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The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.

The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.

It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a JATO (Jet Assisted Take-Off) unit. JATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.

Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the JATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the JATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.

The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:

The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the JATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.

The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel

 
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This is an urban legend older than time itself. It's been around so long, that I can actually recall a bet that I made in '96 disputing the story and actually found myself CALLING Arizona Highway Patrol to get the truth.

Apparently there's versions going around that it happened in Utah as well as Nevada....

Anyways, THIS DID NOT HAPPEN.

Furthermore, Mythbusters on Discovery got a hold of this urban legend and put it to the test.

You can read about that here (clicky)

 
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Actually, this did happen. The guy won the darwin award somewhere around 8 years ago. However, the car did NOT leave the ground, aside for launching itself over a few rocks and stuff.

 
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It didn't happen.

More Proof Here (Darwin Awards Website)

 
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un4givn, laying the smack down.. Nice..

Its a pretty cool urban legend, and while i was reading it i was thinking, who can i tell this too.
LOL

I think the first clue was that the impala didnt come apart at 200+ MPH

 
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I remember a while ago seeing on TV some guy who mounted a similar rocket thingie in the trunk of a Cadillac I beleive and planned on using it to jusmp a gorge/river/or something by launching it off a long ramp he built. anyways he takes a run at the jump and when the rockets are fired the car just dissintegrates (all sorts of body panels and pieces go flying off the car) somewhere around the top side of the ramp or just after leaving it, needless to say the car turned to ***** and it crashed and didnt come close to the drivers expectations. this was several years ago - and thats all i really remember - so this topic thread story reminded me of the one i just told.