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Superheroes: Has Anybody Tried It For Real?

Skydiver Felix Baumgartner breaks sound barrier
By Jonathan Amos, Science correspondent

Austrian Felix Baumgartner has become the first skydiver to break the speed of sound, reaching a top speed of 833.9mph (1,342km/h), officials say.

The 43-year-old jumped out of a balloon 128,000ft (24 miles, 39km) above New Mexico, breaking the record for the highest skydive.
He said he almost aborted the jump because his helmet visor frosted up.

It took just under 10 minutes for him to land safely, but he did not set a record for the longest freefall.
Video cameras relayed the moment Baumgartner stepped from his balloon capsule to begin his fall to Earth.
Only the last few thousand feet were negotiated by parachute. Once down, he fell to his knees and raised his fists in triumph. Helicopter recovery teams were on hand moments later.

"When you're standing there on top of the world you become so humble. The only thing is you want to come back alive," he said at a press conference after he landed.

None of the new marks set by Baumgartner can be classed as "official" until endorsed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).
Its representative was the first to greet the skydiver on the ground. GPS data recorded on to a microcard in the Austrian's chest pack will form the basis for any height and speed claims that are made.

There was concern early in the dive that he was in trouble. Baumgartner was supposed to get himself into a delta position - head down, arms back - as soon as possible after leaving his capsule. But the video showed him tumbling over and over.
Eventually, however, he was able to use his great experience, from more than 2,500 career skydives, to correct his fall and get into a stable configuration.

Even before this drama, it was thought the mission might have to be aborted. As he went through last-minute checks inside the capsule, it was found that a heater for his visor was not working. This meant the visor fogged up as he exhaled.

"This is very serious, Joe," he told retired US Air Force Col Joe Kittinger, whose records he was attempting to break, and who was acting as his radio link in mission control at Roswell airport.

Baumgartner's efforts have finally toppled records that have stood for more than 50 years.
The previous highest, farthest, and longest freefall was made by Col Kittinger, who leapt from a helium envelope in 1960. His altitude was 102,800ft (31.3km). (His mark for the longest freefall remains intact; he fell for more that four and a half minutes before deploying his chute.)

Col Kittinger, now an octogenarian, has been an integral part of Baumgartner's team, and has provided the Austrian with advice and encouragement whenever he has doubted his ability to complete such a daring venture.

The 43-year-old adventurer - perhaps best known for leaping off skyscrapers - first discussed the possibility of beating Col Kittinger's records in 2005.
Since then, he has had to battle technical and budgetary challenges to make it happen.

What he was proposing was extremely dangerous, even for a man used to those skyscraper stunts.
At an altitude of 120,000ft (36.5km), the air pressure is less than 2% of what it is at sea level, and it is impossible to breathe without an oxygen supply.
Others who have tried to break the records for the highest, fastest and longest freefalls have lost their lives in the process.

Baumgartner's team built him a special pressurised capsule to protect him on the way up, and for his descent he wore a next generation, full pressure suit made by the same company that prepares the flight suits of astronauts.

Although the jump had the appearance of another Baumgartner stunt, his team stressed its high scientific relevance.
The researchers on the Red Bull Stratos project say it has already provided invaluable data for the development of high-performance, high-altitude parachute systems, and that the lessons learned will inform the development of new ideas for emergency evacuation from vehicles, such as spacecraft, passing through the stratosphere.

Nasa and its spacecraft manufacturers have asked to be kept informed.

Jon Clark is the medical director on the team. The former shuttle flight surgeon lost his wife in the Columbia accident in 2003.
He said Baumgartner's experience could help save the lives of future astronauts who get into trouble.

A BBC/National Geographic documentary is being made about the project and will probably be aired in November.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19943590
 
He clearly has the Right Stuff and even if you haven't seen the footage, the figures in themselves are amazing.

That said, his name: while listening to the official commentary (some flavour of American accent) and listening to other things, I became convinced his name is Bum-gardener - which is unfortnate.
 
