Daredevil 'Mad' Mike Hughes dies after homemade rocket crashes, reports say
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
BARSTOW, Calif. (KSNV) — The famous daredevil known for trying to launch himself into space on a homemade rocket has died near Barstow, California after a crash landing during a rocket launch Saturday, multiple media outlets report .
The launch, according to Space.com , was a part of the “Homemade Astronauts” series on Science Channel.
The 64-year-old was riding his own steam-powered rocket and hoped to reach 5,000 feet.
In a video posted on Twitter by Justin Chapman shows the launch as well as the crash. “Very likely did not survive,” Chapman said in the post’s caption.
The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office said that deputies responded just before 2:00 p.m. Saturday to a private property in a rural area of Barstow.
A man was pronounced deceased after the rocket crashed in the open desert during a rocket launch event. There were medical aid personnel for the launch and they were immediately on scene.
The department’s aviation and specialized investigators are conducting an investigation, adding that the coroner has not made a positive ID.
Hughes is not only famous for his daredevil ways but also his belief that the earth is flat, which is among the reasons he so tirelessly tried to reach space and see for his own eyes.
Hughes’ was the star of the documentary “Rocketman: Mad Mike’s Mission to Prove the Flat-Earth.”
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Don't know if anyone else remembers this guy but like the story says he was building his own rocket partially in an effort to prove the earth was flat.
Lol possibly NASA got scared and shut his research down (permanently). Any the mystery continues.
He was the most famous of the flat earthers. I wish he had made it so he could see for himself that the earth is not flat. There is no mystery. Earth is a planet and by definition not flat.
Funny thing is that he didn't have to go into space to see that, he simply had to watch a ship come over the horizon into port
Flat Earthers are a strange breed. Nothing you say or demonstrate makes a difference to them. There is a YouTube video that has the head USA flat Earther witnessing a scientific demonstration. The scientists put on a boat a vertical meter (about 6 feet tall). The boat then went out to sea and on the beach they had the equivalent of surveyor equipment. They watched as the meter stick slowly moved downward in the view of the equipment.
The flat Earthers claimed this was merely a heat mirage.
No reasoning with such blind confirmation bias. It is a religious thing with them.
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Bbl no politics please
I could state that that is not the effect that heat mirages produce, but
why bother.
No argument here
I know it was a pathetic response, but they had nothing better. They could not be honest and just admit that they were wrong. If they did that the donations would stop and they would lose their following and not be able to have annual conventions.
Which attract people from around the globe, I'm sure.
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well rounded you appear in shapes revolving around interest, pulled to the side of uninteresting things that gravitate to the force, centrifugal
as not too difficult to join in against the spin from a Cult i began
to end
till it was beginning
to look like the end
as which of what is not spun, unless to promote fired employees to the front of the back page turned to better lie while standing up
dead on often enough is never
often
enuff
There's no reasoning with anyone who is unreasonable, willfully ignorant, or just plain delusional.
you realize i can see and read your posts ?
I would be willing to go with some flat earthers in a ship and head out to sea. I would leave a certified check to be given to a recipient of their choice if the boat falls off the edge of the world, which it won't. They instead would get a reality check and I would get a nice little trip out of it.
I'd prefer you didn't, especially without proof
Silly girl of course it wouldn't, the ice wall surrounding our disk would prevent it.
Ah, I get it. So it's the ice walls that keep the cats from knocking everything off the edge of the Earth?
Lol exactly
Yes, and?
LOL. My bad.
Iggy is making fun of himself a bit.
After listening to Flat Earthers and Creationists over the years, I started to like the movie "Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy based on the book of the same name by Gary Adams even more. That planet creating factory at the end of the movie made about as much sense as their theories!
Looks like he hit on a flat part of Earth.
And in other news, the moon landings were faked and we will never have a definitive answer as to how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie-Pop
rumor has it, it is one, two, a three CRUNCH!
Mr Owl? Is that you?
Who...?
Don't forget the grassy knoll
I subscribe to the newer theory that is was an accidental discharge from a secret service weapon.
One of the original evil black guns ...... where are Scully and Mulder when you need them?
This was inevitable. I have been following this nutcase for years wondering when and how he was going to kill himself.
Just when he’d mastered ac-celebration.
Wasn't the acceleration. It was the sudden loss of momentum at the end...
Yep, 350 MPH to 0, in approximately 0 seconds, is usually a game changer.
Yup, precious few things in life are certain this was one of them
Same here - the ironic thing is that for less money, and a lot more safely, he could have just gone up in an airplane and gotten a lot higher up.
What did he hope to accomplish at 5,000 feet that he couldn't have accomplished on, for example, a commercial airline flight at cruising altitude?
