Like most of America, I’d never heard of Richard Heene before Thursday. But I instantly felt horrible for him and his family when reports emerged that his son (ironically named Falcon) may have accidentally untethered a homemade weather balloon while riding inside it. Now, days later, reports indicate that it was all a hoax created to drum up publicity for a proposed reality show.

What I don’t understand, at all, is how some people are driven to become celebrities regardless of the cost. And regardless of whether anything about them is worthy of recognition as a celebrity.

All the facts of this particular incident remain clouded, but I think a pretty clear pattern has emerged: Richard and Mayumi Heene, for whatever reason, have repeatedly tried to become “famous” on TV – twice with the reality TV series Wife Swap, and more more recently with Richard’s focus on trying to get a science show off the ground.

It’s certainly plausible, given the couple’s history, to suggest that this latest incident was, indeed, manipulated for its publicity value – especially in light of young Falcon’s own comments on a Friday morning TV show and various other reports that have emerged over the weekend from people the Heenes have done business with in the past.

It reminds me a bit of Jon and Kate Gosselin, the “Plus Eight” couple that have gone through a very public and very acrimonious divorce this past year. I don’t “get” them, either.

Is this need for fame, simply for fame’s sake, some sort of pathology? Some need for external validation? A deep-seated insecurity driving these two adults to put themselves and their children at risk? What does it say about us as a culture that we seem to be elevating the banal and the mediocre to celebrity status?

Whatever it is, I hope in the end that the Heene boys don’t have to suffer any more because of it. Falcon running away from the cameras to puke should have been a clear signal to Richard and Mayumi Heene that they needed to circle the wagons fast. Unfortunately even then Diane Sawyer had to remind them to be parents to a six-year-old boy.

In the end, that’s pretty damn pathetic.