01x01 - Pilot 1: Jet-Assisted Chevy/Pop Rocks and Soda

[bunniefuu]

I'm jamie hyneman.
And I'm adam savage.

We're gonna find out
what happens

When you strap a rocket
to a '67 chevy.

Oh, yeah.

Narrator: coming up...

We turn a chevy into a


This is so exciting.

I'm gonna have to
have a "grinectomy."

Pop rocks and soda --

Urban myth,
or recipe for disaster?

Adam: dude, your stomach's
gonna burst.

Here on "mythbusters,"

We're not just going
to retell the stories.

We're gonna put them
to the test.

We're prepared to put
our bodies on the line.

There's just one problem.

Some aren't myths at all.

Which one would that be?

I don't know yet.

So why should you
trust these guys?

Well, jamie and adam
have over 30 years

In model-building, animatronics,
and toy prototyping.

They've worked in features,
television, theater, and games.

This is m5,
my special-effects shop.

Come on in
and have a look around.

Narrator: jamie's amassed
an awesome collection

Of tools, talent,
and techniques.

If we can't find it here...

I'm trying to locate
a pig's stomach.

Narrator: ...there's always
adam's eclectic collection.

I come from the planet butthead.

Narrator:
and if that fails...

...the guys are backed by
experts in folklore,

Crime, medicine,
and engineering.

Ah! Ow! Ow!

Narrator: jamie and adam
are supposed to be experts

In what's real and what's not.

And they'll need
every trick in the book.

So where do we begin?
What do we got?

Let's go.

This is the big one.

What we have
is a 1967 chevy impala

That was taken out
into the desert,

And somebody had put
a rocket booster on it.

They found out about it

Because there was
a smoldering wreckage

That the highway
patrol there found.

We pieced together
a gentleman, or an individual,

That had out a jato, or
a rocket-assist takeoff unit,

On an older-model vehicle.

The guy apparently
was an air force sergeant,

Former air force sergeant.

He made sure he had
a long straight road,

And there was nothing around.

He got up to highway speed,
about 80 miles and hour,

Fired the things off.

The car had accelerated from,
like, 80 to 300 miles per hour

In a couple of seconds.

There was a curve in the road --
a slight increase or upgrade --

And a mountain
shortly thereafter.

So he applies the brakes, and,
of course, the brakes burn out.

They found about a mile
and a half of skid mark.

He didn't make the turn.

He went airborne, and he crashed
into the side of the mountain

Approximately


Do we have any corroboration
of this, or any photos,

Or anybody come forward?

Well, that's our job
to pursue that.

And we need to get a hold
of a '67 chevy

Or something close --
as close as we can to it.

And need to
get a hold of a jato

Or a rato, or, again,
something equivalent to it.

I foresee some wreckage,
actually.

Well...

Personally.

There's so many variables here
in terms of, you know,

A car that's got to accelerate
even to 150 miles an hour

For a 35-year-old car.

It'll look really cool.

I mean, that's gonna be big
flames sh**ting out the back.

It's gonna be great.

I can't think of anything
more fun than doing this.

You know what?
I really can't.

I first heard about the story
approximately 1994,

When my job was spokesman for
the department of public safety.

I received a phone call
from a local reporter

Asking about a darwin award
that was on the internet.

The way the story read

Was that the arizona department
of public safety

Or the highway patrol

Was the ones that did
the investigation on it.

I thought it was
a very real possibility

That it could've happened,

Because arizona is home
to several air bases.

Thus, a military personnel
could have gotten ahold

Of a jato unit
to use in this fashion.

Narrator:
jato, or jet-assisted takeoff,

Has been around
since the second world w*r.

We should call them ratos

Because each canister is filled
with solid rocket propellant.

A single unit puts
out 1,000 pounds of thrust

For 12 to 15 seconds.

Up to eight jatos are used

When large military aircraft
are operating with heavy loads

Or from short runways.

Do we think the military's

Just gonna hand over one
of these jato bottles?

What we do if they don't
actually let us have one?

Well, I kind of doubt
that they will.

This is not the kind of
thing that you would want

To let the general public
have access to.

[ Beeping ]

Woman:
air force public affairs.

I'm not at my desk right now,
so leave a message.

We'd love to have
the military there and involved.

We would like the assistance of
the blue angels.

