Buckle up for an engineering disaster! In 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people in the freezing Ohio River. Were there warning signs? The bridge itself passed inspections, but it was a tiny crack that was its doom... BUT people around the area had spent the past year reporting strange sightings! A man-shaped thing with glowing red eyes and wings, UFOs, Men in Black (and not the fun ones)! Was it all a warning?? Listen in to discuss how you should never go on a bridge, the logistics of sleeping with a man with bat wings, and more!
Buckle up for an engineering disaster! In 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed, killing 46 people in the freezing Ohio River. Were there warning signs? The bridge itself passed inspections, but it was a tiny crack that was its doom... BUT people around the area had spent the past year reporting strange sightings! A man-shaped thing with glowing red eyes and wings, UFOs, Men in Black (and not the fun ones)! Was it all a warning??
Listen in to discuss how you should never go on a bridge, the logistics of sleeping with a man with bat wings, and more!
Hi Friends! Our transcripts aren't perfect, but I wanted to make sure you had something - if you'd like an edited transcript, I'd be happy to prioritize one for you - please email doomedtofailpod@gmail.com - Thanks! - Taylor
Taylor is still 3D printing for Mother's Day
>> Taylor: In the matter of the people of the State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA096.
>> Farz: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country. Boom. We are recording Taylor on this glorious Mother's Day. How are you?
>> Taylor: Good, good, good, good. It's a good Mother's Day. Florence 3D printed me something, which of course I love.
>> Farz: What is that?
>> Taylor: Well, this is not. This is. These. Are these flowers. I'm doing something else. Like, I'm going. I go to that. I go to a retreat with my friends every year, and so we're again until January, but I'm making gifts to everybody because I'm just like, ahead. Look at this necklace I made that has Miles. Miles's name in my handwriting.
>> Farz: It's all 3D printed.
>> Taylor: All 3D printed.
>> Farz: You are. You are really into this, like, for
>> Taylor: Mother's Day, for Flo's, one of Flo's friends. I had her. I had her friend write her own name in her own handwriting on the iPad. And I was able to make it into a necklace and give it to her mom for Mother's Day. Isn't that cute?
>> Farz: That's so cool.
>> Taylor: And then I invented. Invented last night. I was like, messing with stuff. And so I'm working on it, but, like, I'm designing a thing that can go on like, the corner of the wall because I have like some corners where they always get hit by people, like walking by and it takes the paint off. You know what I mean? And I was gonna buy like at Home Depot, they have wood. You can get like a big, you know, 8 foot, however tall your. Your doors are or your walls are, a piece of wood and paint it and like, put that on it. But I was like, it's gonna be annoying, but that, that's what I was thinking of doing. But now I'm thinking I can make this thing. I'm going to make them kind of click together and I can just print a bunch of this cool corner design. And it has like scallop design, like a doot, doot, doot, doot. And it's gonna be cool and I'm gonna print it.
>> Farz: That's an invention. You can say you invented that. I haven't heard that.
>> Taylor: Thank you. Anyway, super, super excited. Still printing constantly. I moved it into the kitchen. And then my husband's like, it can't just be in the middle of the kitchen. And I'm like, I get that. But this way I can print all night long.
>> Farz: Because it's so wild, you mean?
>> Taylor: Yeah, it's loud.
>> Farz: Yeah. Fun. Yeah. Well, you're still rocking along with. With 3D printing.
>> Taylor: I know. I wonder if it'll. If the novelty will wear off, but I don't know. It doesn't sound like it so far. No, it's been. It's been a good solid month of constantly 3D printing, so.
>> Farz: It's because you're creative. That's the thing. You have a lot of hobbies. You do a lot of things, and so you have a. Like, I was thinking to myself, to myself, like, if I did it, I'm like, what would I. What would I do? Like, honestly? I mean, I don't know. Like, I don't like things the way you like things. I don't have a ton of hobbies that I'm kind of mixed up in, so I don't know. It's good for you.
>> Taylor: You need the vision.
>> Farz: You gotta have the vision and the creativity. Yes.
>> Taylor: Thank you, thank you, thank you. There's this fidget thing that I have right here. I think I showed you this already. This infinity cube.
>> Farz: You did not show me that.
>> Taylor: Anyway, I'll mail you one of these for your birthday, so.
>> Farz: These things. These things are stupid, by the way.
>> Taylor: I know.
>> Farz: 27. I don't understand why this piece of paper is $26.
>> Taylor: I got one at a thrift store one time for like a dollar, but because. And then I tried to buy one normally and I was like, whoa, that's stupid expensive.
>> Farz: Yeah, they're shocking.
>> Taylor: Anyway, also, hopefully my Internet is better. I have. My husband this week was like, I have an ethernet cord you could use. And I was like, you've had that the whole time?
Ethernet board. I always assumed that when the. Internet was good, you were on WI fi
>> Farz: Ethernet board.
>> Taylor: Don't I sound a lot better than usual? I'm not breaking up at all.
>> Farz: Yeah, I guess it was always hit and miss with you. It was all. I always assumed that when the. Your Internet was good, you were on WI fi and the kids weren't streaming something.
>> Taylor: That's true.
>> Farz: Wasn't. And so that was kind of my assumption.
