I think we have all seen it and maybe even someone here has experienced it. I am talking about an event that should have caused death or serious injury and yet, the person involved escaped injury. Sometimes, try as hard as we may, we just can't explain how the person escaped. Sometimes it is an auto crash where one car is so mangled that you are sure no one survived, but amazingly a person is pried out of the twisted wreckage and is unhurt. Some people believe that these people were protected from death in that particular incidence by some supernatural power such as God or an angel and who knows, maybe they could be right. I think that guess is as good as any. Others say that the person was just plain lucky. That could also be true, but whatever the reason, it is still an incredible escape.

Neil Armstrong with X-15 Rocket Plane
Photo Source: NASA

Did you ever hear of the X-15 rocket plane? It was a plane designed to enter the threshold of space and had many different pilots including Neil Armstrong, who flew the plane. There were three of these aircraft and they were launched from under a B-52 bomber, usually when it reached about 500 mph. The first person to enter space twice was a pilot of this plane named Joe Walker. One of the pilots was Scott Crossfield who worked for North American Aviation. The plane had been designed to accept a huge rocket motor but the body was finished way before the motor was ready, so the plane had been flown with a smaller motor. When the new engine was finally ready, it was tested quite a few times on a test stand and then in the plane which was anchored to the stand. When it was thought to be almost ready, Scott Crossfield tested it on the stand while sitting in the cockpit and working the controls. Suddenly the huge engine blew up exerting a tremendous G force on Crossfield and enveloping him in a ball of fire. Amazingly Crossfield not only survived, but was unhurt. He was questioned by reporters and here is what he said, "I'm fine; just spoiled the crease in my pants." Unfortunately for Crossfield the press didn't feel that this was dramatic enough so the next day's headlines read "X-15 Explodes; Pilot Wets Pants."

The Rio Cobre river in Jamaica was never angrier. People were fleeing their town to get to the relative safety of areas away from this raging torrent of water. As they traveled they began to notice that the water was rising higher and higher. They picked up their pace and headed in the direction that they thought would bring them safety, but something had gone wrong. There were about 90 of them and they were in a gorge and the raging river was now in front of them. How would they get across? As they looked over their situation they soon realized that there was no way across and it was just a matter of time before the river engulfed all 90 of them. Some of the people had cell phones on them and called the authorities who promised immediate help. The water kept getting closer and closer and the land behind them was now under water. A national defense helicopter was dispensed, but when it reached them it made several attempts at landing, but it was just too dangerous and it left. Surely this was the end? Just as the water was reaching their feet, a strange thing happened, it stopped getting higher and began to recede. Everyone was saved.

I guess not many of us have heard of Baguio City in the Philippines, but it was the center of a killer earth quake in 1990. The quake was an intensity 7.9 and triggered deadly mud slides. A man named Dy was a cook at the Hyatt hotel when the quake struck the area. Everything began to shake and the building began to fall apart burying him underneath. He was not the only one that was buried under the mass of the ruined building, there were also many dead people which he could see and then smell. He couldn't move very much and he certainly would have died, if God in his mercy hadn't provided rain so he could drink. Dy laid in the ruins pinned inside them and the days turned into a week and the week turned into two weeks. He was very hungry, thirsty and always scared. At the two week mark he tried to kill himself by banging his head against a cement block, but he was too weak to accomplish this. On the 15th day he was discovered and dragged from his rubble prison. If you ask him today how he survived, he will tell you that it was a miracle and that God saved him. The reason it took so long to reach him was the fact that the road leading to the hotel had to be rebuilt so the rescue team could get there.

As with all claims of this nature, there are some who don't believe it, but here are the facts, the way they are presented in many different books. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, there was a Catholic church and rectory only eight blocks from the center of the blast. It was run by the Jesuits. Some articles claim that there were eight priests in the rectory while others seem to indicate that there might have been only four. It is said that the rectory building was spared from the effects of the blast while all other buildings around it were completely destroyed, except for the church which had the roof blown off of it. When the building was sparred so were the occupants. Most writings indicate that they were unharmed while others say that they were injured but fully recovered. It is said that one of the survivors, who incidentally were said to have been examined by up to 200 doctors to find out how they survived, even became the head of the Jesuits. If this could ever be proven without a doubt, it would make the most incredible survival story ever.

Sinking USS Arizona at Pear Harbor
Photo Source: National Archives

The date was December 7, 1941. The place was Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A Japanese attack was taking place and explosions were occurring on many of the ships in the harbor. Luckily for us, our aircraft carriers were out at sea. The men on the Arizona fought hard as did the men on the other ships. The Arizona was a main target of the Japanese because it was a capital ship, a battle ship and in their minds, the backbone of the fleet. In truth the battleships were just not that important, the carriers and submarines were of far more value. As the crew of the Arizona fought bravely and were trying to shoot down as many enemy planes as possible, a bomb had blown up between turrets 1 and 2 and caused secondary explosions which destroyed the forward section of the ship. 1177 men died when the ship sank. It is believed that 336 lucky people cheated death on that day by jumping overboard, being blown overboard or not being on the ship at the particular moment it was attacked. One case in particular is that of a Marine Lieutenant who had just been promoted to captain. The post he was in on his ship only called for a lieutenant so he received orders to report to the USS Arizona and take over the detachment there because its commanding officer was promoted to Major and had to move on. For weeks he tried to get there but because of an odd numbering system that was used in those days, when the Arizona was out at sea, his ship would be in dock and visa versa. He was finally able to work this out and reported to the Arizona on December 6, 1941. He wasn't able to take command of the Marine detachment until all the property was inventoried. He and the Major worked on this for hours until the Major suggested they go to the officer's club for a drink before returning. When they got there one of the ship's officers was celebrating his wedding and invited the Major to participate in the party. He accepted and told the lieutenant to go home and come back tomorrow. The next day, when he was at home with his wife, the captain heard that Pearl Harbor was bombed and that the USS Arizona was sunk. He narrowly missed being killed on the ship. Just a little note of interest, some of the survivors of the Arizona sinking have since been buried inside the wreckage, at their request.