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Errant 'Mythbusters' cannonball hits home in Dublin
contracostatimes.com ^ | 6 December, 2011 | Paul Thissen

Posted on 12/07/2011 6:54:14 PM PST by marktwain

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.

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.

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


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; US: California
KEYWORDS: banglist; ca; cannon; mythbusters
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There are pictures at the site.
1 posted on 12/07/2011 6:54:17 PM PST by marktwain
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To: marktwain
Muzzleloading cannon are generally legal to own and shoot without any license.
2 posted on 12/07/2011 6:55:25 PM PST by marktwain (In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.)
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To: marktwain

LOL it was bound to happen eventually.


3 posted on 12/07/2011 6:56:07 PM PST by cripplecreek (Stand with courage or shut up and do as you're told.)
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To: marktwain

Can’t wait to see this episode! Also, I’m waiting for the knee-jerkers to scream that “something needs to be done!!!!” about the show.


4 posted on 12/07/2011 6:56:30 PM PST by arderkrag (Georgia is God's Country. LOOKING FOR ROLEPLAYERS. Check Profile.)
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To: marktwain

Wow! That’s a heck of a lesson in “inertia.”


5 posted on 12/07/2011 6:56:57 PM PST by mvpel
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To: marktwain

They were cleaning it and it just went off. Coulda happened to anybody.


6 posted on 12/07/2011 6:57:29 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: marktwain

Now that’s a cannonball...


7 posted on 12/07/2011 6:57:33 PM PST by 2banana (My common ground with terrorists - they want to die for islam and we want to kill them)
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To: arderkrag

I’m actually mostly amazed that the Sheriff’s department has a bomb range.


8 posted on 12/07/2011 6:58:17 PM PST by cripplecreek (Stand with courage or shut up and do as you're told.)
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To: marktwain

See Also:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2817137/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2816988/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2817346/posts


9 posted on 12/07/2011 6:58:55 PM PST by Keith in Iowa (Hope & Change - I'm out of hope, and change is all I have left every week | FR Class of 1998 |)
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To: marktwain

What is it they say at the beginning of the show? “The Mythbusters are experts with years of professional experience. Don’t try this at home”.


10 posted on 12/07/2011 6:59:46 PM PST by Hugin ("Most time a man'll tell you his bad intentions if you listen and let yourself hear"--Open Range)
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To: marktwain

Oops!


11 posted on 12/07/2011 7:03:27 PM PST by yank in the UK (decapitation before capitulation)
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To: marktwain

I wonder what their insurance rates are to film a show like that?


12 posted on 12/07/2011 7:04:20 PM PST by rdl6989 (January 20, 2013 The end of an error.)
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To: marktwain
Instead, it passed over the barrels, through the wall, and then took a "very unfortunate bounce that sent the ball skyward," Nelson said.

It's called grazing fire with solid shot. Was a favorite for about a century. Ugly results into massed ranks. It just don't stop. See Gettysburg for the results.

/johnny

13 posted on 12/07/2011 7:08:55 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (gone Galt)
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To: cripplecreek

You shouldn’t be, given what section of the country it’s in, and also given the time we live in.


14 posted on 12/07/2011 7:10:06 PM PST by arderkrag (Georgia is God's Country. LOOKING FOR ROLEPLAYERS. Check Profile.)
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To: cripplecreek
I’m actually mostly amazed that the Sheriff’s department has a bomb range.

Wouldn't you? If you could? I know I would.

/johnny

15 posted on 12/07/2011 7:10:10 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (gone Galt)
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To: marktwain
Mayhem strikes again
16 posted on 12/07/2011 7:16:40 PM PST by HereInTheHeartland (I love how the FR spellchecker doesn't recognize the word "Obama")
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To: JRandomFreeper
Actually I've been thinking more along the lines of a trebuchet for chucking water balloons at my neighbor when he's out on his raft.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Maybe I'll get some Michigan FReepers together and lay siege to Ann Arbor.
17 posted on 12/07/2011 7:20:17 PM PST by cripplecreek (Stand with courage or shut up and do as you're told.)
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To: marktwain

Adam Savage apology
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2011/12/mythbusters-accident-adam-savage-apologizes.html


18 posted on 12/07/2011 7:21:24 PM PST by SMGFan
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To: mvpel
Wow! That’s a heck of a lesson in “inertia.”

Well, technically momentum, not inertia...

19 posted on 12/07/2011 7:22:51 PM PST by GOP_Party_Animal
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To: marktwain

WEll, I guess that their insurance premiums just went up.


20 posted on 12/07/2011 7:24:40 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.)
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