We're trying to get ahold of

And get
the military's assistance

With operating one of these
ratos or jatos.

Just so it's clear
we're not trying to get --

Just get a hold of
one of these things

And do whatever we want with it.

We want you involved.

Okay.

Well, we actually
got to talk to somebody.

She said,
"they're very expensive units,

"And that I don't know whether
it's going to be possible.

This is an unusual request."

[ Chuckles ]

Most good urban legends
have good details --

Names, places, dates.

In this case,

Often it's a chevy impala
that the man was driving.

So we need to find
a '67 chevy.

I wonder where
we're gonna do that.

Well, I picked this up
at a flea market, actually.

This here is
a '67 chevy impala.

That's our goal.

Hopefully we'll
be able to find a junker,

Something with a crappy body.

All we need is for it to run.

[ Horns honking ]

We live in america where

Unless you're in new york
or a place that has a subway,

You must have a car to survive.

[ Horns honking ]

Not an impala --
we got a pontiac.

And it runs?
The pontiac runs?

Not at the moment.

It just needed
the transmission on.

Only?
Oh.

Yeah, you know.

[ Engine turns over ]

And a car not only
is about survival,

But it's also a symbol
of adolescent freedom.

When you get a car,
you can leave the nest.

[ Horns honking ]

We're gonna be putting some
rockets on top of the car

And sending it --

Oh, like the guy in the desert,
the old urban legend.

It's a '72 impala or '69 impala
you're supposed to have.

We'll take
anything that looks like --

I mean, a falcon
within a couple of years.

Something of that vintage
as long as it runs.

Don't care about --

T-bird, thunderbird?

Well, got to be cheap.

Well, $750.

That's very plausible.

[ Horns honking ]

It's also a symbol of sex.

This is where
a young man can have

His first sexual experiences,
in this car.

[ Laughter ]

Oh, yeah.

That's the [bleep].
We're done.

It'll be kind of
a shame to destroy it.

We don't have to destroy it.

Oh, that's so beautiful.

Oh, my god, I'm loving this.

Look at that.
Wow.

It's automatic windows.

Oh, yeah.

Is that your premise, though,
to do that urban legend?

You should get a chevy

'Cause I always heard
the story with a chevy.

I always understand it being
a '69 to '72 impala.

Jamie: okay.

Announcer: chevrolet --
the beautiful shape for 1965.

Narrator: the chevy impala
is an ideal candidate

For urban-legend status.

It was first introduced in 1958.

From the start,
it was a prestige car

Within the reach
of the average american.

Announcer: a completely new look
time cannot wash away.

Narrator:
by the end of the millennium,

Sales exceeded 13 million,

Making the chevy impala
the most popular full-sized car

In american history.

Announcer:
see the beautiful shapes

Of chevrolet for 1965
at your chevrolet dealers now.

We need it to run.

This one may run.
It's got a bum motor in it.

You're gonna put rockets on it.
It'll go.

We're gonna destroy the car.

Of course you are.
That's half the fun.

Thank you anyway.

Narrator:
despite its popularity,

The impala is proving
as hard to procure

As a jato rocket.

[ Dialing ]

We called you last week
concerning procuring a jato.

Procuring a jato or a rato.

So far, we've had
very little luck

With getting anybody
to return our calls.

I'm sergeant bob stein

With the arizona department
of public safety,

And you're
watching "mythbusters."

[ Horns honking ]

Narrator: jamie and adam are
following a promising, new lead

On that '67 chevy.

Well, we're gonna strap
some rockets to its back end.

You know that thing where
they took it out in the desert?

I got the perfect
car for you.

We're gonna do that.
You got it.

Narrator: it's a '67, all right,

But, unfortunately,
an oldsmobile.

Heavy.

Narrator: so far, we haven't
seen a single '60s impala.

Jamie:
we were looking at a t-bird

That they had for $750.

It was pretty nice.

Narrator: adam's beautiful
t-bird's already been sold.

Jamie: '67.

[ Tires screeching ]

This is your car if you
want a car to put a rocket on.

She's fast.

Narrator:
just as we've given up hope

Of finding our car in time...

[ Horns honking ]

It's officially an impala.

Would it be all right
if I drive it around the block?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, whoa!

Oh, watch this car.

I got it, lady.

