When going about our mundane daily tasks, some stories seem just too far-fetched to
be rooted in reality.
However, the unexpected is happening around us all the time, and if a camera is rolling,
well you get a record of things you’d just have to see to believe.
Welcome to our second installment of 7 unbelievable moments caught on camera.
A Big Swiss Miss
In October of 2018, Florida native Chris Gursky was standing on a hilltop in Switzerland,
ready to kick off his vacation with some hang gliding.
The camera mounted towards the back of the hang glider captures the nail-biting scenario that ensues.
Gursky, on the left, is clearly not attached to the hang glider, a fact which neither the
pilot nor Gursky realizes until it is far too late.
3..2..1.. Go!
Run. Run. Run. Run!
Quickly reaching an altitude of 4,000 feet with trees and houses beneath them, there
is no safe place for the pilot to land.
To avoid plummeting back to earth, Gursky grips the metal front bar of the hang glider
with one hand while clutching the pilot with the other.
The pilot, in turn, grasps Gursky’s harness, while navigating and steering with only one hand.
Clinging desperately on for over two minutes, Gursky had some conflicting thoughts during
his very first encounter with hang gliding, noting “At one point I looked down and I
saw the scenery down there, it was all the treetops changing colors and the little farmhouses
and I actually thought to myself, 'That is beautiful.
I am going to fall to my death here.'"
Just when Gursky thought his hands would surely slip, the pilot managed to bring the hang
glider close enough to the ground for him to safely let go and tumble off, though they
were traveling at a whopping 45 miles per hour.
In the end, Gursky needed reparative surgery since he broke his wrist during the landing
and tore a tendon in his biceps.
But as he says, “it beats the alternative.”
As for the pilot, it was last reported that Switzerland’s Federal Office of Civil Aviation
is analyzing the video footage.
His license could potentially be revoked, or he could face a penalty.
Even though Gursky knows the pilot messed up, he’s grateful to the man for hanging
on to his harness and landing the aircraft safely.
Oh, and Gursky’s definitely interested in hang gliding again, though preferably fully attached.
A Two-Wheeled Miracle
Right around the holiday season in 2017, experienced BMX biker Anthony Napolitan was shooting a
video at a skatepark in Costa Mesa, California.
Used to risky stunts, Napolitan guides his bike into a front flip that comes up just
a little short.
''What in the Heck?!''
''That was insane!''
''Oh My Gosh!''
Instead of landing on the other side of the fence like it seems he might, Napolitan somehow
manages to neatly land atop the fence, still holding his bike – all without sustaining
any bodily damage.
Though no stranger to danger, since he landed the first-ever double front flip at the X-Games in 2009,
Napolitan was well aware of just how lucky he got, stating, “I really don’t
know how to describe this except for the fact that I’m really lucky.”
We’re still not sure how Anthony managed to guide himself and his bike into just the
right places to avoid getting impaled.
All we know is that we might seriously consider letting him pick the numbers for us the next
time we step up to a roulette table…
A Piggy Situation
In 2014, in the small town of Cloverdale, California, Mia Munselle found a mysterious
camera in her pigpen.
Unsure of how it got there, Munselle decided to see what clues the device’s footage could offer her.
The camera’s origins seem impossible, if not for the recording that she discovered.
It turns out that a skydiver with NorCal Skydiving had a GoPro camera mounted to his helmet that
came loose and began hurtling towards the ground, when the man stuck his head out of
the airplane before his jump.
As we can see from the footage, the camera was tumbling to the ground so quickly that
the image actually stabilizes.
We no longer see the camera flip from sky to earth, simply because it’s moving too
fast for our eyes to register.
It's a good thing the camera landed on the ground instead of on a person or animal, and
as a bonus, we get a pretty funny shot of Munselle’s curious pigs hoping to make a
meal out of the new addition to their habitat.
Most skydiving in the United States happens at an altitude of 14,000 feet, so it’s amazing
the GoPro survived at all, let alone continued to record.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any updates on the original owner of the camera and it’s
unclear if Munselle was ever able to return the device to them.