The picture that proves Felix Baumgartner always dreamed of reaching for the skies
This is the picture proving that even from the age of five, Felix Baumgartner, the world's first supersonic skydiver, dreamed of reaching for the skies.
By Henry Samuel
8:00PM BST 15 Oct 2012

The Austrian 43-year-old, who on Sunday became the first man to break the sound barrier unaided after jumping from a capsule 24 miles up, scrawled the prophetic drawing for his mother in 1974.

The stick man drawing depicts him drifting down to earth under a parachute, with a beaming sun up above and what looks like his family waiting for him with food and drinks below.

In his comment on his five-year old drawing, Felix also wrote: "I had a dream...and this was it!!!" :D

Writing on his Facebook page, Felix said: "I drew this picture and gave it to my mum. When I did my first skydive on 23rd of August 1986 my mum handed it back to me and there it is. It is kinda interesting where your thought and vision is gonna take you, if you are focused and not let loose - no matter how hard it is!!!"

Felix was also an obsessive tree climber as a small child who exhausted adult friends and relatives by repeatedly asking them to "throw him in the air", according to his close friend and mentor. 8)

etc...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/spac ... skies.html
 
Why Baumgartner's space dive almost didn't happen

Austrian Felix Baumgartner is the first skydiver to go faster than the speed of sound - but a severe claustrophobic reaction to the pressure suit he had to wear during his ascent to the edge of space and his freefall almost put the whole project in jeopardy.

The 43-year-old adventurer had never worked at extreme altitude before, and in order to survive the jump he needed to be more than a skydiver - he needed to become a test pilot.
His next generation, full pressure suit was made by the same company that prepares the flight suits of astronauts - but whereas a test pilot would have a couple of thousand hours to train in a pressure suit, Baumgartner only had 20.

A BBC/National Geographic documentary about the project reveals how much he struggled during the four years of training.
"Having this suit on my body and feeling it, and the smell of the rubber, made me anxious," he said.
So anxious, that he took a year off training, returned to his home in Austria and had hypnotherapy to help him prepare mentally for the challenge.
"I've never been that far from Earth - and you really hope you come back alive."

Retired US Air Force Col Joe Kittinger, who previously held the record for the highest freefall, acted as Baumgartner's radio link in mission control at Roswell airport, and understood the risks of the space dive better than anyone else.
"The vacuum, the nothingness, it's waiting there to kill you immediately. It's hostile up there, there's no pressure, it's cold, there's the glare. If something breaks, that's it," he said.

The mission was funded by Red Bull - but the money came at a price - a 12 month deadline which the scientists were not used to. And for Baumgartner there were many things which he felt he had no control over. "I have to trust these scientists. If something goes wrong you're all by yourself and that is really scary."

His survival relied on one piece of technology above all others - his pressurised space suit. Even experienced astronauts struggle with the suit and he had to learn to skydive in it.
One of the team's biggest fears was that Baumgartner's suit would fail above the Armstrong limit - the altitude that produces an atmospheric pressure so low (0.0618 atmosphere) that water boils at the normal temperature of the human body.
"You don't have the pressure of the atmosphere holding the gases in your bloodstream - so your body starts releasing all the gas. Out of every orifice you have you'll start to ooze fluids. It's like the worst possible horror film," said Art Thompson, the project team principal. :shock:

Baumgartner's hand-sewn pressure suit cost more than one million pounds and is capable of keeping him alive on the moon. It took a team of 30 people six months to make.
Part of his training focussed on acclimatising him to the suit, so he would feel as comfortable in it as in his own clothes - but it severely restricted his movements.
"It's hard to describe how it feels, your movements are totally limited. You can't breathe that easily. It's difficult - you don't feel a damn thing in that suit," he said.

"When I skydive, even in winter, I don't even wear gloves. I want the air floating around my body, I want to feel the speed and the temperature."
When he first tried the suit on he said that it felt "as if the outside didn't exist anymore".
"It's just you - having a hard time breathing, and it's hard dealing with the loneliness. You start thinking about the big jump, when you're sitting in the gondola for two hours, getting higher and higher, you've totally lost your connection to the earth. If something goes wrong, you have to pay for it."

During training Baumgartner had to fight his fear - and the urge to tell the team to get him out of the suit. "I couldn't even stand being in the suit on the ground."
"The higher you go the more the suit inflates, so it gets harder to move. You can feel your stomach getting squeezed, you can feel your heart beat getting faster."

