The most incredible things happen in life. Incredible rescue cases that are hard to believe

5. Carlos Camejo

Carlos Camejo was 33 years old when he high speed on a Venezuelan highway, was pronounced dead and taken to the local morgue. At the same time, his wife was informed of her loss and asked to identify the body. Doctors at the morgue were preparing to autopsy Camejo when they realized something was wrong—the cut began to bleed. They began to stitch up the body, and at that moment Camejo woke up, later stating that the reason for this was unbearable pain. Soon after, his wife arrived to identify the body and was overjoyed when she discovered her supposed dead husband alive.

4. Erica Nigrelli

Erica Nigrelli, teacher in English from Missouri, was 36 weeks pregnant when she suddenly became ill and lost consciousness. Her husband Nathan, a teacher at the same school, called 911 saying she was having a seizure. Colleagues began performing CPR and used a defibrillator in an attempt to restart her heart. Emergency personnel soon arrived on scene and took Erica to the hospital, where doctors stopped performing artificial respiration to perform C-section and save the child. They then told Nathan that his wife had given birth and died, but after giving birth, Erica's heart began beating again. She was kept in a medically induced coma for five days and was discovered to be suffering from a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which requires the installation of a pacemaker. Erica and her daughter Elania are alive and well.

3. MaNdlo

In March this year, a prostitute from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, died while she was "doing business" with one of her clients. Authorities arrived at the hotel where she worked to retrieve the body. A crowd of onlookers gathered to watch and while police were placing her body in a metal coffin, she came back to life and screamed "You want to kill me!" Naturally, the sight of the woman noisily jumping out of the coffin after returning to life shocked many in the crowd. People began to run away in panic. MaNdlo was driven home by one of her colleagues while her client quietly slipped out of the hotel room after the police left. It is not reported whether he received a discount or not.

2. Li Siufen

When a person is 95 years old, probably no one is very surprised if he or she dies (although it is still very sad, of course). And when someone dies, everyone usually expects him to stay dead. And when this man has been dead for six days, you definitely think he's going to stay dead. So Li Siufen was 95 years old when her neighbor found her motionless, lifeless body in her bed, two weeks after suffering a head injury. After a neighbor, Mr Kinvan, tried and failed to wake the woman, she was placed in a coffin, which remained in her home until the funeral so that friends and family could visit and pay their respects. The day before she was due to be buried, Mr Kinvan came to her home and found an empty coffin.

Mrs. Siufen apparently took the expression “return to life” too literally. She woke up, got out of the closed coffin and went to the kitchen to cook. And although everything seemed to end quite well, how would this story turn out if the granny woke up and discovered that, according to Chinese tradition, all her property had been burned? There are even wishes in the spirit of “Congratulations for not dying!” sounds pretty insincere.

1. Lyudmila Steblitskaya

Lyudmila Steblitskaya is another example of someone being declared dead, placed in a morgue, only to be later found alive. But what distinguishes her from another lover of sleeping in the morgue, which we have already mentioned, is that she spent there not 21 hours, but three whole days.

In November 2011, her daughter Nastya went to the hospital to visit Lyudmila and was told that she had died that day. The morgue was already closed, it was Friday, and this meant that Nastya would not be able to see her mother until Monday (apparently in Russia no one dies on weekends, knowing that morgues are closed). Upset, Nastya began to prepare for the funeral, deciding to do it on Monday. All this cost about $2,000, and 50 people were supposed to attend the funeral. But when Monday came and she arrived to pick up the body, the woman told her that she had just spoken to Lyudmila. Nastya followed this woman into the bedroom, and, seeing that her mother was alive, threw her bag and ran out of the room screaming. Hospital management declined to comment on the incident, but Lyudmila was told that she had, in fact, been at the morgue all weekend. And even though she now had to work to pay off the money borrowed for the funeral, Nastya was very happy that her mother was back. As soon as I recovered from the shock, of course.

Well, about a year after that, Lyudmila again turned out to be dead within a few hours, after which she came back to life again. Apparently, the next time she dies, everyone will wait about a week to bury her. Just in case.

The history of human civilization reliably holds many secrets, many of which will never be solved. But the last two centuries have presented the world with many mysteries that researchers are puzzling over. The most mysterious incidents in the world of the XX-XXI centuries - today we’ll talk about ten secrets modern history humanity.

Crop Circles

The most mysterious incidents in the world include mysterious ones. It's varied geometric figures formed by crushed plants in agricultural fields. The drawings are created perfectly smoothly and can form complex pictograms. Their size varies: they can be small or huge, fully visible only from an airplane. They began to attract a lot of attention in the 1970s in England. In 1972, in the south of the country, two eyewitnesses, watching the sky on a moonlit night in the hope of seeing a UFO, noticed how the grass in the field lay down, forming a circle. The peak of interest in the mysterious phenomenon occurred in the 1990s. The earliest mentions of the appearance of such pictograms (drawings) in the margins date back to the 17th century.

