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'Mythbusters' stunt goes wrong, cannonball damages suburb property
A cannonball fired during the taping of the television show “Mythbusters” at the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department bomb disposal range missed its target and ended up some 700 yards east in the neighborhood of Tassajara Creek.
The crew was filming an episode of the hit Discovery channel show around 4:15 p.m. when the misfire occurred. According to reports, the cannonball was to strike a few water-filled barrels and a concrete wall but instead, the cantaloupe-sized projectile flew over the barrels and went through the wall before taking an unfavorable bounce that sent the ball careening off a hillside towards the neighborhood.
The cannonball touched down in front of a home on Cassata Place, blasted through the front door and up the stairs, through a bedroom where three people were sleeping and exited through the wall. From here, the projectile crossed Tassajara Road, taking out several tiles from the roof of a home on Bellevue Circle before coming to rest on the floorboard of a Toyota Sienna minivan in a driveway on Springvale Drive.
The owner of the van, Jasbir Gill, had just pulled into the driveway 10 minutes earlier with his 13-year-old son. Nobody, including the three occupants in the bedroom that the cannonball blasted through, was injured.
The television crew had used the bomb disposal range during the taping of more than 50 episodes in the past several years without incident. Katherine Nelson, a publicist for the company that produces “Mythbusters” issued a statement Tuesday night saying that the production company is assessing the situation and working with those whose property was damaged.
Photo courtesy of Michael Short.
User Comments: 35
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captainawesome said:
Man those law suits are gonna be ugly
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That show has turned majorly stupid the last 2-3 seasons. All they do now is "well, that didn't work - so let's pile a quarter-ton TNT on top of it to see what it looks like blown to smithereens."
And as a result they're sending cannonballs through people's homes. captainawesome is right - they're going to need a VERY BIG check to compensate for that. Imagine what would have happened if they had injured or killed someone?
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"The cannonball touched down in front of a home on Cassata Place, blasted through the front door and up the stairs, through a bedroom where three people were sleeping and exited through the wall. From here, the projectile crossed Tassajara Road, taking out several tiles from the roof of a home on Bellevue Circle before coming to rest on the floorboard of a Toyota Sienna minivan in a driveway on Springvale Drive."
I can't tell if this is a joke or not.
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What did they shoot out of the cannon? A giant Bouncy Ball?
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I am more interested with the actual myth that involved firing a cannonball at water barrels and a concrete wall.
And let's face it. Tree cannon was awesome.
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Imagine what would have happened if they had injured or killed someone?
Then I guess the stars of the show would get to test whether the prison shower meme is myth or reality.
/guessing the outcome holds no fear for them either way
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tehbanz said:
mados123 said:I can't tell if this is a joke or not.
I know right? it was like a giant pinball machine! it seems ridiculous that it would bounce that much.
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I know right? it was like a giant pinball machine! it seems ridiculous that it would bounce that much.
Video here shows path. It's pretty crazy. Looks like it must of had a trajectory and height of at least the height of the top floor where it exited. The ball is smaller that what I thought, at least by the size of the hole in the sheet rock. For some reason I was thinking it followed the staircase with a turn in it but essentially it looks like it went from the front of the house to the back with a bounce off of the ground before it entered.
[link]
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I used to bust myths ....until I took a cannonball to the knee.
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As i understand it, the cannonball then made a sudden left turn, and struck Governor Connally in the wrist.
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Oliver Stone screenplay will probably show the possibility of a second cannoneer. This grainy still from the actual episode would tend to support the theory
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Oliver Stone screenplay will probably show the possibility of a second cannoneer. This grainy still from the actual episode would tend to support the theory
Oh for christ sake Chef! that old theory holds no water. The witnesses all stated that the blast came from the perfectly manicured grassy area.
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There are unfavorable bounces that mean that a runner will be safe on base, or that a team will get a bad starting position. Then there are unfavorable bounces that result in a cannon ball going through your bedroom window.
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There are unfavorable bounces that mean that a runner will be safe on base, or that a team will get a bad starting position. Then there are unfavorable bounces that result in a cannon ball going through your bedroom window.
Well thats a rather fine line you drawing there.
I am waiting for Jose Conseco to take credit for this line drive.
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red1776
on December 7, 2011
4:23 PM As i understand it, the cannonball then made a sudden left turn, and struck Governor Connally in the wrist.
haha you sir made my day, this was a reference to the boyfriend episode in seinfeld when keith hernandez supposedly spit on newman.
now back to the cannonball, that ball must have had some spring mechanism inside, something that heavy is not supposed to bounce so much
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red1776
on December 7, 2011
4:23 PM As i understand it, the cannonball then made a sudden left turn, and struck Governor Connally in the wrist.
haha you sir made my day, this was a reference to the boyfriend episode in seinfeld when keith hernandez supposedly spit on newman.
now back to the cannonball, that ball must have had some spring mechanism inside, something that heavy is not supposed to bounce so much
What I cannot figure is how much ...ahem...powder they had behind a 8" cannonball for it to go 700 yards. They are lucky the cannon didn't explode on them...or through them.
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red1776
on December 7, 2011
4:23 PM As i understand it, the cannonball then made a sudden left turn, and struck Governor Connally in the wrist.
haha you sir made my day, this was a reference to the boyfriend episode in seinfeld when keith hernandez supposedly spit on newman.
now back to the cannonball, that ball must have had some spring mechanism inside, something that heavy is not supposed to bounce so muchMight be why they were testing the theory perhaps? The cannonball apparently weighed 6 pounds. Just as well they couldn't get their hands on something bigger (picture taken shortly before the ill-fated "Human Cannonball" sustained irreparable brain damage from being loaded head first for his final show)
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This news story, myth or fact?
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fearraza said:
that was insane, luckily none was hurt
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matrix86 said:
For those beating up on the mythbusters, here's something to remember: they can't do ANYTHING without approval from the producers and without approval from the state and county AND it has to be supervised. Remember, they come up with the ideas, everyone else allows them to do it if they think it to be safe (and there have been a few episodes where they were told they couldn't do something because it wasn't safe enough).
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Here's hoping they're more observant using explosives than they are with paper towels
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Also, it's for things like this for why they pay a TON for their personal and incidental property insurance. Since no one actually got hurt I don't think it'll go much farther than a lawsuit or two just to be showy unless there was some gross negligence far and beyond the norm. Ultimately, structural and property damage will be paid off for repairs/replacement, they'll get some Mythbuster's memorabilia, and then they'll wash their hands of the issue.
At least that's my guess.
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a cannon ball bounces, it sure takes an ***** to try it in urban areas.
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dang, i liked that show.
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Myth - Can you really make flubber?
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