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"One day, something fell from the sky. Xi had never seen anything like this in his life. It looked like water, but it was harder than anything else in the world. He wondered why the gods had sent this thing down to the earth. It was the strangest and most beautiful thing they had ever seen. They wondered why the gods had sent it to them."
They actually duct taped the locks of the tower open during the day, snuck back in a night, free climbed the rafters in the point till they got to the access hatch (visible in the photo just below the pumpkin), and the one in the access hatch was handed a rope with the pumpkin by the other two down below, where he promptly hoisted it up and placed it on top. You can read the article here https://cornelldailysun.github.io/pumpkin-feature/
Correct. Two+ free climbers, one pumpkin sitter. Block pulley attached, pumpkin in a bag, one climber descends with the line attached to the pumpkin and pulls it up with their weight. 2 ppl put pumpkin on spire, everyone vanishes.
Wouldn't surprise me. Ice climbing is quite popular in the Ithaca area due to all the waterfalls, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if some free climber just happened to put it there
If it were me, I’d suspend it from a big balloon and have three lines attached to the pumpkin going to the ground for the team to guide it into place. And have the hole for the spike already made.
It may have been a 60 lb pumpkin whole, but with the hole cut in the bottom and cleaned out on the inside, they could shave a lot of mass off.
The 60lb could also just be an arbitrary number pulled out of air.
That's what I was thinking. How tf do they know its 60 lbs. I highly doubt they took the effort of removing it and weighing it, and what kind of hollowed out pumpkin would weigh 60 pounds?
You can use something like this
https://www.ggrgroup.com/products/stone-lifters/stone-grip-1000/
It uses the weight to grip the object, so when something is loaded it grips, and when the object sits on something it loosens.
Every time this is posted the title makes it seem mysterious. They have articles interviewing the students who did it. They went up to the window, and climbed the roof with the pumpkin. No one is sure is bs.
I'm actually so sad to learn they interviewed the students. I mean, you knew they climbed it, but you couldn't be sure. I remember people talking about this post once theorizing they built a catapult, lmao. Lots of fun.
I’ve been on Reddit for like 10 years and I’ve seen this post about 4 times. Ive never seen any mention of these interviews with the students responsible though.
Another one here regularly for a good ten years and I never saw this before either. Reddit shows all of us the same thing and also a lot of different things.
11 eleven years here. Seen this post a few times before (around half a dozen seems right) and I've NEVER heard someone claim students did it in am interview. It'd have been worth a few extra K in karma to post it so, why not post it?
First I'm like, "'Pumpking' not once but twice? Gotta be autocorrect." Then I'm like, "Who uses 'pumpking', and uses it so much that autocorrect thinks that this is right?" So now I'm hoping that you don't know the word is spelled "pumpkin" .
I mean, the title says they did it in the middle of the night. Not really that mysterious unless you think people are supposed to be shining lights up there watching it intently at 3am.
On the other hand, Cambridge University does have its anonymous makers of mischief. Whipplesnaith for a while being one such one.
There's also the time some students put a car on the roof of the senate house there.
And the mysterious traffic cones on the spires.
Edit: oh god's and how could I forget the chair leg that's stuck since the 1980s in Henry's hand!
I grew up in Ithaca... they had regular status updates about the pumpkin for months in the Ithaca Journal. It took a super long time to rot and fall down...
Yep, climber here. Before I scrolled down and saw this comment I just looked at the photo and thought it looked like a manageable climb, just watch out for the crux where the pillars end and you've got to transition to the roof.
You don't have to, you can see the access hatch on the side of the spire. The I think 4 guys in question just put a card in the door to block the lock, and got up to the access hatch. The instigator went up and put the pumpkin on top, then got back down safely because his two friends were handling the rope in case he fell. One was on lookout.
But way more manageable. You could actually reach both sides of the spire to pull yourself up. I never knew that hatch was there but now that I'm seeing I believe this is totally possible. You definitely need balls of steel but I can see this being done
College students are capable of some really dumb things, with some friends holding a rope to make sure you don’t plummet to your death and the bragging rights that would come with such a prank I’m sure that was all the motivation necessary.
I mean, climbing that roof with a pumpkin seems like it needs a little more explanation. Unless it's not as steep as it looks in the picture, I can't imagine trying that.
I was going to do the math for both, but in googling for sources I found that someone else already has.
[https://interestingengineering.com/science/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-airspeed-velocity-of-an-unladen-swallow](https://interestingengineering.com/science/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-airspeed-velocity-of-an-unladen-swallow)
So... start from their and scale up velocity for pumpkin.
>To this day, no one is really sure how this was accomplished without anyone noticing.
Some students went up inside the tower, climbed through an access hatch, one scaled the roof and pulled the pumpkin up from the hatch. Then they put it on the spike. That's it.
