O.T.-What is the most amazing thing you've ever seen in person?(Keep it clean!)

[late knight]

-watching Barry Sanders run while standing on the field behind the offense
-the morning after Sandy hit, from my house 500 feet from sandy hook bay
-Kauai from a helicopter
-the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident from inside the stadium......and the rarely discussed streaker that started the second half dressed as a ref, doing an Irish jig, then sprinting down through the kick return team.
-the carnage inside the ferry when it crashed at Wall Street
-upper east side of NYC quiet on the evening of 9/11, with one of the only sounds being the fighters circling
-top of Mount Washington in NH frozen solid after hiking up in March (looked like Antarctica)
-seeing a whale lazily swimming right in front of my small boat, 100 feet off shore. It was found beached 3 days later.
-Amen Corner at Augusta

 

[chase07470]

Years ago, when I smoked, I left work to have one on 51st and 6th. For whatever reason, I strolled to the sidewalk, looked up across the street, just in time to see a guy pull a gun out and execute a man at point blank range in the head, from behind.

A security guy from the building I worked in, a former cop, crossed the street and started following the gunman, and got pretty close before the gunman wielded around and pointed the gun at him, but didn't shoot, then escaped into the subway.

Turns out it was a hit over diamond money and months later, they caught the gunman. I was a bit woozy for the rest of the day.

 

[newell138]

I was 12 and my sister (RIP) was a nurse practitioner at Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.. I spent the summer with her and for a 12 year old boy it was one of my best summers, (the summers spent in Belmar as a 20 something are a whole other story) The Black Hills are incredible, absolutely beautiful. We went caving in Wind Cave, panned for gold, camped outside of Mt Rushmore, ate some buffalo, it was just a great summer filled with adventures. The highlight was when the elders of the tribe let us watch their Sundance Ceremony. I dont think I spoke or moved for 3 hours.

PS. The Sundance Ceremony is kind of like their initiation into manhood. It involves a long pole from which there are tethers that are attached to their chest through the skin. They must pull away from the pole. I believe there is peyoti involved as well and a sweat lodge.

 

[BuckRU]

Total Solar Eclipse, Aruba 1998

2 Space Shuttle launches (1 day, 1 night)

 

[rutgersdave]

This is a miracle that happened to me when I was about 7 years old. I'm blind as a bat without my glasses and when I was at the beach, I would always take my glasses off when I went in the water. It was difficult to find the blanket when I came out of the water and it took some time. I decided to wear my glasses and just go up to my knees but a huge wave came over my head and took my glasses off. I tries to find them but the water was too dirty to see thru. I walked out of the water and praying to God as hard as I could since my mom was really going to kill me. No such thing as an accident in my family. I walked back in the water about 6-7 feet where I previously was and stuck my hand down in the water even thought I couldn't see anything and in one shot picked up my glasses. Boy was I happy.

 

[oldman87]

This is a miracle that happened to me when I was about 7 years old. I'm blind as a bat without my glasses and when I was at the beach, I would always take my glasses off when I went in the water. It was difficult to find the blanket when I came out of the water and it took some time. I decided to wear my glasses and just go up to my knees but a huge wave came over my head and took my glasses off. I tries to find them but the water was too dirty to see thru. I walked out of the water and praying to God as hard as I could since my mom was really going to kill me. No such thing as an accident in my family. I walked back in the water about 6-7 feet where I previously was and stuck my hand down in the water even thought I couldn't see anything and in one shot picked up my glasses. Boy was I happy.

This doesn't count, the requirement was "what have you seen"?

 

[newell138]

This is a miracle that happened to me when I was about 7 years old. I'm blind as a bat without my glasses and when I was at the beach, I would always take my glasses off when I went in the water. It was difficult to find the blanket when I came out of the water and it took some time. I decided to wear my glasses and just go up to my knees but a huge wave came over my head and took my glasses off. I tries to find them but the water was too dirty to see thru. I walked out of the water and praying to God as hard as I could since my mom was really going to kill me. No such thing as an accident in my family. I walked back in the water about 6-7 feet where I previously was and stuck my hand down in the water even thought I couldn't see anything and in one shot picked up my glasses. Boy was I happy.