So, while we hope it doesn’t start raining cameras any time soon, we do love the footage
this one provided.
Fearsome Flooding
In the northern Italian coastal town of Arenzano, security cameras in a restaurant at the Bagni
Maddalena resort captured a terrifying scene that looks almost cinematic.
At the start, all seems calm.
Workers appear to be tidying up the restaurant at the end of a shift, but then something
seems to catch all of their attention at once.
Most of the workers rush toward the glass doors and windows on the left side of the
camera, as a large wave comes into view on screen.
They brace the doors in an attempt to minimize the flooding, but the torrent of water proves
to be far too powerful.
It smashes easily through the glass and fills the floor of the restaurant in seconds.
As owner Giovanna Damonte described the scene, “We were drying water near the windows,
and it seemed like a small wave.
Then, in a second, we realized a tsunami was coming.”
Luckily, despite the shattered glass and the savage currents, none of the workers were
seriously harmed, though Damonte, was briefly hospitalized with cuts she received from the glass.
Waves in the area were as high as 20 feet, while winds hit the blinding speed of 93 miles per hour.
Roughly thirty people were killed as a result of all the storms that struck Italy during that period.
We’re just glad these workers didn’t get the worst of it.
He can then be heard banging on his boat, which he says he did in an attempt to scare
the creature away.
Fearful that the reptile might be intent on making another pass at him, he begins to paddle
swiftly out of the area.
We can hear in both the increased speed of his breathing and his paddling just how scared Joyce must’ve been.
Thankfully, the gator never returns, and Alicia Davis, an alligator biologist with the North
Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission says it was likely just as scared as Joyce.
She hypothesized that the antagonistic alligator was likely a female guarding her nest since
he was paddling right after the conclusion of mating season.
Davis notes, “they are a little bit aggressive around their nests…Mostly they try to intimidate
you if you get too close.”
Even though the encounter halted Joyce’s goal of kayaking the entire river, he remains
eager to return to this section once the alligators are more dormant.
Though he’d never been frightened of the gators before, Joyce’s perspective has shifted,
saying, “I have a different appreciation of the animal.
I mean once it comes after you one good time you look at it a little differently.”
Man’s Best (Life-Saving) Friend
In December of 2018, Maureen Hatcher was home alone in St. Augustine, Florida with her two
dogs, Labrador Retrievers named Sadie and Bella.
Unfortunately, Hatcher suffered a major stroke, and with no one around but her two pups, it
seemed like all hope was lost.
Amazingly though, her Ring doorbell caught some incredible footage that proves dogs truly
are man’s best friend.
Barely able to speak, Hatcher recalls telling Sadie “Mommy needs help,” and the pair took off.
Now, normally, Hatcher’s door has an automatic lock, but the door was thankfully ajar that
day, and the two dogs were able to run out of the home, barking loudly to draw attention.
''Excuse me!''
''Ma'am!''
In another miraculous stroke of luck, Hatcher’s neighbor, Alexandra Naspolini, was home and
realized that the dogs’ behavior was out of the ordinary.
She went to check on Hatcher, found her, and quickly called 911.
Hatcher suffered an ischemic stroke that day, a very deadly kind of stroke that blocks the
brain’s blood vessels and can cause brain damage or death.
For her to survive with her brain fully intact, time was of the essence, and her dogs’ quick
actions certainly saved her life.
She is grateful to her pups and her responsive neighbor, crediting them with her survival.
As she puts it, “By rights, I shouldn’t be in the shape that I’m in.
I am blessed…very blessed.”
Hatcher’s ordeal sounds like the plot of a movie, something that just couldn’t happen in real life.
Good thing that Ring camera was rolling!
''Ma'am!''
Did any of these stories seem too crazy to be true?
What’s an unbelievable moment you witnessed or lived through yourself?
Let us know in the comments below, and as always, thanks for watching!