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===Problem #1 - The age of Jack's grandmother=== | ===Problem #1 - The age of Jack's grandmother=== | ||
In | I called Jack Vissing regarding questions that I after reviewing his story about his grandmother. In my conversation with Jack Vissing, he stated that it was his grandmother who had witnessed this as a young girl. | ||
If so, this is a clear case of Jack Vissing getting the Big Four bridge confused with the Municipal Bridge.''' If Jack's father was 14 in 1929, then it is obvious that his grandmother could not have been a young girl at the same time. However, she would have been a young girl in 1895, when the Big Four bridge had 3 different fatal accidents as noted above. Also, the 16 men that died in the construction of the caissons (on two separate occasions) would appear to be very close the description of the accident that she saw. | If so, this is a clear case of Jack Vissing getting the Big Four bridge confused with the Municipal Bridge.''' If Jack's father was 14 in 1929, then it is obvious that his grandmother could not have been a young girl at the same time. However, she would have been a young girl in 1895, when the Big Four bridge had 3 different fatal accidents as noted above. Also, the 16 men that died in the construction of the caissons (on two separate occasions) would appear to be very close the description of the accident that she saw. | ||
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Jack states that "t was a tragedy at the time, and many people were appalled." | Jack states that "t was a tragedy at the time, and many people were appalled." | ||
If this was widespread knowledge at the time it happened, why was it not reported in the local papers? | If this was widespread knowledge at the time it happened, '''why was it not reported in the local papers when two other deaths made the front page?''' | ||
If sixteen men died, how could this be kept secret given the mothers, fathers, | If sixteen men died, how could this be kept secret given the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and wives of the people that supposedly died. How would you keep all of them quiet? | ||
There were two men who did die in the construction of the municipal bridge and whose deaths made the front page of the Jeffersonville newspaper. The fact that there was no reporting of these deaths argues for it never having happened. Again, we think Jack's grandmother confused this with the death of the men on the Big Four bridge. | There were two men who did die in the construction of the municipal bridge and whose deaths made the front page of the Jeffersonville newspaper. The fact that there was no reporting of these deaths argues for it never having happened. Again, we think Jack's grandmother confused this with the death of the men on the Big Four bridge. | ||
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From an engineering perspective, this story is so implausible it is funny. But that is the lengths that people will go to because of [[Cognitive Dissonance|cognitive dissonance]]. | From an engineering perspective, this story is so implausible it is funny. But that is the lengths that people will go to because of [[Cognitive Dissonance|cognitive dissonance]]. | ||
This | This story is also told with respect to the construction of the Hoover Dam. The story goes that a number of workers were entombed in concrete as the pour couldn't be stopped and they were left dead in the concrete. However, this has been proved to have been not possible. There is an article on this subject on the [https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/bodies-hoover-dam/ Ripley's Believe It or Not] website. | ||
The reasons that clearly indicate that it COULD NEVER happen are as follows: | |||
#The structural integrity of the concrete would fail with even one body | #The structural integrity of the concrete would fail with even one body in it, let alone sixteen. The concrete pier would have crumbled and collapsed a long time ago. The reason for this is that the human body decomposes in concrete and leaves a massive air pocket. Imagine that there are sixteen such large air pockets. The bridge pilon would have collapsed after a few years. | ||
#Rebar is used extensively in concrete to provide strength. This means there is no room for a single body to be submerged in the concrete. Could sixteen bodies have been submerged? It is impossible. | #Rebar is used extensively in concrete to provide strength. This means there is no room for a single body to be submerged in the concrete. Could sixteen bodies have been submerged? It is impossible. | ||
#This would have been reported in the engineers' report. | #This would have been reported in the engineers' report. |