I know the feeling! Lost my wedding ring swimming in a lake, went back to the spot where I was wrestling w/ my nephew and stuck my hand down in the sand and found it. Years later I lost it again, didn't realize it until a few days later and had NO IDEA where i lost it. About a year later I get a call from my same nephew, while he was cleaning out the firepit at my mom's house he found the ring in the ashes, cleaned it up and it was good to go. The ring is a parable of my marriage, no lie, I was lost a few times and have since found my way. [cheers]

 

[cicero grimes]

Walking with the wife on a beach in Tulum Mexico one night in Oct 2014 and coming across a next of baby turtles hatching and helping them find the ocean.

 

[LC-88]

I have to say that this is one of the best threads I've seen on this board. Brings to mind Rutger Hauer's "like tears in rain" monologue from "Blade Runner". Thanks for sharing your memories.

 

[MrsScrew]

I have to say that this is one of the best threads I've seen on this board. Brings to mind Rutger Hauer's "like tears in rain" monologue from "Blade Runner". Thanks for sharing your memories.

I have to agree. As a group, we have seen and done some pretty amazing things.

 

[BROTHERSKINNY]

Second half defense against UL in 06 :)

Actually, I don't know that I have anything amazing, but I did have front and center seats for a David Copperfield show once, and 200 years ago, I would have tied that f'er up and burned him at the stake.

This is a true story from the UofL game in 2006.
I worked in downtown New Brunswick at the time and I remember the day of the UofL game the air all around was electric. Everyone was talking about the big game and Rutgers being ranked. So I got changed at work around 3:30 pm and immediately left work at 4pm after the stock market closed. My friends were already setting up the tailgate. Normally I would take the Bus from the ferren mall to the stadium but either the buses were not running yet or I didn't want to wait. So I decided to walk over to the college ave bus depot where they had shuttles running to the stadium every 10 minutes. They had people there directing you onto which bus to get on so I got on the one they told me to. I was one of the first ones on and decided to take a seat near the middle of the bus.
The bus was 90% students and entire group of them piled on in the last seconds before the door closed. We are on our way to the stadium for RU's biggest game ever and on national prime time TV. As we are going over the usual RU chants and cheers are taking place. It is obvious that I and the few other adults on the bus are the only ones who have not been drinking. Anyhow, standing in front of me within arms length is a group of very attractive co eds. everyone was squeezed in so there was not much room. So as we are slowly inching towards the stadium in the traffic that had already started to build, the chants and cheers continued. At one point, things silenced down for maybe thirty seconds and then the cheers started up again only this time there were cheers for one of the guys to take off his shirt. He was behind me so I couldn't see but when he did as requested everyone cheered for his compliance. Then the cheer started up again more in my direction. They were cheering and pointing at the girl who was standing right in front of me. I will say she was extremely attractive and had a great body. As we are meandering along the cheers grew louder for her to "take it off". The first time she lifted her shirt and merely showed her bra. The chants died down for 5 seconds with her compliance and then started right up again with "take it off" the girl who was in the moment of the positive vibes of the moment decided to seize the moment and within a few seconds removed her shirt and bra and was completely topless. Since she was right in front of me I had a perfect view of everything and to top it off, she had the red R on her left breast and the white U on her right breast. She rode the last five minutes to the stadium this way to the cheers of the people she was with. before she exited the bus she was fully clothed.
If the excitement of the game itself wasn't enough, this positively put a positive vibe to my experience as I recounted it for my friends. They agreed, what I witnessed was a good omen and it turned out to be, as RU won the biggest game in the programs history that night in front of a national TV audience and I along ith others stormed the field. I don't know if this qualifies as the most amazing thing I have ever seen but it was one helluva night!