The most varied hypotheses for the origin of crop circles are put forward: the activity of an alien civilization, micro-tornadoes, ball lightning and hoaxes of interested parties. Thus, the Englishmen David Chorley and Douglas Bauer admitted in 1991 that the appearance of the first circles was their doing. They claim that they have created about 250 pictograms since 1978. But many continue to believe that the mysterious phenomenon amazing drawings in the margins - this is not a hoax, but unsolved messages mysterious forces. Crop circles are in 10th place among the most mysterious incidents on Earth.

The fall of the Tunguska meteorite

On June 30, 1908, at 7 a.m. in the area of Podkamennaya Tunguska (the right tributary of the Yenisei, Central Siberia), local residents witnessed the flight celestial body, which left a trail behind it, like a falling meteorite. The sound of the fall was heard at a distance of more than a thousand kilometers from the crash site. A powerful shock wave knocked down trees within a radius of 30 kilometers. This mysterious incident became known to the world as. But what kind of object exploded in the Podkamennaya Tunguska area, and whether it was really a meteorite, is still unknown. Thousands of researchers have been working on the solution to this phenomenon for over years. Many hypotheses have been put forward, none of which have received documented confirmation. Famous Tunguska meteorite, the mystery of which has never been solved, is in 9th place on the list of the most mysterious incidents in the world.

It is also associated with space, causing a huge resonance in the world. In 1947, a catastrophe allegedly occurred near the city of Roswell - the fall of a cosmic body of artificial origin. This incident became one of the most mysterious incidents in the world. There is still fierce debate over the nature of the fallen object. The authorities, represented by the country's air force, claim that a weather balloon crashed, which local residents mistook for the wreckage of a UFO. The Roswell incident is number eight on our list.

The mysterious disappearance of the ship's crew is in seventh place among the most mysterious incidents in the world. In 1872, the sailing ship was found by an English brig. From the trajectory of its movement it was clear that no one was controlling it. Not a single crew member or passenger was found on board. Things were untouched, as were the supply of water and provisions. From the entry in the logbook it followed that the ship reached almost the point where it was found. What happened to the crew is still unknown. The commission that investigated the case suggested that the crew for some reason abandoned the ship, leaving behind all their belongings and provisions. There was simply no other explanation for what happened.

Many mysterious incidents are associated with crimes. The most famous story– the Jack the Ripper case, which was never solved. The 20th century made its contribution to the history of serial killers. From 1918 to 1919, a criminal nicknamed "The Woodman" operated in New Orleans. The murder weapon was an ax, with which the maniac broke open the doors of the victims' houses. Like Jack the Ripper, the Woodcutter wrote letters to newspapers reporting future murders. The crimes suddenly stopped, and the Woodcutter's identity was never established. The New Orleans murder mystery ranks sixth on the list of the most mysterious incidents in the world.

To the very mysterious stories in the world there is a criminal case about the discovery in 1948 of the body of an unidentified man on the beach of Adelaide (Australia). The case received a great public outcry for a number of reasons: it was not possible to establish either the identity of the unknown person or the cause of death. In addition, a piece of paper with a strange inscription “Taman Shud” was found in a secret trouser pocket. As it turned out, the paper was torn from a rare edition of the works of Omar Khayyam. The mysterious story that happened on the beach in Somerton is in fifth place as the most mysterious incidents in the world. This incident inspired Stephen King to write "The Colorado Boy".

In fourth place among the most mysterious incidents in the world is history "Kyshtym dwarf". In 1996 old woman In a village near Kyshtym, a living creature of an unknown biological species was discovered. Outwardly it looked humanoid small size- approximately 30 centimeters in length. The woman named him Alyoshenka and nursed him for about a month. Then the creature died. His mummified remains were later discovered by the police. Then the body of the “Kyshtym Dwarf” mysteriously disappeared.

- in third place on the list of the most amazing and mysterious incidents in the world. Since the 1970s, a search program began operating in the United States. extraterrestrial civilizations. For this purpose, a radio telescope was used, scanning different areas sky. With its help, scientists were able to detect signals from other civilizations. In 1977, at a frequency at which no earthly transmitter operates, a signal was received from the constellation Sagittarius. It lasted 37 seconds. Its origin is still unknown.

Ship "Marlboro"

History - the new "Flying Dutchman" ranks second among the most mysterious incidents in the world. The ship left a port in New Zealand in 1890 with a cargo of frozen lamb. He did not reach his destination, disappearing in the area of Cape Horn. There were 23 crew members and several passengers on board. It was decided that the sailboat sank during a storm. But 23 years later he appeared off the coast of Tierra del Fuego. It was well preserved, and skeletons in rotting clothes were found on board. True, there were ten fewer of them than were listed in the logbook. What happened to the crew, why people died and where ten people disappeared from the sailing ship is unknown. Due to bad weather, the ship could not be brought to port. The Marlboro still plows the seas.

The most mysterious incident in the world is the mystery of the death of the Dyatlov group. This tragic story is known to everyone and haunts those who want to reveal the truth about what happened more than 50 years ago. In 1959, a tourist group led by Igor Dyatlov died mysteriously in the mountains of the Northern Urals. The causes of the terrible death of nine people have not yet been established.