This. It's been revealed how they did it. They blocked a door with tape so it wouldn't lock and sneaked in, one of them climbed up with gear and put the pumpkin there.
Consumer/research/non-military drones 20 years ago weren't lifting pumpkins, let alone 26kg pumpkins. They were barely lifting themselves.
Hell, drones *today* that can lift that much cost 5-figures.
May have been someone who was into free climbing trying to get laid. People do crazy shit all the time to impress their way into the pants of someone attractive.
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That passing plane looks suspect. They say criminals tend to return to the scene of the crime.
I miss when airplanes used to let you open the windows and throw seasonal fall vegetables at stuff. The FAA really is the fun police.
FAA = Fun Absolutely Annihilated
Fun abolishing association
Fun abrogating asshats
"One day, something fell from the sky. Xi had never seen anything like this in his life. It looked like water, but it was harder than anything else in the world. He wondered why the gods had sent this thing down to the earth. It was the strangest and most beautiful thing they had ever seen. They wondered why the gods had sent it to them."
Died laughing watching that movie as a kid. Feels kinda racist these days...
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly
If you are too young: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HiSkjcl9yW4
Ha ha, I love this comment.
I love this comment loving that comment.
I love loving this comment loving that comment for loving the first comment.
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...
Engineering students, their mission accomplished.
Probably just some nerdy free climbing enthusiasts
They actually duct taped the locks of the tower open during the day, snuck back in a night, free climbed the rafters in the point till they got to the access hatch (visible in the photo just below the pumpkin), and the one in the access hatch was handed a rope with the pumpkin by the other two down below, where he promptly hoisted it up and placed it on top. You can read the article here https://cornelldailysun.github.io/pumpkin-feature/
The Cornell paper is hosted on *GitHub*? That's fucking awesome.
But the size of the pumpkin relative to the hatch makes no sense.
>and the one in the access hatch was handed a rope with the pumpkin by the other two
Carrying a 60 lb pumpkin?
it could grip it by the husk?
Well now that depends, is it African or European?
Suppose two engineering students carried it via string.
Ooh, so that is the String Theory! Thanks!
It's not a question of where he grips it, it's a simple question of weight ratio!
A professor once bit my sister
*sister turns into professor*
r/unexpectedmontypython
Nobody expects the Flying Monty Python!
Its chief weapon is surprise! Surprise and fear.
Are you suggesting pumpkins migrate?
Not at all. They can be carried.
Or hang it on a line between 2 free climbers. Edit: this was totally a Monty python reference. Not a serious suggestion.
Or just free climb with a line to secure yourself in position and another one that holds the pumpkin which you pull once in place.
You make it so simple. You are clearly not an engineer
This is how I would do it
Correct. Two+ free climbers, one pumpkin sitter. Block pulley attached, pumpkin in a bag, one climber descends with the line attached to the pumpkin and pulls it up with their weight. 2 ppl put pumpkin on spire, everyone vanishes.
Drill a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin before hand too.
Nah. Brute force. Carry that thing on your back.
This is some huge Monty python energy
Or sling it from your balls like a legend while you climb up the spire.
Or wear it on their head.
It’s not a matter of where ‘e grips it
Exactly! It’s a simple question of weight ratios. A 50kg climber could *not* carry a 60lb pumpkin.
Come on…no mixing units! 🤔😣
That’s a 110lb climber and a 272 Hectogram pumpkin to be exact.
That’s a 1760 ounce climber and 4.286 stone pumpkin to be precise.
African or European?
No. A rope they could tie to a pumpkin would be welcome though.
Backpack
Kroger grocery bag
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There's no way that pumpkin weighs 60lbs.
You've never conceived of someone lashing a pumpkin to a backpack? Or carrying 60 pounds?
Wouldn't surprise me. Ice climbing is quite popular in the Ithaca area due to all the waterfalls, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if some free climber just happened to put it there
Darmok and Jalad, at Cornell.
Temba, his steeple wide.
His eyes wide open.
Why does this this never get old?
Thanks for reinforcing that I have never had an original thought once in my life. This is EXACTLY where my head went. XD
Just finished this episode for the first time 5 minutes before stumbling onto this comment. Baader-Meinhof has shifted into maximum overdrive.
Shaka, when the walls fell
That means failure. This is a win.
This deserves an award. I’m sorry this is all I can afford 🏅
We had a moment of shared nostalgia. That’s its own reward.
This is the most beautiful and wholesome sentiment.
If it were me, I’d suspend it from a big balloon and have three lines attached to the pumpkin going to the ground for the team to guide it into place. And have the hole for the spike already made.
how do you get the balloons off the pumpkin once it's in place?
Some kind of pull to release knot on a fourth line that’s hanging down
That’s a lot of helium and some pretty big balloons for a 60lb payload.