As Baumgartner went through his last-minute checks inside the capsule, it was found that a heater for his visor was not working. This meant the visor fogged up as he exhaled.
The team took a calculated risk to proceed with the jump after understanding why the problem existed.

And early in the dive there was concern that Baumgartner was in trouble. He was supposed to get himself into a delta position - head down, arms swept back - as soon as possible after leaving his capsule.

His jump from the capsule was perfect, but after passing through the sound barrier he went into a flat spin - prompting a horrible sense of dread back at mission control.
If he was unable to stop the spin blood would rush to his brain, causing a redout, which might result in an aneurysm, brain damage, or death.

However he was able to stick out both of his hands and managed to make himself stable, before pulling his parachute and breaking the records.

Space Dive is broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday 4 November at 20:30 GMT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20167361
 
Space Dive

In this one-off documentary, Space Dive tells the behind-the-scenes story of Felix Baumgartner's historic, record-breaking freefall from the edge of space to Earth.

The world watched with bated breath when Felix became the first person to freefall through the sound barrier on 15 October 2012, after jumping from 128,100ft (24 miles) from the edge of space.

Space Dive features footage, which until now has been kept closely under wraps, from cameras attached to Felix, as he broke through the sound barrier. The documentary follows Felix as he underwent years of training under the watchful eye of 82-year-old colonel Joe Kittinger, the man who set the original record when he fell 19 miles to Earth (102,000 feet) 50 years ago, since which two men died in similar attempts.

During Felix's intense physical training, the cameras capture the basejumper as he struggles to overcome a severe claustrophic reaction to the movement-restricting pressure suit, and how the mission came close to aborting in the final stages of the ascent, and saw just how close Felix came to spinning and tumbling to unconsciousness during the jump.

Available until
12:49AM Wed, 14 Nov 2012

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... pace_Dive/

Worth a look!
 
Wow! That was quite emotional at the end. (And quite fascinating in the build-up too. A lot of human drama there.)

Not only is Felix a Superhero, he even looks like David Beckham!

And I quite fancy his mum too! :madeyes:
 
Skydiver Felix Baumgartner fell faster than thought
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21341485
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

Austrian Felix Baumgartner fell even faster during his historic skydive last October than was originally thought.

Subsequent analysis has revealed that the daredevil attained a speed of 1,357.6km/h (843.6mph) when he leapt from his stratospheric balloon.

It is about 15km/h (10mph) above what was initially reported.

Baumgartner's stated aim was to become the first person to break the sound barrier unaided by a vehicle. This he did. His final Mach number was 1.25.

But although his vertical velocity has been revised upwards, the 43-year-old's jump altitude has been corrected downwards slightly.

The additional analysis shows the Austrian stepped out of his special capsule at 38,969.4m (127,852.4ft), a reduction from the previous estimate of 39,045m (128,100ft).

Baumgartner's "space jump" was made over the New Mexico desert, US, on 14 October. Millions across the world followed his progress on internet video feeds as he climbed slowly into the sky in his five-storey-high helium balloon, before making a rapid, 10-minute descent to Earth, with just under five of those minutes spent in freefall.

The biggest moment of drama came when the Austrian went into a spin as he hurtled towards the ground, turning at a maximum rate of 60 revolutions per minute.

He had to use all the skills picked up in more than 2,500 career skydives to recover a stable configuration and complete the dive safely.

Baumgartner's feats bettered the marks set 50 years previously by Joe Kittinger.

The now-retired US Air Force colonel leapt from a helium envelope in 1960. His altitude was 31,300m (102,800ft), but his top speed was just short of the sound barrier.

Kittinger, now an octogenarian, was integral to Baumgartner's team, providing the Austrian with advice and encouragement throughout the project.

Although the jump had the appearance of a stunt, the Austrian and his group of experts continually stressed its high scientific relevance.

The researchers said it provided invaluable data for the development of high-performance, high-altitude parachute systems, and that the lessons learned would inform the development of new ideas for emergency evacuation from vehicles, such as spacecraft, passing through the stratosphere.

