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12 of the most unbelievable moments ever captured on live TV

It's hard to believe how many world-altering events were unintentionally broadcast to millions

CNN/YouTube & Robert H. Jackson (29) - Flickr

The Challenger space shuttle tragedy and the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald were both shown live on television.

The first television was invented in 1927. In the early days, much of the programming available was previously recorded. It wasn't until around the 1950s that we had the technology for live broadcast television.

Simply put, live TV changed everything. It was only a few years earlier that the Hindenburg disaster had the world's attention rapt. The incident saw a state-of-the-art Zeppelin flying machine burst into flames without warning, killing 36 people. You might remember, even if you can't place it, the iconic and tragic radio broadcast of the accident: "Oh, the humanity!" Though even that commentary by broadcast journalist Herbert Morrison was recorded live and broadcast to the world much later.

Soon, the biggest most earth-shaking events were being broadcast all over the world live, not just for people to hear, but to see with their own eyes. In some cases, they were even being captured (sometimes unwittingly) before producers had a chance to cut away.

Here are some of the wildest and most famous incidents to have ever occurred in the roughly 75-year history of live television.

1. The second plane hits on 9/11

Almost anyone who was alive in 2001 can tell you where they were the morning of September 11.

Though there is some footage of the first plane to hit the World Trade Center, it wasn't until after that impact that news and media began to descend upon the area. No one knew the extent of what was happening at first, except that it was a horrible tragedy. And then the second plane hit the South tower as millions watched in absolute horror, changing the world forever.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

2. Randy Johnson obliterates a bird during MLB game

Not all the crazy things that have happened on live television had such far reaching impacts. And, thankfully, not all of them have been quite as tragic.

Well, I guess we should try telling that to this poor bird. It flew through the middle of a baseball diamond at the worst possible time, getting instantly annihilated by pitcher Randy Johnson's fastball! The freak incident was a one-in-a-million occurrence that's still known as one of the wildest things to ever happen during a pro sports game.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

3. The Challenger tragedy

In 1986 the world watched eagerly as the space shuttle Challenger launched out of Cape Canaveral, Florida with seven crew members aboard. The event was being broadcast live in schools all over the country when the unthinkable happened: The shuttle exploded without warning just 73 seconds into its flight.


- YouTubewww.youtube.com

4. Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walk on the moon

Thankfully, here's one space flight with a happy ending. In 1969, Apollo 11 took astronauts to the moon for the first manned landing. Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon as millions of onlookers watched on live from their homes, with the help of incredible NASA camera and satellite technology.

(Of course, to this day some people still insist the whole thing was faked!)


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5. The killing of Lee Harvey Oswald

Though there was much media coverage of JFK's doomed appearance in Dallas in 1963 and, of course, his assassination, the actual moment of his shooting was never shown live on television. However the death of Lee Harvey Oswald, his presumed killer, was.

Just two days later, while being moved through the police station in handcuffs, Oswald was approached and shot by a man named Jack Ruby. The entire thing was captured and broadcast to a huge audience who was tuned-in constantly for updates on the case.

6. Gary Plauche murders his son's kidnapper

It was a horrible story, but all too familiar. No one watching at the time had any idea that they were about to witness a historic and shocking moment.

A man named Jeffrey Doucet had been arrested on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a young boy, and a news crew was waiting for him to arrive in police custody at the airport in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Unbeknownst to Doucet, the police, the reporters, and the live audience, the victimized boy's father was also waiting. Gary Plauche remained incognito until Doucet walked past him, at which point Plauche pulled a gun and shot, killing him.

Plauche did not serve significant time for the murder, receiving a lenient sentence.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com


7. A guy wins $250,000 on a scratch-off while being interviewed about a winning a new car on a scratch-off

OK, that was a dark stretch, right? Here's another one-in-a-million moment that's a lot more fun.

In 1998, an Australian man named Bill Morgan was down on his luck. He lived in a truck and nearly died twice in a small period, once from a terrible car crash and then from an allergic reaction to medication. His luck turned around when he won a brand new car on a lottery scratch-off ticket.

A local news station came out to cover Morgan's story and asked him to scratch off another ticket for B-roll footage for the story. In the live video, Morgan is absolutely stunned to find that he won $250,000 on the second ticket.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

8. Magician dies on stage and the audience thinks it's all part of the act

Tommy Cooper, a comedian and magician, was performing on the UK television show Live from Her Majesty's in front of an audience of roughly 12 million people when he suddenly collapsed during an illusion.

The audience, knowing Cooper liked to have a little fun with pretending to fail the trick, began laughing. In reality, Cooper had suffered a heart attack and was dead on arrival by the time he made it to the hospital.

9. Damar Hamlin goes into cardiac arrest on Monday Night Football

About 15 million people watch a typical Monday Night Football game. The audience was likely bigger than that for a highly anticipated showdown between the Bengals and Bills in January of 2023.

Early in the game, after a seemingly routine tackle, Bills safety Damar Hamlin stood up, wobbled, and collapsed to the field. Trainers rushed to his side, and soon, first responders and an ambulance showed up as well. Viewers had very little idea what was happening, except that the stadium was absolutely silent and players on both sidelines were shown crying.

