These Photos Were Snapped Just As Something Disastrous Was About To Happen
When disaster strikes, the moment is often so fleeting that it's over before we realize what happened. Every once in a while, a photograph is timed so well that it perfectly captures the catastrophe. Whether it's racecars plummeting into one another, a jetski riding a wave over a surfer, or a car being driven off an airplane, cameras give us the opportunity to see these occurrences as they unfold. Read on to see the very moments that disaster struck.
Jenga: Extreme Edition
Shipping containers are so massive and sturdy that people have begun turning them into homes. Just imagine the impact of all these containers falling to the side at once. Considering how far over it's already leaning, your only hope to rebalance the ship would be a magical wave coming the other way.
The people in the smaller boat must be in awe of what they're about to witness. You'd think they'd be speeding away by now considering the hundreds of thousands of pounds falling toward them.
Coming 'Round The Mountain In An Excavator
If you thought driving on a mountain was scary, just imagine how the people who built those roads felt. Before the winding road criss-crossed the mountainside, someone had to go and carve it out with an excavator.
Though we're confident that whoever is operating this machine knows that they're doing, it seems counterintuitive to sit on the edge of a cliff in a hunk of metal that's ripping through the mountainside. The operator must get an adrenaline rush every day on the job.
Wet And Wild Buggy Racing
In case you don't live in Florida, these drivers are doing something called swamp buggy racing. The vehicles are modified so that they can operate on dry land, shallow water, mud, and sand.
One of these buggy drivers is likely about to get a face full of swamp water. Even the driver who ran him off the road is watching as the disaster unfolds. Imagine hydroplaning in a whirlwind of water on two wheels while trying to win a race; that's what this driver is going through.
The Overzealous Wedding Guest
Weddings can be emotional, but they don't usually inspire someone to plummet head-first into a body of water. Since you can't tell where this guy came from, it looks like he's just falling from the sky.
The couple must have felt just as baffled as we do when they spotted someone plummeting in the background of their wedding photo. It would have been a lovely photo of the ocean otherwise, but to be fair, the lighting wasn't doing them any favors anyway.
An Up-Close Safari Experience
While it's no surprise that elephants are large creatures, this photograph illustrates how gigantic they actually are. The elephant makes this vehicle look like a toy car, and the animal is clearly unfazed by the hunk of metal.
Apparently, the elephant was using the car to scratch its belly. If you think about it, elephants aren't able to satisfy their itches the way we humans can. We just hope that the massive creature didn't decide to plop down on the car afterward.
Truly Face-First
This jetskier seems to have overestimated how much force he went into his backflip with. He didn't make it very far before his face graced the water's surface, meaning he'll probably be submerged before his rotation is complete.
In his defense, pulling off a backflip is challenging enough, even without the additional weight of a jetski. In this moment, the poor guy is probably catching his last breath before he goes face-first into the water.
Standing On The Literal Edge
This man posing for a photo has no idea that the woman behind his is about to plunge backward into the pool while fully clothed. What's odd, though, is that the woman herself doesn't seem to have a clue she's about to fall, either.
Moreover, the ladies that she's talking to aren't reaching out to grab her and don't even look concerned or surprised. It's as though mid-conversation, the woman decided to casually fall back into the pool wearing all-white clothing and while still in her shoes.
The Overly Ambitious One
It's no mystery how this scenario is bound to end. The boy photographed seems to have truly believed that he could leap from that ledge and into the pool, despite the several feet of concrete in between.
The way he's positioned mid-air looks as though he's reaching up to try and fly. We would venture to guess that someone has seen Peter Pan a few too many times. Where's Tinker Bell with her magic fairy dust when you need her?
You Might Want To Rethink That Cruise
Cruise ships are massive, but waves can be too. The water almost reaches the top of the several-stories-high ship, which gives perspective to how powerful the ocean is.
Just imagine how shocking it would be to see a huge burst of water erupting past your window as the ship lunges forward and into the wave. If you thought airplane turbulence was bad, imagine getting jerked around in a boat the size of a building.