"Together, we proved that a human in freefall can break the speed of sound returning from near space, going through a transonic phase and landing safely on the ground," said Dr Jonathan Clark, a former space shuttle flight surgeon and the Red Bull Stratos medical director.

"That was a big part of the programme, and monitoring the mission was a meaningful event in aerospace medicine and physiology."

The revised data will now be submitted to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the official world body that oversees these types of records:

Maximum Vertical Speed*: 1,357.6km/h (843.6mph/Mach 1.25)

Previous estimate: 1,342.8km/h (833.9 mph/Mach 1.24)

Highest Exit (Jump) Altitude: 38,969.4m (127,852.4ft)

Previous estimate: 39,045m (128,100ft)

Vertical Freefall Distance*: 36,402.6m (119,431.1ft)

Previous estimate: 36,529m (119,846ft)

*without drogue or stabilisation device

[email protected]. and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Click to expand...
 
I think this is relevent here:

Devon base jumper Gary Harbird killed after spinning

A 28-year-old skydiver died after he went into an uncontrollable spin on a base jump in the Swiss Alps, an inquest has been told.
Gary Harbird, from Honiton, died after hitting rocks in the Lauterbrunnen Valley in January 2011.
He had been on holiday from his job as an instructor at Massachusetts Sport Parachute Club in the US.
Coroner Dr Elizabeth Earland recorded a verdict of accidental death at the inquest held at County Hall in Exeter.

Mr Harbird, who had been skydiving since the age of 16, moved to the United States to pursue skydiving and had been a freefall instructor at the Massachusetts club since 2006.
The inquest heard that he had spent Christmas with his family in Devon before going on holiday in Switzerland.
He died on the so-called High Ultimate jump, 5,000ft (1,524m) up a near vertical cliff.

Friend and fellow skydiver Christopher Peterson told Swiss police: "Gary was the first to jump and took his position on the platform. He walked forwards and took off strongly.
"I tracked his jump and noticed he found himself in a dangerous situation and went into a spin. I took off and could see his parachute was already open, which was a bad sign.
"His parachute disappeared from view and did not appear again."

After the case Gary's mother Alison said: "He devoted his life to sky diving and parachuting and was a very experienced instructor who knew what he was doing.
"I want people to realise he did not just jump off a cliff. He prepared himself very carefully. He knew the risks and was not reckless."

Base jumping sees participants launch themselves from a surface and free fall from predominantly low altitudes before opening a parachute.
It takes its name from the four fixed objects - buildings, antennae, spans and earth - which divers use to take off.

Nearly 200 people have died while base jumping since 1981 according to base jumping website Blincmagazine.

Lauterbrunnen, with its high cliff faces, is one of the world's most popular areas for expert base jumpers.
Thirty-two people have now died base jumping in Lauterbrunnen since 1994, according to the Swiss Base Association.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-21340877

The death rates seem rather high, but I suppose they have to be compared to the numbers participating.

How do the figures compare to those of other dangerous sports? I know a lot of people die in scuba-diving accidents around Britain.
 
'Batman' brings in suspect to Bradford police

A man dressed as the caped crusader Batman has handed over a wanted man at a Bradford police station before disappearing into the night.
Police said the costumed crime-fighter marched the 27-year-old man into Trafalgar House Police Station in the early hours of 25 February.
The man was charged with handling stolen goods and fraud offences.

Police said: "The person who brought the man in was dressed in a full Batman outfit. His identity remains unknown."
The suspect will appear before Bradford magistrates on Friday, police said.

A fancy dress store owner believes she sold the costume to the masked man.
Kathryn Sutcliffe, of Kirkgate Market's The Joke Shop, said she sold a Batman outfit to a man in his 20s a couple of days before the incident.
She said: "Usually they want the Dark Knight costume but he wanted this one. He wanted the one with the muscly chest as well. It's like the one Del Boy wears in Only Fools and Horses."
Mrs Sutcliffe said the man had a local accent and was tall with curly black hair.