>> Taylor: But I think this Ethernet cable is really helping.
>> Farz: Yeah. Hopefully it stays strong.
Taylor: We love engineering disasters. It's our favorite thing to do
Do you want to go ahead and introduce us?
>> Taylor: Yes. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Doomed to Fail. My name is Taylor. This is far as we're talking. History's most fun disasters and failures.
>> Farz: It's one of our favorite things to do. It's our favorite thing to do.
>> Taylor: It is. It is so fun.
>> Farz: We love it. We love disasters. We love engineering disasters. It sounds like a few of our listeners like engineering disasters, too. I forgot who sent us that amazing List.
>> Taylor: But thank you, my friend Shannon. Yes, that list was incredible. And she's also been such a freaking champ. Liking and commenting on our social. Social post. So thank you, Shannon. Really appreciate you.
>> Farz: Thanks, Shannon.
>> Taylor: Super. Nice. Cool.
I have an engineering disaster that scares me a lot
Well, I have one. I have an engineering disaster that scares me a lot.
>> Farz: Is it because every one of Shannon's recommendations had to do with Joshua Tree disasters?
>> Taylor: No, but it's all very scary. Like, the whole. I mean, any of these things. And, like, we've talked about, like, you did some collapses that were just so scary. The Kansas City Hyatt Skywalk collapse. You know, you just, like, comes out of nowhere. You're, like, having fun, and all of a sudden you're, like, in a pile of rubble. You know, crazy. You did that. A department store in Korea, in South Korea that collapsed.
>> Farz: So you're just like, the unit that
>> Taylor: was way too heavy just going about your day, and, like, the building around you collapses. And I think when you did that, it was around the time that that apartment building in Miami collapsed.
>> Farz: Yep.
>> Taylor: And that was just so awful. Like, I just. Those things make me so scared because, like, the idea that you could be in there for days and they don't find you, and you're like, your leg is broken and you're in the dark, and, like, you potentially can drown because, like, a pipe opens and, like, maybe you know where your family is. Maybe you don't. Maybe you hear them screaming, then they stop screaming because they die. But no one will ever know that story because you've just been dead.
>> Farz: That happened at the KC Hyatt because it did break a bunch of pipes, and people were stuck on the rubble, and they did drown.
>> Taylor: God, can you imagine that?
>> Farz: Of all the ways you think you're gonna die that day, you're like, I'm gonna be drowned in the lobby.
>> Taylor: You would never. Yeah, you would never. So. Yeah. Oh, they're so scary.
This episode focuses on the 1967 Silver Bridge collapse in West Virgin
I have a engineering disaster and a mystery together in one story, which is the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virgin. Is that familiar?
>> Farz: Okay. No, it's not.
>> Taylor: Do you. They were. So this is a bridge collapse, and I'll tell you more about it. But they were potentially warned that something bad was going to happen by visits from the Mothman.
>> Farz: Oh, this is fun.
>> Taylor: Great.
>> Farz: Yeah. West Virginia, of course. Infamous Mothman sighting location.
>> Taylor: And these are the first sightings of the mothman in the 1960s. So to prep for this episode, I watched and forced my husband to watch, bless his heart, the Mothman prophecies with. With Richard Gere and Laura Linney, which was.
>> Farz: I saw that.
>> Taylor: Which was very bad.
>> Farz: They like, is it still bad? I thought it was good when I was a kid.
>> Taylor: No, it's bad. It's very. Like, I wish I was watching the X Files because they do a lot of, like, weird, like, dramatic, like, changes between scenes with, like, a red flash and, like, a microfiche and, like, a thing. So it was like, the same set designer or whatever as, like, a graphic designer as X Files, or, like, they wanted to do that. And then there's, like, a bunch of stuff that, like, is in, like, the real history of the story, but they didn't really explain it well. I mean, obviously. And you're like, where'd that come from? Like, what is that? You know? So it's not great. But the collapse of the bridge is very scary in the movie. So definitely, like, if you want to get an idea of what it feels like, should be in a bridge collapse, which you probably don't. You could watch the last 10 minutes of the Mothman prophecies and you could see that there. But my main source, actually, is my colleague Taylor, who I work with at my job. We. She did a Lunch and learn on the Mothman a couple years ago, just to tell everybody about it, and she did a ton of research, so I stole a lot from her presentation. So thank you, Taylor, for doing that at work.
West Virginia is creepy because of the mountains, and it has that Appalachian vibe
So leading up to the collapse of the silver bridge in December 1967, which was, like, a fatal engineering collapse, a lot of weird s*** was happening in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. And West Virginia is creepy because of the mountains, and it has that, like, Appalachia. Appalachia creepy vibe anyway. Like, you don't want to be outside. Like, there. There is a great Instagram guy that I follow called Latinos Against Spooky S***, and he always watches, like, some people in, like, this area, like, in West Virginia, where they, like, close their windows at night, and then they. People knock on their windows and, like, say their name, and they're like, don't answer, don't answer, don't answer. You know? And he'll. He'll be like, absolutely f****** not. Like, you have to move. You can't be anywhere near that. So, like, all that weird. That creepy stuff happens there. Like, it's late at night and it's scary. Point Pleasant is on the Ohio river, on the border of West Virginia and Ohio. So it's like, as west as you can get in. West Virginia is where Point Pleasant is. And people start in 1966 reporting sightings of a strange creature, strange encounters and weird dreams. And Laura Linney, who is the cop in the Mothman prophecies, says this very like, for better or worse. She says it's not just like the town speed freak. It's good people. So it's like not just a weirdo that you'd be like, oh, yeah, that guy has always seen stuff. It's like volunteer firemen, people from the National Guard, journalists, like people who are usually reputable, are seeing something weird happening around town. So what are they seeing? What do you. If you could describe the Mothman to me, fars, how would you describe him?