Narrator: it's a working...
'66...chevy impala

With some decidedly
nonstandard features.

[ Both laughing ]

This is, without a doubt,
our car.

It's destiny.

I think
the hydraulic aspect of it

Is just hysterical,
you know?

This thing -- we get
a couple -- get the rocket,

Mount it right up here.

I mean,
this is nice and sturdy.

We're gonna mount it
on top?

That's what the legend shows.

Well, thank you very much.
I really appreciate it.

[ Engine turns over ]

We are 8.5 miles
from where we bought the car.

Narrator: it's 100 degrees.

We're three hours from the shop,

And, thanks to
a blocked fuel filter,

Our rocket car is doing exactly
zero miles per hour.

Thank goodness adam's got
the gold breakdown package.

So the air force
apparently called us back

And turned us down
on the jato rocket?

Permission denied.

Did they
call us back again

Just to deny permission
again without being asked?

Twice.

So we got these things.

How are we gonna --
these are the hobby rockets.

This is like an example
of one of the tubes.

How are we gonna
fire these off?

Well, these are actually
more powerful than the jatos.

The ones that, you know --

But they're smaller.
How's that possible?

Well, we're gonna
use more of them.

While they're running, they
put out 1,500 pounds of thrust

As opposed to 1,000 pounds.

But they only last
for four seconds.

We're gonna get
several of them

And we'll
set them off successively.

So we're gonna
put three of them on,

And we'll probably put them
on the car, like this.

We have a qualified operator

That you have
to have a license --

A federal license --

To be able to purchase
these things and operate them.

I would hope so.

Yeah, and so we're gonna have
those guys set them off.

So that's what
it's gonna look like.

Yeah, that's essentially
what we're gonna do.

We'll have to reinforce it
and everything.

Narrator:
that's all fine in theory,

But it's an awful lot of power
to put on the roof of a junker.

One pound of thrust
is two horsepower.

So one of those
rocket motors

At 1,500 pounds of thrust
is 3,000 horsepower.

Yeah.

That'll make our chevy
almost four times as powerful

As an indy car.

Think of putting another car
on top of this car.

It's that kind of weight
that's up there.

So we want to probably
build some kind of steel cage

Within the car's body
to support this.

Yeah, we need to have a --

We don't just want to try
and strap it to the roof.

Yeah, that would be
a bad idea.

It could probably rip the roof
right off the car.

Man: oh, we have fire.

Oh, how about that?
There.

[ Laughs ]

Adam,
you're gonna get sick.

I believe I'm already sick.

[Bleep]
give me the fire extinguisher.

What the [bleep]

This time it's no joke.

The fire's burning
through the hydraulic lines.

[Bleep].

That's sawdust with
the hydraulic fluids --

A nice, little
kind of wicky thing.

Yeah.
[ Laughs ]

Adam: I was thinking

That we would drill
up through here

And bolt the top frame on here.

Narrator: with this design,
the whole roof structure

Becomes part of the rocket rack.

Well, it's a start.


Let's jump together.

Narrator: these tubes

Will hold the hobby rocket
motors firmly in place.

Fins for the rocket.

Now it turns out,
besides this legend,

Other people have strapped
rockets to cars before,

Haven't they?

Yeah, there are
world speed records

That have occurred
by using this.

Narrator: in 1965,

Walt arfons built the first
rocket-powered land-speed car.

Wingfoot express ii
was initially designed

With 10 jato units.

But that wasn't nearly enough.

Twenty-five rockets
eventually blasted the car

To an unofficial top speed
of 605 miles per hour.

Of course you have to remember
that those are unusual cars.

They're usually
very long and --

They're basically
like rockets with wheels.

So this also begs
the question,

Where do we fire
this car off?

There are some lakes,
dry lake beds

To the south of here
toward l.a.

So we'll probably
try one of those first,

To see whether we can get
access to something like that.

Jamie's having second thoughts
about getting behind the wheel.

If this behaves
like the legend says,

We're gonna have a 3,000-
to 4,000-pound projectile

Out there.

And I guess the other
thing that I thought,

With that in mind,
if we do lose control of it,

Obviously we don't
want to be in the car.

So we're probably gonna --

You don't want to be
in the car?

I would love to be
in the car, but --

I think you should
drive the car.