We are constantly faced with amazing stories about people who survived in situations where survival seemed impossible. These incredible cases teach us that self-confidence and positive attitude may sometimes be enough to come out unscathed (or recoverable, according to at least) from the most critical situations.

A model whose body is supported by 11 metal rods
Glamorous model Katrina Burgess survived a car accident that broke her neck, back and ribs, damaged her pelvis, punctured her lungs and caused numerous other injuries. Katrina's car drove off the highway into a roadside ditch at a speed of more than 100 km/h.

Her body is held together by 11 metal rods and countless screws, which is sure to give her some problems when going through metal detectors at airports.

The day after the accident, doctors inserted a rod into the girl's left thigh from her foot to her knee. It is held in place by 4 titanium studs. A week later, 6 horizontal rods appeared in Katrina's body, which should support her spinal cord. After another week, a titanium screw attached Katrina's neck to her spine.

Katrina Burgess was able to live without painkillers only 5 months after the accident. Today Katrina Burgess is a famous model.

The climber who cut off his own hand
Aaron Lee Ralston, born 1975 a mechanical engineer by profession and a mountaineer by vocation, he was forced to amputate his right hand, which was pinched by a boulder, in order to free himself.

The accident occurred in Utah (USA), in April 2003, while mountaineering in national park Canyonlands. A 300-kilogram boulder fell on the climber’s right hand and pinched it. Going up the climb, Ralston did not tell anyone about his plans and route, so he knew that no one would look for him.

For 4 days Aaron lay near the stone. Then he ran out of water and had to drink his own urine. Aaron carved his name into the canyon wall (with the date of his supposed death) and made a farewell recording on his phone camera. The autobiographical book was adapted into the award-winning film 127 Hours.

Then the realization came that there was nothing to lose and the climber decided to fight. Aaron sudden movement tried to remove his hand from under the stone. But at the same time he broke his arm. With a dull knife, he cut through the skin, muscles and tendons, thus separating the arm from his body. After this, Aaron was able to climb down the 20-meter wall and began his path to salvation. Fortunately, tourists met him, they fed and watered Aaron, and also called rescuers, who took the climber to the hospital and found his severed hand. The hand was later cremated.
In the photo: a stone pinning the hand of climber Aron Lee Ralston

Some time later, Aaron Lee Ralston wrote the book “At a Hopeless Situation,” in which he described what happened to him. He continues to engage in mountaineering, is married, and has a child.

Mexican revolutionary who survived execution
The Mexican Revolution was an armed conflict that lasted 7 years (from 1900 to 1907). On March 18, 1915, Wenceslao Moguel, who fought on the side of the revolutionaries, was captured and sentenced to death without any trial. The revolutionary was put against the wall, and a volley was heard from the firing squad. Wenceslao received 9 bullet wounds, including one from a control shot fired by an officer to the head at point-blank range.

The soldiers left, rightly deciding that the revolutionary was dead. But Wenceslao woke up, was able to get to his people, and after that lived a long, troubled life. But a photo of Wenceslao Moguel in 1937 shows the scar left by a test shot on an NBC show called Believe It or Not?

Woman who gave birth to a child during brain surgery
24-year-old resident of Yekaterinburg (Russia) Yulia Shumakova was taken to the hospital in critical condition after she returned from work, she suddenly lost consciousness. Julia was 32 weeks pregnant. An examination revealed a lump in her brain, which was the cause of the attack. The patient was given a disappointing diagnosis; people with this disease die in 96% of cases before even reaching the hospital. Doctors decided to perform brain surgery and perform a caesarean section at the same time. There was practically no chance. But, to the surprise of the patient’s relatives and the doctors themselves, both mother and child were able to survive.

Music teacher who survived many accidents
Croatian music teacher Frank Selak is perhaps the luckiest man in the world. The train Frank was riding on derailed and fell into ice water. His bus overturned. The door of the plane the teacher was flying on was blown off. Two cars burned while Frank Selak was driving.

In addition to everything, while driving along a mountain road, Frank lost control and his car fell into the abyss. The driver himself fell onto a branched tree and watched his car fly another 100 meters down and its explosion. It would seem quite enough to simply survive all these misfortunes, but Frank Selak also won $1 million in the lottery.

A man almost cut in half by a train
This accident occurred in June 2006 to Truman Duncan, a switchman at the Cleburne, Texas, yard. He was riding a trolley to a repair dock, but slipped and fell on his front wheels. Truman tried his best to keep himself from falling onto the tracks under the wheels of the trolley, but instead was pinned between the wheels of the carriage.

In this position, the trolley dragged him 25 meters, cutting the switchman’s torso almost in half. He was able to call 911 and waited for help for 45 minutes. Truman suffered 23 surgical operations, lost the right and left leg, pelvis and left kidney.

