'Mad' Mike Hughes dies in homemade rocket disaster on mission to prove Earth is flat
Flat-Earth theorist “Mad” Mike Hughes died Saturday after launching himself in a homemade rocket that crashed into the ground. The rocket carrying Hughes, 64, crashed on private property near Barstow, California.
“It was unsuccessful, and he passed away,” longtime colleague Waldo Stakes told the Associated Press. A video of the launch posted by freelance journalist Justin Chapman showed a parachute falling away from the rocket, then the rocket falling down shortly after takeoff.
It’s unclear why the rocket failed. It had returned Hughes safely to Earth after other missions. Chapman said the rocket appeared to rub against the launch apparatus, which could have torn the parachutes. Hughes rode his handmade rocket nearly 2,000 feet above the Mojave Desert at speeds of up to 250 mph in March 2018, Stakes said. “My story really is incredible,” Hughes said at the time. “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, people questioning everything. It’s the downside of all this.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mad-mike-hughes-dies-in-homemade-rocket-disaster-on-mission-to-prove-earth-is-flat
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mad-mike-hughes-dies-in-homemade-rocket-disaster-on-mission-to-prove-earth-is-flat
Twitter video:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1231336002175717376
https://twitter.com/justindchapman/status/1231336002175717376