Well, I think I should, too,

But we've radio-controlled
cars before,

And it's
a lot of fun, so --

Oh, so we'll make it
radio controlled.

I think that's the safest
way of dealing with it.

Oh, that's the coolest toy
ever.

Yeah, this is a big kid's
r.c. Car.

You know how to do it?

It's not quite as simple
as a radio-controlled toy.

At 300 miles per hour,

The forces on the steering
servos will be immense.

Servos are motors
that are positionable

So we can precisely
control the steering on this.

We need to have
something pretty good

Because if it's going
that fast,

We need to really be able
to dial in on the aim,

Or it may go out of control.

The transmitter also
has dangerous limitations.

One of the things is
that these radio controls

Are only good for 1,000 meters
or so, plus or minus.

About half a mile.

If this thing is going


It's gonna get out of range
from us real quick,

Even if we're driving
alongside.

So we're probably gonna
have to think of ways

Of either getting a really --
gonna have to go out and rent

A really, really fast car,

Or we'll have to
get a helicopter.

Probably be the safest
way of dealing with it.

I'm gonna try and start it.

All right.

[ Engine turns over ]

Yeah!

Jamie's gonna need
every bit of control

When he hits top speed.

A 350-miles-an-hour
chevrolet impala --

All the windows would pop out of
it, and the roof will pull off.

Narrator: andy granatelli
knows all about speed.

He holds 21
hall-of-fame records.

Many were set
in conventional vehicles.

He claims the top speed
for a street machine --

An awesome 241 miles per hour.

At this velocity,

Wind resistance
is the biggest enemy.

The car would become airborne.

At a little over 200 miles
an hour, the car would --

Raise the front of it
and flip over.

'Cause the air would get
underneath the front of the car.

Yee-haw!

Narrator: jamie plans to use
the chevy's hydraulics

To combat those forces.

Lowering the hood

Should give considerable
aerodynamic efficiency.

It will also help
with what he's been told

Is the most vital factor.

Jamie: the most difficult thing
about this whole deal

Is probably getting this
straight on the car.

There's no real
true center line

That we know
is actually the direction

The car is gonna go.

We have...

According to the experts,
a 60-degree misalignment

Is gonna put about


On the tail of the car.

Yeah, come over that way.

Adam: whoa!

Aah!

I'm okay.

I'm all right.
I'm all right.

I'm just fine.

Nothing's broken.
Nothing's hurt.

Unh!

That was
a little bit of a shock.

I just had a massive release
of adrenaline.

Okay, so...

Adam: I am
my own stunt double.

That way.

All right.

Yeah, that's as
good as anything,

So that's right about 86.

And...

That's right about 86.

Beautiful!

Let's pack this puppy down.

I can't wait
to set this thing off.

I'm gonna be in a helicopter --

And I've never
ridden a helicopter before --

Radio-controlling
a 3,000-horsepower

Rocket-driven,
radio-controlled car.

What could be better?

You could just k*ll yourself
when you were done,

'Cause it ain't gonna get
any better than that.

It's all going
downhill from there.

Hi. I'm andy granatelli,

And you're watching
"mythbusters."

And so the fun begins.

It's such a treat to see
the sun rise over the desert.

What am I saying?

It's a treat to fire off
a rocket car in the desert.

Yee-haw!

Narrator: finally, all
the pieces are coming together

On the lake bed.

With a bit of luck,

We'll soon know
if the jato rocket myth

Is indeed possible.

I'm just setting
the fail safe on this.

These radios actually leave
an instruction with the receiver

To return
to a certain position

If they should
lose communication.

Narrator: jamie will be
joined in the chopper

By erik gates.

He and his brother, dirk,
have over 20 years experience

In amateur rocketry.

They plan to fire the motors
by remote control.

Go, 1, 2, 3, 4.



Adam: jamie's gonna do
a dry run in the car.

The rocket guys I think
are gonna do a test fire

So all systems are good.

I expect it's probably
about an hour or two

To actual firing.

[ Engine turns over ]

Narrator:
the remote control and fail safe

Are working perfectly.

Everything went fine
on that dry run.

We got all three...
To fire in sequence.

It was a perfect run.

Well, you know,
I'm not at all happy.

The reason being that

Unless something goes wrong
on the first test,

It makes me nervous

[Chuckles]

Because that means something's
gonna go wrong later.