Woman who survived a plane crash after being struck by lightning
What do you think is more life-threatening: being struck by lightning, falling out of a plane, or trudging through a tropical forest for 9 days with numerous injuries? High school student Juliana Koepke went through all these misfortunes and survived. On December 24, 1971, LANSA Flight 508 (Peru) was caught in a thunderstorm and struck by lightning. At this moment, the plane was above the tropical forest at an altitude of 3 kilometers. The plane fell apart.

A row of seats, to one of which Juliana was fastened, collapsed into the forest 3 kilometers from the main scene of the accident. The remaining 92 people on that ill-fated flight died. The girl herself claimed that the row of seats rotated during the fall, like a helicopter blade, which probably slowed down the speed of the fall; in addition, the seats fell into the dense crowns of trees.

After falling from a 3-kilometer height, Juliana had a broken collarbone, a severely scratched arm, her right eye was swollen shut from the impact, and her entire body was covered with bruises and scratches. But, fortunately, there were no injuries that interfered with movement. Trust in God, but don’t make a mistake yourself! Juliana's father was a biologist, she had been with him in the jungle many times and had an idea of how to survive in the forest and get out of it. Juliana was able to get food for herself, then found a stream and went down its course, hoping in this way to get to the river where she could meet people. After 9 days, she came across fishermen who saved the girl.

The case of Julian Koepke formed the basis of two films. After her adventure, Juliana herself was not turned away from living nature and she became a zoologist.

Earthquake victim spent 27 days under rubble
Khaleed Hussain, a 20-year-old farm worker, was buried alive in the rubble of his home in the October 8, 2005 earthquake. Wooden and brick debris pinned him in a very uncomfortable position, only the arms could move a little. Both hands continued to make involuntary digging movements even after his rescue, which makes it possible to understand the horror that the person buried alive experienced. Khalid was accidentally discovered only on November 10, that is, almost a month after the earthquake. His right leg was broken in several places.

A child with a rare tumor who was born twice
Keri McCartney was 4 months pregnant when doctors discovered a baby on her body. dangerous tumor, the size of a grapefruit, which interfered with the child's blood circulation and weakened his heart. The doctors decided to try to save the child.

Doctors at the Texas Children's Fetal Center (USA) opened the mother's womb and half removed the fetus to remove the tumor. The operation was performed very quickly, after which the fetus was placed back. The baby survived and the next 10 weeks of Keri's pregnancy passed without complications.

In due course, Keri McCartney gave birth to a daughter, who became a twice-born child.

Passengers of the plane who lived in the winter mountains for 72 days after it crashed
Uruguayan Airlines Flight 571 (also known as the "Miracle in the Andes" and "Andean Disaster") crashed in the Andes Mountains on October 13, 1972. There were 45 people on board, including rugby team players, their families and friends. 10 people died immediately, the rest had to survive for 72 days in the mountains with virtually no food or warm clothing.

The surviving people were forced to eat the meat of the dead; it was well preserved in the cold. Only 16 passengers managed to beat death; the rest died from hunger and an avalanche.

After the surviving passengers of Flight 571 heard on the radio that their search had been stopped, two of them, without mountain equipment, clothing or food, went for help and 12 days later stumbled upon people. The surviving passengers were rescued on December 23, 1972. A book was written and a movie was made about the heroism and will to live of the passengers of Flight 571.

Captain behind the windshield
25 years ago, on June 10, 1990, the captain of the BAC 1-11 Series 528FL, Tim Lancaster, survived after a prolonged stay outside his aircraft at an altitude of about 5 thousand meters. Wearing a seat belt is important not only for motorists: the captain of British Airways BAC 1-11, Tim Lancaster, probably always remembered this basic safety rule after June 10, 1990.

While flying the plane at an altitude of 5273 meters, Tim Lancaster relaxed his seat belt. Shortly thereafter, the airliner's windshield burst. The captain immediately flew out through the opening, and his back was pressed against the outside of the plane's fuselage. Lancaster's legs were caught between the wheel and the control panel, and the cockpit door, torn off by the airflow, landed on the radio and navigation panel, breaking it. Flight attendant Nigel Ogden, who was in the cockpit, was not taken aback and firmly grabbed the captain’s legs. The co-pilot was able to land the plane only after 22 minutes, all this time the captain of the aircraft was outside. The flight attendant holding Lancaster believed that he was dead, but did not let go, because he was afraid that the body would get into the engine and it would burn out, reducing the chances of the plane landing safely.

After landing, it turned out that Tim was alive; doctors diagnosed him with bruises, as well as fractures of his right hand, a finger on his left hand and his right wrist. Five months later, Lancaster took the helm again. Steward Nigel Ogden escaped with a dislocated shoulder and frostbite on his face and left eye.

Mechanic on the wing
When, on May 27, 1995, during tactical maneuvers, the MiG-17, leaving the runway, got stuck in the mud, the mechanic ground service Pyotr Gorbanev and his comrades rushed to the rescue. With joint efforts, the plane was pushed onto the GDP. Freed from the dirt, the MiG began to quickly pick up speed and a minute later took off into the air, “grabbing” the mechanic, who was bent around the front part of the wing by the air flow.