>> Farz: If you've ever seen Jeepers Creepers. It's the monster of Jeepers Creepers.
>> Taylor: That's fair.
>> Farz: Am I right?
>> Taylor: I mean, yeah, I think so. He's like a. A big winged, winged humanoid creature. He. When they see him, he flies straight up into the air. He doesn't like, it's like a jump and fly. It's. And then it's like he's 7ft tall with an 8 to 11 foot wingspan. He's either gray or brown, like, weird skin toned. He has muscular man like, legs, which is gross, and then like wings. But mostly he has red eyes, like red glowing eyes that people like are like mesmerized by and have seen now that I'm thinking of it. And a lot of the Remains fantasy books I read, some of the like, hot guys have wings like this, you know, And I'm like, dude, it's all fun and games when, like, Cassian, like, one of the hot guys is like, flying you around town. But imagine, like, sharing a duvet with a man with wings. I'd be like, get the out of my bed. Like, your wings are in the way. They slap me in the face 15 times in the middle of the night. You stole the covers.
>> Farz: Like, most of the wings are the covers.
>> Taylor: Ew. They're actually. That does happen where they, like, are sad and they like, hold each other and they'll like cocoon you in their wings. I don't want to be cocooned in your, like, weird skin wings.
>> Farz: It like you're making it sound more bat and less bird.
>> Taylor: Yeah, I know those, but they're bat wings. There are bird winged guys in these romantic books as well. But that I think would just be a mess to live with, you know?
>> Farz: It would be. Yeah, you definitely.
>> Taylor: Everywhere, dude. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just don't. I don't love that. Don't love it. The logistics of dating a man with wings are too much, if you think about it. But the Mothman himself, like, he's just like a creature people see. Man with wings, shoots up in the sky. They named him after the killer moth, which is a Batman villain, is where they got the idea to name him the Mothman. Also recently, last pockets on the left, they had Mothman coffee, and they got sued by another company that had Mothman coffee, so they renamed it Butterfly Dude Coffee, which is silly and funny.
>> Farz: That's pretty cute.
>> Taylor: Yeah, I like that.
So here are the stories of people seeing the Mothman in 1966
So here are the stories of people seeing the Mothman, and we'll talk about how this connects to the bridge later. So one of the first sightings was on November 1, 1966, and a national Guardsman at the Point Pleasant base. So in Point Pleasant, there's a couple things. There's a military base, and it's also an old TNT factory. So places where there's, like, secrecy and poison in the air, you know, stuff like that. Like, kind of like weird old factory places, like, partially abandoned, the TNT factory, things like that. So this made this National Guardsman again, like a person in the military. He sees an impossibly large creature perched in a tree, and he thought it was a dude. He's like, why is there a man in this tree? You know, that's super weird. And he went to get someone else to come see it. And by the time he came, it was gone. But it was, like, officially reported because he had to, like, leave his. His spot to find someone else to be like, dude, something weird is happening outside. A couple days later, on November 14th at 10:30pm, a man whose last name is Partridge and his dog Bandit, who's a German shepherd, are in their house in, like, not a neighborhood, like, in the middle of the woods. And Bandit starts going crazy. He starts just, like, barking and scratching at the door. Something. Something's outside. So Partridge grabs his gun and turns out the tv, grabs his gun, looks outside, and he sees red eyes that glow like bicycle reflectors, he said. So, like, imagine, you know what. You know what that means? Like, just like red circles glowing in the distance. And Bandit takes off towards this creature, starts running toward the thing. Partridge tries to go after him. The dog is never found, and it's gone. So, like, did the Mothman eat Bandit? I don't know. Like, he just never found. He never found him again. The next day, November 15, two couples, Roger and Linda Scarberry and Steven Mary Millet, they are around the TNT area, and Linda sees two red eyes. And they all saw, like, a huge animal that was shaped by Like a man, but bigger. And they were, like, hypnotized by his eyes, you know, that was like, the thing. Because he'd be like, what the f*** are these glowing eyes? That's one of the scariest things I can think of, you know? And they leave as fast as they can because they're, like, in this, like, old factory. They leave and he follows them and they go to the police. And it was in the. And he took them seriously. So he, like, you know, took the report and was like, okay, like, these people are obviously terrified. And it was in the Point Pleasant Register, which is a newspaper. And the article was called Couples See Man Sized Bird Creature. Something. Which is a fun headline. But in that article, there's a couple things that I thought were, like, so actually scary. Where Scarberry, one of the men, he said, quote, I'm a hard guy to scare, but last night I was for getting out of there. He said the thing followed them. It was hovering over their car, apparently gliding until they reached the National Guard Armory. He said, we went downtown, turned around and went back, and there it was again. It seemed to be waiting on us. Isn't that crazy?
