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Errant 'Mythbusters' cannonball hits East Bay house
San Jose Mercury News ^ | 12/7/11 | Paul Thissen

Posted on 12/07/2011 1:10:13 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom

A cannonball misfired by the "Mythbusters" TV show crew blasted through an East Dublin home Tuesday afternoon while its occupants were asleep. It then smashed through a window of a minivan parked a few hundred feet away.

No one was injured, and the home's residents did not wake up until the dust was settling on top of them, said an Alameda County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

The cannon was shot at the Sheriff's Office bomb range behind Santa Rita Jail about 4:15 p.m., said the spokesman, J.D. Nelson, who is also a consultant for the Discovery Channel TV show. He had been at the site with show producers all day, he said, though he said he was not by the cannon when it fired.

Producers have used that cannon -- which they built -- at the range more than 50 times without incident, Nelson said. Tuesday was different.

The cannonball was supposed to go through a few water-filled barrels and a concrete wall. Instead, it passed over the barrels, through the wall, and then took a "very unfortunate bounce that sent the ball skyward," Nelson said.

About 700 feet away, it bounced in front of a home on Cassata Place, then tore upward through the home's front door and out midway up the back wall of the two-story house. Light could be seen shining through a round, cantaloupe-sized hole from inside the house out to Tassajara Road.

The cannonball then bounced at least once more, crossing the four-lane Tassajara Road, before smashing the window and dashboard of the minivan. It came to rest inside the vehicle, parked in a driveway at Bellevue Circle and Springvale Road.

(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: California; Unclassified
KEYWORDS: cannon; cannonball; mythbusters; oops
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGJ82yhdMqk


21 posted on 12/07/2011 2:27:05 PM PST by Mr. Fabtastic (Cain is rapidly gaining on Fred Gwynne as my favorite Herman.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

part of the blame goes to accountants also- the ones who say, “well, if this goes to trial it’ll cost us $10M, so lets offer them $5M to go away.”

if the first couple big nuissance suits had been fought and thrown out, there’d be a lot less of this crap.


22 posted on 12/07/2011 2:28:36 PM PST by absolootezer0 (2x divorced tattooed pierced harley hatin meghan mccain luvin' REAL beer drinkin' smoker ..what?)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
A cannonball misfired

Idiots.

A "misfire" occurs when the charge ignites, but the projectile remains in the gun.

What happened is that the Mythbusters "shot out."

23 posted on 12/07/2011 2:37:03 PM PST by HIDEK6
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To: 70times7

My Mom owned a ‘96 and loved it-I guess it must be the year.


24 posted on 12/07/2011 2:43:40 PM PST by Amberdawn
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
The canon was certainly a good build!

I'm surprised the range is so close to homes. 700 feet isn't a lot of distance.

Great show.

25 posted on 12/07/2011 3:21:22 PM PST by newzjunkey (Republicans will find a way to reelect Obama and Speaker Pelosi.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

AGARN!!!


26 posted on 12/07/2011 4:27:02 PM PST by Hiryusan
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To: HIDEK6
A "misfire" occurs when the charge ignites, but the projectile remains in the gun.

Close but no cigar. If the charge ignites the projectile is on it's way, ready or not. If the barrel is obstructed and the projectile is not able to clear the muzzle the barrel will split, swell, or explode to release the pressure from the burning propellant.

A misfire occurs when the source of ignition for the propellant (primer, squib, fuse, or whatever) fails to ignite the propellant and the cannon (or any other firearm for that matter) just sits there. You start to wonder of it's totally safe or if there is a smoldering ember somewhere that will touch it off about the time you start tinkering around with the @#$% thing. Misfires that just "delay" the ignition are often referred to by the survivors of the gun crew as "hang-fires".

The same terminology is applied to explosive demolition charges that fail to detonate on schedule. Remember the "Myth Busters" episode where they had several hundred pounds of TNT suspended from a float in a flooded quarry. They did their trade mark count down three, two, one, pushed the red button and nothing happened. They waited ten minutes and then sent a very nervous JD to wire in another blasting cap. The charge went off w/ the second try. I would have been sweating bullets by then.

Regards,
GtG

PS The good news is you'll never even hear the noise!

27 posted on 12/07/2011 5:15:53 PM PST by Gandalf_The_Gray (I live in my own little world, I like it 'cuz they know me here.)
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To: ruiner

It really is strange, when you stop to think about it, why so many people seem to get settlements because of something that COULD have happened.


And the unlucky people that it actually DID happen to are awarded damages because of all the others it MIGHT have happened to.


28 posted on 12/07/2011 5:36:06 PM PST by Atlas Sneezed (Author of BullionBible.com - Makes You a Precious Metal Expert, Guaranteed.)
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To: newzjunkey
700 feet isn't a lot of distance.
I remember back when they first started messing with cannons they cut down an oxygen cylinder and ground down a bowling ball to fit the bore. They mounted it on a little carriage with some big iron wheels and primed the thing with a couple of bucket loads of severed paper match heads. When it went off the ball traveled about fifty feet and hit the ground and bounced over their backstop and disappeared up the hill. I believe they said later that it had traveled something like 1000-1200 feet. It must have been pointed away from the housing development.

I'm surprised the range is so close to homes...
I'd bet that the bomb range was there before the developer put the houses there. I'd also bet that the bomb range will now become a neighborhood nuisance that the residents will demand be closed "for the safety of the children".

Great show.
Agreed, it's a wonderful show. I hope this little dust up doesn't kill the franchise. I also hope their insurance man has a sense of humor.

"Ya think you used enough dynamite there Butch?"

Regards,
GtG

29 posted on 12/07/2011 5:46:30 PM PST by Gandalf_The_Gray (I live in my own little world, I like it 'cuz they know me here.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

The heck with shotguns; I want one of those cannons when all heck breaks loose. Just got to figure out where to store cannon balls...


30 posted on 12/07/2011 5:49:32 PM PST by roadcat
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