Spock is a fan of a series of You Tube real-life mystery stories, by ex-US Navy Seal Mr Ballen.

Many are about gruesome murders, truth stranger than fiction being the moral. Some, like this, are simply amazing and rather awesome.

Sam, a high school drop-out, gets called up for the war in Korea. Being a very strong swimmer he's not sent to fight, but to be a lifeguard at the training camp. One weekend he decides to fly from the base to his home. Flights were free for military if spaces were available on army planes.

However, when he is due back, there is only a single-seater fighter flying his route. Failure to arrive will have him charged so he begs the pilot to take him. Eventually the pilot agrees and he is crammed into the radar compartment at the rear. Mid-flight however the access door at the back comes open. Sam tries desperately to close it, but the force of wind pressure is too strong. Fearing he will be sucked out, he crawls into a tight corner but the oxygen level in the compartment plummets with the decompression at high altitude and he begins suffocating.

Meanwhile the pilot is aware something is wrong, and realises they must land. However, the ground crew have failed to fill the fuel tank fully. As they are over the Pacific there is no choice other than to ditch. Luckily, at sea level, Sam regains consciousness and the pilot finds an inflatable life raft for each of them.

There is thick fog, so with no idea of the where to head for they guess a direction to paddle towards. The sea is very choppy and after a short time Sam is thrown out of his raft. Currents prevent him regaining the raft or the pilot reaching him. He has no choice but to swim until he is near to collapse from hypothermia (over two miles it transpires) when suddenly his feet touch land.

In the distance he sees light, and crawls over rocks towards it. Miraculously it's a radio outpost. The coastguards are called and inform Sam that luckily the pilot has also survived.

After he recovers, Sam returns to his duties. He serves his two years and joins the movie industry where he goes on to be Clint Eastwood.

Val

A Moodscope member