How are you doing?
Adam savage.

Narrator:
if this new visitor is right,

Jamie may just get his wish.

Callaway: I look at it,

And the mount's not
strong enough, number one.

The mount's not
straight, either.

We warned them
about straightening the mount.

It's got to be dead straight,

Or it'll steer the car
the whole time.

Narrator: george should know.

Not only did he work
on the apollo program,

He's conducted numerous
speed trials out here.

Eight points welded
into the front of the car.

I hope it works,

'Cause I don't want you
to dig up my lake bed.

Narrator:
not exactly comforting words

For our final briefing.

The helicopter's
gonna do a pass around,

Just like we did
the last time.

About the time that it
passes in front of the car,

I release the brakes,

And the car is
gonna start to roll.

Like the myth,

Our plan is to get the car
up to 80 miles per hour

Before firing the rockets.

When the motors go,

They're gonna have
a tendency to scare you.

So when you're hearing
the 3, 2, 1, brace yourself.

Don't veer.

It's gonna get a 15-foot
flame out the back.

Yep.

Man: is that --
when the rocket fires,

Is it gonna cause the...?

We don't know.
We don't know.

The car might end over end,
whatever.

You want to be far enough way
that you have,

You know,
several seconds.

And if you do --

A general rule of thumb
with that kind of thing,

If you do see something
coming at you,

Go off
at right angles to it.

Don't try to outrun it.

Narrator: the crew
are not the only ones

Who'll be keeping a close eye
on the rocket car.

It seems to have attracted
the interest

Of security at nearby
edwards air force base.

Let's have a good burn,
man.

Get your game face on.

Man: good luck.

This is so exciting.

I'm gonna have to
have a "grinectomy."

Adam: green light to go.

They're starting
their circle now.

Brakes are coming off.

We are go.

Man: nothing's happening.

We aborting?

We're aborting.
We are aborting.

We are aborting.

Let's abort the whole thing.

Okay, helicopter's coming in.

Doesn't it go
through the inside?

Narrator: looks like
the car's old gremlins

Are back to haunt us.

With all the focus on
horsepower and thrust curves,

We never did fix
that fuel problem.

Jamie: the problem is that
this is an older car,

And we've been stirring up
sediment

In the bottom of the tank,

And it's gotten
into the fuel filter

And clogged the fuel filter.

All we have to do
is pull the filter out

And flush it out
once in a while.

We should get a good run here
soon.

That sort of answers my need
for a small failure.

I'll accept that one
as a small failure.

Man: loud and clear --
we have a green light to go.

Green light to go?

Car's starting to roll.

Okay, we're in line.

Okay.
Coming on a full throttle.

I'm coming out
with the electronics.

All right.

Okay, good luck.

Go ahead and set them off.

Okay, helicopter's at speed.

Firing in 3, 2, 1, fire.



We got them all.

Narrator: it's been a long road,
but finally we have liftoff.

Three rockets, four seconds,

And 1,500 pounds
of thrust apiece.

That's 3,000 horsepower
for 12 seconds,

Just like a jato.

That was hysterical.

That was absolutely outrageous.

What kind of speed
you think it got to?

I don't know.

The helicopter was having
trouble keeping up with it.

Narrator: the chopper's
top speed is 130 per hour.

Hey!

Yeah!

That was beautiful.

We lost track of it.

We couldn't keep up
with it with the helicopter.

Once those things,
those suckers lit,

It just like...

It's one thing to see them
go up.

It's another thing to see them
go horizontal.

Just the dust trail
from the car --

It was so beautiful.

It was like...

I was quite impressed.

I was hoping it would go good,
and it did.

You know, a little apprehensive,
but now no.

Jamie did his homework.

Narrator: over the years,

Many have claimed they were
the inspiration for this story.

For those who really tried it,
the results were the same.

In 1957, dodge was filming an ad
on this same lake.

They replaced the gas tank
with a single jato bottle.

The car topped out
at 140 miles per hour.

So, jamie, given the structure
of the original myth,

That the guy
ignited the rocket,

Accelerated to, like,


Hit the edge
of a curve of the road

And was airborne
for several seconds

Before hitting
the side of a cliff,

Do you think it's possible?

Didn't happen.

They'd have to have
at least

Around four times the power
that we did.

