FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said the runway balloon incident was a hoax planned out weeks ago and his office will seek restitution for rescuers' efforts to find the experimental balloon and the 6-year-old boy who was reportedly inside.

During a news conference Sunday morning Alderden said, "We have since learned that these people are actors" who carried out the hoax "with the hopes of marketing themselves for reality TV."

"What we know at this point, and what the hoax is, is this has been a planned event for at least two weeks. The plan was to launch this spacecraft in order to gain media publicity," Alderden said.

Alderden said Richard and Mayumi Heene "put on a very good show for us, and we bought it."

The sheriff said, "We believe that we have evidence at this point to indicate that it was a publicity stunt done with the hopes of marketing themselves, or better marketing themselves, for a reality television show at some point in the future."

Charges have not yet been filed, but Alderden said police will meet with the district attorney's office and recommend the following charges: conspiracy, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, making a false report to authorities and attempting to influence a public servant.

"Clearly, we were manipulated by the family and the media was manipulated by the family," the sheriff said.

False reporting to authorities is a misdemeanor but three of the other charges are felonies. Some of the most serious charges each carry a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The Heene's are being represented by Denver attorney David Lane. Lane says he does not know what evidence the sheriff has in the case, but says the burden of proof is on the sheriff to prove the Heene's guilt.

"Accusations are cheap. When it comes time to put up or shut up is in front of a jury down the road," he told 7News Sunday night. "If they've got the evidence, bring it on. If they don't they'll have to suffer the consequences for their lack of evidence."

Investigators will meet with the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration to determine if there will be federal charges for interfering with flight traffic. Air traffic at Denver International Airport was rerouted Thursday afternoon when the balloon drifted in that direction.

The sheriff also said he's also working with the FAA to determine when the Heenes called the FAA -- if it was before or after he called the media and called 911.

Deputies are also investigating reports that there may have been other "co-conspirators" -- those who may have prior knowledge about the hoax, including some media outlets.

He said all three of the Heenes' sons knew that they were carrying out a hoax, but likely won't face charges because of their ages. Falcon is 6, Ryo is 8 and Bradford is 10.

"The information that we have at this point is that they were 100 percent involved participants and had guilty knowledge," Alderden said.

The sheriff said he couldn't even be sure if Falcon, the boy who supposedly took off in the so-called flying saucer, had been hiding in the rafters the entire four hours that he had been reported missing.

"That is the story that is being presented to us -- that he was in the attic. But frankly we question that ... For all we know he may have been two blocks down the road playing on the swing in the city park," Alderden said.

The children were still with the parents Sunday, and child protective services has been contacted to investigate the children's well-being.

"They will be conducting an investigation into whether that's a safe environment, a suitable environment for the children," Alderden said.

Father: Balloon Saga Has Become 'Convoluted'

Richard and Mayumi Heene were shopping at Wal-Mart with their three sons as Alderden told reporters at the sheriff's station that the parents' reports were a big hoax.

Richard Heene said he's "seeking counsel." Attorney David Lane said he has been hired as the Heene's legal counsel.

Tears welled up in Richard Heene's eyes as he told The Associated Press "this thing has become so convoluted."

Heene said his wife is holding together better than he is.

It was interviews with the parents Saturday night that resulted in enough information to get a warrant to search the house. Alderden said investigators were looking for computers, e-mails, phone records, financial records and written plans and contracts for reality TV shows.

Poking Holes In Heene Family Story

A Colorado State University physics professor, using dimensions given by Richard Heene, had told sheriff's officials as they were tracking the balloon Thursday that it was plausible for it to lift off with 6-year-old Falcon inside.

Once the device landed, sheriff's officials discovered it was made with plastic tarps taped together and covered with aluminum foil, with a utility box made of a very thin piece of plywood, cardboard on the side, held together with string and duct tape, Alderden said.

Using the true dimensions, the professor determined it could not have launched with the 37-pound boy inside, Alderden said.

"It was not capable of lifting off. The original information was showing that the contraption was 18 pound less than it actually was," Alderden said.

On Thursday, Falcon Heene vanished into the rafters of his garage while the world thought he was zooming through the sky in a flying saucer-like helium balloon. Suspicion that the balloon saga was a hoax arose almost immediately after Falcon was found hiding in the attic above the garage. Heene, a storm chaser and inventor whose family has appeared on the ABC reality show "Wife Swap," and his wife had said one of the boy's older brothers said Falcon was aboard the homemade balloon when it took off.

Initially, investigators said they kept an open mind and believed the Heenes' story.

