A Flat Earth enthusiast who built his own rocket plans to put his vessel to the test this weekend with a daring launch over a California ghost town.
The colorful character behind the stunt is "Mad" Mike Hughes, who works primarily as a limo driver but sees himself as more of a self-taught rocket scientist.
Using mechanical knowledge he has acquired over the years and various pieces of scrap metal, Hughes has built a steam-powered rocket which, all told, cost around $20,000 to create.
Having recently completed construction on the craft, he hopes to take to the sky this Saturday when the rocket launches with him aboard.
Lest one scoff at Hughes' chutzpah, this weekend's event will actually his second such stunt as he successfully traveled over 1,300 feet back in 2014 using a similar homemade rocket.
Hughes hopes to vastly improve on that feat this weekend when he climbs into his new rocket and the craft is anticipated to send him soaring for a mile across the sky as a speed of around 500 miles per hour.
Beneath the craft on the ground will be the California ghost town of Amboy which, God willing, will not have another spirit living there when Hughes' rocket eventually hits the ground.
Should the test be successful and Hughes make it through the launch unscathed, he envisions eventually creating a craft which can take him high enough in space to accomplish a rather peculiar goal: the prove the Earth is flat.
Indeed, the ardent advocate for the controversial conspiracy theory is actually sponsored, in part, by members of the Flat Earth research community.
To that end, Hughes' rocket will feature branding emblazoned on the side of the craft which is all too familiar to anyone who has followed the quirky conspiracy theory in recent years: the seemingly-ubiquitous slogan 'Research Flat Earth.'
While this weekend's launch may not work when it comes to changing the minds of those who believe the world is round, we'll keep our fingers crossed that Hughes makes it back to Earth, regardless of its shape, all in one piece.
Source: AP