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I'm glad nobody else was hurt.
Flat Earthers claim that the windows on jets are curved to give the illusion of a curved Earth. Yes, they actually do.
I saw a post on one flat Earther's Facebook page that claimed that multiple views of the Earth, taken from different points in orbit or at different times, not all looking the same, meant that they were faked. They should all look alike, she thought. Because the eastern hemisphere should look exactly like the western hemisphere, and cloud cover is stationary.
Oy.
Even beyond the YEC claims of a 6,000 year old Earth or the nutty ('Meet the Flintstones...') claims of dinosaurs coexisting with human beings.
Now that is tough to beat.
How do they explain away the time zones and the fact the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west in every time zone and the fact it's always day somewhere. Instead of building rockets they should place 24 of their most prominent flat earthers at 15 degree intervals around the world and video conference the sun's progress just to make sure it doesn't go out and quickly run back to the other end of the flat earth. The thing with flat earthers is I've always suspected that they were just screwing with us and laughing about it at their flat earther keg parties.
I figure it is confirmation bias (and serious stupidity) that keeps these folks going. These people claim that NASA is engaging in a worldwide conspiracy with fake photos and claims. The level of conspiracy theory one must accept to believe this nonsense is staggering. Even a basic IQ should be sufficient to raise a red flag that something is wrong in the logic.
But .... no.
Do they also claim that ALL planets (millions of them) are flat? If God gets angry with a planet does he just play Frisbee with them?
Possibly, my suspicion is a bit of that but also the need to feel special and be a part of something
That's high up on the stupidity scale too. Flat Earthers or YECs: which of them tops the stupid scale?
Everyone has the right to be stupid. But there are those who abuse the privilege.
Is the NASA conspiracy also part of the "godless scientists" evolution conspiracy?"
I used to think it was a joke organization, too. Literally some kind of comedy satire thing like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Apparently not, though, which is mind-blowing.
https://www.boredpanda.com/flat-earth-funny-memes/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
Generally I do not presume people stupid just because they have what I consider to be absurd beliefs. In the case of flat Earthers, I do not think I can help myself. Something is very, very wrong here.
You are kinder than I am TiG. I consider Flat Earthers (& YECs) to be stupid. The lack of logical, rational thought is astounding. That is what's wrong here, among other possibilities.
What is a YEC? I am unfamiliar with that term.
Young Earth Creationism. Belief that the Earth is 6,000 years old (among other nonsense) based on the analysis of the Bible by archBishop Ussher.
Or some have a different (yet just as convoluted belief) - they are willing to accept that the earth is older than 6000 years, but they are still convinced that humanity has only existed for 6000 years.
Ahhhh, those nut jobs.
Understatement.
A globe by definition is a round object so if they say they have members around the globe, they are affirming that the earth is not flat.
I was wondering if he'd been submitted for a Darwin Award yet, so I went poking around the interwebs and found something else instead...
So it was a scam for money and publicity. Surprise, surprise.
Okay, what's worse... being stupid or gullible enough to believe in a flat Earth, or being a scumbag who knowingly dupes people who are stupid or gullible enough to believe in a flat Earth out of their money?
Ken Ham keeps popping into my head for some reason.
I figured it had to be something with this guy. Anyone smart enough to build a rocket that didn't just blow up on the launch pad but actually lifted off couldn't be that stupid. He was a little crazy though.
No doubt it's a scam, but as far as both sides were interested it was a mutually beneficial one
Being taken by a con man is beneficial?
Not usually, but in this case I believe both parties benefited with possible further benefits had he not lawn darted.
I feel a little guilty for laughing at that.
With all the work Ham has had to do to find ways to argue against science, he necessarily must know that his claims are bullshit. I have for years held that Ham is a con-man more than a religious zealot who seeks to keep people religious by any means possible. He is not as bad as the slimy, despicable prosperity gospel types like Kenneth Copeland but he deserves scorn because he is purposely trying to dumb down as many kids as possible.
Ham does it for profit, too. His so-called Creation Museum and Ark Experience are businesses, right?
Not to mention Answers in Genesis, which apparently makes millions of dollars per year.
Which just proves that old statement "a fool and his money are soon parted"
Yes he does, but it seems he uses the profit to promote his cause. Kenneth Copeland, et. al. uses the profit to support their personal lavish lifestyles. Compared to Copeland, Ham is an honorable guy. Copeland is a slimy con-man and a thief.
Is he from the "Ark Encounter" in Kentucky ?
They sued because of flood damage to the "Ark", due to heavy rains, cough, cough.
(you can't make this sh*t up).
