Re: the Darwin Award

Posted by cougar on Nov 06, 2002 at 14:00
(63.228.205.209)

Re: .... (Amaranth Rose)


Here's the 1997 winner: Larry Waters of Los Angeles. Larry is one of the few to win the award
and still be alive.

Larry's boyhood dream was to fly. When he graduated from high school, he joined the Air
Force in hopes of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately, poor eyesight disqualified him. When he was
finally discharged, he had to satisfy himself with watching jets fly over his backyard.

One day, Larry, brightened up. He decided to fly. He went to the local Army-Navy surplus
store and purchased 45 weather balloons and several tanks of helium. The weather balloons,
when fully inflated, measured more than four feet across. Back home, Larry securely strapped
the balloons to his sturdy lawn chair. He anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep and
inflated the balloons with the helium. He climbed on for a test while it was still only a few feet
above the ground. Satisfied that it would work, Larry packed several sandwiches and a six- pack
of miller lite, loaded his pellet gun - figuring he could pop a few balloons when it was time to
descend - and went back to the floating lawn chair where he tied himself in along with his pellet
gun and provisions. Larry's plan was to lazily float up to a height of about 30 feet above his
back yard after severing the anchor and in a few hours come back down.

Things didn't quite work out for Larry. When he cut the cord anchoring the lawn chair to his
jeep, he didn't float lazily up to 30 or so feet. Instead he streaked into the LA sky as if shot from
a cannon. He didn't level of at 30 feet, nor did he level off at 100 feet. After climbing and
climbing, he leveled off at 11,000 feet. At that height he couldn't risk shooting any of the
balloons, lest he unbalance the load and really find himself in trouble. So he stayed, there,
drifting cold and frightened for more than 14 hours when he found himself in the primary
approach corridor of LAX.

A Pan Am pilot first spotted Larry. He radioed the tower and described passing a guy in a lawn
chair with a gun. Radar confirmed the existence of an object floating 11,000 feet above the
airport. LAX emergency procedures swung into full alert and a helicopter was dispatched to
investigate.

LAX is right on the ocean. Night was falling and the offshore breeze began to flow. It carried
Larry out to sea. Right on Larry's heels was the helicopter. Several miles out, the helicopter
caught up with Larry. Once the crew determined that Larry was not dangerous, they attempted
to close in for a rescue but the draft from the blades would push Larry away whenever they
neared. Finally, the helicopter ascended to a position several hundred feet above Larry and
lowered a rescue line. Larry snagged the line, with which he was hauled back to shore, a difficult
manuver, flawlessly executed by the helicopter crew..

As soon as Larry was hauled to earth, he was arrested by waiting members of the LAPD for
violating LAX airsapce. As he was led away in handcuffs, a reporter dispatched to cover the
daring rescue, asked him why he had done it. Larrry stopped, turned and replied nonchalantly,
"A man can't just sit around."

Here's a salute to Larry Walters, the 1997 Darwin Award Winner.


For more info on the Darwin Award,click here.



OK, since I haven't left an email address
don't send email....



Follow Ups:


Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:
Comments:

[ Forum ] [ New Message ]