He fell for forty five minutes
By SomeCowgirl
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
United States
September 20, 2012 8:06pm CST
No not down a flight of stairs...
Not even because of an elevator in a very tall building.
It wasn't an escalator either.
It was air, a thunderstorm, and a very scary experience.
(Via facebook : Unusual Facts)
William Rankin is the only person known to have survived a fall from the top of a cumulonimbus thunderstorm cloud.
Rankin was a pilot in the US Marine Corps and the incident in question happened in 1959.
I'd give you a link to the page, but it'd have my name in it... so No thanks. Just look up "Unusual Facts" on facebook and it'll be a blue icon with a red face on it.
Do you think you'd ever fly again after a fall like that?
3 responses
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
21 Sep 12
I didn't even think to look on wikipedia! Thanks for sharing the link here. I'll have to look to see if it has more then the article I read did.
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
21 Sep 12
I searched for 'William Rankin' out of habit, more than from any other reason, and just to see if I could find out more about the story. That search earned me 18 cents, so thanks! 
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
23 Sep 12
owlwings posted a link above for us. I've never been on a plane though I suppose it's an experience I need to have. I think if I were to fall and live from such an experience I'd be so grateful that my butt would be taking the train from then on!
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
21 Sep 12
I have just read an article on him that Owlwings posted. What a horrible experience and he suffered so much. I can imagine how scared he must have felt. It is incredible that he lived as his parachute did not immediatly open. I think that initially he may have thought that he would not fly again and then later decided that this would probably not happen again and so fly. If it was me though then I would hesitate for a long time before flying again
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
21 Sep 12
I doubt that he thought he'd live through it. It's amazing and and incredible that he did live. I wonder if the force of the winds because of the storm made it harder for him to pull the chute at the higher elevation he was at?
