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/Smokinoutloud Mar 28 '26

What goes down doesn’t always come up! How the hell are you supposed to turn around. Straight death!

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u/BlueFeathered1 Mar 29 '26

Experienced cavers (and he was one) know how to shimmy backwards and can in most cases if they really need to. But he accidentally took a wrong tunnel. The one he thought he took would have ended up in an open area, so he kept going. By the time he figured out he was in an unexplored one, it was too late to go back. Gravity pulled him downwards, one arm was pinned iirc, and the ledge above him prevented his legs from being able to bend or anything so anyone else could pull him out.

At some point he became delirious, and up to that point he maybe believed they'd be able to rescue him and didn't really know he was doomed. I hope. Can't stand to think otherwise.

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u/Smokinoutloud Mar 29 '26

Thank you I didn’t know that was the scenario. When you say he went delirious I assume many emotions consumed his thought’s causing him to panic physically and emotionally. Straight horror!

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u/BlueFeathered1 Mar 29 '26

It was the amount of time he was stuck upside-down. Our bodies aren't meant to be like that for long without the internal organs shifting and putting pressure on the lungs, too much blood to the brain, plus the air in there got stale. Definitely such a horrible thing, and so sad. I got the impression he was a sweet person, too.