It seems strange that anyone would think it necessary to leave the ground to see if the earth is flat. Just set your watch to EST, see when the sun rises and sets, then drive to LA... without adjusting watch and see when the sun rises and sets. Immediately reverse the process. Compare the times... A flat earth would have only one time zone.
Trying to get inside the mind of a flat-Earther is a tough gig.
So if Earth were a flat disk, what would the dimensions be? Presumably, the diameter would be the same: 12,756 km. How thick would this disk be? How do they explain the Earth's core?
I believe I've read that there's a small hidden star providing some warming. Of course we can't see it cause we're stuck on the other side of the disk
Wow, just wow. They'll make up anything to support their BS.
Generally they do not explain things. They simply cherry-pick factors with supreme confirmation bias and present their 'case' via YouTube videos. You give them far too much explanatory credit.
Lol that's not even the weirdest of several theories I've seen, my favorite is the fires of Tartarus one
Of course [slaps forehead], silly me for expecting an actual explanation. Lol
I don't think I've heard that one.
Ok you caught me I may have changed fires of Hell to fires of Tartarus on my own, sorry
No worries. But it does fit with their mentality.
What do they say the bottom is made of?
Roots !
Naval lint
Does everyone have to pick on the USN constantly?
Oh wait, you meant...
I spelled it wrong, didn't I?
Lol absolutely not, for example. Our Navel forces have navals
lol
And their subs have seamen.
Gordy said something upthread about dimensions that made me think (and now I have a migraine).
We are 3 dimensional beings. Everything on earth is 3 dimensional because the Earth is a sphere, a classic 3D object. If the Earth was flat, we would be flat, ie, 2 dimensional.
Unless the Earth was a cube. Or rectangular.
A cube is 3D because it has length, width, and height. A rectangle is only 2D because it only has width and length
Think rectangular as in plywood: length, width, and height. But if the Earth is a disk, then it must have a more cylindrical shape.
like the Artifact, lol.
Yeah, but a piece of plywood is tangible. I was talking about a shape on a piece of paper.
If you really want a headache ..... consider the 4th dimension ..... enjoy!
The 4th dimension is time
And the fifth dimension sings hippie music.
Its a space-time continuum ..... unless of course when the Moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars ..... then all bets are off because peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars ..... ooops, wrong dimension
lol
I used to like that song....
You don't anymore? What happened?
Keep your day job, Sparty. I don't think you've got a career as a recording star.
Good to know your opinion on the matter ..... i'll take it under advisement if i ever go that route
I'm teasing you
Lol i know and i was teasing back ..... the thought of me singing anything but the Marine Corps Hymn scares even me
lol
Isn't that the dimension Mr. Myxlplyx is from?
Mxyzptlk. I am an old DC comics aficionado. Kltpzyxm!
And you are quite correct ... he is from the 5 th dimension.
I'm more Marvel Comics. But I am familiar with the basics of DC as well.
Same here, about the only DC comic I read was Batman.
Not Superman?
Nope I'm not sure why exactly but to me he was just too powerful. Physically no one could ever defeat him and mentally/emotionally he just had no foibles, no fear, no angst, no mistakes, no regrets Mind you all my opinions on Supes were formed 40 or more years ago so things may have changed. Instead give me Phoenix, ShadowCat, Rogue, Psylocke, Storm etc something that's at least a little relatable.
Oh and he also wasn't a busty woman dressed in a virtually painted on costume.
Good point.
Hard to suspend disbelief.
Isn't that all you really need? Batman is awesome. But then, Batman is like being a mortal Superman: he can basically do anything.
Well, he did have what seemed like every super power out there: Super strength, super speed, invulnerability, heat vision, cold breath, X-Ray vision, super hearing. He is completely overpowered. Where most superheroes have 1 or 2 superpowers, Supes had many.
Except Doomsday. But like many comic book "deaths," Superman's demise at the hands of Doomsday would only be temporary. Batman has beaten him too. But rather than physically defeating Supes, Bats outwitted him.
Don't forget Wolverine.
That's why we have Wonder Woman. Or Batgirl. Or Black Canary, ect..
Ya know I've seen them all in comics (many, many moons ago) and the drawings of the time simply never impressed as much as Marvels did. Meh it's all personal taste I guess.
Let's just say modern depictions are much more impressive. And detailed
The Twilight Zone is its own dimension.
In his quest to prove the earth is flat, he proved the law of gravity is real.
From March 25,2018
His latest attempt defied common safety precautions. Because of the wind, they had trouble maintaining the steam temperature. Two certain signals to postpone.
Upon the launch, one parachute inexplicably deployed and was almost instantly ripped free of the rocket which climbed to
5000 feet, tipped over and headed nose first into the ground while onlookers waited for Hughes to deploy the 3 remaining parachutes. That never happened.