Back in '46,

Andy granatelli and his brothers
did just that.

They put eight jatos
on an indy racer.

The expl*si*n was horrendous.

And the thrust was such
that you couldn't believe it.

We looked at each other as if
we were going to the moon.

The rocket left,
not a little fizzle like this,

But for 300 feet long,
for wider than the road,

And higher than the telephone
wires, a tail of fire.

And the car accelerated up to
approximately 180 miles an hour.

And believe me,
I mean, it was unbelievable.

Narrator: andy's antics
may well be the origin

Of the jato myth.

One thing's for sure.

We can all quit calling

The arizona department
of public safety.

There never was a crash site
found in arizona --

Nothing even vaguely familiar.

On occasion, we still
get people inquiring about it.

And we posted it on our website,
stating that it is a myth.

That was a lot of fun,
though.

Yeah, it was great.

Just those few seconds
being in that chopper,

Trailing behind the cars,
seeing those things set off --

It was indescribable.

Just seeing that car
kind of go.

I mean, it was beautiful.

It was gorgeous.

Narrator: coming up next...

Pop rocks and soda --
myth or recipe for disaster?

I'm jamie hyneman.

You're watching "mythbusters."

[ Laughs ]
I hope he cut that out.

So do you remember pop rocks?

Yeah, they were
invented in 1956,

The year of my birth.

Really?
Yes.

The legend
we're approaching now

Is the legend that
little mikey

From the "life" cereal
commercial.

I remember it so clearly.

The kid goes,
"let's get mikey to try it.

He won't eat it.
He hates everything."

Whatever mikey could eat,
everyone could eat.

That was the idea.

Anyway, mikey, at one point,
becomes a teenager.

He ate six can of soda
and six pouches of pop rocks.

And this has some kind
of chemical reaction

In his stomach.

And explodes and he dies.

So the myth is

That a combination
of six packs of pop rocks

And a six-pack of soda

Is a lethal combination
of gases

That will make
your stomach explode.

We'd like to determine
a couple of things.

We want to see how much
pressure is generated

By a rapid infusion

Of six packs
of pop rocks and soda.

[ Crackling ]

We'd like to determine
how much pressure

A stomach can withstand.

I've been thinking
about this,

And I think
to imitate a stomach,

The pressures of a stomach,

That the best course
is to use a pig's stomach,

Which is actually

Physically very close
to a human stomach,

Which can hold about

Between one and two pints,
generally, of liquid.

I'm trying to locate
a pig's stomach.

A pig's stomach.

Woman: mm-hmm.

Um...

Would this --
should we continue further?

[ Laughs ]

Is it about the size
of a human stomach?

Man: I really couldn't
tell you.

[ Laughs ]

How large is it?

Obviously it's deflated, right?

What?

Like a swimming cap.

Like a swimming cap.

A very, very meaty swimming cap.

Originally,
the idea was to create

An instant carbonated soda
by general foods.

Can I try some?

Yeah, absolutely.

They discovered actually that
when you ate those nuggets,

There was like a sizzle,
or a popping sensation

In your mouth.

I'll tell you
it's been 25 years,

But I know exactly
what this is gonna feel like.

Have you ever
had them before?

Long time ago, yeah.
All right.

And in 1975,

They decided to launch pop rocks
as we all know pop rocks.

Mm-hmm.

It's kind of gross.

The difference between
normal candy

Or normal standard hard candy
and pop rocks

Is that when the candy actually
is still, like, melted,

You put carbon dioxide
under certain conditions

Or pressures that I believe
is 600 psi.

[ Crackling ]

Narrator:
this isn't getting us any closer

To that pig stomach.

Does it have, like,
the esophagus

And the intestines
attached at all?

No, no, no, no, no.
Just the stomach.

I need all the tubes
attached to it.

Would it be possible
to get it with as much

Of the attachments to it,
as possible?

No, no.

Narrator: it turns out

That the food and drug
administration

Has listed
the esophagus and bowel

As hazardous substances.

Adam: 580 to 5 south.

It looks like
that says 580 is going.

I think we should just get
a real pig and feed him.

That'd be kind of fun
to watch one

And see what a pig does when
you feed him a bunch of those.

Adam: see, again,

There goes your lack of
political understanding.

You can raise so much hell
with that.

Jamie:
it's better to k*ll the pig
first and then give it to him?