Hole In One (Person)
This photograph is so perfectly timed that it's hard to believe it really happened. You can still see the sand around the woman who hit the golf ball straight at the camera.
She must have been too concerned with the photo being taken of her and didn't realize that her focus was on the camera. Knocking a golf ball into someone gives a whole new meaning to the term "Hole in One." The lesson here is to always photograph the golfer from behind.
This Is Why You Shouldn't Take Selfies
Cell phones have gotten increasingly more flack over the years for stealing our attention from life. This photograph perfectly depicts someone paying the consequence of being distracted by their phone.
If someone else had been taking the photo, they probably would have noticed the flying ball and could have warned the woman to duck. Since she was alone in the stands and focused on her forward-facing camera, the woman had no idea she was about to get beaned in the head by a baseball.
Look Up!
We can't tell if this surfer knows that a jetski is hanging just above his head, or if he's so supremely focused that he has no idea it's there. Either way, it's nerve-wracking to see.
Surfers face danger all the time, especially when they're riding huge waves. An unattended jetski being thrust at them by a wave isn't usually on their list of concerns. We hope that this guy glided past the jetski in time, but we can't say for sure that he didn't topple under it.
The Goat's Gone Mad!
There are so many questions that immediately arise when you see this photo. We have no idea why there's a goat in the house, or what this girl could have possibly done to make it so angry.
What we do know is that, judging by the look on her face, this lady is utterly petrified of this goat. Someone who is that easily spooked by a goat probably shouldn't have one in their bedroom, but who are we to judge?
Playing With Big Toys
We're not positive what's going on here, but we are sure that there's a driver in the car below. It looks like an excavator is being used to propel itself over a race car. Why there's a driver in the car is a mystery but we can only assume it was meant to up the stakes.
Why these grown adults decided to attempt this maneuver is an even larger mystery, but we'd guess it's because they like playing with their big toys the same way kids like playing with little ones.
Sky High Driving
The last time we saw a car get this much air, it was at the end of the movie Grease. There appears to be something attached to the car's rear that's holding it back, so we can't imagine if it was lunging forward without constraint.
The car also has a wholly exposed engine, so we're hoping that there wasn't anyone in the vehicle at the time. How this disaster will end is no surprise seeing that what goes up must come down.
Eject!
This photograph not only captured an aircraft moments before it crashed into the Earth, but it also revealed the pilot parachuting above. To the right of the shadowy figure that is the pilot, you can see another silhouette in the air.
That is the chair that the pilot ejected as the aircraft was lurching down. At the pilot's cue, an explosion propelled the ejection seat so that the pilot could make it to a safe distance from the aircraft before opening up his parachute.
Speed Boat Back Flip
This slick speed boat looks like it's attempting a back flip, which isn't plausible due to its long and narrow shape. We would guess that the boat is moments away from landing upside down in the water.
It would take a tremendous amount of force just to get the boat's nose that high up in the air. You can tell that a high-impact crash between the boat and a wave just occurred because of the mist surrounding the boat's rear.
Oh No!
This photo is a classic, capturing the woman's utter shock as a volleyball rushes towards her face. The timing is incredible since the ball is no more than an inch from her nose. It's rare to be able to see the exact expression someone made in a situation like this.
The woman's brain has processed that the ball is coming toward her, but it doesn't have enough time to communicate with the rest of her body. Instead, she's frozen in place with this hilarious expression.
Not Enough Space For The Two Of Us
There was clearly some sort of miscommunication that lead to these aircraft being so close together. It's a pretty obvious fail when two airplanes that have hardly left the ground are about to crash into one another.
It looks like a pair of pilots were on day one of training and shouldn't have been put on the same course. Evidently, the entire sky isn't enough room for these two aircraft to operate in.
High Five!
While go-cart racing tends to be a safer alternative to racing cars, this photograph shows that things can still get pretty extreme. The driver somehow managed to flip their cart backward as it flew several feet above the ground.
