He needed to see
it himself.
He got 1,875 feet.
Michael “Mad Mike” Hughes, 64, was a self-described flat-earth believer who built homemade steam rockets to prove the Earth was flat by seeing it for himself. On February 22, 2020, near Barstow, California — with the Science Channel filming for a show called “Homemade Astronauts” — he launched himself in his third rocket. Almost immediately after liftoff, his own exhaust shredded the parachute. He reached approximately 1,875 feet with no functioning parachute. He did not survive the landing. The Associated Press, Reuters, BBC, and the New York Times all confirmed his death.
A limousine driver. Who built rockets. In his garage.
Michael Hughes, known as “Mad Mike,” was a 64-year-old limousine driver from California with no formal aerospace training. He taught himself about steam-powered rocket propulsion, acquired materials and tools, and over the course of several years built a series of increasingly ambitious rocket vehicles in his garage. The flat-earth community adopted him as a folk hero.
Hughes later clarified in interviews that he was never fully committed to flat-earth theory — that he used the flat-earth angle primarily for fundraising and publicity, because it guaranteed media coverage. Whether he believed the Earth was flat or not, the rockets were real. The launches were real. The parachute problem was real.
Steam-powered. Homemade. One parachute.
Hughes’ rockets were powered by steam — water superheated under extreme pressure, released through a nozzle to generate thrust. This is a legitimate propulsion method, historically used in early rocketry experiments. It requires no exotic fuels and is technically achievable by a sufficiently skilled amateur.
The design challenge for steam rockets — which Hughes knew, having survived two previous launches — is that the same exhaust that provides thrust must be managed carefully to avoid contact with recovery systems. The February 2020 rocket had a parachute system located in proximity to the exhaust path. On liftoff, the steam exhaust contacted and shredded the parachute. The rocket continued to altitude. Hughes had no fallback recovery system.
The Earth is not flat. This we can confirm.
Hughes’ flat-earth theory held, in its basic form, that the Earth is a disc, that photographs from space are fabricated by NASA and the global scientific establishment, and that the curvature of the Earth cannot be detected from the ground because we are not being shown the real evidence. The solution, in his view, was to go look for yourself.
There is something philosophically coherent about Hughes’ approach: if you don’t trust institutional authority, go get the data yourself. The problem is that steam rocket altitude records are measured in thousands of feet. The curvature of the Earth becomes visible from aircraft altitudes of roughly 35,000 feet and above. Hughes never got close. At 1,875 feet, the horizon looks flat because the observable radius is too small.
He died for a theory that his own rocket could not have tested even if everything had gone correctly.
“Do I believe the Earth is shaped like a Frisbee? I believe it is. Do I know for sure? No. That's why I'm going up in the rocket.”
Michael 'Mad Mike' Hughes — interview before the February 2020 launch · AP