Ten-year-old Max Hewett was shooting hoops in his driveway at his home in Billings the afternoon of Feb. 1.
“And then I was going inside and then I saw a white speck in the sky, and then I looked over and I saw the moon," Max said. "I was like, no, this isn't the moon. And I thought it was the comet."
He ran inside and told his dad, Todd.
"He had this excited look on his face and he thinks he sees the comet," Hewett remembered.
They grabbed binoculars and went back outside. Todd thought the object might have been a weather balloon.
"Then I suggested bringing out the telescope and taking videos in it," Max said.
"And that's how we got really close up shots.”
Two Montana photographers are now known all around the world for the first published photos of the balloon seen over Billings earlier this month. But Max thinks he may have actually scooped them.
Todd Hewett put the video on YouTube so relatives could see it. After the story broke of a possible spy balloon, calls from the media came from around the world.
"And then every news thing was asking for them and we didn’t even know what it was," Max said.
The Hewetts are not as famous as the professional photographers — but the whole experience may have made a more important impact on Max. It's fueled his interest in astronomy.
"W actually are learning it right now, and I've been the one who's been best at it, too," he said. "I mean, I've been answering all the questions.”