 

[miketd1]

^^^^^^

 

[RAA-1]

1 - The Great Wall in China
2 - The Amalfi Coast in Italy
3 - Glacier National Park in Montana (the entire Park but especially Going-To-The-Sun Highway)
4 - Over-matched Rutgers vs Alabama at Giants' Stadium
5 - Win vs PSU at State College in 1988?
6 - RU in the NCAA MBB Final Four in 1976 in Philly.

 

[gef21]

Wake boarding in The Long Island Sound a pod of dolphins stayed with us for almost an hour. Every time one of us fell they would circle us, come right up to us, and even let us touch them. Craziest thing i have ever experienced.

When I was 7 one of the landing gear on our plane would not deploy and we had to land without it. Coming down on to the runway and seeing fire trucks and ambulances lining it was a pretty terrifying scene.

My cousin and I used to surf the coasts in the summer (he was from Cali and I from NJ). He passed away tragically and I stopped surfing. I finally got back in the water, on the west cost, and I was sitting out in the water just taking it all in. An otter hopped onto my board and just stayed there for a while. Real spiritual type moment.

 

[koleszar]

My cool moment well actually pretty frightening at the time. I was in the Adirondacks fishing off my sit in fishing kayak. I catch a fish(pike) slap it down on the hull and clip it down, pulling out hook. I turn around to get the stringer and in flies this SeaHawk(osprey) right onto the boat. Well actually it tried to land on the boat hit it and fell into the water. These friggin things have like a 5ft to 6ft wing span and I can't move, literally I have no where to go. It shakes itself off in the water like a boxer being stunned from a punch. Now I'm like O sh*t. It starts flying onto the boat grabs the fish in it's talons and flies off.

Sounds cool now, at the time I was being hit in the head with a wing I was petrified. To this day I still get busted on that a little bird stole my fish.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

Good stuff here.

Interesting experiences all around.

 

[Knightmoves]

Good stuff here.

Interesting experiences all around.

It all sounds good. Did we say that exaggeration or outright lying is OK ? Cause I got a few whoppers I can offer, haha !

 

[JMORC2003]

The sea was angry that day, my friends - like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. I got about fifty feet out and suddenly, the great beast appeared before me. I tell you he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence, he let out a great bellow. I said, "Easy, big fella!" And then, as I watched him struggling, I realized that something was obstructing its breathing. From where I was standing, I could see directly into the eye of the great fish. Well then, from out of nowhere, a huge tidal wave lifted me, tossed me like a cork, and I found myself right on top of him - face to face with the blowhole. I could barely see from the waves crashing down upon me, but I knew something was there. So I reached my hand in, felt around, and pulled out the obstruction.

 

[hrdcorhays]

Surprised no one has mentioned RU vs #1 Miami in 2002.The fact we were up 17-14 going into the 4th quarter of that game, and truly outplaying them (robbed of a pick 6 earlier), astonishes me to this day.

Granted it wound up 42-17 if I recall correctly, but that should have been the score at halftime.

 

[D-Wing]

The sea was angry that day, my friends - like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli. I got about fifty feet out and suddenly, the great beast appeared before me. I tell you he was ten stories high if he was a foot. As if sensing my presence, he let out a great bellow. I said, "Easy, big fella!" And then, as I watched him struggling, I realized that something was obstructing its breathing. From where I was standing, I could see directly into the eye of the great fish. Well then, from out of nowhere, a huge tidal wave lifted me, tossed me like a cork, and I found myself right on top of him - face to face with the blowhole. I could barely see from the waves crashing down upon me, but I knew something was there. So I reached my hand in, felt around, and pulled out the obstruction.

Was it a Titleist?