Hamlin had suffered cardiac arrest on the field, more specifically an episode of commotio cordis which is almost always fatal if not treated immediately. The Bills' training staff that rushed to his side saved his life on live television via CPR, and Hamlin eventually returned to NFL duty the next year.

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10. The Max Headroom TV hijacking

Here's a weird one. In November 1987, a masked "hijacker" took over the live feed of WGN-TV in Chicago. The person was dressed as the character Max Headroom. There was no sound or speech for 30 bizarre seconds before station engineers regained control over the television feed.

The same person, later that day, hijacked the feed of another major Chicago station: WTTW. This interruption lasted about 90 seconds and included, well, a lot of extremely strange stuff.

The FCC investigated the incident but were never able to identify the culprits.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

11. Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at The Oscars

Will this incident earn a place in the history books one day? Maybe not. But for a brief moment in 2022, we all thought this was the craziest thing that had ever occurred. Was it all a skit? Was it real? No one knew for sure at first.

I guess you just had to be there.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

12. January 6, 2021

Millions of Americans watched it unfold live in the aftermath of the 2020 Presidential election as a mob of over 2000 protestors approached and then stormed the US Capitol.

The footage captured by the media present that day is among the most shocking in American history.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com


Can you imagine if there were dozens of iPhone videos taken aboard the Titanic as it sank? If someone been trying to sneak a selfie with Abraham Lincoln in the background just as John Wilkes Booth was sneaking up to assassinate him?

It's amazing to think that there will likely never be a major historical or pop culture event that's not captured, if not on live television, at least on self-shot video. On second thought, after seeing some of these videos, maybe that's not such a good thing.

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Technology

23-year-old brilliantly explains 'foolproof' system to compare news sources

Properly processing a newspaper article isn't something younger generations have been taught.

kelscruss/TikTok

Gen Z, we're all begging you: Please don't get your news from TikTok. Unless you're following Kelsey Russell, that is. The 23-year-old Columbia grad has found a fascinating niche on social media — helping young people learn how to read and analyze actual news. The paper kind, believe it or not!

She calls herself "the girl who reads the newspaper", and the title couldn't be more apt. In most of her content, she takes a news article from a big paper like the New York Times and breaks it down for her audience in their terms. She helps them understand the news, the context behind it, and why they should think critically about the source behind the news.

It's a skill that younger generations desperately need more of. Studies show there are major gaps in Gen Z's media literacy skills, and that can have major consequences.

In one of Kelsey's most popular videos, she breaks down her "foolproof" method for contrasting and synthesizing different news sources.

It's a system she learned from various teachers throughout her life, who she gratefully shouts out in the video. And though it's designed to help young people who need to write an essay for school while using evidence from supporting texts, it doubles as an amazing lesson in how to think critically about the news.

In the lesson, Kelsey examines the same news story across three different papers: The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal.

Even without getting into the text of each article, Kelsey teaches viewers how to infer meaning, bias, and context from word choices in the headline.

Watch the full video for some excellent tips on how to reflect on what you've read and identify differences in news coverage.

@kelscruss

ima make your english teacher shed a tear😢 #fyp #medialiteracy #mcarthy #writingtips

What's amazing is that she really sits with the content of each news story and thinks about how it makes her feel.

She does some mental association with the headlines. What stands out to me about each one? How do they differ in their tone? What feelings or thoughts do the different word choices conjure up?

She uses the comparisons to create a thesis statement about the news story and how it's being covered by the media.

To older generations who grew up reading news article, these seem like really basic concepts.

But to younger people who get rapidly bombarded with an endless feed of different shortform news and opinions on social media and the web, taking time to process what they've read or heard is not something that comes easy.

What's really impressive is that Kelsey's approach is working and actually connecting with people. Reading the newspaper might sound like a boring idea for a TikTok channel, but that hasn't stopped Kelsey from racking up nearly 100k followers and millions of views.

Kelsey is meeting young people where they are to teach crucial skills like reading comprehension and critical thinking.

@kelscruss

like I knew about da bombs but the cluster bomblets?!??! #fyp #syrian #newyorktimes #ukraine #russia

She's challenging young people to not just take what they read at its exact face value but to dig deeper into the tone, the intention, the word choice.

And she's an advocate for reading news that you can hold in your hand.

"I realized when I read the news on print, I actually had time to process what was going on," she told NPR. "And when I would read the same article on my phone I would find my body [was] overwhelmed."

Most kids and young people get their news from friends and family or social media, where it can be much harder to diagnose misinformation and bias. That's not likely to change any time soon, and there is major power in social media's ability to spread messages far and wide, quickly. That's what makes Kelsey's work so amazing. There are a lot of campaigns and efforts out there to try to get young people more engaged with traditional news, but there aren't many people willing to meet them where they are, speak their language, and teach them with empathy and understanding.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha will decide future elections. Even the future of the world.

It's reassuring to know there are people fighting to make sure they have all the facts.

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Science

Florida meteorologist applauded for getting emotional in live coverage of Hurricane Milton

People are finding John Morales' genuine empathy refreshing, and very much needed.

