Man Who Believed The Earth Was Flat Died In Ambitious Attempt To Prove His Theory

A daredevil tragically lost his life in a bold attempt to prove that the earth is flat.

'Mad' Mike Hughes, known for his strong belief in the flat earth theory, aimed to silence the skeptics by launching himself into space in a homemade rocket.

Hughes, a 64-year-old limousine driver from the US, aimed to reach an altitude of 5,000 feet in his steam-powered rocket, which he spent an astounding $18,000 (£14,000) to build.

Despite the high stakes, Hughes was confident. 

Hughes was well and truly a daredevil CBS

In 2018, he managed to launch himself about 1,875 feet into the sky and reached speeds of 350 mph before deploying his parachute during a stunt in the Mojave Desert.

"I'm tired of people saying I chickened out and didn't build a rocket," he told the Associated Press at the time.

"I'm tired of that stuff. I manned up and did it."

Seven months after his 2018 mission, Hughes shared with CBS News, "The Flat Earth thing is like everything else to me.”

“I just want people to question everything. Question what your congressman is doing, your city council.”

“Question what really happened during the Civil War. What happened during 9/11."

Sadly, Hughes' quest for answers came to a fatal end in 2020.

While filming for ‘Homemade Astronauts’, a show planned to air on the US Science Channel, it seemed that the parachute deployed too early, just seconds after takeoff.

He died 'trying to prove' his theory YouTube/@JustinChapman15

This led to a crash landing of his steam-powered rocket in the Californian desert on Saturday, February 22.

The Science Channel shared a statement on X, saying, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family & friends during this difficult time.

It was always his dream to do this launch and Science Channel was there to chronicle his journey."

Cindy Bachman, the public information officer for the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner, added,

"A man was pronounced deceased after the rocket crashed in the open desert during a rocket launch event."

After Hughes' death, his public relations representative, Darren Shuster, reportedly revealed that Hughes' flat earth theory was just a publicity stunt.

Shuster said, "We used flat earth as a PR stunt." 

"We used flat earth as a PR stunt."  YouTube/@JustinChapman15

"Flat earth allowed us to get so much publicity that we kept going! I know he didn’t believe in flat earth and it was a schtick."

Flat earth theorists generally believe that photos from space are fake and that the earth is not spherical.

They think that the edges of the earth are surrounded by an ice wall.