 

[mullerpesq]

to many to list but here are a few that spring to mind:

* Grand Canyon
* Getting asked out by an RU cheerleader (she was in full uniform) who I didn't know, while riding the bus.
* Riding the coastal highway the day it finally reopened after Katrina.
* Having lightening strike less than 10 feet away from me and not being hurt (except for some temporary blindness).
* seeing a catagory one tornado form, make landfall, and go right over/thru where I was fishing.
* First snorkeling experience in Belize, dove down to a small cave opening in the reef and came face to face with a 10 foot shark.
* coming out of a coffee shop one Saturday morning about 5 years ago, look up and see 4 or 5 objects come flying in, stop, no sound, hover for a few seconds, very low altitude and then streak away. Saw them for about 20 seconds, Each was about 30 feet across, shaped sort of like a pill and glowing very brightly like a welder's torch. Couldn't tell exactly how many there were because they were in a formation/line that was stretching away from my location. They were only about 1/4 of a mile away. Saw by a woman getting into her car as well. No idea what I saw but it changed my perspective on the universe.

 

[Knightmoves]

I woke up this mornin' with the sundown shinin' in
I found my mind in a brown paper bag within
I tripped on a cloud and fell-a eight miles high
I tore my mind on a jagged sky
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in
I watched myself crawlin' out as I was a-crawlin' in
I got up so tight I couldn't unwind
I saw so much I broke my mind
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

Someone painted "April Fool" in big black letters on a "Dead End" sign
I had my foot on the gas as I left the road and blew out my mind
Eight miles outta Memphis and I got no spare
Eight miles straight up downtown somewhere
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

Borrowed this one from Kenny Rogers, but worth retelling.

 

[Caliknight]

Wake boarding in The Long Island Sound a pod of dolphins stayed with us for almost an hour. Every time one of us fell they would circle us, come right up to us, and even let us touch them. Craziest thing i have ever experienced.

When I was 7 one of the landing gear on our plane would not deploy and we had to land without it. Coming down on to the runway and seeing fire trucks and ambulances lining it was a pretty terrifying scene.

My cousin and I used to surf the coasts in the summer (he was from Cali and I from NJ). He passed away tragically and I stopped surfing. I finally got back in the water, on the west cost, and I was sitting out in the water just taking it all in. An otter hopped onto my board and just stayed there for a while. Real spiritual type moment.

That's cool. I have seen many dolphins surfing, sometimes 50 of them coming at you surfing waves. I have never touched one in the water. Amazing they would allow that.

Good to see you back in the water! Surfing cures all ills.

 

[RU85inFla]

Amazing -

I saw my father in law die after they unplugged his ventilator. He had had a brain seizure at 49. Sad.

I saw the family doctor come out of the operating room when I was 16. My 17 year old brother was hit by a car while on a bike and landed on a fire hydrant. Parents were out of town and I ran to the hospital with a 17 year old buddy when we heard. We were alone. Needless to say he didn't make it.

Both death experiences had huge effects on me. Those two memories were amazing on a very different level but something I often think back upon when little things seem like a big deal.

I went hiking in the Rockies with my two sons when they were in HS. We went 55 miles with packs. Towards the end of the hike we watched the sun set at 12,000 feet. Magnificent. This year we had a mini reunion to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I encourage everyone to see our Natural resources but to also experiance them from a place few have been.

I dove on a wall in the bahamas. I was 110 feet down and the wall fell into an abyss 1000 feet down or more it seemed. I looked up at the anchor line and there was a hammerhead circling it. The sight was amazing and freaky. I couldn't go up or down!!

 

[e5fdny]

The absolute silence after the fact on 9/11. There was literally no sound during the first few hours other than our voices. And then finding nothing that looked like anything. Aside from some of the steel if was all gone. And the first Tower came down so much faster in real life than any other time I have seen it on video.

Seeing WTC 4(?) with fire out every window looking like the end of "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes."

Running the right way away from WTC 7 and being here to talk about it. Watching the birth of my second son who wouldn't be here if I wasn't.

Sports....

Hearing Randall Cunningham silence a 76K +/- Giants Stadium crowd the first time he threw a semi-long pass. No arc. Just zip.

And the same reaction many years later when Micheal Vick did the same thing.

