Episode 30: Son of a Gun
Air Date: March 30, 2005
An American Civil War soldier impregnated a woman after being shot in the groin and having the bullet continue on into the woman in question.
busted
No spermatozoa could be found alive in tests. In addition, it was well documented that an abdominal wound would have been fatal to the woman (or man) in that era.
A person can be electrocuted by talking on the phone during a lightning storm.
confirmed
Adam and Jamie placed a ballistic gel dummy on a chair and put a telephone receiver on its ear. They activated a machine that was able to shoot 200,000 volts of electricity towards a mock-up hut. The electricity shot from the mouthpiece of the phone into the mouth of the dummy, and it set off the gunpowder charge that Jamie taped to the phone receiver as a signal. A voltmeter wired up to the test rig blew a fuse.
A person can be electrocuted by using the shower during a lightning storm.
plausible
The dummy was not hit. A small fire did occur, however, and the voltmeter again blew a fuse. During both experiments, small electromagnetic pulses interfered with the camera.
A boat can be driven with its trailer still attached.
confirmed
The boat can still be driven, but there is a great loss in maximum speed. A trailer shop owner said on the show that he once had to deliver a boat and trailer to a customer in such a manner, as the only access to the customer’s boat ramp was from the water.
Sort of similar a roughneck was electrocuted in a shower due to a malfunctioning generator plus bad grounding on a oil rig location.
Yeah, my mom was struck in the head by a bolt of lightning while I was standing there back in 1980. I was like 6 or so. She was tossed into a wall and there was a hole in her sneaker the size of a golf ball. Sucked when it happened but now it is a funny story to tell the grandchildren. We all (including her) get a kick out of it.
To the roughneck from another one. The floors in my rig showers were metal, and a good conductor of electricity. I could see that. And as far as being struck by lightning in a house through the water system. A buddy of mine and I came in from cutting wood on an unmined piece of land, outrunning a lightning storm. While washing up for supper he was washing his hands in the kitchen and the house, or something close by, was hit. It came through the sink and hit him. After he awoke I took him in and sat him down in his chair and got him a beer. I will never forget the sound of the can rattling on his teeth as he drank.
i wonder if you just had a shower for 2 mins and turned the light on/off would you be electrocuted?
If you could reach the boat ramp only by water, why would you need a trailer??
The phone myth: Did it have a gournding rod? how many feet of wire between then point of impact and the phone receiver?
If the guy could only access his boat ramp by water, why does he need a trailer at this time?? Just sayin.