>> Farz: Yes. Creepy.
>> Taylor: I hate that. It was, like, gliding and following them. And then they said that they think that the creature was afraid of light and it maybe thought it was scaring them off, like, away from the TNT plant. So they got the feeling that it was trying to get them to leave the place that they were.
>> Farz: It's kind of weird calling it a Mothman and being afraid of life.
>> Taylor: I know.
>> Farz: Yeah. That's a weird one.
>> Taylor: Yeah. Yeah. And so that's super scary. The idea of, like, hovering over the car. I absolutely hate it. Like, I hate that it would follow you. That, like, you see it around. On November 27, outside New Haven, West Virginia, there is a woman who sees the Mothman during the day at a golf course, and her eyes get, like, really red. So they do this in the movie for a couple of the characters. But, like, her eyes were like. Like, she had really bad pink eye, like, both of her eyes. And it's something that you can get from exposure to ultraviolet rays. So, like, presumably the thing that this girl saw at the golf course, like, burned her eyes enough to give her, like, really red eyes. And her aunt is a woman named Mary Hire. And Mary Hire is a journalist. We're going to talk to her in a little bit as well. So she, like, tells her aunt and she, like, tells you all this is happening. And so it's not just the Mothman that People are seeing around town, around Point Pleasant in this area. There's also sightings of the Men in Black.
>> Farz: Oh, yeah.
>> Taylor: And, like, what do you know about the real Men in Black?
>> Farz: Yeah, it's. It's a UFO mythology. The Men in Black movies are different than what I understand the Men in Black, the real ones to be. The real ones are aliens who are trying to be human. Like.
>> Taylor: Yes.
>> Farz: And they think that a human is just a man wearing a black suit and a hat for some reason. And so, yeah, there's a fun mythology around them.
>> Taylor: Yeah, I think it's exactly that. And so I think also when I was writing this, I was like, wait, I wonder if the real Men in Black, like the aliens or whatever, were the ones behind the Men in Black movies to make you think that the Men in Black are, like, charming and fun when they're not, you know? Yeah, it's like. It's like a red herring to make you not think the Men in Black are cool. Because people who report seeing, like, real Men in Black, like you said, like, there are people who are pretending to be human. Actually more like.
People have seen men in black after UFO sightings or other paranormal activity
More like Vincent d' Onofrio than.
>> Farz: Right.
>> Taylor: You know.
>> Farz: Right.
>> Taylor: Like, these are my human clothes. This is my human music. You know, that kind of thing. When people see them, they, like, come to their house and, like, knock on the door and, like, interrogate you. They wear black clothes, hats and sunglasses, and they cut. People have seen them all over, like, a lot in America. Probably all over the world look at different names for them, but they come, like, after some sort of paranormal activity or like a UFO sighting or you see a cryptid or something weird. And, like, a weird man's gonna come to your house and, like, ask you questions about it, you know, in like a weird, non human way.
>> Farz: Right.
>> Taylor: You know, so on November 2, 1966, there's a man who's driving on the i77 in, like, in between West Virginia and Ohio. And this is one day after that National Guard person saw him, which was like, the first person to see the Mothman. And there's a UFO chasing his car. He's like, this thing came out of the sky. It's not. It's not the Mothman. It's like a. A thing that, like, is, like, hovering over my car. Like, a thing that. That's chasing my car. So he stops and he's like, I don't know what to do. And he gets out of his car. And then another car comes up behind him. And a man comes out and starts asking him Questions. And this man is called. He tells him his name is Indrid Cold, which is the fakest f****** name I've ever heard and very scary.
>> Farz: Indrid Cold. Okay. I wonder if there's an anagram for that.
>> Taylor: I know. It's scary. Like Cotton Mather. That's what it made me think of. In the Mothman prophecies movies, they kind of, like, don't make it make sense, and they kind of make you think the Mothman is Indrid Cold. But they have him talk to Richard Gere on the phone, which is very scary. You know, he's like, I know where you are. I know who you are, blah, blah, blah. There's a whole thing that, like, you know, Indrid Cold knows the future, but he's warning you, but he can't tell you where he's from. Like, he is a Mothman, but I don't think he is a Mothman. But, like, it's still, like, people see him in this area and he's like a Men in Black figure. They also call him the Grinning man because they describe him as, like, a man with, like, an un. Human, like, smile. It's creepy, you know, like, just like.
>> Farz: It's even worse.
>> Taylor: I know. And you've just been chased by ufo. No, no, no, no. Oh. Also, the questions that he asked him, he didn't ask with his mouth. He asked telepathically, of course.
>> Farz: Why wouldn't you?
>> Taylor: And he said, we'll see you again. You know, whatever. He was very nice about it. But, like, asking questions about the ufo. Another man visited Mary Hire, who is that reporter whose niece saw the Mothman. He said that he was driving to Point Pleasant and he saw another ufo and the. And the Grinning Man. And the Grinning man asked him, who are you? Where are you from? Where are you going? What? And when Mary called the man back to verify his story, he said, don't get me involved. The scientists from Ohio said not to say anything more. So, like, someone else come to that guy's house and be like, stop telling people that you saw this man who, like, did this thing. So very, very creepy. So like. So, like, sometimes, like, the Men in black are nice. So, like, maybe they're government agent agents. Maybe they're Reptilians, you know? And sometimes they say things mean that are like, no one will believe you if you talk about this. Like, don't tell anybody again. So, like, there could be a lot of people who've been visited. A Man in black. And don't say anything because they're scared. Which makes totally sense that you would be afraid because this person is like not a person in some really f******
>> Farz: weird way, you know, once they're talking to you telepathically, it's like, whatever secrets you got, buddy, they die with me.
