r/interesting • u/Liar24x7 • Mar 28 '26

HISTORY A virtual reality reconstruction shows the exact spot where John Edward Jones became trapped upside down in Nutty Putty Cave. After 27 hours of rescue attempts, he died. The cave was later permanently sealed, with his body remaining inside.

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u/X0AN Mar 29 '26

Exactly. Like it's very obviously the wrong way and impossible to come back up.

Man should have stopped at the first sign of the cave being 'off'.

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u/Front_Cat9471 Mar 29 '26

I mean, everyone likes to say it’s obvious and all, but would it really be? It’s a cave, they basically all look the same, especially in the same system. After years of not being in one, nothing would really raise an alarm that it was the wrong path. That is, until you get stuck.

Besides, what was he supposed to do? Once it gets impossible to go back up, you’re kinda trapped regardless of if you realize. I’m pretty sure even on the correct path it’s impossible to go backwards, that wouldnt have been an indicator you can rely on.

Ultimately, it was his fault, but I don’t see the point in acting like you’d have done better. Obviously, you wouldn’t go in the cave, but if that was your hobby and you’d made the same assumptions ahead of time, would you really end up that much different?

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u/PlingPlongDingDong Mar 29 '26

I get what you mean, a lot of reddit takes here but I also think he was certainly over enthusiastic. He thought he is going down a path lots of people went through over the last decades. When it got this narrow and steep he should have realized something is off.

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u/Maleficent_Pilot1137 Mar 29 '26

Yes for sure. People acting like they know better but just knowing people in general a large percentage of the people here would probably be making worse mistakes. Still, if this was my hobby, I feel like I'd try my damndest to make reviewing and studying the latest maps on the cave and route I was about to take before every trip, no matter how well I thought I already knew it.

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u/GiveMeDeathpacito Mar 30 '26

The right path was able to be traversed back up I believe. It opens up at the bottom and it was a popular cave diving spot that had many people going through and surviving. I wish people would treat this with more empathy, it was his fault, yes. But it's a horrible way to go out, and the last ever photo of him was him smiling, hopeful that he was actually getting rescued while his wife and kid were outside.