She may be one of the few people who knows the Bradford Batman's name, as he paid with a credit card and she has the receipt, but she said she would keep his identity a secret. ;)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-21654930
 
Bradford Batman unmasks himself as fancy dress-wearing football fan who drove friend to police station
The Batman costume-wearing crimefighter who handed a wanted man in to police in Bradford has revealed himself to be a friend of the suspect and explained that he had just returned from a football match where he wore fancy dress.
By Sam Marsden and John-Paul Ford Rojas
11:00PM GMT 04 Mar 2013

It was a scene that could have come straight from a comic book or a Hollywood film.
A crimefighter dressed as Batman marched into a police station in Bradford dragging a wanted suspect with him and told the astonished officers behind the desk, “I’ve caught this one for you.”
The mysterious caped crusader of West Yorkshire then vanished into the night, leaving police baffled as to the identity of their new, slightly paunchy, ally in the battle against crime.

Yesterday the streets of the city were ablaze with speculation about who the Bradford Batman was and whether he would come forward again to aid the forces of law and order.
Local politicians leapt on the bandwagon, with MP George Galloway taking to Twitter to “deny rumours” that he was the masked avenger.

The owners of a fancy dress shop in Bradford said they were “99 per cent certain” that they sold the distinctive grey costume, based on the 1960s American TV series rather than the more recent films, to the vigilante 10 days ago.

However, the Telegraph can disclose that there is a rather more prosaic explanation for a superhero turning up at Trafalgar House police station in the early hours of Monday February 25 with a man wanted on warrant over allegations of burglary, fraud and breaching a court order.

Officers had been trying to persuade the suspect, Danny Frayne, 27, to attend the police station and had contacted his family and other acquaintances in an attempt to enlist their help.

The man in the Batman costume unmasked himself last night as Stan Worby, 39, who said he drove his old friend Mr Frayne to the police station after returning from Bradford City’s historic cup final game against Swansea at London’s Wembley Stadium, which he had attended in fancy dress.

Mr Worby, a Chinese takeaway delivery driver from the Wyke area of Bradford, said: "I got a call from Danny whilst I was at Wembley and he said, 'can you run me to the cop station?' But as I was in London I couldn't.
"I told him as soon as I was home I would run him to Bradford central police station. We got back about 1am, and I picked Danny up in a minibus at 1.30am.
"I'd had a lot to drink and it was a great day out - I got some strange looks when I got to the cop station though. One policeman looked at me and just laughed.
"I said to the policeman, ‘I deserve a medal, I'm a caped crusader’.”

He added: "It was a joke at the end of the day and Danny wanted to go to the police station. I had spoken to Danny during the week and tried to knock some sense into him. It was getting on my nerves having police round all the time asking for him or his whereabouts.
"Danny's a good friend of mine and I've known him for 15 years or so. Who knows if I'll be doing some more crime-fighting in the future?"

Mr Worby bought the Batman costume from an Argos store in Bradford along with a replica of the outfit worn by the superhero’s sidekick Robin, which was donned by one of his friends at the Wembley game.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Last week we had a very strange occurrence at the police station when a male wanted in relation to an offence on our area was ‘escorted’ into our helpdesk at Trafalgar House by Batman.
“Batman came into the helpdesk, stated to the staff, ‘I’ve caught this one for you’, and then promptly vanished into the night. The whole bizarre incident was captured on CCTV.”

Mr Frayne was charged with handling stolen goods and fraud-related offences, and will appear before magistrates on Friday.
The Telegraph understands that police have no intention of identifying or questioning Mr Worby in relation to his involvement in Mr Frayne’s case.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... ation.html
 
rynner2 said:
...
"I told him as soon as I was home I would run him to Bradford central police station. We got back about 1am, and I picked Danny up in a minibus at 1.30am.

"I'd had a lot to drink and it was a great day out - I got some strange looks when I got to the cop station though. One policeman looked at me and just laughed.
...
"I said to the policeman, ‘I deserve a medal, I'm a caped crusader’.”

Click to expand...


By his own admission, he deserved to be arrested for drunk-driving. You'd think he'd be more careful, considering driving is his livelihood.
 
I read it differently.

After dropping off the other Wembley goers, Batman in the hired mini-bus with driver picks up the accused and then drop him off at the cop shop.
 