"Everything that we experienced with the family was very consistent and believable," Alderden said. Some of the other things that led to their credibility was that the Heenes gave investigators free access to their house, access to interview the children, and after Falcon was found, his parents didn't hesitate to let investigators interview the boy separately, Alderden said.

But suspicion grew after the family was interviewed on CNN Thursday night.

When Richard Heene asked Falcon why he didn't come out of his hiding place, the boy replied, "You said we did this for a show."

"It wasn't 'til the family was interviewed on 'Larry King Live' by Wolf Blitzer that we had our first 'Aha!' moment," Alderden said. "If you look at the verbal responses and nonverbal cues, it became very clear to us that they were lying."

Investigators wanted to interview the family again on Friday, but said because of the stress and fatigue that the family was under, any polygraph test conducted on Friday would be invalid.

"The only way we could bring this to a successful conclusion was to get a confession," Alderden said.

Even on Friday, Alderden told the media and the family that they believed the Heenes -- that it wasn't a hoax. But that was all a strategy to establish a good relationship, and gain the Heenes' cooperation and trust for further interviews and a polygraph, said Undersheriff Ernie Hudson.

"There's absolutely no doubt in our mind that this was a hoax and this was a public relations setup where the family would get national attention," Hudson said.

Alderden couldn't say whether the couple confessed during the interview on Saturday but said, "There was no evidence of any remorse."

After the interrogation Saturday, Richard Heene and his wife walked out of the sheriff's office and walked up to a bank of microphones. As reporters yelled questions, Heene said: "I was talking to the sheriff's department just now." He then walked to his car with his wife and a friend and drove away. It wasn't clear where the family spent Saturday night.

The Heenes have said the balloon was supposed to be tethered to the ground when it lifted off, and no one was supposed to be aboard. The family was videotaping as they tested the balloon, which they said was supposed to hover about 50 to 100 feet from the ground, held down by tethers. The video shows the family counting down in unison, "3, 2, 1," before Richard Heene pulls a cord, apparently accidentally setting the balloon high into the air.

"Whoa!" one of the boys exclaims. Then his father says in disbelief, "Oh, my God!" He then says to someone, "You didn't put the (expletive) tether down!" and he kicks the wood frame that had held the balloon.

After watching the home video, more questions arose in investigators' minds.

"We questioned the manner in which it was secured -- that was one of things that was suspicious in the first place. The tethers themselves -- there were two tethers -- and it was string that was supposed to hold this thing down," Alderden said.

He said the home video and Richard Heene's shocked reaction to the balloon lifting off was all part of the hoax.

"The plan was to obviously create a situation where it appeared that Falcon was in the craft and that his life was in jeopardy in order to gain a lot of publicity, and again, with the ultimate goal of gaining some notoriety and perhaps furthering their career by obtaining a contract to do a reality TV show," Alderden said.

The producer of "Wife Swap" said it had a show in development with the Heenes but the deal is now off. TLC also said Richard Heene had pitched a reality show called the "Science Detectives" to the network months ago, but it passed on the offer.

Heene lived for many years in Southern California, where he and his future wife met as aspiring actors at the Lee Strasberg acting school and launched a production company.

But Heene appeared to have little Hollywood success until he and his wife, Mayumi, and their three young sons appeared in two episodes of "Wife Swap," earlier this year. They moved to the Fort Collins area in 2007, where Heene continued his day job as a self-employed general contractor.

Los Angeles court records show the would-be actor had trouble paying the bills and clashed in court with business associates.

Heene was hit with a $5,000 judgment in Los Angeles small claims in 2006 and the state of California filed a $5,812 tax lien against him in 1993. His firm that plays on his wife Mayumi's name, My You Me Productions, wracked up $2,191 in Los Angeles County tax liens between 2003 and 2006.

Tensions High In Heene's Neighborhood

Tensions are running high in the Heene neighborhood, where some neighbors forced to play a role in what police called "a good show," said they feel betrayed.

"Fort Collins deserves way more than this. So, we'd like to get back to normal," said Josh Dengler, who once thought the Heene's being on the reality show "Wife Swap" would be the weirdest thing to ever happen in this neighborhood.

His children play with the Heene's boys, so he said he wishes this would all go away for the sake of the children.

"We're worried about the kids. From the very beginning, we were worried about the kids. That's why we were out searching for Falcon," he said.

Many neighbors helped search yards in the area for the little boy investigators have said was never really missing.

"The belief and the trust people had as neighbors -- that was very heartbreaking," said neighbor Armando Parente.