It appears that the flat-earth rocket guy, limo driver and stuntman “Mad” Mike Hughes is again at the center of attention. He has been attempting to launch himself in a home-made rocket in order to prove that the Earth is flat, as believed by the flat-Earth society which supports that conspiracy theory.
He wanted to launch himself in a steam-powered rocket which would fly into the sky at 500 mph. However, unlike the last time when he encountered problems with the law, this time he came across a mechanical glitch which prevented his rocket from working properly.
In November of last year, Hughes wanted to launch himself in a rocket he built on his own for $20,000. Unfortunately for him, government interference prevented his intentions from realization. The 61-year old flat-Earth rocket guy decided on a different trajectory that wouldn’t encounter a conflict with the government. His intention was to launch himself on Feb. 3. However, he didn’t succeed.
As he was getting everything prepared for the launch, Hughes came across a glitch in his steam-fueled rocket caused by the actuator. According to a report of Newsweek, not only the rocket didn’t launch and fly up to 1,800 ft, actually, the rocket couldn’t even ignite.
The flat-Earth rocket guy said in a video that the only way that would enable the rocket to work was to attempt repairs from under the rocket, which would have to be done immediately. However, the whole idea was proven to be crazily dangerous if it was performed immediately.
“This ain’t no joke, this thing’s got about 10 different ways to kill you, ok?” he said in the video. “I’m sorry to disappoint everyone, I did the best I can do. I manned up, I got in it.”
He didn’t immediately tell when the next launch attempt would take place. However, on Tuesday, after he appeared in court because of legal proceedings regarding several California government officials, he wrote a post on Facebook.
The post reads: “The new actuator which is the part that stopped the launch will be complete this week and the new date will be kept a secret until a few hours before the launch.”
His first launch took place in 2014, when he flew up to 1,374 ft, and soon after he became a member of the flat-Earth society which promotes the same conspiracy theory. Shortly thereafter, he began making a rocket which would make him fly 1,800 ft up in the sky.
The launch which was intended to happen in Nov. 2017, wouldn’t prove whether our planet is flat or round, as he would need to get up to 35,000 ft in order to be able to see Earth’s curvature. Instead, it would gain him sufficient publicity to fund a new project which would be a multi-million dollar campaign in order for him to get high enough to take a photo of Earth, which would prove it is flat and that his society was right all long.