>> Taylor: Yeah, 100%. Like, you're fine. I'm not gonna, I don't want to be on the news for this. Let's, let's let this go. So that's what's happening around this time. So there are Mothman sightings, there's this Indrid Cold guy, grinning man. There's Men in black, there's UFOs. So like weird stuff happening in this, in this concentrated area. It's also the 1960s and so like it's the Cold War, there's nuclear threats. Like, tensions are high. It's, you know, kind of a, a stressful time to like be around. So it could be part of that as well, like feeding into it. Of course. So all that is happening, you know, at this time, so nothing bad happens. It's just people see him or see other people and they're like just something unexplainable. But like Nothing bad until.
Silver Bridge that connects West Virginia and Ohio over river collapses in 1967
December 15, 1967, at 4:58pm The Silver Bridge that connects West Virginia and Ohio over the Ohio river collapses.
>> Farz: That's a bad time.
>> Taylor: It's a bad time. It is cold, it is dark because it is five o' clock in December. So it is freezing and it is dark and traffic is heavy because it's like rush hour holiday traffic. So the Silver Bridge is technically was named the Point Pleasant Bridge, but they called it the Silver Bridge because it was painted silver. It was a suspension bridge, which you can think of it kind of like the Golden Gate Bridge.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: You know, and I was on the Golden Gate Bridge once and I hated it because I feel like every f****** movie I've seen it's like it collapsing. And I'm like, I hate it. It's moving. I hate it. I want nothing to do with this.
>> Farz: You feel it moving. It has like a large swath of it that is like great, great. And so you can like look down and you can see hundreds of feet below you. It's probably not hundreds of feet, but still you can see the water.
>> Taylor: I hate it. Yeah, I like the Brooklyn Bridge because I don't feel like the Brooklyn Bridge is going to collapse because of all the bricks. But like, I don't know, you know, it's like obviously like old as well, but like the suspension ness of the bridge and it's the Same feeling that I get when I'm in a building that moves. When I'm like, I understand this building is supposed to move, but I don't like it.
>> Farz: Yeah, it's unnatural. It's like you're. The reptilian part of your brain is telling you this is bad.
>> Taylor: Exactly, exactly. So the Silver Bridge was built in 1928, which is a different time for transportation than 1967. So in 1928, 60% of American families had a car, which I feel like is high. So.
>> Farz: Yeah, it's a lot more than I would have guessed.
>> Taylor: Yeah, me too. But by 1967, it was 80 to 85% of families had a car. And many families had more than one. And cars were also heavier than they were in the 1920s. Like the think of a big 60s, 60s car. The bridge was built with I bar chains. So the I bar is like the shaping around the bridge. So like a suspension bridge has a lot of like, they're not cables, but they're like, they kind of look like wrenches. And they go up and down across the bridge and they're connected. That creates like a geometrical shape that makes like the, the structure of the bridge. It's very common to build bridges that way. And the I bars are connected with pins, like really big pins that like connect them together. So it does. So when it's connected, it does look like two wrenches on a bolt, basically, and then they connect to each other. So the, the ibar itself is 2 inches wide and has a domed cap at the top. It holds most of the bridge together. Many bridges that are built with I bars have several layers of redundancy. So they'd have like four to seven I bars, you know, just in holding each, each section. The Silver bridge only had two. So they were connected with 12 inch in diameter pins. So like they're huge. But they're made with this newer steel. It's supposed to be stronger. They were like, oh, we only need two. So it was okay as long as the two were working, you know, but there wasn't enough redundancy. So if one of them broke, the second one couldn't hold the load and then it would break, you know. So it also, Yep, like I was saying, had like the rocker towers that are supposed to move, so supposed to have a little bit of movement in it as well. It was supposed to hold a lot of weight. So the weight of the cars that were on it in 1967 should have been okay. Like there was no, it's not really that that did it. But like it was heavier but like it, it should have been fine. And it was fine obviously for a long time. But one I bar cracked at the top. It was I bar number 330. And when it cracked so like the circularly part of the wrench part cracked, the pressure went to the second one and that one couldn't hold it. So then the bridge began to collapse and partially was like the cold weather. Just like it was an old bridge. And even if it had been, I don't know the last time it was inspected, but even if it had been inspected recently, they wouldn't have found it because it was on like the second layer. So like exactly. So an inspector with his eyes would have been like, everything is fine. Like this bridge looks totally fine. He would not have seen the crack. But because of it it collapses and the cars and the people in those cars are thrown into the freezing cold Ohio river. Which is the scariest f****** thing I can think of.
>> Farz: It's so scary. So night you got layers on. So that water's drip pulling you down given the weight. Yeah.
>> Taylor: In the movie Richard Gere jumps into the water with his coat on and I'm like, bad idea, take it off also. So it's cold and it's dark and you're drowning and you're scared. And then also you probably, there's probably people in the car with you that you want to save. Unless you're Ted Kennedy. Then you know, you don't save that person. And then I was thinking like I know Ted Kennedy isn't, didn't become president, but I was thinking like which presidents would save you if you fell into the water with them? And like obviously like I think Obama would save you, I think the Bushes would save you. I think all the generals would have saved you. I think that like Taft would save you, but it would be the last thing he like he would die.
>> Farz: Clinton would save you if you were a 23 year old girl.
>> Taylor: Exactly. I don't think Bill Clinton would save you. No, I don't think he'd save me either. I think I'm too old. I think he would, you know, save not like, not a child, but he'd save like a young woman. I don't think that Donald Trump would save you because I don't think he knows how to swim.
>> Farz: Probably not.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
43, 46 people died when Michigan bridge collapsed in 1975
I just like doubt he's. He knows or if he ever thought of that. Doesn't anyone? Yeah. So. But you, but you're worried about other people. You know, you're like it's just. Just such a terrible way to go. And it's not. It's dark. Yes. But also, you can see the lights of the other cars, which they do in the movie that really well, which is actually so f****** scary because they do, like, a pan out and then, like, the bridges collapse and you see, like, the headlights pointing up. It's so gross. So. And there's also Christmas presents floating in the water, which is so sick.
>> Farz: Wait, also, that wouldn't happen because the engines would be the heaviest part of the car. The tail light should be pointing up, probably.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Farz: Okay.
>> Taylor: Yeah. But in the movie, it was for. I don't know. I don't know, for effect. And it works because it's scary. And. Oh, the Christmas presents. Floating is scary. And also that reminds me of, like, the murder House in LA that we lived by, where it was like, the guy murdered his family on Christmas. So the Christmas presents were all still there unopened.
>> Farz: So creepy. We should have bought that house, by the way.
>> Taylor: I know. They. They. Someone totally gutted it and then sold it again, which is such a disaster because it was cool. Anyway, 43, 46 people died when it collapsed. There were 37 cars on the bridge, and 31 of them fell into the water. So, like, also, I think they do that movie. They do this as well. Like, it's not like your car by itself slowly falling into the water. It's crashing into other cars as it falls, you know? And, like, I feel like you'd be lucky if you. If, like, a piece of the bridge hit you in the head and you died instantly, you know, and then your car fell in the water, because otherwise you're drowning. Of the 46 people, 44 bodies were found. The bodies of Kathy Bias and Maxine Turner, both from Point Pleasant, were never found. They just, like, rushed on river. Poor ladies. Afterwards, they would. In 1971, the National Bridge Inspection Standards are established after the 1960 federal aid highway Act. So there's new. After there was, like, new ways to test bridges and do inspections and. And things like that. So that is good news that they're doing more inspections on them. So how does it connect to the Mothman? So why do we think that they are connected? So Mary Hire, the journalist who had talked to her niece about the Mothman and then the other man about the Men in Black, had a dream about the bridge collapse. So that was like, kind of like a thing that she said might happen. And some people think that they saw or say that they saw the Mothman perched on or near the bridge right before it collapsed. And they think that he was, like, warning people that something bad was going to happen. In 1975, a man named John Keel wrote the book the Mothman Prophecies, basically saying, yes, this is what happened. And that helped turn it into, like, you know, a story, like a fun story that people, you know, talk. Then people talked about it more. So now in Point Pleasant, there's a Mothman museum, There's a big Mothman statue. Like, they really, like, you know, talk about it a lot because he hasn't been seen there in there since, but he has been seen in other places. So a couple of the places they see him, they saw him in Moscow before there were apartment bombings in 1999. Some people say they saw him before Chernobyl, like, warning people there in Chicago, which is super. I don't, like. I don't know. Like, I can't think of anything that, like, super bad that happened. But they see him all the time at o', Hare, at the airport. So, like, there's a. Like, there's like, a really compelling story of, like, a UPS worker who was like, yeah, I just, like, saw him standing on the tarmac. Like, he's there, you know, and then, like, people see him all the time around, like, Michigan. So, like, I don't know what that, like, what that's a harbinger of, but people see. See him there. So the answer is, like, is he a warning from, like, the future or another dimension or another time or a thing who's, like, trying to tell us in some way that something bad is going to happen and. And doing that by scaring the s*** out of people?
>> Farz: Be good if after all these decades you've learned how to read and write
>> Taylor: and could write, really, you can write a note that's gonna happen. You guys should check IBar number 330. Love, the Mothman.
>> Farz: It'll be more compelling. We'd probably listen to that more.
>> Taylor: So the. The moral of this story is never go on bridges, especially at night, because they're scary. And if you see the Mothman, please stop what you're doing, because what you're doing is dangerous and leave.
Do we know why the bridge collapsed? I know there's a crack in it
>> Farz: Do we know why the bridge collapsed? I know you said there's a crack in it, but do we know, like, I mean, what does that just cause? 40 plus years of wear and tear?
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just wear and tear. And then, like, the. The weather, I think, was a little bit of it just because it was cold and, you know, metal contracts and all that stuff. Like, depending on the. On the things I would just see, I just cracked and had just like been a long. A long time.