Me and the ex missus saw a bloke dressed as Batman walking through Birmingham Pallisades one Christmas Eve, obviously on his way to a fancy dress.
A bunch of teenage lads were walking in the opposite direction,and almost inevitably,things were said,and frank views exchanged.
A couple of security guys showed up and bravely ignoring the bunch of lads,stopped the caped crusader instead.
We didnt hear what they said to him, but we heard his reply,which has to be imagined being delivered in the broadest Brummie.
"But Oim Batman!"
I was still laughing on Boxing Day :lol:
 
Also the film Super is like Kick Ass but a lot more pathetic,it's extraordinarily violent, but features great performances from Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page.
I would hazard the opinion that as films about ordinary people with no superpowers whatsoever becoming superheroes,it's probably definitive.
 
smokehead said:
Also the film Super is like Kick Ass but a lot more pathetic,it's extraordinarily violent, but features great performances from Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page.
I would hazard the opinion that as films about ordinary people with no superpowers whatsoever becoming superheroes,it's probably definitive.
Click to expand...

Have you seen Defendor?
 
No, but I checked it out on Wiki following your post, looks very similair in some ways, but I'll keep an eye out for it, thanks for the info. :D
 
Defendor's OK, but Super is a great, thought-provoking bit of cult weirdness. There's also one called Special which is OK, but I think Super was better than Kick-Ass which showed its true colours when it turned into a basic superhero movie done loads of times before. Super is nuts from beginning to end.
 
'Excuse me, but Mr Kennedy was a white man' :lol:
Bubba Ho Tep is probably top of my list for sheer oddness in the superhero/horror genre.
As you would expect, since seeing Super, I can't get away from Rainn Wilson, he was in America's Sweethearts and Transformers 2, and I saw Ellen Page in X men Last Stand the other night.
Last year it was Gary Sinise who seemed to be in everything.
Whereas Danny Trejo seems to be in everything because he IS in everything 8).
If I was making a film about The Zodiac, I think Rainn Wilson would be my number one casting choice.
All the best.
 
Real life superhero stops fight against crime after he is attacked
A man who dressed as a superhero to fight petty crime has hung up his outfit after he was beaten up.
By Telegraph Reporters
10:39AM GMT 15 Mar 2013

Roger Hayhurst, who also goes by the name Knight Warrior, hit the headlines in 2011 after it emerged he patrolled streets near his home in Swinton, Greater Manchester, breaking up fights and tackling anti-social behaviour.

Mr Hayhurst vowed "to get crime off the streets" and even hoped to become the first elected mayor of Salford before a lack of funding scuppered his political ambitions.

Mr Hayhurst, 20, who used a custom-made £200 blue-and-black lycra costume which his mother helped him buy from a US firm, was later joined by his Rebecca, his 18-year-old fiancee who met him after hearing of his bravery. She would go by the name Knight Maiden.

But Mr Hayhurst, a gardener, has now scaled back his crime-fighting after being attacked while on patrol.
He told the Manchester Evening News: "We were recognised when we were walking thorough Clifton and some lads started punching me.
"My face was all swollen. After that I still dress up and occasionally patrol, but I mainly dress up for charity appearances."
"Rebecca has got rid of her costume now."

His mother, Jennifer, 61, admitted last year that she sometimes worried when he was out on the streets but the "police keep an eye on him".
She added: "His absolute genuineness is his best defence. He is one of the kindest young men I know."

The couple host a local radio show. Mr Hayhurst hopes to emulate his hero Superman by becoming a journalist.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... acked.html
 
Superman fan catches shoplifter while dressed as superhero
A Superman fan emulated his superhero when he foiled a crime by tackling a shoplifter while dressed as the Man Of Steel.
By Rosa Silverman and agencies
11:29AM BST 04 Jul 2013

Luke Junior, 24, was wearing the distinctive blue and red caped outfit as he took part in a charity fundraising event outside a shop.
When he spotted a thief running out of the store and being chased by staff, he grabbed hold of the shoplifter and made a citizen’s arrest.

Mr Junior, who was already nicknamed Superman after previously pulling two men from a car accident, held on to the thief until two police officers arrived at the scene outside the Heron Foods frozen food shop in Sheffield, South Yorks.
Families cheered his heroics, while the man was arrested and taken away in handcuffs as the Superman theme played in the background over the event’s PA system. 8)

Mr Junior, who works as a security guard at a shopping centre but hopes to become a fireman, said: "The last thing you want to do is run straight into Superman.
“He was going nowhere but the police station.
"He tried to run away from the manager so I grabbed him again and he was kicking off. Then I ended up physically restraining him against the window.
"The two policewomen were very professional. They didn't even crack a smile but I can imagine they might have done when they got to the police station later that night.

