The Explosion That Banished a Boy to the Basement

Such a loss that he was never given the support he needed. The guy built a nuclear reactor and there were really no scientists or facilities willing to take him on? He proved his abilities more than 99% of people could even dream of. He could've been a brilliant engineer and scientist with so much curiosity to drive him.

Um wtf? I remember this video being one of Arrons firsts. Am I losing it here?? Why does it say only 3 years ago??

Brilliant 😂

Radioactive poisoning could have contributed to his mental health issues and intern his death. But that’s just speculation

do you use ai for your thumbnails ?

I recall a poem called Dreadful David Dee from a childhood school reader about a boy who misused a chemistry set and blew himself into space.
After listening to this video, I’m thinking Henry
Phillip Raymond Smith knew about this David
Poem is very funny

Soon as you said red phosphorous I knew this whole story was fake

Thanks for detailing how he was able to get over the roadbumps! Gonna go build a better one 🫡

(Edit this is a joke.)

😳 everyone else runs from the stuff, he's playing with it.🙄😐

Intelligence doesn't equal wisdom.

Albert Einsten has reincarnated looks it to me...
Edit: sad that litterly this was at 1 point national news or at least in his town and towns and villages around if it proberly was the state, so police and those man in suits new about it the fbi did too why didn't they offerd him a job in a real lab with safety and safety rules? This is just a great talented person that died because of pain missery and not able to be himself and so not able to do what he liked the most and then that overdose... well i don't think it was an accindental overdose but on purpose, i don't know how his mother toke her life and at that time where was his father??? I miss a lot of the puzzle pieces tbh...

I wonder if Young Sheldon was inspired by this story. Because he collects smoke detectors to build a reactor in his garage to power the neighborhood. And then called his favorite TV show host Professor Proton, saying he had the fissionable material for a reactor, asking how he should build the reactor... and then the FBI turned up

His mother should have bought him the Gilbert U-238 Radiation Lab for Christmas when he was 10. Yes, that was a thing. In the 1950s!

That's ironic. I just pressed on the video and got an ad for some language course and the first thing inhear qhere the video starts is a mini ad for babbel 😂😂

It's a shame he didn't have proper guidance from an older intellectual in the appropriate field of expertise when he was a young man. It's possible he could have been sent in the right direction and, in turn, used good precautions and procedures.

My husband "played" will chemical sets as a child as well. He got as far as creating nitro and testing it on part of his school after hours. He was also a David. His mother forbade him from chemical sets upon hearing of the damage. She had no proof her son was responsible but a good guess he was.

This is an incredible story !! Thanks for telling it .

Icarus Incarnate 😢

Are we not going to talk about how David wore the same shirt his whole life?

You guys have the most exciting, unbelievable stories. And the narrative talent is unmatchable. Stylish, funny, charming and intelectual!, just amazing! Thx, and God bless you all, you're all great!

Elecrto boom was right to always say "dont do this at home"

This is why nuclear information nowadays requires clearance levels, if at least, classified as CUI and ITAR

I know the story, the kid, I live nearby. I remember.

Brilliant kid... Incredibly stupid, but also brilliant!

If the government had put him to work in nuclear research he could have been one of the greats just like Louis Slottin, oh wait maybe not that on second thought.

It seems to me that the teenager may have been an idiot savant? Smart enough to DIY assemble a nuclear reactor, but not smart enough to take radiation precations.Also, he joins the Navy and is posted to a nuclear sub but isnt in an MOS that works directly with the reactor? Lastly....I wonder what the power output of his DIY reactor would have been. Enough to power his house? His block?

I lived right next-door to this kid. My Mom still lives there. I was home when the FBI and the guys disassembling the shed in nuclear waste suits came. There’s only a couple pictures of this. I have video of it!

❤

I’m an Eagle Scout it was truly the best program I could think of to shape young men in the right way but sometimes the kinds of kids that really thrive in scouts Cary over that desire to explore and learn and achieve things with good intention yet in the wrong ways.

Extreme intelligence goes hand in hand with mental illness.

On the "he couldn't spell worth beans" note, I can see why this didn't tip off any of the experts he corresponded with. I've been blessed to know MANY highly educated, intelligent people, some of whom were my own teachers, whose spelling was absolutely lousy. It's not uncommon for people with technical interests, it would seem, and so wouldn't have raised any red flags that maybe this wasn't a teacher they were corresponding with.

gr8 vid

Is it sad this made me want to play more fallout4

such a sad story… poor boy

How sad he wasn’t recognized as having a special intelligence and given the opportunity to pursue his dreams.

BABEL DUOLINGO IS THE BEST SELLING YOU 1D1OT

How did he get these supplies to do these experiments makes you wonder

I lived in Detroit then. 😮😮😮

All of this coul have been avoided if he had parents who showed genuine interest in his projects - he would have loved to talk endlessly about his experiments and if his parents listened and supported him, showing him ways how to do his experiments safely and warning him at the right time to ensure his safety things would have gone very differently.

The right attitude and curiosity to learn and innovate, unfortunately didn't have a mentor or the right place to put all that energy into work 😔

Why was this guy not hired? Should be in area 51 or some shit

This is why you have to watch your children

actual mad scientist...

"Chlorine Gas, inhale that, if you want" - thoughty2