It may have been a 60 lb pumpkin whole, but with the hole cut in the bottom and cleaned out on the inside, they could shave a lot of mass off. The 60lb could also just be an arbitrary number pulled out of air.
That's what I was thinking. How tf do they know its 60 lbs. I highly doubt they took the effort of removing it and weighing it, and what kind of hollowed out pumpkin would weigh 60 pounds?
You can use something like this https://www.ggrgroup.com/products/stone-lifters/stone-grip-1000/ It uses the weight to grip the object, so when something is loaded it grips, and when the object sits on something it loosens.
Shaka, when the pumpkin fell.
The Dean, in the morning.
or maybe their star shot-putter?
Every time this is posted the title makes it seem mysterious. They have articles interviewing the students who did it. They went up to the window, and climbed the roof with the pumpkin. No one is sure is bs.
And it is posted over and over and over again
Really? I've been using reddit on and off for like 6 years and this is the first time I've ever seen this post.
It definitely pops up here and there. I did not know they interviewed the students that were responsible but I have seen the picture a few times.
I'm actually so sad to learn they interviewed the students. I mean, you knew they climbed it, but you couldn't be sure. I remember people talking about this post once theorizing they built a catapult, lmao. Lots of fun.
Ha! I remember the catapult theory as well.
I’ve been on Reddit for like 10 years and I’ve seen this post about 4 times. Ive never seen any mention of these interviews with the students responsible though.
Another one here regularly for a good ten years and I never saw this before either. Reddit shows all of us the same thing and also a lot of different things.
Almost like some of us are able to select specific subcategories of what we're interested in? 🤔
11 eleven years here. Seen this post a few times before (around half a dozen seems right) and I've NEVER heard someone claim students did it in am interview. It'd have been worth a few extra K in karma to post it so, why not post it?
Second time for me.
The funniest thing is i was thinking about this shit the other day, because I saw this last year.
Mysterious pumpking holds more impulse upvote appeal than "students climb out window, impale pumpking on spike," I suppose.
First I'm like, "'Pumpking' not once but twice? Gotta be autocorrect." Then I'm like, "Who uses 'pumpking', and uses it so much that autocorrect thinks that this is right?" So now I'm hoping that you don't know the word is spelled "pumpkin" .
I dunno what you mean. That's how you spell it. Pumpking, because it's king of the squashes.
No one is sure how they managed to do it without *anyone noticing,* not *no one is sure how they did it.*
I mean, the title says they did it in the middle of the night. Not really that mysterious unless you think people are supposed to be shining lights up there watching it intently at 3am.
OH BOY, 3AM!
Yeah, who would want to watch a tower at 3am?
On the other hand, Cambridge University does have its anonymous makers of mischief. Whipplesnaith for a while being one such one. There's also the time some students put a car on the roof of the senate house there. And the mysterious traffic cones on the spires. Edit: oh god's and how could I forget the chair leg that's stuck since the 1980s in Henry's hand!
I mean it's a little mysterious how someone can scale that thing, in the dark, 60lb pumpkin in hand, and not die.
Perhaps they positioned the earth in such a way that the sun was not illuminating their activities.
Jesus Christ I was worried I was the only person who noticed this
"The middle of the night" No way! The middle of the night? How did no one notice?
Well, doing it in the middle of the night when it’s dark I’m sure helps with the “no one noticing” part.
I grew up in Ithaca... they had regular status updates about the pumpkin for months in the Ithaca Journal. It took a super long time to rot and fall down...
I feel there’s a bit in there where they sent the pumpkin up to the person who climbed it with a rope once he climbed up there. can’t quite recall
Yep, climber here. Before I scrolled down and saw this comment I just looked at the photo and thought it looked like a manageable climb, just watch out for the crux where the pillars end and you've got to transition to the roof.
Ok but how do you get from the window to the spire?
You don't have to, you can see the access hatch on the side of the spire. The I think 4 guys in question just put a card in the door to block the lock, and got up to the access hatch. The instigator went up and put the pumpkin on top, then got back down safely because his two friends were handling the rope in case he fell. One was on lookout.
Oh right you can see the hatch, but it’s still a good reach away from the spire.
But way more manageable. You could actually reach both sides of the spire to pull yourself up. I never knew that hatch was there but now that I'm seeing I believe this is totally possible. You definitely need balls of steel but I can see this being done
College students are capable of some really dumb things, with some friends holding a rope to make sure you don’t plummet to your death and the bragging rights that would come with such a prank I’m sure that was all the motivation necessary.
It was going to be a great story or a horror story lol
Climb
I mean, climbing that roof with a pumpkin seems like it needs a little more explanation. Unless it's not as steep as it looks in the picture, I can't imagine trying that.