 

[newell138]

That's cool. I have seen many dolphins surfing, sometimes 50 of them coming at you surfing waves. I have never touched one in the water. Amazing they would allow that.

Good to see you back in the water! Surfing cures all ills.

I have paddleboarded along a pod of dolphins a few times here in NJ. Absolutely incredible experience, you see them slowly coming out of the water for air but they are watching you and seeing what you are up to. I followed once for about 30 minutes.

 

[Caliknight]

I met this guy last year at a Grammy party. He made an impression on me based on his list of 100 things he was doing. This dude has seen some amazing things. We should all live a little this way.

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/adventure/2010/11/100-things-to-do-before-he-dies

 

[RUScrew85]

Must have been cool, but I doubt it was an M1, perhaps a Sheridan. The 82nd used to have a battalion of them until some time in the 1990s. My cousin was in the 82nd in the early 90s and drove one. They were death traps.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M551_Sheridan

I would say watching one of those drop from the sky on a parachute and then drive away was one of the coolest things I ever saw (I didn't have the great vantage point you did, I saw it from the ground)

Damn there's guys in them while they parachute down?

 

[RUInsanity]

This year......A family of 5 including an infant and a toddler, sans helmets, all loaded up on one Motor Scooter travelling at a relatively fast speed weaving in and out of traffic on a 3 lane highway with vehicles forming 6 lanes of traffic.......outside of Bangalore India.

All Time so far.........a whiteout snowstorm with significant accumulated snow among 20 foot plus cacti in the desert outside of Tuscon Arizona.

 

[PhilaPhans]

Actually, I don't know that I have anything amazing, but I did have front and center seats for a David Copperfield show once, and 200 years ago, I would have tied that f'er up and burned him at the stake.

I actually got to go on stage when I went to Vegas and be in his show. Made a car appear above my head. The rest of my group got on stage for the trick where they go from on stage to the back of the audience. One of the coolest days ever, but then again, a lot of his tricks were ruined for me that day. Haha.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

Damn there's guys in them while they parachute down?

Only in the movies

No effing way they drop a crew loaded vehicle.

 

[RUScrew85]

St. Peter's Basilica
Louisville Game
My Wedding
Grand Canyon
Flying in a B-17
Rototoa NZ

 

[RUScrew85]

Only in the movies

No effing way they drop a crew loaded vehicle.

Didn't think so.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

Amazing -

I saw my father in law die after they unplugged his ventilator. He had had a brain seizure at 49. Sad.

I saw the family doctor come out of the operating room when I was 16. My 17 year old brother was hit by a car while on a bike and landed on a fire hydrant. Parents were out of town and I ran to the hospital with a 17 year old buddy when we heard. We were alone. Needless to say he didn't make it.

Both death experiences had huge effects on me. Those two memories were amazing on a very different level but something I often think back upon when little things seem like a big deal.

I went hiking in the Rockies with my two sons when they were in HS. We went 55 miles with packs. Towards the end of the hike we watched the sun set at 12,000 feet. Magnificent. This year we had a mini reunion to Yellowstone and Grand Teton. I encourage everyone to see our Natural resources but to also experiance them from a place few have been.

I dove on a wall in the bahamas. I was 110 feet down and the wall fell into an abyss 1000 feet down or more it seemed. I looked up at the anchor line and there was a hammerhead circling it. The sight was amazing and freaky. I couldn't go up or down!!

I can relate to your first one. My father passed away in March. We respected his wishes and turned off the machines. I've seen lots of people die. Lots. But never in a setting like that with someone that close to me. The room had an almost surreal sense of tranquility, yet we watched him gasp his last breathes.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

Didn't think so.

Any volunteers for the express ride down?

http://www.armytimes.com/story/mili...n-into-airborne-humvee-mishap-video/83333714/

 

[RU76COOK]

Last winter, driving on a 2 lane, 55mph highway in middle Georgia, a car with 4 guys and a busted side mirror (I noticed later) coming toward me stopped and started backing up. About 100 yards ahead in my lane was something large and black. I slowed down and stopped about 15 feet from a golden eagle that had hit the car and was stunned. I got out and when I got withing 10 feet of it, it flew right past me; wingspan at least 6-7 feet. It was way out of it's range.