Absolutely.

People are much more comfortable
with that arrangement.

All right, here we are.

Four stomachs.

Terrific.

That's them.

The specific
instructions on the thing,

Complete with esophagus
and intestines.

It's actually
becoming a reality.

Narrator: that's one important
mission accomplished.

Jamie: yummy.

That looks like right out of
aliens, doesn't it?

Looks like I can feel --
all right.

Yeah, I've got my finger
all the way down in there.

So, that's -- I don't know
which one's --

Which one's the intake
and which one's the output.

The worst part is the breath
coming out of here.

[ Laughter ]

Can I have a doughnut?

It's interesting

That the the valves on this
thing actually work.

It's holding its pressure.

You know, I mean,
we're not --

We just put air in there
and walked away.

And how do you think we'll get
the pop rocks and the soda

Actually into the stomach?

To get these in there,
we have to get them wet,

Unless we're gonna --
they're not gonna pour.

They're gonna stick
along the side,

They're gonna
immediately clog the hole.

You know, I had an idea.

Yeah.

What if we got a hold
of some tea bag-type stuff

And kind of wad them up
in little packets

And drop them
down in there?

It's too big.
[ Sighs ]

Well, the packet's
not gonna work.

It's too bulky
and so that's that.

I think we want to equate
a worst-case scenario here.

You know, like
the pop rocks are going in

In one bunch,
along with the soda,

I guess as rapidly
as you could do it --

As rapidly
as someone might drink it.

Big syringe then.

A big syringe?

The myth appears, I believe,
was in 1979 --

Fours years
after the candy was launched.

And actually has
devastating consequences

For the brand name.

[ Crackling ]

Sales dropped down
to almost nil.

Okay, so, one of the things
we have to figure out

Is how are we
gonna hang this thing?

What about mounting it
in our skeleton over there?

Sure.

There's plenty of
tie points in the rib cage.

Yeah, and we'll get to see
fluid dribbling out

Of the skeleton.

And you wanted
the dramatic effect.

That'll do it.

Yeah, and, of course,
actually the inlet tube

Will come up and out through
the mouth of the skeleton.

And you know where
the outlet tube is going.

No. Where is
the outlet tube going?

Oh, don't make me say it.

By the time we're done,

He'll be playing the piano,
just like old times.

What the company tried to do
to address the problem

Was basically they run around


Big, full-page advertisements --
in magazines,

And they wrote
about 50,000 letters

To different high schools,
headmasters in school,

Explaining
that there was no problem.

Frequently,
legends are believed.

And what happens is something
called ostention.

Ostention means that a legend is

Believed to the point
that you change your behavior.

Once a belief is out there,

It's pretty difficult --

You have to take some
gargantuan steps to disprove it.

Narrator: we've got to mix up
one last ingredient

Before the experiment can begin.

Jamie: I'd say
it's about a ph of 2.

Adam: okay,
so that's the equivalent

Of one stomach's contents
of hydrochloric acid, yes?

That's 1.7 pounds of water.

Gastric juice
is secreted, actually,

We believe,
as a protective mechanism.

It's not designed
to aid in digestion.

It's designed,

The hydrochloric acid
along with pepsin,

Is designed to k*ll things.

So, it's kind of protection over

When we were back there fighting
the hyenas for the bones.

Narrator:
it might not aid in digestion,

But we think a quart
of hydrochloric acid

Will be critical
to busting this myth.

Adam: oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.

Your gloves.

Now the fun begins.

Once you're pouring the liquid,

I'll be opening cans of soda,
handing them off to you.

We're clamped everywhere.

All right.

Adam: oh, man.

All right, mikey's had
two cans.

He's out of control.

Oh, my god,
he's going for another one.

Mikey!

All right, mikey, man,

You can't drink those
last two cans of soda.

Dude, you are an animal!

Dude, your stomach's
gonna burst.

All right, here it comes.

This is the plunger.

Slow down.

He didn't drink it
that fast.

Listen.

You can hear those pop rocks
going for it.

Oh, that's pretty
impressive.

Oh, there goes a burp.

Mikey's burping.

Come on -- oh, man!

Look how big
that stomach's getting.

[ Laughs ]

All right!

It's more or less got it.

All right.

Wow!

Okay, I wouldn't have called

That he could drink all that
soda and pop rocks at once.

