The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.

The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.

It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.

Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.

The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:

The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.

The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.

Ironically a still-legible bumper sticker was found, reading
"How do you like my driving? Dial 1-800-EAT-SHIT."

Get the premiers episode of Mythbusters.

They tried it. They fitted an old Nova with a rocket pack and set it up to be driven by remote from a chopper. It went really fast, but didn't go airborne. A JATO unit doesn't burn long enough to move anything that far.

They also queried the AHP and crawled through all of the law enforcement records, and there is no account of anything resembling the story ever having occurred. Not that they don't get asked about it all the time, they do, since this was one of the stories that launched the Darwin Awards, but as far as anyone can prove, it never happened.

Someone even emailed me some plans to build your own Phantom Menace pod racer. All you need is a '67 Impala, 40 of anchor chain, and two surplus J-79 jet engines......

these are from the Darwin Awards...anything they can't confirm as factual doesn't qualify for the annual award, but gets submitted in the "Urban Legends" category.

they're sure a fun read....i'm curious to see how this year's winner meets his demise.