In British Columbia, a driver behind a truck carrying an oversized load filmed the truck going under an overpass and scraping it. I wonder what was loaded on the truck? It's covered with a tarp, but I have a feeling it's expensive.
Image: YouTube Read the rest
There aren't any official numbers to prove it, but Ipley Cross is often hailed among England's most dangerous intersections, or "crossroads" as that land of knife-wielding spongiform hobbits calls it. I don't want to spoil Tom Scott's excellent four-minute explainer, but will point out that you'll get a visceral taste of the problem about 16 seconds in.
Ipley Cross, in the middle of the New Forest, is one of the most dangerous road junctions in Britain. Why? • Thanks to Bez, whoever you are: their definitive article on this junction is here.
You can sense something dangerous about the environment just looking at it with foreknowledge. Long lines of sight suggest visibility, but hillocks create blind spots approaching the intersection. Worse, the perfect geometry of the roads draws automobiles and bikes into constant bearing and diminishing range, hidden from one anothers' view by door pillars and helmets until it's too late to react.
I'm pretty sure that whole cursed forest clearing is a SCP.
On November 30 1954 in Alabama, a nine pound meteorite broke through the ceiling of Anne Hodges' living room, bounced off her stereo system, and hit her in the side while she was asleep on the sofa. Hodges suffered a bad bruise. The National Museum of Natural History has a piece of the rock in their collection and, as Smithsonian magazine reports, it's long been thought that Hodges is the only individual in recorded history confirmed to have been hit by a meteorite. Now though, researchers at Ege University, Trakya University, and the SETI Institute report that a fellow in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq is actually the first documented case of a meteorite striking a human being. It happened on August 22, 1888 and unfortunately the falling meteorite killed the man and left another paralyzed. From the scientific paper in Meteoritics & Planetary Science:
[The evidence comes from] three manuscripts written in Ottoman Turkish that were extracted from the General Directorate of State Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey. This event was also reported to Abdul Hamid II (34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire) by the governor of Sulaymaniyah. These findings suggest other historical records may still exist that describe other events that caused death and injuries by meteorites.
image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell Read the rest
A U-Haul parking lot burst into flame after a man threw a lit firework at his girlfriend, unknowingly disturbing a gasoline thief. All sorts of antics are captured on camera. Read the rest
A group of skydivers jump at the same time, when one is accidentally kicked in the head by his buddy. He goes unconscious, but is miraculously saved when one of his partners is able to catch him and activate his chute.
From Digg:
The terrifying footage was shared recently by Ben Pigeon, the unfortunate diver who took a fellow diver's "femur [to the] head at 200 plus mph." Pigeon writes that he lost 3 days of memory due to the concussion, but it could have been a lot worse — luckily, another diver was able to reach Pigeon and activate his chute and he was not further injured upon landing.
From another camera: Read the rest
On Tuesday, a driver in South Los Angeles turned onto the light rail tracks at the absolute worst possible moment. According to police, the individual amazingly suffered only "scrapes and bruises." From ABC7:
Read the restFrom the video, it appears a gate was down blocking traffic that would be approaching in the right lane, but there was no gate blocking the left side. With normal two-way traffic, that side would be driving into oncoming vehicles in any case.
It was not immediately apparent if there were any flashing lights or bells working at that crossing.
This police bodycam footage begins in mundane form, with a pulled-over motorist being issued a ticket for some traffic infraction or other. A loud crash is heard, and while we can't see it, we know it's trouble because the cop lets the motorist off and dashes back to his car. He races to the scene of the accident and we see the box truck wrecked in the highway, flames dancing around the windshield and tires. The officer and another rescuer haul the disoriented driver from the fire. Barely a second or two later, a roaring noise is recorded and we soon see that the entire cabin is engulfed.
The driver suffered minor injuries, according to New Jersey State Police, and they don't know what caused the crash. Read the rest
Back in September, a Hyundai Glovis cargo ship capsized off the coast of Georgia. The 665-foot ship, called the Golden Ray, tipped over in St. Simons Sound, Georgia but fortunately every crew member was rescued. The ship was holding around 4,000 US-made automobiles that are now quite waterlogged. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources and other organizations are orchestrating environmental protection measures and disassembling the vessel to remove it in pieces via barge. This week, the St. Simons Sound Incident Response Unified Company will begin constructing an "environmental protection barrier" that includes "large floating containment barrier to help contain surface pollutants, as well as large netting to contain subsurface debris."
