A circus act gone wrong, a young American hero, and a woman that can fly?
Which of these three stories will be true, and which are figments of our imaginations?
That's up to you decide, on what's fact... or fiction.
The line that divides the factual from the unreal has long since blurred, the tales we
once thought fantastical now implanted as truth.
To decipher verity from the imagined, you must break from the ordinary and consider
a universe where the outlandish prevails.
Can you expand your mind to see beyond our perceived reality?
Can you decide what's fact or fiction?
The circus is meant to be a happy, magical place for kids, but when Dean Tyler tempted
fate by going up against the King of the Jungle, it became a horror show of immense proportions.
Story # 1: The Circus Act-Cident It was Dean's third performance with the new
lion, Simba, but the pair had been practicing for countless hours leading up to the evening
everything went wrong.
Dean felt a rapport with Simba, one he hadn't felt with Leo, the aptly named performing
feline that passed away suddenly overnight.
Their third evening together started without a hitch.
Simba, responding to the physical cues he was being given, appeared as ferocious as
ever, eliciting responses of shock and awe from the audience.
The pair sparred and did their little song-and-dance routine, but nearing the end of the act, Dean
could sense a slight change in Simba's performance.
It seemed less like he was willing to go along with the admittedly abusive act.
Dean proceeded with caution, setting the whip aside until he felt he had more control over
the act.
When they reached the climax, things went horrifically wrong.
Simba, as if forgetting who the man in the cage with him was, darted from the corner
he had dug herself into and knocked Dean to the ground.
Over the growling and his own panicked breaths, Dean could hear a collective scream from the
audience, but he swears he could hear his wife's the most above them all.
He did all he could to keep Simba's jaw from clamping around his neck, and when he shoved
his arm out in front to sustain the brunt of her attack, he immediately felt the beast's
teeth piercing his flesh.
As calm as he tried to remain, it all flushed away as blood dripped down onto his face.
Simba pulled at his arm, his paws pressing against Dean's chest.
Before he felt his elbow pop out of its socket, a series of ribs gave in under the lion's
heavy weight.
Dean was weak beneath the animal's force, but before he could give in, the commotion
of his rescue busting into the cage provided him a little hope.
Simba, shocked by the intruders, jerked his head back, severing Dean's arm at the elbow.
The trainer was splattered with blood and the sound of his own arm being ripped from
him nauseated him.
He expected to die in that cage, especially as his consciousness faded.
Dean woke up the following day in the hospital, his arm still missing and his body in excruciating
pain.
His wife was slumped in the chair beside him, struggling to sleep through the images of
her husband's encounter with the lion.
It took him three years to overcome the memory of that incident - both his and Simba's last
circus performance.
As Sigfried and Roy have proven, it's not so unbelievable that an animal would attack
someone it knew, but Dean's encounter kind of sounds like the sort of horror story you
hear about in a fake viral social media post, doesn't it?
Contemplate whether this is fact or fiction by letting us know in the comment section
below as we move onto our second tale.
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, many heroes emerged to serve their nation, some even bending the
rules to do so.
No one bent them quite like Tim Miller, a young man determined to fight for his country.
Story # 2: "Yvan eht Nioj" "1500 Dead in Hawaii, Congress Votes War."
He remembered the headlines like they were from yesterday's newspaper.
He was only 11 when the idea to join the war came to him.
Miller was already taking care of himself, having moved out of his home with his brother
to escape an abusive stepfather.
With a plan in mind, Miller started to shave and practiced his mother's signature, but
there was something about himself he couldn't change - his teeth.
With his teeth still maturing, the dentist that was checking potential recruits would
know he was well under 16, which, even with a forged signature, would make him ineligible
to enlist.
But when the dentist pressed him on his age, Miller had lined up an ace-in-the-hole.
When he got in line, he was sure to stand behind other kids he knew were only 14 or
so.
When the dentist let them through, he knew he could use it to his advantage - and he
most certainly did.
As much as he knew the dentist wanted to argue, there wasn't time for it and, without another
word, he was let through.
At 12-years-old, Tim Miller became a member of the U.S. Navy, serving aboard the USS Missouri
in the Pacific War against Japan.