Are most of bridges in the US at risk of collapsing or something
>> Farz: Are most of bridges in the US at risk of collapsing or something?
>> Taylor: Most likely. I don't know. I don't know. I know there's like the one. There's one in New York that I like, hated. And it. I think they might have redone it, but it was like, this bridge is due to collapse. Good luck. And you're like, I hate being on this bridge so much. I don't know what to do. Like, I just. I don't want anything to do with this. And like, sometimes like that one in Baltimore that collapsed because, like, that boat hit it recently, you know, like, that was so awful and like, so sad. But that was like a direct cause. But this one was just like, you had to be there at the exact wrong time to die.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: In that collapse because it was like gonna collapse. But like, it wasn't like one person who hit it or one more person who did it. It was just like the stress of it be existing, just finally did it. Yeah.
>> Farz: Yeah. The world kind of grew around it and exactly what's designed for different place sometimes.
>> Taylor: Yeah. Yeah.
>> Farz: Creepy. So I feel like the Mothman's a good guy.
>> Taylor: It feels like he's a good guy. He hasn't hurt anybody. He just kind of like scares you.
>> Farz: But maybe he might have eaten Bandit.
>> Taylor: He might have eaten Bandit. That's true.
>> Farz: So there's one kill on his record. That is.
>> Taylor: But maybe. Maybe Bandit was gonna do something bad.
>> Farz: Maybe Bandit was dog Hitler.
>> Taylor: See, that's another thing that Taylor at my job and I have been talking about is like, if you had a button and the button was like, kill the worst person in the world, would you press it? And we were like, of course. But I was like, what if you press it and it's a baby? And you're like, oh, my God. Because if you go back in time and you kill baby Hitler, you're just the person who killed a baby.
>> Farz: You're not the good person.
>> Taylor: No one's going to believe you. No one's gonna. You're gonna be like, this baby's really bad. They'd be like, you just killed a baby. And so only you would know that you were the hero of the world in that way.
>> Farz: You know, it's funny, I was just thinking about that.
Michael: Obsession is a fantastic horror movie. You should absolutely go see it
I just saw the movie Obsession. Have you seen. Heard of that one?
>> Taylor: I don't know. I don't think so.
>> Farz: Okay. It's really good. It's fantastic. You should absolutely go see it. It's a horror movie, but it's kind of like a fun one. Yeah, it technically gets released like next Friday, but we got like a pre screening version of it. And it's about a guy. Long story short, it's about a guy who is in love with this girl, these friends with, but she doesn't reciprocate and he is able to grant one wish. And his wish is for her to love her more than anything. And it backfires in horrible, horrible ways. This part's like a little bit of a spoiler alert, so, like, maybe don't listen to this part. Long story short, she ends up killing a bunch of people as this possessed version of herself. And the only way to break the spell again. Major spoiler. Okay, you left if you didn't want to hear the spoiler. Good. I'm still going on the spoiler. Major spoiler. She ends up killing two people as part of this, like, love affair that she, her possessed self has with this guy. And the only way that the wish goes away is if the guy who does the wish kills themselves, kills himself, or the girl dies and he ends up killing himself again, spoiler. I'm so sorry. But I was thinking to myself, I was like. I was like, isn't it better if you kill her because she killed two people and it's very traceable that she killed these people? So when the spell breaks because you killed yourself and the cops show up at the door.
>> Taylor: This is a girl.
>> Farz: Yeah. She's still gonna go to jail the rest of her life or go to a looney band. Even worse. Like, like you're not helping her in that situation.
>> Taylor: Oh, my goodness. That's true.
>> Farz: But then if you kill her, then you put it on yourself. So I don't know, maybe you kill her and then you just, like, flee the country. I don't know how to do it, but yeah, that's what I was thinking.
>> Taylor: You should wish for money. That's stupid. Money would make a woman love you.
>> Farz: Yeah, one of the scenes, his friend wishes for a billion dollars and like, all this money starts pouring from the sky. It's really funny.
>> Taylor: Yeah, that's the right answer. You wish for money, you wish to heal the planet, and then you wish to free the genie. Those are the three answers. That's it?
>> Farz: You only got one wish?
>> Taylor: Well, I'm saying if you had three wishes.
>> Farz: Okay, yeah.
>> Taylor: If you had one wish. It's just the money.
>> Farz: Like, give me the money.
>> Taylor: Give me the money.
>> Farz: Give me all the money.
>> Taylor: I won't be an with it. I mean, it might be, like, a little bit, but, like, not that bad.
>> Farz: I think you. I think when you're that rich, there is a way to be. Yeah.
>> Taylor: Just, like, forget. Just forget about humanity. Like.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: What are these. What are all these people walking around with their little lives? They're of no consequence to me.
>> Farz: So that's how Ellen DeGeneres asked Bill Gates how much a banana cost. He's like, I don't know, 15 bucks? Like, so far removed from the world.
>> Taylor: What could it cost, Michael? $10? Yeah, I know that's silly.
You should watch an X Files episode instead of Mothman
>> Farz: Well, sorry. I have no idea how we got back around this from Mothman.
>> Taylor: No, it's cool. You just spoiled the movie for everybody. And you guys should see the Mothman movie. It's terrible. But if you're like, I don't know, super high, why not?
