# Skeptic Of World Being Round Dies In California Rocket Crash



## Leeda.the.Paladin (Feb 24, 2020)

BARSTOW, Calif. —


A California man who said he wanted to fly to the edge of outer space to see if the world is round has died after his home-built rocket blasted off into the desert sky and plunged back to Earth.


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Warning: The above video may upset viewers.

“Mad" Mike Hughes was killed on Saturday afternoon after his rocket crashed on private property near Barstow, California.

Waldo Stakes, a colleague who was at the rocket launch, said Hughes, 64, was killed. 

The Science Channel said on Twitter it had been chronicling Hughes' journey and that “thoughts & prayers go out to his family & friends during this difficult time.”

“It was always his dream to do this launch,” the Twitter message said.

A video on TMZ.com showed the rocket taking off, with what appears to be a parachute tearing off during the launch. The steam-powered rocket streaks upward, then takes around 10 seconds to fall straight back to earth. Shrieks can be heard as the rocket plows into the desert.

Freelance journalist Justin Chapman, who was at the scene, said the rocket appeared to rub against the launch apparatus, which might have caused the mishap with the parachute.

In March 2018, Hughes propelled himself about 1,875 feet into the air before a hard landing in the Mojave Desert in California. He said in a video that his goal was to eventually fly to the edge of outer space to determine for himself whether the world is round.

“I don't want to take anyone else's word for it,” he said in the video, posted on the BBC News website. “I don't know if the world is flat or round.”

In another video, Hughes said he also wanted “to convince people they can do things that are extraordinary with their lives.”

“My story really is incredible,” Hughes once told The Associated Press. “It’s got a bunch of story lines — the garage-built thing. I’m an older guy. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, plus the Flat Earth. The problem is it brings out all the nuts also.”


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## OhTall1 (Feb 24, 2020)

You can almost imagine the "uh oh" as the camera person pans down to the parachute


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## Black Ambrosia (Feb 24, 2020)

This is some kind of darwinism weeding out the crazies.


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## RoundEyedGirl504 (Feb 24, 2020)

Mercy was his fa.I my out there watcing that? He died doing something he was passionate about.


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## meka72 (Feb 24, 2020)




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## nyeredzi (Feb 25, 2020)

But why couldn't he just fly in a plane? Or even take a sky diving course? Seems there were other, less crazy ways to get a high altitude view. I guess this is how he earned the nickname "Mad"


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## Leeda.the.Paladin (Feb 25, 2020)

nyeredzi said:


> But why couldn't he just fly in a plane? Or even take a sky diving course? Seems there were other, less crazy ways to get a high altitude view. I guess this is how he earned the nickname "Mad"


Flat earthers don’t think that airplanes reach a high enough elevation to properly see the curvature of the earth.


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## nyeredzi (Feb 25, 2020)

Leeda.the.Paladin said:


> Flat earthers don’t think that airplanes reach a high enough elevation to properly see the curvature of the earth.


But, planes go up to 40,000 ft. Or do they think that is a lie? How high did he think he could get in his little contraption? Higher than a plane? It can't be that he thought that. How did he imagine he was going to breathe in that little thing in space? The whole thing is mind boggling.

Okay, I found a link.  It says though he believed the earth was flat, this wasn't an attempt to prove it. He's just a daredevil who likes launching rockets. He was filming for a Science Channel show called Homemade Astronauts. He had flown in it before, and knew the risks. Said it was a 50/50 chance that when you climb in, you weren't going to climb out.

https://www.space.com/mad-mike-fatal-homemade-rocket-launch-flat-earth-theory.html


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## Leeda.the.Paladin (Feb 25, 2020)

@nyeredzi thanks!



> In a 2017 documentary about the daredevil entitled "Rocketman: Mad Mike's Mission to Prove the Flat Earth," Hughes stated, "I'm not going to take anyone else's word for it, or NASA, or especially Elon Musk with SpaceX," he said. "I'm going to build my own rocket right here and I'm going to see it with my own eyes what shape this world we live on."
> 
> 
> *However, in the interview with Space.com, Hughes clarified, "although I do believe in the flat Earth, this was never an attempt to prove that."
> ...


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## fluffyforever (Feb 25, 2020)

This belongs in that BASE jumping and other shenanigans thread. Imma hold back my thoughts... 

May he Rest In Peace.


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## Leeda.the.Paladin (Feb 25, 2020)

fluffyforever said:


> This belongs in that BASE jumping and other shenanigans thread. Imma hold back my thoughts...
> 
> May he Rest In Peace.


Yes I thought about posting it there but was too lazy to do it.


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## [email protected]@ (Mar 1, 2020)

I wonder if he was manic? Manic people tend to grossly overestimate their abilities.


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