Web sites as diverse as Al-Jazeera and Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald carried news of the wayward aircraft with reports that authorities feared the boy, Falcon Heene, was inside.

The Web sites for The Sun, Britain’s largest newspaper, as well as the BBC, posted by-the-minute updates on the aerial odyssey, as did many international sites.

The story was a bonanza for social networking sites.

Facebook, in a little more than an hour, had three fan pages and three groups dedicated to “Balloon Boy.” Members were piling on as the story developed.

After the balloon landed near Colorado Springs, law enforcement authorities found it empty, according to CNN affiliate KMGH, which cited a police report.

But while the aircraft was airborne, it was the saucer seen round the world.  Watch “unbelievable” footage of “homemade flying saucer” »

Michael Karns, director of marketing at Zazzle, an online customized products platform tied to trends and ideas, said the balloon excursion sparked the creation of 6,000 “products,” (shirts, bags, shoes, doggie attire, etc.) tied to the news event.

“What’s interesting about this story is that it played out over a significant period of time,” Karns said. “Expressions [on the T-shirts] changed from “Go, Falcon, Go” (when the boy was believed afloat) to “I Believe” (when he was reported missing) and once it came clear the kid, Falcon, was hiding in the attic, the products changed to sort of making fun of the whole thing.”

Karns said the Redwood City, California, company received about 200 orders of shirts related to the event by 8 p.m. ET Thursday.

www.cnn.com

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