>> Farz: It's fun.
>> Taylor: Yeah, it's like. I mean, it's just like. I think you should also. Instead, you should watch an X Files episode.
>> Farz: Yeah, fair enough.
>> Taylor: Like, there's plenty others that you watch that are just good. Or you can watch the last 10 minutes of moth and. Which was, like, the only actual, like, scary part, which is it was scary. I didn't like. And I didn't like when Andrew Cold called people. There's another movie, like, from the Pat. From the his. From the 80s, I think that was like, a guy was talking to a guy, and then he, like, called on the phone. So he was, like, on the phone and looking at him like, I hate that. Like, I hate that. Like, someone on the phone being like, yeah. Yes. Yes. That preview made me so scared when I was little. I don't think I ever saw it because that preview made me so scared. And then, like, yeah, the idea of someone calling you and like. Because in the moth. In the movie, Richard Gere, like, he's like, what am I holding? And she's like, 3D printed flowers. He's like, oh, my God. How'd you know? And that's f****** scary. I don't like that someone, like, knowing exactly what you're doing in your room.
>> Farz: For those listening, Taylor's holding up 3D printed flowers. That's why. Relax.
>> Taylor: I am the injured Cold is watching me being like, all you do is 3D print stuff, Taylor, you haven't been very interesting in a while.
>> Farz: Well, that's fun. We got our first engineering disaster show that you did. You've never done an injury disaster.
>> Taylor: I don't know. I feel like maybe We've done so many.
>> Farz: I know. You switch track.
>> Taylor: Like, Morgan, our. One of our most. Most listened listeners was like, you should do Adventure Park. And I was like, oh, I did. And she was like, oh, my God, you've done so many. Like, I know.
>> Farz: I guess that's a natural disaster.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, scary bridges. Nope. Bridges. No is the answer to that.
>> Farz: Yeah. Get yourself a kayak. That's safer. Probably not, actually, but still like that.
>> Taylor: Oh, I did the Hillsborough. That wasn't really engineering, but that was like the way that people walk into a that event and they all got crushed.
>> Farz: Yes.
>> Taylor: Then there was in that episode also there was Happy Valley where a thing where the like the stands fell at like a horse race.
>> Farz: Yep. Yeah.
>> Taylor: I was looking through it and you
>> Farz: did the soccer thing. But that was a proud crush situation. No, no, that was.
>> Taylor: That was. That one.
>> Farz: Yep.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
Taylor: Thank you to all the listeners for listening to Doomfl Pod
Oh, here we go. What did I list for engineering disasters anyway? I list them all on our website in our substack. I think they all exist. But thank you. Yeah, thank you, Shannon, for your suggestions. And then also a bunch of friends have. Of my friends have been listening. So thank you to Natalie and Lauren and Karen. My friend Karen listened to the volcano episodes. My friend Natalie listening to the Olympics episodes. And we were talking about how bad we feel for Richard Jewell over text. So thank you for. Thank you to my friends for going
>> Farz: back and listening because they listen to both of us. They are now our friends. So thank you, my friend. Thank you.
>> Taylor: You are friends to our friends.
>> Farz: For me and Taylor.
>> Taylor: Yes. Super cool. And please tell more friends. If you like it, tell other people. We'd love to keep talking about it. And then. Yeah, thank you. Shannon follows engineering disasters. Far as if you do one, tell me so that I won't do it too. But they're really fun.
>> Farz: I will. Do we have any listener?
>> Taylor: No, that was. That was kind of my listener section when I was thinking my friends.
>> Farz: Nice. Well, thank you for sharing. Taylor, to all the listeners. Yes, tell your friends so they can become our friends. Write to us@dunefellpodmail.com find us all the socials at Doomfl Pod. If you want Taylor to 3D print you anything. 3D printed merch. She will do it.
>> Taylor: Give me a call. Give me 3D printing ideas. Because right now Miles is printing fake money that he made. Like, he like drew a little person and then like and number one. So printing that. And yeah, it's just endless, endless possibilities.
>> Farz: I just the one. If you're gonna print it. Make it a thousand at least.
>> Taylor: That's fair. Really? Printing, too. Also, for Mother's Day, Florence gave me a penny and a two dollar bill because they're both rare, like me.
>> Farz: Aw.
>> Taylor: She said, you cutie pie.
>> Farz: Where'd she get a two dollar bill from?
>> Taylor: I gave her a bunch of two dollar bills because I got conned into buying two dollar bills from the bank. Because I went to the bank. I'm whispering. I went to the bank to get quarters to put in the Easter eggs to hide around the house because I'm tired of hiding candy and, like, they don't eat it. And then the lady was like, I also have $2 bills. And I was like, oh, cool. So then I bought. I, like, got extra from the bank $2 bills. And so I put them in the Easter eggs.
>> Farz: You're like Steve Wozgang. He literally does that.
>> Taylor: Really?
>> Farz: Yeah. You and Steve are keeping two hour bills of circulation?
>> Taylor: Yep. There we go.
>> Farz: Cool. Anything else, Taylor?
>> Taylor: That's it. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Farz: Sweet. We'll go ahead and cut it off there. Thanks all.
>> Taylor: Thanks.