Photo credit: NASA (public domain), NBC 6 South Florida/YouTube

“I apologize — this is just horrific,” said John Morales during live coverage of Hurricane Milton.

Venerated meteorologist John Morales couldn’t help but get choked up during his report on the potentially devastating impact of Hurricane Milton closing in on Florida—a mere two weeks after being pummeled by Hurricane Helene.

“It’s just an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane,” Morales began, the weather forecast map almost completely in red.

Tears welled up in his eyes as Morales tried to notify viewers that “it has dropped 50 millibars in 10 hours.”

To most of us, those wouldn’t mean anything. But the anguish in Morales’s voice says it all.

Trying to gain composure, Morales quickly said, “I apologize — this is just horrific,” and continued with his broadcast offscreen, showing just the water map. His voice was still noticeably shaken.

We live in a 24-hour new cycle, which has made us aware of so many global catastrophes and also desensitized to them. But when moments like this happen, when even our ever-stoic messengers are so moved that it also touches us on an emotional level, we are reminded that what happens to one of us, happens to all of us.

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That's probably why so many people commented to commend Morales for showing a bit of humanity—which they found particularly refreshing for a news anchor.

"Please don't apologize. Showing some empathy shows you care and aren't fear mongering. <3 We appreciate it."

"No apology is ever needed for being human and showing what we see so little of these days: genuine empathy. Thank you, sir."

"Your kindness and humanity are not a weakness, but the strength that we all need right now. Thank you."

"No apologies needed sir...for someone to show real emotions for other people...is real concern, real caring."

"He showed a vanishingly rare moment of authenticity and actual empathy, in an incredibly cynical and ugly world - a beautiful thing to see in this scary time. As someone whose family lives in the area that is about to be pummeled by this storm, I am very grateful to him for his decency and humanity in the face of this possible horror that my family are facing. He deserves SO much credit for this beautiful display of transparency and empathy - though he obviously didn't do it for the credit but rather, out of empathy."

"I debated whether to share this. I did apologize on the air," Morales would later post on X.

He also urged folks to read his coverage of the relationships between climate change and extreme weather on The Bulletin, calling these recent hurricanes are “harbingers of the future.”

Global warming has changed me. Frankly, YOU should be shaken too," he wrote.

If a professional of 35 years is saying this…yikes.

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Family

20 years after her father's death, 'daddy's girl' receives a letter from him on her wedding day

"Today is your day, enjoy everything about it. Laugh and cry. Be happy and confident."

via Chip Vincent/Unsplash and Scott Graham/Unsplash

Philip Hargreaves wrote 9 letters to his daughter before he died.

Freya Rosati, 32, from Buckinghamshire, England, received the most incredible gift on her wedding day: a letter from her father, who had passed away 20 years ago. Freya “loved” her father’s card, making her feel like he was “really there” on the momentous occasion.

In 2002, Freya’s father, Philip Hargreaves, a pub landlord, was having constant indigestion. Tests revealed he had terminal esophageal cancer and just six months to live.

Freya is a confessed daddy’s girl, and she and her father did everything together. He took her to dance lessons, and they would play games together and watch movies. When Phillip learned that his days with his daughter were numbered, he got to work writing 9 letters to be given to her throughout her lifetime.

Eight of the letters were given to her on her birthdays, and one was written for her wedding day. "He wrote me cards every birthday up until my 18th, then one for my 21st, and a final for my wedding day. But the wedding day was the most important one," Freya said.

Bride gets letter from dad on wedding day – decades after his death: https://t.co/PIGnLbiO1M #weddings #family

Phillip passed away at 53 when Freya was just 11 years old. On the day that she married her love, Michael, Freya’s mother, Theresa, 68, read the letter her father wrote her and shared how she was instrumental in getting him to write. The letter was a fantastic way to make her dad present during the ceremony and was a perfect father-of-the-bride speech.

"Once he was very ill, I bought a selection of cards and helped him to write them for [inaudible] and Freya to receive on their birthdays and on their wedding day,” Theresa said. “I have the last one today for Freya, and she would like to share it with you to include her dad on her special day."

The letter had a simple and powerful message. It takes strength to make a marriage work, but Freya is more than up to the challenge.

[Video]

Bride receives message from her dad on wedding day, 20 years after his death

I wish I could be standing next to you, the proudest dad in the world, to walk you down the aisle to the man you love, and to the next chapter in your life. Today is your day, enjoy everything about it. Laugh and cry. Be happy and confident.

Face everything full-on. You will then succeed in your life together. You gave me some of the proudest moments in my life with your sense of humour, intelligence, understanding, and caring nature. Don’t ever change. Love you forever, dad.

The letter wasn’t her father's only contribution on the wedding day. She wore a diamond necklace that he gave her as a gift on her big day. All in all, Freya thinks her dad would have approved of her big day.

"My dad would've loved that wedding – just hearing his words, I can imagine him saying them to me," she concluded.

Phillip’s heartfelt letter to his daughter is a powerful reminder that our days are numbered. Never miss an opportunity to tell the people in your life how much you love them because you never know when you won’t be able to anymore.

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