Irish-American talking head Bill O’Reilly scored an interview with Larimer County Sheriff Jim Aldernen, who was primarily involved in the “Balloon Boy” saga.

Aldernen appeared on Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor” last night to discuss the ordeal, and O’Reilly lamented about the pain he and the rest of America experienced while thinking the 6-year-old was trapped in the soaring weather balloon.

The world waited with bated breath as police followed a giant homemade balloon, or “spaceship,” that was flying over 7,000 feet in the air, thinking that 6-year-old Falcon Heene of Colorado was inside.

What could have been a tragic, and possibly fatal, ending to the story was avoided when it was discovered the boy was hiding in the Heene family’s attic.

Now evidence shows the Heene parents set up the balloon hoax in order to score a reality TV show, and Aldernen has declared it a criminal case.

“That must have been harrowing for you and your guys,” O’Reilly told Aldernen, and expressed the thoughts that were going through his mind at the time: “Boy oh boy, can you imagine the parents? This kid’s 8,000 feet up in the air! Is he going to fall out of there? Is it going to crash?”

The political pundit then went on to express his anger at the unnecessary pain the public felt during the mystery.

“The pain that even people who didn’t even know the family were experiencing – ‘I hope the little boy is okay’ – that was a two hour ordeal, right?!” he said.

Aldernen understands Bill’s anger. “I think that’s why the public has been so upset about this, and wants some blood, basically, from the family, because they emotionally bought into this,” the Colorado sheriff said. “They suffered along with the parents, except the parents weren’t suffering.”

Funny enough, it was young Falcon who blew the family’s cover during an interview with Larry King on CNN. When Falcon’s father Richard Heene asked his son, “Why didn’t you come out [from the attic]?” Falcon replied: “You had said that we did this for the show.”

“The kid himself blew the family’s deceit,” O’Reilly said. “The little kid on national television blows the con.”

As a result, the Heenes are in some major trouble with the law, and though Haldernen says the parents will probably avoid jail, they could owe up to $2 million for their deceit.

“There will be criminal charges and we anticipate filing something, probably next week, with the district attorney’s office,” Haldernen told O’Reilly. “And we believe both Mrs. Heene and Mr. Heene are criminally responsible for this action.”