While gaining altitude, the fighter pilot felt that the car was behaving strangely. Looking around, he saw a foreign object on the wing. The flight took place at night, and therefore it was not possible to see it. They advised me to shake off the “foreign object” from the ground by maneuvering. And at that moment, the silhouette on the wing seemed very similar to a person to the pilot, so he requested permission to land. The fighter landed at 23:27, having spent about half an hour in the air. Gorbanev spent all this time conscious on the wing of the interceptor - he was firmly held by the oncoming air flow. After landing, it turned out that the mechanic escaped with severe fright and two broken ribs.

Jump from 7 thousand meters without a parachute
In January 1942, navigator Ivan Chisov flew out on a bombing mission German troops near Vyazma station. Their flight was attacked by Messerschmitts, which soon knocked out Ivan’s bomber. It was necessary to leave the burning plane, but the Germans were finishing off our pilots in the air, so Ivan decided to take a long jump down.

However, when it was time to open the parachute, the navigator lost consciousness. As a result, he fell from a height of 7000 meters (according to other sources - from 7600) onto the slope of a huge snowdrift, and then slid for a long time along the snowy slope of the ravine. When Chisov was found, he was conscious, but suffered several serious fractures. After recovery, Ivan became a teacher at the navigation school.

Don't get a single scratch after jumping from a height of 5 thousand meters
A unique case that occurred with 21-year-old Sergeant Nicholas Stephen Alcade on March 24, 1944, is officially documented. During a raid on Germany, his bomber was set on fire by German fighters. It so happened that the flames also destroyed Nicholas's parachute. Not wanting to die in the fire, the sergeant jumped out of the plane, believing that he would die faster this way.

From a height of 5500 meters, the guy fell onto the branches of pine trees, and then into soft snow and lost consciousness. When Alcade woke up, he was surprised to note that not a single bone was broken. Looking at the stars above his head, the sergeant took out a cigarette and lit it. He was soon discovered by the Gestapo. The Germans were so amazed by what happened that they even gave him a certificate confirming this miraculous rescue.

Meeting with Paul McCartney after a successful fall from a height of 10 thousand meters
This female flight attendant holds the record for surviving a fall from high altitude– more than 10,000 meters. The then 22-year-old girl got on the ill-fated flight JAT 367 by mistake - Vesna Nikolic was supposed to fly, but the airline made a mistake and Vesna Vulović went on the flight. At an altitude of about 10,000 meters, an improvised explosive device allegedly went off in the plane, and the cabin was torn off from the main body. The plane's debris fell on snow-covered pine trees, which likely softened the fall.

The girl was lucky to be discovered by a local peasant, Bruno Honke, who worked in a German hospital during World War II and knew how to provide medical care. The girl’s injuries were serious, but she survived: Vesna spent 27 days in a coma and 16 months in the hospital.

In 1985, her case was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest jump without a parachute. And Vulovich was presented with the corresponding certificate by her idol Paul McCartney.

75 rub. for a life
The name of Larisa Savitskaya is included in Russian edition Guinness Book of Records as the only person to survive a fall from a height of 5200 m, and as a person who received the minimum amount of compensation for physical damage - 75 rubles. The plane crash occurred in August 1981. A 20-year-old student was returning with her husband to Blagoveshchensk from a honeymoon and accidentally sat in the back of the plane, although she had tickets for the middle of the cabin. At the time of the An-24 passenger collision with a Tu-16 military bomber, which occurred due to a dispatcher error, Larisa was sleeping.

Waking up from a strong blow, she felt a burn as the temperature dropped sharply to −30 °C. When the fuselage broke, Savitskaya found herself on the floor in the aisle, but managed to get up, run to the chair and squeeze into it before “her” fragment landed on a birch grove. After landing, she was unconscious for several hours. When she woke up, she saw her husband’s body and, despite grief, broken ribs, broken arms, a concussion and spinal injuries, she began to fight for life.
In the photo: Larisa Savitskaya with her husband Vladimir

She built herself a kind of hut from the wreckage of the plane to escape the rains, kept warm with seat covers and covered herself with mosquito bags. Rescuers found her two days after the disaster.

How survivor Larisa Savitskaya was given 75 rubles. (according to Gosstrakh standards in the USSR, 300 rubles of damage compensation were due for those killed and 75 rubles for survivors of plane crashes). The Soviet press reported the incident only in 1985 as a disaster during testing of an aircraft. Larisa herself claimed that at the moment of the crash she remembered the Italian film “Miracles Still Happen” about a heroine who survived the same situation.
In the photo: Larisa Savitskaya, our days

76 days on an inflatable raft
US yachtsman Stephen Callahan was going to take part in a solo race across Atlantic Ocean on the sailing ship Napoleon Solo, but the unexpected happened - according to the athlete, the ship was rammed by a whale and the ship sank to the bottom.

Callahan managed to save an inflatable raft and a bag with a survival kit from the sinking ship, for which he had to dive into the flooded cabin. This bag contained a book about survival in the ocean. The yachtsman caught fish with a harpoon and ate it raw, fought the waves, and survived a shark attack. He saw nine ships sail by, but none noticed the small raft.