That's huge.

That's like three times
the size of what it was.

We're not reading
any real pressure in here.

By its nature, the human
stomach is a capacitance organ.

That means
it's designed to stretch.

Receptive relaxation is
the concept in human physiology.

So it will relax and stretch
and stretch up to some limit.

So my guess is mikey's feeling
a little ill right about now.

I know I would be.

You think we should give
him some time to digest?

Sure, why not?

You got two built-in vents,

One on either side
of the stomach,

That should be the places
that this air goes,

If you reach those kinds
of pressure.

Narrator:
even with time for digestion,

The pop rocks and soda
just don't produce enough gas.

We put six cans,

About another almost
a liter of acid,

Six doses of pop rocks.

I can still hear it.
Can't you?

You can still
hear it crackling.

Pop rocks are going.

Narrator: so does this myth
contain any elements of truth?

Dr. Benjamin: the human stomach
clearly can rupture.

There's no question about that.

You can get rupture

In blunt trauma automobile
accidents, for instance.

Adam: it's starting to get
kind of special in here...

From an olfactory
standpoint.

Narrator: after a quick reset,
we're gonna try and see

If we can make
our pig's stomach explode.

[ Cellphone rings ]

Who the hell
could be calling me?

I can't answer that.

I'm tying a pig's stomach
into a skeleton.

Clamp.

My name is fernando arguis,

Vice president
of pop rocks incorporated,

And you're watching
"mythbusters."

Adam: now it turns out

That in the annals of
medicine in the last century,

There are a half-dozen cases

Of people's stomachs exploding
from an excess of co2,

Usually from something
like baking soda.

We're gonna see
how the bicarbonate soda

Compares to pop rocks in terms
of expansion of the stomach.

All right.

One -- let's do three.

That's an awful lot
of sodium bicarb.

Well, I've taken two
with heartburn.

Narrator: unlike pop rocks,
the baking soda and acid react.

Injecting acid.

All right.

The result is carbon dioxide
gas -- lots of it.

Okay, one down.

Yummy, and good for you.

Single most popular food
item in the united states.

Three cans down.

Four.

Come on, you got to drink
a little faster, piggy.

Five.

Six.

We've fully drunk the soda.

Bicarbonate.

You ready?

Ready.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, my god!

He's still drinking.

Now it's getting really big.

He can't hold it anymore.

Clamp it.

See what the pressure
is reading.

Whoa! Okay, that's
much bigger than before.

It's still hardly reading.

It's reading
about a half a psi.

There are probably
lots of folks out there

Who have for years
and years and years

Been using baking soda.

And in the amounts that would be
prescribed to reduce acid,

There is very, very little gas
formed.

It usually stays
in solution, comes out,

Doesn't cause very much
by way of distension,

If you stay within the limits
that are recommended.

Narrator:
here on "mythbusters,"

We're never afraid
to push the limits.

Okay, ready?

Ready.

Ooh, I feel the pressure.

If you have a stomach

That's greatly distended
by a large meal,

And then you add on top of that
either gas,

In the form
of sodium bicarbonate,

To try and relieve
acid indigestion,

You can, in those very,
very unusual situations,

See gastric rupture.

But no one should
have the impression

That this is common by any
stretch of the imagination.

Okay.

Whoa! Wow!

Well,
that did cause a reaction.

That turned out to be
a little too much.

Yeah, that's what we call
a hell of a saturday night.

Oh, my gosh.

Totally blew.

With the addition of a little
more stomach acid

And the bicarbonate of soda --
what was that, two tablespoons?

Yeah.

It ripped a hole
right in the back.

I felt the pressure
as I was plunging it.

You know, it wanted to
push the plunger back out again.

Yeah.

And then that final bit --

I don't know if we were watching
what the meter said,

But it might have spiked.

Yeah.

In a body, something
like two or three psis

Is a huge amount
of pressure.

I can't imagine a human
consuming that much crap.

Well, maybe I can, actually.

Well, the sodium bicarb
with the person's own stomach

Seems to me
to be the main thing.

Somebody that's just
taking, you know,

Eating candy or something,
I don't see it happening.

Narrator: "mythbusters" tried
to contact john gilchrist,

The actor who played
little mikey.

He never returned our calls.

Another one bites the dust.