Shocking Video Claims to Capture Ship Launch Gone Wrong

Here at Trending Now, we'd be remiss if we did not bring viral videos to your attention on a regular basis. It's part of our job, and we love doing it. The latest one to capture not only our attention but that of the social media world depicts a ship launch apparently gone horribly wrong.

In it, the NOAA ship Reuben Lasker, at Marinette shipyard in Wisconsin, glides down an inclined metal ramp into the water. It suddenly tips steeply onto its side and crashes violently into the water, sending wood planks and other debris flying into the air toward whomever is filming from behind the boat. The video then ends abruptly after about 18 seconds. It was initially uploaded to YouTube in January by user Jason Bundoff, but the ship launch took place about a year ago. It has already been viewed more than 90,000 times, and people are watching the less than 20 seconds of footage multiple times just to take it all in.

Bundoff wrote in the description of the video, "Ship side launch goes wrong resulting in a debris filled wave taking me and my camera out." Luckily for Bundoff, he escaped with only minor injuries, just scratches and bruises.

The video was posted to Reddit on Monday, and one commenter claimed to have been at the launch. Redditor DJT 832 wrote of the dramatic event that engineers had to install wooden supports to guide the boat into the water, instead of the traditional steel ones. He also added, "After this incident, viewers were no longer allowed to be so close to the launches."

Bundoff's video has been reposted on multiple websites, and some viewers are suspicious of Bundoff's actually having been present to film the event. Some people have speculated that a remote camera must have filmed the crashing boat, because the flying debris would have caused more damage than Bundoff claims to have endured. Additionally, some people on YouTube are calling foul on the video altogether, and saying it is a fake.

An alternate view of the ship launch, this time from the bow, gives a totally different perspective of what happened. It makes the launch look a lot more tame. While the ship does create a wave, there is no flying debris seen, and the ship rights itself in a matter of seconds. You can even hear people cheering at the success of the launch.

[Related: Archaeologists Seek Ships Sunk in Peruvian Battle 400 Years Ago]

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