The raft traveled from the Cape Verde Peninsula (Senegal) to the island of Marie-Galante in the Caribbean Sea (Guadeloupe Archipelago): when it washed ashore, local fishermen discovered an emaciated traveler with ulcers from salt water on his body. In total, Callahan spent 76 days at sea and covered 3,300 km. The events described took place in 1982; you can read about them in the yachtsman’s memoirs “Adrift: Seventy-six days in captivity at the sea.” Stephen Callahan was a consultant on the filming of Ang Lee's Life of Pi.

Three weeks in the Amazon jungle
Israeli Yossi Ginsberg went with three friends to look for an aboriginal tribe in the jungles of Bolivia. On the way, the company split in two due to a quarrel, Yossi was left with his partner Kevin, they began to go down the river on a raft and came across a threshold: Ginsberg’s friend immediately swam ashore, and he himself found himself caught up in the flow of the waterfall and miraculously did not die.

For the next three weeks, Yossi survived alone in the Amazon jungle. He had to eat raw eggs birds and fruits, fight off a jaguar - they managed to scare it off with the help of insect spray, which Yossi thought to set on fire, and at the end of the trip he almost drowned in a swamp. “The most difficult moment was when I realized that I was completely alone,” Ginsberg later recalled. “At some point I decided that I was ready for any suffering, but I wouldn’t stop.”

When the traveler was finally found by a local search party, he was covered in insect bites and sunburn, and an entire colony of termites had settled on his body. About this unforgettable journey, which happened in 1981, Ginsberg wrote a book “Alone in the Jungle”, which was filmed by the Discovery Channel documentary"I Wasn't Supposed to Survive" and the Soon to Be Made Feature Film "The Jungle" Starring Kevin Bacon leading role(scheduled for release in 2016).

41 days in the ocean
A young couple's trip along the route Tahiti - San Diego was disrupted by a sudden hurricane. 12-meter waves capsized the sailing ship in which 23-year-old American Tami Ashcraft and her British fiance Richard Sharp were sailing. The girl lost consciousness from the impact of the wave. When Tami woke up a day later, she saw that the boat was broken and her friend's lifebelt was torn.

Tami built a temporary mast, bailed out the water from the cabin and continued her journey, guided by the stars. Her voyage alone lasted 41 days, her supplies of water, peanut butter and canned food were barely enough to avoid dying from exhaustion. As a result, the girl swam alone 2,400 km and independently entered the Hawaiian harbor of Hilo. Tami Ashcraft spoke about her sad journey, which happened in 1983, only in 1998 in the book “Sky Red with Sorrow.”

San Jose Mine Accident
On August 5, 2010, a rock collapse occurred at the San Jose mine, near Copiapo, Chile. 33 miners were walled up at a depth of about 700 m and about 5 km from the entrance to the mine. As a result of the accident, people had to stay underground for a record 69 days.
In the photo: Chilean miners walled up underground look into the camera lowered towards them.

Work to clear the rubble began immediately, with rescuers attempting to climb down traditional way, through the ventilation shafts - however, it quickly became clear that the ventilation passages were also blocked. After this, heavy equipment was used in the work, which was supposed to clear the rubble directly at the entrance to the mine, where, according to calculations, the surviving miners could be located. But the use of heavy equipment complicated the unstable situation in the mine, a new collapse occurred, and this idea was abandoned.
Photo: Relatives of miners trapped in a gold-copper mine gather around a screen showing video footage from the mine in Copiapó, north of Santiago, Chile.

In addition, it turned out that the mine management does not have an accurate and detailed map all underground tunnels, so that rescuers soon had to act almost blindly. The essence of the operation was to drill vertical wells almost at random with the double hope that one of these wells would reach the tunnels and that there would still be living people in these tunnels. The wells were drilled for more than two weeks, so hopes of saving someone were gradually fading. But on August 22, they drilled a new vertical well and raised a drill, which contained a note, the meaning of which was that all 33 miners who were in the mine were alive and in a safe shelter.

It was decided to use American drilling equipment, developed with the participation of NASA for use in space programs. This equipment was designed to work with particularly strong rock and was intended to speed up the pace of the rescue operation. Indeed, the use of expensive equipment (the total cost of the rescue operation exceeded $20 million) helped make the emergency pit by October 9. By October 12, the rescue operation, the final stage of which consisted of lifting the cradle, which contained only one miner, through a pit with a diameter of about 90 centimeters, was successfully completed.