"But everyone else was cheering and clapping. Then the Superman music came on.
"I went back to the children and, as Superman would, I told them to always stay on the right side of the law.”

He said he had earned the nickname Superman after a car crash when he was 16 or 17.
“I ended up dragging two boy racers out of their car when they smashed into my friend's car,” he said.
"I'm waiting until the fire service can recruit again and then I want to save people."
He added: “When I was younger I always said I wanted to be some sort of Superman and the things I'm doing at the moment, it's like I already am.”

Mr Junior was helping out at a Gleadless Valley Community Action Group day on June 22 wearing a £500 Man of Steel Superman costume imported from Argentina.

Karen Bayliss, assistant manager at Heron Foods, said: "We'd been watching the customer.
"A sales assistant and the manager confronted him outside. They needed some help and Superman came along." :D

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... rhero.html
 
Masked hero hauls bags, babies up and down Tokyo subway stairs

In a green outfit with silver trim and matching mask, a superhero waits by the stairs of a Tokyo subway station, lending his strength to the elderly, passengers lugging heavy packages and mothers with baby strollers.

"Japanese people find it hard to accept help, they feel obligated to the other person, so the mask really helps me out," said Tadahiro Kanemasu.

The slender 27-year-old has spent three months being a good Samaritan at the station on Tokyo's western side. Like many in the city, it has neither elevators nor escalators and a long flight of dimly lit stairs.

Inspiration came from the children he met at his job at an organic greengrocer, which also prompted the color of his costume. He picked up the green Power Rangers suit and two spares at a discount store for 4,000 yen ($41) each.

Since Kanemasu can set aside only a couple of hours each day for his good deeds, he hopes to recruit others in different colored suits. Already he has inquiries about pink and red.

Hayato Ito, who works alongside Kanemasu at the greengrocer, said his kindness to others over the years meant his alter ego did not come as a complete surprise.

"There were hints of this from a long time ago but finally he flowered as a hero," Ito said.

Kanemasu admitted he got off to a bit of a rocky start.

"When I first began, people basically said 'Get away from me, you weirdo'," he said. "Now they still think I'm weird but in a good way."
Click to expand...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/ ... BC20130822
 
Men dressed as superheroes save cat from fire

Two men in superhero costumes beat firefighters to the scene of a house fire in West Virginia and rescued a cat trapped inside.

John Buckland was dressed as the Caped Crusader and pal Troy Marcum was playing Captain America to teach kids “positive lessons” at the American Legion post in Milton, W. Va., when they saw smoke and jumped into action on Saturday, according to WCHS-TV8.

The homeowners were out of town, but the duo shattered a window and Buckland reached inside and grabbed the unconscious cat.

Batman went to work and resuscitated the cat.

“The cat comes around, takes a look at me, then hissed!” Buckland told the station.
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http://nypost.com/2013/09/09/men-dresse ... from-fire/
 
superheo goes villain

http://www.ramblingbeachcat.com/2013/09/weird-crime-superior-spider-mans.html
======================

In the early morning hours of Friday, September 20 of 2013, 21-year-old Johnathan Hewson walked into a convenience store decked out in a full Spider-Man costume. He then shouted at the clerk "How much money you got?"

The clerk, who was clearly aware that this Spider-Man was no longer the same man who valued pairing great power with great responsibility, pulled out a stun gun. That's when Spidey decided to high tail it on foot out of the store. This created one of the greatest photo opportunities imaginable, which someone was able to snap and post online (courtesy of CBS Pittsburgh.


"Out of web fluid again!"


Because super villains never seem to know when to leave a crime scene, Hewson/Spider-Man was arrested less than a block away about an hour later. One of Henson's henchmen/roommates attempted to stick up for him, explaining that Johnathan was just a Spider-Man enthusiast who was having a little fun.

