

AMNH Digital Collections – https://digitalcollections.amnh.org/archive/Midnight-Star-sapphire--116-75-carats--Sri-Lanka-2URM1THII117.html

DigitalCommonwealth.org – http://digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:x346f361z

Langerman-Diamonds.com – https://www.langerman-diamonds.com/products/5747-yellow-diamond-rough-1_02-ct-rough

Wikipedia.org – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Gabor

All stories are researched and shared following careful research and sincere effort. Though we are not professionals, we welcome corrections and strive to promptly correct any errors as new information comes to light.