Mythbusters misfired cannon ball goes through house into minivan. - Polidicks

[release]DUBLIN, Calif. — A house sustained some damaged late Tuesday afternoon when a cannonball that was fired as part of a stunt for the Discovery Channel show Mythbusters went through the wall of a home in a residential area of Dublin. The Alameda County Sheriff's Department confirmed that at around 4:15 p.m. a cannonball was "misfired" from the Alameda County bomb range and went through the home located at the intersection of Cassata Place and Old Westbury Way. According to the sheriff's department spokesperson said "the cannonball took a few unfortunate bounces" and ended up going through one of the home's walls before exiting through the opposite wall and ending up smashing through the window of a mini van. "We had a situation where a cannon was being shot at the bomb range. They had some safety measures in place. The cannon misfired," said J.D. Nelson of Alameda County Sheriff's Department. "That cannonball careened off the hill at a very bad trajectory and carried into this neighborhood." No one was hurt in the incident, but there are emergency vehicles still on the scene investigating what happened and assessing the damage. The damaged mini van was being taken away on a flatbed tow truck at around 6 p.m. The department confirmed that the misfired cannon and its steel ball projectile were part of an experiment being conducted for the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters television show, but there were no representatives from the show to provide additional details.[/release] [url]http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/cannonball-fired-mythbusters-stunt-goes-through-du/nFwRj/[/url] [img]http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2011/12/06/1e/d8/cannonballSasaki.jpg[/img] Wow wonder if it will be mentioned on the show.

It was going to happen some day. :v:

[quote]"That cannonball careened off the hill at a very bad trajectory and carried into this neighborhood."[/quote] it's like fucking pinball

[QUOTE=dudemagic101;33606243]Wow wonder if it will be mentioned on the show.[/QUOTE] Not anytime soon in the corresponding episode, it's just going to get stacked up onto their piles of their fails and bloopers collection, and they won't show it off until a few years when they're making another filler episode.

[B]SCIENCE![/B]

They're going to my brother's town. I better tell him to board up his windows.

[QUOTE= The Article]According to the sheriff's department spokesperson said "the cannonball took a few unfortunate bounces" and ended up going through one of the home's walls before exiting through the opposite wall and ending up smashing through the window of a mini van.[/QUOTE] Holy shit, what did they fire that with to give it enough energy to bounce, break through two walls after bouncing and the still have enough energy to break open a minivan?

Getting shot by a cannonball has been one of my greatest fears after I saw The Patriot. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcaQerCQdk0[/media]

I can't be mad at those guys.

[QUOTE=valkery;33606272]Holy shit, what did they fire that with to give it enough energy to bounce, break through two walls after bouncing and the still have enough energy to break open a minivan?[/QUOTE] Well it is a solid steel ball, and the cannons that shoot such projectiles do need to give them enough power to launch over long distances.

[QUOTE=Antdawg;33606304]Well it is a solid steel ball, and the cannons that shoot such projectiles do need to give them enough power to launch over long distances.[/QUOTE] Still, it should have been stopped by the time it encountered the second wall.

[QUOTE=valkery;33606314]Still, it should have been stopped by the time it encountered the second wall.[/QUOTE] It's a steel ball, it would weigh quite a bit and still would only need just a little bit of velocity to easily make it through a home wall, which of course wouldn't be designed to withstand such a projectile. I'm not an expert, but this is a guess. I'd say it would be quite realistic for any such steel ball launched from a cannon to do this kind of damage.

I hope this doesn't stop them from doing crazy experiments.

[QUOTE=A big fat ass;33606253]It was going to happen some day. :v:[/QUOTE]Not the first time. During the myth about knocking a person's socks off, they detonated a bomb in a quarry near the town of Esparto, California. They underestimated the power of the explosion, and the shock wave actually affected the town, knocking things off shelves and breaking windows and such.

Well, maybe the owners of the house and minivan will get to meet the team, maybe even be on the show.

[QUOTE=valkery;33606272]Holy shit, what did they fire that with to give it enough energy to bounce, break through two walls after bouncing and the still have enough energy to break open a minivan?[/QUOTE] My dad has an actual cannon ball that I've held, the damn thing is only about 4-5" across but weighs a shit-load, about 10 lbs. I'd guess. The amount of energy needed to get that thing any useful distance is quite a lot, and with all that energy transferred into the ball it won't stop any time soon.

[QUOTE=Antdawg;33606368]It's a steel ball, it would weigh quite a bit and still would only need just a little bit of velocity to easily make it through a home wall, which of course wouldn't be designed to withstand such a projectile. I'm not an expert, but this is a guess. I'd say it would be quite realistic for any such steel ball launched from a cannon to do this kind of damage.[/QUOTE] It depends on where the ball hit. [IMG]http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2011/12/06/1e/d8/cannonballSasaki.jpg[/IMG] It looks like it may have just missed a wall stud, which would have slowed it down considerably, also possibly shifting the structure of the house. It looks like it only hit drywall and insulation, which would have next to no resistance.

Free souvenir. Ask the Mythbusters to sign it and take a picture in front of the hole.

Precisely why I'll never buy a house near a bomb-range

Chances are, the show's producers will pay for the damages, and Adam and Jamie will apologize to the owner. Because well, they're (allegedly) nice like that.

This was in my hometown!

[QUOTE=valkery;33606314]Still, it should have been stopped by the time it encountered the second wall.[/QUOTE] Ever seen the penetration of a bullet, even a at a relatively great distance from where it was fired? A cannon ball has MUCH more mass than the ball, and hence carries much more energy

[quote=City of Dublin]Press Release from the City of Dublin: Myth Busters was using the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office “D” range which is directly east of the Sheriff’s Office Regional Training Center to film an episode. The myth was involving a cannon ball and the Myth Buster staff fired off a cannon and the trajectory of the cannon ball was east over the residences and came down on 4051 Cassada Place and went through the front door of the residence. The cannon ball then went through several interior walls, missing a couple sleeping in their bedroom, and continued east across Tassajara. The cannon ball came to rest approximately 200 yards east of the residence it struck and hit a vehicle at 5625 Bellvue Circle. No one has been injured and Myth Busters is taking full responsibility for this. The size of the cannon ball is equivalent of a 16# shot-put and was fired out of a Civil War Cannon.[/quote]

[quote]went through the front door of the residence.[/quote] Well at least it had the decency to use the door.

I wouldn't even be mad if this happened to me. When the mythbusters launch a cannon ball into your home, you're not thinking "look at this mess!" you're thinking "HOLY SHIT! the mythbusters launched a cannonball into my house!"

[img]http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2011/12/06/1e/d8/cannonballSasaki.jpg[/img] Well there's your problem.

Since it says they used a civil war cannon, it was most likely the same one they've used before in past episodes. Its also why they have insurance.

Houses are built pretty weak nowadays. Just a layer inside, insulation, and a layer outside. Similar to how cardboard is made.

[QUOTE=valkery;33606272]Holy shit, what did they fire that with to give it enough energy to bounce, break through two walls after bouncing and the still have enough energy to break open a minivan?[/QUOTE] You underestimate the kind of power a black powder gun has, by a lot. My largest Matchlock can toss something that weighs more than I do and it fires a 3 oz ball.

Busted? Plausible? Or confirmed?