Pre-cell phone days, driving home from DC, I stopped around midnight at a closed, dark gas station in NE GA to call home. As I'm on the phone a car pulled in and kept his headlights on me. I told my wife where I was and that something was wrong here and if she heard a gun, call 911. After about 2-3 minutes, the back door opens, a kid wearing a large coat gets out and comes up to me with his hands in his pockets. I thought "gang hit" and put my free hand in my London Fog coat, cupped my hand and raised the pocket toward him. I didn't say anything to my wife and this kid and I stared at each other for more than a minute. I thought "Can I help you" was going to get me shot. After the stare down he returned to the car and they backed up so I couldn't get the tag. Today, I don't have to cup my hand pretending I'm carrying.

 

[Roy_Faulker]

Hiking to the top of Mt. Katahdin via the knife's edge - getting chased by a moose on the way down.

The first dos a zero game at CCS (USA/Mexico)

100th running of the Indy 500

Wedding and birth of my kids.

Worst day - like the others above being asked to make a decision to turn off the machines for my dad. That day will haunt me forever. Make sure your family knows how you want to go so it takes that burden off of them.

 

[gef21]

That's cool. I have seen many dolphins surfing, sometimes 50 of them coming at you surfing waves. I have never touched one in the water. Amazing they would allow that.

Good to see you back in the water! Surfing cures all ills.

Being in the water cures all ills. Nothing better in the world.

They were so close to us in the water that we did not even have to fully stretch out to touch them. Was such an amazing encounter and I almost did not even go out that day. I ended up being able to leave school early on a Thursday and decided on a whim to drive out to the Island and get in the water. One of the best decisions of I have made in my life.

 

[m1ipabrams]

Any volunteers for the express ride down?

http://www.armytimes.com/story/mili...n-into-airborne-humvee-mishap-video/83333714/

Yeah, the soldiers drop separately. You would have to be absolutely certifiably nuts to agree to jump inside a vehicle. They used to berm in a couple vehicles a year in training drops. I can't find it on google, but my cousin(from the 82nd) showed me a picture a while back of a Sheridan whose parachutes didn't deploy. It somehow landed right side up and if you only looked at the turret, you would think everything was okay. But then you realized that the turret was basically sitting on the pallet. The entire hull and suspension of the Sheridan had collapsed down to about 6 inches high. The turret of the Sheridan was steel but to save weight, the hull of the Sheridan was aluminum and just completely compressed down like a soda can......

Like I said you would have to be crazy to jump in one. I am pretty sure that some of the soviets used to jump in their BMDs(armored personnel carrier), these used a retrorocket system to slow the vehicle as it approached the ground. I can't imagine what the failure rate was for that....

 

[ruhudsonfan]

Yeah, the soldiers drop separately. You would have to be absolutely certifiably nuts to agree to jump inside a vehicle. They used to berm in a couple vehicles a year in training drops. I can't find it on google, but my cousin(from the 82nd) showed me a picture a while back of a Sheridan whose parachutes didn't deploy. It somehow landed right side up and if you only looked at the turret, you would think everything was okay. But then you realized that the turret was basically sitting on the pallet. The entire hull and suspension of the Sheridan had collapsed down to about 6 inches high. The turret of the Sheridan was steel but to save weight, the hull of the Sheridan was aluminum and just completely compressed down like a soda can......

Like I said you would have to be crazy to jump in one. I am pretty sure that some of the soviets used to jump in their BMDs(armored personnel carrier), these used a retrorocket system to slow the vehicle as it approached the ground. I can't imagine what the failure rate was for that....

I'm sure the failure rate stats are neatly hidden in a file cabinet deep inside the Kremlin. lol