For a year, he served alongside men considerably older than him, but in 1943, he made a grave
mistake.
After his grandmother's death, he set off for Texas for the funeral but failed to get
permission to do so.
He was sent to the brig but released within three months after his mother revealed his
true age and his sister threatened to bring the story of the young serviceman to the newspaper.
As much as Tim tried to return to service, he was dishonorably discharged.
Though he had earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star, they were stripped from him.
It wasn't until 1978 that he was listed under an honorable discharge and most of his medals
were returned to him.
Though his Purple Heart remained stripped until after his death, when it was finally
reinstated and presented to his family.
Could a 12-year-old somehow bypass a rock solid system and enlist as a 17-year-old?
Okay, so the draft system wasn't perfect at the time, but 12 seems a little young to not
have been immediately caught in the draft line.
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below and vote by using our on-screen poll
as we get ready for our third and final story.
Valerie Benson couldn't bear to live anymore, so she took the only way out she could think
of.
Things, however, didn't go as she planned.
Story # 3: Wind of Luck Valerie never expected her name to grace the
headlines of the city newspaper, but her incredible story was one that media outlets couldn't
help but latch onto.
Unfortunately, it didn't start with the best of circumstances.
It started with her decision to put an end to her life.
She couldn't describe the feelings she was having, but they were enough to drive her
to do the unthinkable.
Nearing 30 and facing eviction from her Bronx apartment, Valerie couldn't stand the thought
of living another moment in this cruel world.
So she picked the highest spot she could think of, the Empire State Building, and started
her ascent.
By the time she reached the 86th floor, she had enough time to contemplate everything
and was prepared to just let go and enjoy what she hoped to be the peace of death.
When she jumped, though, the ground never came.
It was as if a force was pushing back against her.
The feeling of freefalling lasted only a moment before she was back inside the Empire State
Building, impossibly alive and only one floor lower than she had started.
Adams never considered miracles a possibility, and yet she felt she was the subject of one
just then.
During her brief fall, a gust of wind had caught her in mid-jump and thrust her back
into the building, and only sustained minor injuries.
When security guards found her, she had a fractured hip and was incredibly confused.
She never got the opportunity to jump again.
Unfortunately, this is where the story of Adams ends.
Not that she did wind up taking her own life, but after her jump, she was admitted to a
mental institution and, since then, has remained out of the public eye.
Did Valerie, a woman who thought she had nothing left to live for, get lifted back to safety
by some miracle gust of wind?
Or was this a work of fiction, penned by our own writers?
Let's find out - it's time for the reveal.
Are you ready to find out if you can decipher between fact or fiction?
Let's look back at tonight's three stories and find out which were born from reality
and which were fabrications of the imagination.
Let's go back to our first story of Simba the lion and his trainer.
Clearly, with how many documented cases of lions attacking humans there are, this has
to be true, right?
Although entirely plausible and the likelihood of it happening in the future is great, no
such story actually exists - this one was fabricated by our own writers.
How about the heroic tale of Tim Miller?
If you leaned more towards "truth," then you may know your history.
This is the story of Calvin Graham, who enlisted with the U.S. Navy at just 12 years old.
He survived the War in the Pacific, later joining the Marines until being discharged.
He's listed as the youngest person to serve during WWII and lived a relatively short life,
dying at the age of 62 from heart failure in November of 1992.
His wife post-humously accepted his Purple Heart two years after his death in 1994.
Finally, we have that incredible story of Valerie, the woman saved by a miracle gust
of wind.
If you thought this was too far fetched to not be fiction, we'd like to introduce you
to Elvita Adams.
During the holiday season in 1979, at 29-years-old, Adams attempted to take her life by jumping
from the Empire State Building.
She never made it to the ground as a strong gust of wind pushed her back to safety, just
like in our story.
Although where Adams is now is currently unknown.
How well did you do in tonight's video?
Did you look past the deception of our world and define the oft-blurred line that struggles
to separate lies from the truth?
Let us all know in the comment section below and should you find the urge to test your
perceptions again, be sure to subscribe and join us next time when we ask you to decide
what's fact... or fiction.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét