"Balloon Boy" dad Richard Heene is selling off the infamous balloon that made him the most hated father in America -- and if everything goes to plan ... he'll raise over a million bucks for charity in the process.



Richard posted a video online last week -- in which he claims his family wants to help with the tsunami relief efforts in Japan ... and to kick things off, he's already set a "purchase now" price on the balloon for $1,000,000.

Heene claims he will not make a penny off the saucer -- saying he hired an attorney to distribute any profits from the private online auction to Japanese tsunami relief charities.

The 20-foot saucer created a search-and-rescue panic in October 2009 -- when Richard and his wife claimed their six-year-old was trapped in the balloon as it careened into the sky.

Of course, it was all a lie ... and now everybody hates him.