Life on the Edge

If Robert Ripley, creator of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, was still alive, he’d probably have his doubts about the story I’m about to share with you. And, yes, I’ve checked this out on several hoax-buster websites. In a moment, you’ll understand why I felt the need to verify the story’s truthfulness.

According to police reports, on December 30, 2006, a pickup truck was speeding eastward on State Route 59 just outside of Hurricane, Utah. If you’re at all familiar with that stretch of curving canyon road, you’d know caution – not speed – is the better part of wisdom. An investigator for the Hurricane Police Department estimated that the 1991 GMC pickup had been rocketing down the narrow two-lane road at 83 mph. That’s when the driver lost control, slammed his brakes, leaving a 92-foot-long skid mark, and then crashed through a two-foot high concrete barricade. While surviving that kind of impact is enough of a miracle, there’s more. Much more.

According to a news report by CNN, “the force of the impact propelled the pickup truck into the air, spinning it 180 degrees counter-clockwise.” At that point the airborne truck, flipping end over end, catapulted some twenty feet before landing – upright on its four wheels – facing the opposite direction. Take a good look at the first picture.

The truck had been originally heading from the right side of the picture (where the four people are standing) toward the left side when it struck the concrete guardrail and flattened about a ten foot portion of it. Then, as Hurricane Police Chief Lynn Excell told CNN, “When it hit, it flipped end over end and cleared the culvert. How that happened, I don’t know.” As you can see, the pickup truck came to rest facing the opposite direction it had been originally traveling. No one was critically injured. Again, while that’s astonishing, there’s more. Much more. The most breathtaking part of the story has to do with the fact that this bit of automobile aerobatics occurred on the narrow rim of a 200′ cliff . . . with the truck landing just twelve short inches from the edge. I’d say that’s one stunt Evel Knievel would think twice about attempting if he were still alive.

Again, according to Snopes.com, UrbanLedgends.com, and other hoax-busting sites, these photos have not been altered in any way (a practice also known as being “photoshopped”). By the way, while I’d love to offer a photo credit to whomever took these images, the photos are all unattributed. For the rest of the story, scroll down and look at the final picture. I don’t know about you, but if this happened to me, I would think God is trying to get my attention!