This photograph was perfectly timed, as it catches the driver with their arms straight up, or technically down since he's upside down. We're not sure what they're trying to pull off with this maneuver, but it certainly looks cool.
Hold Your Horses!
Anyone who has ever ridden on a horse at more than a snail's pace knows that it's far more difficult than it looks. If you don't know how to move properly while riding one, it feels as though you're going to fall off the entire time.
Though this girl is likely trained, something must have gone wrong to cause her and her horse to go in opposite directions. We just hope she lets go of that leash before the horse starts pulling her along.
Don't Forget Your Seatbelt!
It looks like someone told this driver to "go drive off a cliff" and they replied, "I'll do you one better!" Aside from that, we have no idea what would lead to a car driving out of an aircraft.
We would guess that the genius behind this bright plan is an adrenaline junkie who got bored of parachuting. Another possibility is that someone had a grudge against the car's owner and wanted to be sure their vehicle was thoroughly destroyed.
Still Holding On To The Handlebars
Usually when you fall face-first, the instinct kicks in to put your hands out to break your fall. Not for this guy. He held on to those handlebars to the very end, which indicates a real loyalty to his bike.
We would guess that this kid was attempting to ride along the cement ledge, but his front tire slipped, causing the bike to front flip. It's a good thing he's wearing a helmet, because at this rate his head will be the first to hit the ground.
Look Ma' No Hands!
We've seen some pretty impressive bike fails in our day, but this is an incredible amount of air to get while riding on a flat street. This woman must have been flying down the road to sail so far forward.
Her arms are spread wide as though she's ready to start flapping her wings. The way her body is angled, we'd bet she's about to land on her right hip with a mighty thud. At least she stuck near the sidewalk.
He Didn't Think This Through
At first glance, this may look like an ordinary man sawing through a tree. But if you look a little closer, you'll realize that the ladder he's relying on is propped against the very tree he's cutting down.
In other words, the minute the tree goes down, so will his ladder, and he'll be soon behind. He's essentially created a domino effect without realizing it. We just hope that his chainsaw isn't still on when he inevitably falls.
Their Faces Say It All
The facial expressions in this photo are absolutely priceless. You have the boys looking utterly terrified, as though they've never ridden a four-wheeler in their life.
Then you have the grandmother with one leg raised for no apparent reason, as she reaches out with both her arms for the falling boy. The best part is that they are only a few inches from the ground and, compared to the rest of the photos we've seen, aren't in any grave danger.
Parenting 101
With one glance at this photograph, it's pretty obvious that the father should have been the one carrying a child in each hand. The mother is essentially watching the baby she just dropped do a front flip out of her grip.
While her face reads utter horror, the father and brother seem oblivious to what's happened. We're sure dad will get a clue when his older son goes flying his direction because the mother had to drop his hand to go dive for the baby.
Parallel Driving
We're not sure how one of these racecars managed to become perfectly parallel to the other, but it doesn't look safe. Taking gravity into consideration, it looks like the top car is going to land directly on the bottom one.
The bottom driver even looks like he's ducking his head down, not that doing so would help him at all. Our best guess is that this maneuver was a last-ditch effort to get into the lead.
Redbull Gives You Wings
This stuntman seems absolutely out of his mind, but we're guessing that he was paid to do this. Being that the aircraft above and below him have the Redbull emblem on them, it must have something to do with the company.
They say that Redbull gives you wings, but we didn't think they'd actually try to prove that. Granted, there's probably a parachute in his backpack. Still, that would probably be a horrifying moment to stand on top of a flying piece of metal.
Catching Air
We can't say for sure what got this car into such a position, but it's certainly surprising. The vehicle looks like it came straight out of a Fast and Furious movie scene.
The only thing that usually leads to a car being in this sort of a position is a massive crash, but it doesn't appear to have collided with anything. If you take a closer look, you can see that it was driving along a curb, which explains how it flew up on one side and not the other.
