Unsurprisingly, the flat-earther who was going to launch himself into the sky to prove Earth is not a globe has failed yet again.
According to Live Science, “Mad” Mike Hughes, a flat-Earth conspiracy theorist who has managed to get significant attention for his now-repeated failed rocket launches, strapped himself into his second homemade rocket Saturday, February 3. But, as Noize TV documented in an excruciating 11-minute live stream of the event, Hughes’ rocket never left its pad. In all honesty, the video is almost painful to watch.
Hughes’ stated plan, as Live Science previously reported, is to launch himself 1,800 feet (550 meters) above the desert in California and take photos before bailing out in a parachute. These photos, shot from a height anyone can reach by climbing a very tall building or even a small mountain, will, Hughes claims, prove that the Earth is flat.
Hughes was forced to cancel his previous launch after the Bureau of Land Management caught wind that he planned to crash his rocket into the government’s land. In a video posted to YouTube, Hughes claimed that Saturday’s failure resulted from a faulty plunger or a blown o-ring. However, he added that the details will remain unclear until the rocket cools down and he opens it up to examine it in detail.
Hughes went on to say that the launch could still happen this week — though he does have to be in court Tuesday because he’s suing several California officials, from Democrat Governor Jerry Brown to U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif. “It’s just aggravating,” he told a small crowd of reporters. “I mean, what do you do?”
Here’s what you do. Realize that basic mathematics proves the earth is a globe. It’s pretty easy for anyone, even children, to show that the Earth is round with a simple experiment. Perhaps the most impressive and easiest experiment that even schools can do today, is to send a camera up in a high-altitude balloon. The footage will show that from a high-enough vantage point you can see the curvature of the Earth. This is what Mike Hughes will find if he ever makes his rocket work- maybe. The planet’s curvature doesn’t become visible to the naked eye until a height of about 35,000 feet (10,700 m), Hughes assumed 1800 feet would provide proof that the Earth is flat.