In fact, at the time of his disappearance, Harold Holt (N8 from the list) was 59 years old and, according to friends, he complained of heart problems. And the area where he went swimming is famous for its strong and dangerous currents. The exact day of his disappearance is unknown, but on other days white sharks are seen in local waters... The fact that his body was not found does not mean that the person disappeared, it’s just that in such cases they write “missing” in the criminal case.
- On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart (N14 on the list) and her partner Fred Noonan took off from Lae, a small town on the coast of New Guinea, and headed for the small Howland Island located in the central Pacific Ocean. This stage of the flight was the longest and most dangerous - after almost 18 hours of flight in the Pacific Ocean, it was difficult to find an island only slightly rising above the water. a daunting task for navigation technology of the 30s. By order of President Roosevelt, a runway was built on Howland specifically for Earhart's flight. Here officials and representatives of the press were waiting for the plane, and the Coast Guard patrol ship Itasca was located off the coast, which periodically maintained radio contact with the plane, served as a radio beacon and blew a smoke signal as a visual reference. According to the ship’s commander’s report, the connection was unstable, the plane was heard well from the ship, but Earhart did not respond to their questions (was the receiver on the plane broken?). She reported that the plane was in their area, they couldn’t see the island, there was little gas, and she was unable to find the direction of the ship’s radio signal. Radio direction finding from the ship also did not bring success, since Earhart appeared on the air on very a short time. The last radiogram received from her was: “We are on line 157-337... I repeat... I repeat... we are moving along the line.” Judging by the signal strength, the plane should have appeared over Howland any minute, but it never appeared; there were no new radio transmissions ... In other words, the plane was unable to establish contact with the ground, perhaps it was on the wrong course, and flew past / did not see Howland, the fuel was running out and when it ran out, an emergency landing was made on water , for which the aircraft was not adapted, with all the ensuing consequences.
By the way, in May 2013 it was announced (including by Interfax) that the supposed wreckage of the plane was discovered by sonar on the ocean floor in the area of the atoll in the Phoenix archipelago (my picture). And in this case, it turns out that the plane did not find the landing site and, following its course, flew into the ocean until the fuel ran out...

Renee Truta survived after a terrible hurricane lifted her 240 meters into the air and 12 minutes later dropped her 18 kilometers from her home. As a result of the incredible adventure, the unfortunate woman lost all her hair and one ear, broke her arm, and also received many minor wounds.

“Everything happened so quickly that it seems to me that it was a dream,” Renee said after being discharged from the hospital on May 27, 1997. I was posing in front of the camera and then something picked me up like a dry leaf. There was a noise like a freight train. I found myself in the air. Dirt, garbage, sticks hit my body and I felt a sharp pain in my right ear. I was lifted higher and higher and I lost consciousness.”

When Renee Truta came to, she was lying on a hilltop 18 kilometers from home. From above, a freshly plowed strip of land about sixty meters wide was visible - this was the work of the tornado.
Police said no one else in the area was injured by the tornado. As it turned out, similar cases have already happened. In 1984, near Frankfurt am Main (Germany), a tornado lifted 64 schoolchildren into the air and dropped them unharmed 100 meters from the take-off site.

Survive in the desert

1994 Mauro Prosperi from Italy was discovered in the Sahara Desert. Incredibly, the man spent nine days in the sweltering heat and survived. Mauro Prosperi took part in the marathon race. Due to a sandstorm, he lost his way and got lost. Two days later he ran out of water. Mayro decided to open his veins and commit suicide, but he did not succeed, because due to a lack of water in the body, the blood began to clot very quickly. Nine days later, the athlete was found by a family of nomads. By this point, the marathon runner was almost in unconscious and lost 18 kilograms.

Nine o'clock at the bottom

The owner of the pleasure yacht, 32-year-old Roy Levin, and his girlfriend were incredibly lucky. cousin Ken, and most importantly, Ken’s wife, 25-year-old Susan. They all survived. The yacht was calmly drifting under sail in the waters of the Gulf of California when a squall suddenly came from a clear sky. The ship capsized. Susan, who was in the cabin at that time, sank along with the yacht. It happened not far from the coast, but in a deserted place, and there were no eyewitnesses.

“It’s incredible that the ship sank without being damaged,” said rescuer Bill Hutchison. And one more accident: while diving, the yacht turned over again, so that it lay on the bottom in a “normal” position. The “swimmers” who ended up overboard did not have life jackets or belts. But they were able to stay on the water for two hours until they were picked up by a boat passing by. The owners of the boat contacted the coast guard, and a group of scuba divers was immediately sent to the scene of the disaster.

Several more hours passed. “We knew that one passenger remained on board, but we did not expect to find her alive,” Bill continued. “You could only hope for a miracle.”

The portholes were tightly battened down, the cabin door was closed hermetically, but water still seeped in, thereby displacing the air. With the last of her strength, the woman kept her head above the water - there was still an air gap right at the ceiling. “Looking to the porthole, I saw Susan’s chalk-white face,” said Bill. Almost 8 hours have passed since the disaster!”

Freeing the unfortunate woman was not an easy task. The yacht was at a depth of twenty meters, and handing over scuba gear to it would mean letting water inside. Something had to be done urgently. Bill went upstairs to get an oxygen tank. His colleagues indicated to Susan that she should hold her breath and open the salon door. She understood. But it turned out differently. The door opened, but a lifeless body in an elegant cocktail dress floated out. She still took some water into her lungs. Seconds counted. Bill grabbed the woman, rushed to the surface and made it! The doctor on the boat literally pulled Susan out of the other world.