Aside from nearly every new article on this leaving out the hyphen in Spider-Man's name, the most frustrating part about all this is that anyone (including Henson and his roommate) could think walking into a store late at night while wearing a mask and shouting questions about where the money is kept could ever be considered harmless.

Embedded below is a local news report on the incident. You get to see an unmasked and very dejected looking wall crawler being interrogated by a reporter while also being heckled by a nearby citizen.
 
'Superheroes' nab attacker in Musselburgh Tesco

A group of people dressed as Batman, Robin, David Hasselhoff and a Smurf helped police officers catch a criminal in an East Lothian supermarket.

A man dressed as Robin was on Eskview Road in Musselburgh when he was assaulted just before 20:00 on Friday.
He and his friends, who were all in fancy dress, called police before chasing the attacker into Tesco.
After a scuffle in the toilet roll aisle, a 21-year-old man was arrested. He later pled guilty in court.

The incident came to light after East Lothian Police tweeted about it, thanking the fancy-dressed group for their help.
One Tweet read: "Thank you to Batman, Robin, Robin's Dad, a Smurf, and the Hoff for helping us on Friday night. #Tesco, sorry about the toilet roll aisle." 8)

Another Tweet by police officers in East Lothian read: "Robin assaulted, police called, collective assisted our foot chase, minor upset to shelving in Tescos during arrest, you couldn't script it!"

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "A 21-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with an assault in Eskview Road, Musselburgh, on Friday 1 November.
"He was remanded in custody until Monday 4th November, where he appeared in court and pled guilty to the offence."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-e ... e-24854508
 
Google's Alan Eustace beats Baumgartner's skydiving record

A senior Google vice president, Alan Eustace, has broken the world altitude record for a parachute jump set in 2012 by Austrian Felix Baumgartner.

Mr Eustace was carried by a large helium balloon from New Mexico to over 40km (25 miles) above the earth.
The 57-year-old leapt out in a specially-designed space suit, reaching speeds of more than 1,300km/h.
He exceeded the speed of sound, setting off a small sonic boom, and set several skydiving records in the process.

[Video: Alan Eustace exceeded the speed of sound reaching more than 1,300km/h ]

The dive was part of a project led by Paragon Space Development Corporation, aimed at the exploration of the stratosphere above 100,000 feet (30,480 metres).

Mr Eustace successfully jumped from near the top of the stratosphere at an altitude of 135,890 feet at 09:09 local time (16:00 GMT), the World Air Sports Federation (FAI) confirmed on Friday.
The previous record was set by Mr Baumgartner two years ago, after he jumped from a height of nearly 128,000 feet.

Mr Eustace also broke the world records for vertical speed reached during freefall with a peak velocity of 1,321km/h (822 mph) and total freefall distance of 123,414 feet - lasting four minutes and 27 seconds.

He set off from a runway in Roswell, New Mexico, at 07:00 connected to a balloon module, which carried him for two hours and seven minutes to his target altitude.
The Google executive - who is also a veteran pilot and parachutist - had been planning this jump for several years, working in secret with a small group of people trained in parachute and balloon technology, says the BBC's David Willis in Los Angeles.

But, our correspondent adds, Mr Eustace completed it without the aid of sponsorship, and with considerably less fanfare than the previous record holder, Felix Baumgartner, whose jump from the edge of space was streamed live over the internet two years ago.

"It was amazing," Mr Eustace was quoted by the New York Times as saying.
"It was beautiful. You could see the darkness of space and you could see the layers of atmosphere, which I had never seen before."
He told the newspaper that he did not feel or hear the sonic boom as he passed the speed of sound, although it was heard by observers on the ground.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29766189

You can read about Baumgartner's jump earlier on this thread, starting here:
http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewt ... 86#1196986
 
Bromley has a new Dark Knight!

London: A mysterious masked crusader dubbed as the "Bromley Batman", wearing black combat trousers and a muscle top, has been foiling mugging bids by knife-wielding thugs in London before vanishing into darkness.

A number of witnesses say the crime-fighter is confronting muggers and knife-wielding gangs across the streets of south London specially Bromley in recent weeks.

Descriptions of the unidentified figure paint him as a masked man in his thirties with a "well-groomed beard", who maybe trained in martial arts.
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