The Unified Command used LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology to create 3D images of inaccessible areas inside the vessel.
Follow the situation here: St. Simons Sound Response
image: Georgia Department of Natural Resources (photo release) Read the rest
Famed LA Laker shooting guard Kobe Bryant died along with eight others in a helicopter crash Sunday morning. The shocking incident has fans reeling—and trying to figure out what went wrong amid a barrage of speculation, fake news and conspiracy-mongering on Twitter.
An eyewitness describes the crash itself:
Kobe Bryant helicopter crash witness gives an intelligent and detailed account of what he saw from videos
The radar records show the helicopter's flight path, and recordings of air traffic control show communications between the helicopter and controller:
A helicopter pilot explains a possible sequence of events. It seems likely the pilot was scud running down the 101 under a low cloud ceiling, then attempted a wide turn through the fog west of Calabasas, only to fly into the hills south of the highway.
We are following media reports the Kobe Bryant was among those killed in a crash of an S-76 helicopter near Calabasas, CA this morning. Initial data indicate N72EX is the aircraft involved. Data for N72EX is available at https://t.co/47EEtYA3uP pic.twitter.com/XZSFafHgmU
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 26, 2020
Aviation Safety has records on the helicopter and the incident. Read the rest
A gentleman attempted to drive his pickup truck across the iced over Big Shag Lake in Marquette County, Michigan. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. From the Mining Journal:
Read the restCrossroads Truck Repair and the (Michigan Department of Natural Resources) assessed the scene and advised the driver that they have 72 hours from when the incident occurred to pay to have their vehicle removed from the lake...
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy will evaluate the lake after the vehicle’s removal for any fluid cleanup.
Yesterday in New York, police spent hours attempting to remove this Honda from the pedestrian lane of the Pulaski Bridge connecting Brooklyn and Queens. Apparently, it was a stolen car and the driver likely escaped through a window.
In 1994, Cynsa, a member of the pioneering online community The WELL, thrilled us with her Rectal Foreign Bodies page all about the weird things people have put in their butts as reported by medical professionals tasked with removing the items. Barry Petchesky has continued this important online endeavor with his series of posts "chronicling our country's cavity misadventures." He posted his latest list, drawing from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s database of emergency room visits, over at VICE in a delightful article titled "What Did We Get Stuck in Our Rectums Last Year?." Here is a sample:
• “PATIENT STATES HE STATES SLIPPED IN THE SHOWER AND LANDED ON A METAL AIR FRESHENER CAN AND IT WENT INTO RECTUM” • FOLDING KNIFE • PLASTIC TOY, “ABOUT 6 INCHES LONG” • TOOTHPICK • MATTRESS FOAM • TWO RAZOR BLADES • COAT HANGER, “PATIENT UNSURE HOW IT GOT THERE” • COINS • LIGHT BULB APPLE SAUCE CAN • “ACCIDENTALLY GOT A DILDO LODGED IN RECTUM & CUT THE END OF THE DILDO OFF” • CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT
Still curious? Try this book by three medical doctors: "Stuck Up!: 100 Objects Inserted and Ingested in Places They Shouldn’t Be" Read the rest
In Chicago, a salt truck slid on the icy street right into Lake Michigan. Read the rest
Never let them see you sweat. Read the rest
In Citrus County, Florida, a dizzy driver veered off the road, crossed the berm, and then launched into the air, flying over more than a dozen cars at a dealership. The vehicle eventually smashed into two other cars in the parking lot, but fortunately no bystanders were hit. According to Bay News 9, authorities report that the driver was sent to the hospital but is expected to be fine. From Bay News 9:
Read the restIn the video the flying car barely misses an employee on the ground. Crystal Ford Lincoln Sales Manager Bruce Azevedo was just feet away from the crashing Camry when it finally made a crash landing.
“You could feel it. You could feel the, I don’t know, in your chest the compression when it hit,” he said. “And then as we spun around to see it, I saw it take out the Navigator. Which if the Navigator wasn’t there it probably would’ve went into the showroom.”
A truck drove down a street in Flores da Cunha, Brasil, opening a large sinkhole as it passed, reports Gauchazh. A few seconds later, a car drove over it and was swallowed. The driver broke bones in her face and was hospitalized.
Either it's windy in the warehouse today, or there's an extremely muscular poltergeist in occupation.
Reagan Steiner: "A table that seems to be controlled by a ghost totally attacks this random guy" Read the rest