Great Hanging

Yogi Ravi Varanasi from the city of Bhopal, right in front of the amazed public, quite deliberately suspended himself from eight hooks, hooking them on the skin of his back and legs. And when, three months later, he moved from a hanging position to a standing position, then, as if nothing had happened, he began to perform a set of physical exercises.

During the "great hanging" Ravi of Varanasi was one meter above the ground. To increase the effect, the students pierced the skin of his hands and tongue with needles. All this time, the yogi ate quite moderately - a handful of rice and a cup of water throughout the day. He was hanging in a tent-like structure. When it rained, a tarpaulin was thrown over the wooden frame. Ravi willingly communicated with the public and was under the supervision of the German doctor Horst Groning.

“After hanging he remained in excellent physical fitness, noted Dr. Groning. “It’s a pity that science still does not know the methodology of self-hypnosis, which is used by yogis to stop bleeding and relieve pain.”

Mechanic on the wing

On May 27, 1995, during tactical maneuvers, the MiG-17 left the runway and got stuck in the mud. Ground service mechanic Pyotr Gorbanev and his comrades rushed to the rescue. Through joint efforts they were able to push the plane onto the GDP. Freed from the dirt, the MiG began to quickly pick up speed and a minute later rose into the air, “grabbing” the mechanic, who was bent around the front part of the wing by the air flow.

While climbing, the fighter pilot felt that the plane was behaving strangely. Looking around, he saw a foreign object on the wing. The flight took place at night, so it was not possible to see it. They gave advice from the ground to shake off the “foreign object” by maneuvering.

The silhouette on the wing seemed very human-like to the pilot and he requested permission to land. The plane landed at 23:27, having been in the air for about half an hour. All this time, Gorbanev was conscious on the wing of the fighter - he was held tightly by the oncoming air flow. After landing, they found out that the mechanic escaped with severe fright and two broken ribs.

Girl - night lamp

Nguyen Thi Nga is a resident of the small village of An Theong in Hoan An County, in Binh Dinh Province (Vietnam). Until recently, both the village itself and Nguyen were not distinguished by anything special - a village like a village, a girl like a girl: she studied at school, helped her parents, and picked oranges and lemons from the surrounding plantations with her friends.

But one day, when Nguyen went to bed, her body began to glow brightly, as if phosphorescent. A huge halo enveloped the head, and golden-yellow rays began to emanate from the arms, legs and torso. In the morning they took the girl to the healers. They did some manipulations, but nothing helped. Then the parents took their daughter to Saigon, to the hospital. Nguyen was examined, but no abnormalities were found in her health.

It is unknown how this story could have ended if Nguyen had not been examined by the well-known healer Thang in those parts. He asked if the glow was bothering her. She replied that no, but that she was only worried about the incomprehensible fact that happened on the second day of the new year according to the lunar calendar.

"The most favorable time for the grace of the Almighty,” the healer reassured her. – At this time, God rewards what he deserves. And if you haven’t earned anything yet, then you will still deserve it.” Returned to Nguyen peace of mind, but the glow remained.

During the experiment, a piece of meat and a plant leaf were placed in front of 29-year-old artist Jody Ostroit. Nearby stood an ordinary electron microscope. Jody carefully examined the objects with the naked eye for a couple of minutes, then took a sheet of paper and drew them internal structure. Researchers could then go up to the microscope and see that the artist had enlarged the scale without distorting the essence of what was being depicted in the least.

“It didn’t come to me right away,” Jody said. – At first, for some reason, I began to scrupulously draw the texture various items– trees, furniture, animals. Then I began to notice that I was seeing much finer details, elusive to the ordinary eye. Skeptics say that I use a microscope. But where can I get an electron microscope?

Jody Ostroit sees the smallest cells of matter, as if photographing them, and then transfers them to paper with ultra-thin brushes and a pencil. “It would be better if my gift went to some scientist. Why do I need it? For now my pictures are selling out, but the fashion for them will pass. Although I see deeper than any professor, but only in the literal sense of the word.”

Captain behind the windshield

It's not just motorists who need to wear a seat belt: the captain of the British Airways BAC 1-11 Series 528FL, Tim Lancaster, probably remembered this basic safety rule forever after June 10, 1990.

Flight attendant Nigel Ogden, who was in the cockpit, was not taken aback and firmly grabbed the captain’s legs. The co-pilot managed to land the plane only after 22 minutes, all this time the captain of the plane was outside.

The flight attendant holding Lancaster believed he was dead, but did not let go because he was afraid that the body would get into the engine and it would burn out, reducing the plane's chances of landing safely. After landing, they found out that Tim was alive, doctors diagnosed him with bruises, as well as fractures of his right hand, a finger on his left hand and his right wrist. After 5 months, Lancaster took the helm again. Steward Nigel Ogden escaped with a dislocated shoulder and frostbite on his face and left eye.

Materials used by Nikolai Nepomnyashchiy, “Interesting Newspaper”