A daredevil who espoused flat Earth conspiracies passed away on Saturday after falling from a homemade rocket.
"Mad" Mike Hughes, a former limo driver who billed himself as "the world's best daredevil," attempted to launch himself 5,000 feet into the air on a steam-powered rocket while his parachute failed.
In a video of the incident posted by freelance writer Justin Chapman, the parachute rips off immediately after release. Moments later, Hughes is seen falling through the air and crashing to the ground in the desert near Barstow, California.
Mad Mike Hughes just launched himself in a self-made steam-powered rocket and crash landed. Very likely did not survive. #MadMike #MadMikeHughes pic.twitter.com/svtviTEi8f — Justin Chapman (@justindchapman) February 22, 2020
"Everyone was stunned. [The witnesses] didn't know what to do," Chapman told the LA Times. He assumed Hughes was unconscious and remarked that none of the backup parachutes had launched.
The Science Channel, which was chronicling Hughes' try for a show dubbed as Homemade Astronauts, confirmed his death. The television channel, who chronicled his journey, said doing the launch was Hughes' dream.
Hughes' claims spark interest among geeks
Hughes, who holds the Guinness World Record for longest limousine ramp leap for a 103-foot jump in Lincoln Town Car in 2000, attempted to reach the spot where Earth's atmosphere meets outer space.
For another release in 2018, Hughes had reached about 1,900 feet.
Hughes became a larger-than-life figure who talked about flat earth and moon landing conspiracies as he attempted to draw interest to his rocket stunts.
Hughes told the AP in 2018 that he wanted to do the launch because he believed the Earth is flat. He added the Earth is shaped like a frisbee. To prove his claims, Hughes said he needed to head up in space.
Hughes' flat-earth claims a PR stunt?
Darren Shuster, a public relations representative, disputed Hughes' flat-Earth beliefs. He told BuzzFeed News on Saturday that the argument had helped Hughes enhance money; however, that he didn't actually agree with the daredevil's argument.
"We used [the] flat Earth [argument] as a PR stunt. Period," Shuster told BuzzFeed News. He added Hughes was "a true daredevil" decades ahead of the modern-day spherical of rocket missions. The representative said flat Earth allowed them to get a lot of publicity.
In a July 2019 appearance on Fox Business Network, Hughes identified himself as a "flat earth believer." He stated that the sun could not be 93 million miles from the Earth - while also joking about his cats and his former career dream of the road dealing with the Spice Girls.
He told Space.Com in August 2019 that President Trump inspired his launch. Hughes, however, took back his advance declaration to the AP that his plans have been motivated by using a desire to show flat earth theories.
"I believe the Earth is flat," Hughes told Space.Com. But "this flat Earth," according to Hughes, has nothing to do with the steam rocket launches.
Previous launches canceled, rescheduled due to various technicalities
Hughes had labored with preferred contractor Waldo Stakes to construct the steam-powered rockets. The launches had every been fraught with issues. The launches, however, were canceled and rescheduled because of weather, disputes with the Bureau of Land Management, and technical challenges. A previous attempt to attain the 5,000-foot mark was thwarted because of a faulty heater bought on Craigslist, according to Space.Com.
"This thing desires to kill you 10 different ways," Hughes informed the AP in 2018.
Hughes showed off the rocket he could use on Saturday in a promotional video posted by the Science Channel. He claimed that the vehicle is designed to move up 62 miles with a peak speed of 425 miles an hour.
"Mad" Mike wanted to convince people they can do matters first-rate with their lives. "Maybe it [his move] pushes human beings to do matters that they usually would not do with their life," he said.