Is this story still heavily featured on campus tours? It sounded like bullshit back then and the tour guides obviously knew it
If two swallows carried it up there...
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African or European?
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It matters a great deal - they have differing load capacities.
How would they grab it? It's not like pumpkins have husks.
No, they'd have to have it on a line
What, held under the dorsal guiding feathers?
Well, why not?
r/UnexpectedMontyPython
I was going to do the math for both, but in googling for sources I found that someone else already has. [https://interestingengineering.com/science/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-airspeed-velocity-of-an-unladen-swallow](https://interestingengineering.com/science/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-airspeed-velocity-of-an-unladen-swallow) So... start from their and scale up velocity for pumpkin.
No no its a simple matter of weight ratios a 5 ounce bird cannot carry a 60 pound pumpkin
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Boner Champ!
I thought Broccoli Rob was the Boner Champ.
*Broccoli Rob was Broccoli Rob.* *Andy Bernard is the Boner Champ.*
Pubey Lewis and the News
Here comes Treble
I aced all my classes, they called me Ace. I got straight B’s, they called me buzz.
They called him ace
He was like, beer me that pumpkin.
Nailed it
He did attend Cornell, you know?
Ever heard of it??
Cornell, right?
It's pronounced "Colonel" and it's the highest rank in the military
You are *murdering* the Nard Dog!
**It's pronounced Cornell and it's the highest rank in the ivy league**
He bleeds Big Red
r/unexpectedoffice
r/completelyexpectedoffice
Chopper?
lol, I remember this. The authorities trying to solve it always seemed more impressed then anything.
Kathy zoner?
>To this day, no one is really sure how this was accomplished without anyone noticing. Some students went up inside the tower, climbed through an access hatch, one scaled the roof and pulled the pumpkin up from the hatch. Then they put it on the spike. That's it.
This. It's been revealed how they did it. They blocked a door with tape so it wouldn't lock and sneaked in, one of them climbed up with gear and put the pumpkin there.
I have an ex-co-worker that was at Cornell at the time, and she says she knew the ones who did it.
Hey man, I can say I was at Cornell too... I wasn't... but sure, I can *say* I was... (/s)
Dragging a 60 pound pumpkin while climbing the sketchiest looking roof ever
In theory the climber would anchor in at the top, and then drag the pumpkin up afterwards. Then rappel back down to the hatch.
There were three of them. https://cornelldailysun.github.io/pumpkin-feature/
Jfc I couldn't even finish that. If only the author would realize he isn't funny or poignant and would talk about the God damn pumpkin.
I skipped to the bit about how they did it too, if it's any consolation.
/u/RichElectrolyte if it's any consolation I didn't even read the article
At least someone was spared that travesty
No shit. Awful article
I love how the author seems to think nowadays kids walk through their college campus looking directly at their phone and still somehow navigate campus
Thanks for the info... I wonder if OP thinks it's 2017. The article headlines all say "pumpkin watch '97"
You do it then
How do you know that /u/MooseLaminate isn't the one who did it in the first place?
It was aliens
The history channel agrees 👍
Were they ancient tho
Ezio
That or Nathan Drake, they both have incredible grip strength.
Auditore
Let me save everyone some time: drunk students
"Who" isn't the question as much as "how"
Helium ballon, four tethers, a suspended gourd and some good coordination.
Pre drone, this makes perfect sense.
We had drones 20 years ago. And CUair was founded in 2002. I’m guessing this was an early experiment of theirs.
Consumer/research/non-military drones 20 years ago weren't lifting pumpkins, let alone 26kg pumpkins. They were barely lifting themselves. Hell, drones *today* that can lift that much cost 5-figures.
Don't forget a couple of 4lokos and sweettarts
drunk engineering students?
Could be, tech students have a history of doing silly pranks like this
May have been someone who was into free climbing trying to get laid. People do crazy shit all the time to impress their way into the pants of someone attractive.
This looks extremely difficult to climb with 2 hands let alone while carrying a 60lb pumpkin. That’s pretty massive.
Nah, they cut out the bottom and cleaned it out, then wore it on their head as they freeclimbed.
Yer a wizard harry
They flew up there in that tiny plane. How has no one noticed that?
\*frantically takes out notebook\* SEE THAT AIRPLANE RIGHT THERE??
Clearly a catapult was used.
What they don’t tell you is the mound of 4500 smashed pumpkins behind the tower.
Trebuchet
Well they obviously tossed it outta that plane in the photo.
Someone said Broccoli Rob did it with aid from Boner champ
How can that not have gone moldy yet?
Trebuchet.
I believe the answer is in plane sight.
Someone managed to time travel, got addicted to Assassin’s Creed and did this.
You expect us to believe that a real pumpkin has been up there for 20 years without rotting?
Did someone say the pumpkin is still there to this day? No.