What are the odds?
Carlos Montalvo has had to keep quiet about a miracle that happened to him for over 25 years. [image_border img=”http://www.ripleys.com/weird/files/2013/01/Montalvo2-129-300×202.jpg” caption=”Carlos Montalvo w/ his miracle gun” pos=”right” border=”true” buffer=”true” /]
Montalvo is a former undercover federal agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). He is recently retired, so can now freely talk about what happened on October 20, 1987 in a mall parking lot in Miami.
During an encounter with a drug suspect, Montalvo came under fire. The suspect, 23-year-old William Morales, was in a car when he opened fire on Montalvo. What happened next is what Montalvo calls a “One in 20 million shot.”
Deconstructing the Unbelievable
“The first round that he shot at me went down the barrel of my pistol and smashed my bullet,” said Montalvo.
[image_border img=”http://www.ripleys.com/weird/files/2013/01/Bullet-129-300×200.jpg” caption=”Montalvo’s bullet that was stopped by another
bullet that shot down the barrel of his gun” pos=”left” border=”true” buffer=”true” /]
Montalvo had fired his weapon just a fraction of a second before Morales had. Morales’ bullet went into Montalvo’s barrrel as the bullet was coming out. As Montalvo describes:
“His bullet went so straight through the barrel of my gun that it felt like the recoil of my bullet going out. And he beat me by fractions of seconds on me pulling the trigger.”
Wait, it gets better!
Not only did a bullet shoot down the barrel of Montalvo’s gun while he was shooting, but it was shot from a .9mm Sig Sauers, THE EXACT SAME MAKE AND MODEL AS MONTALVO’S GUN!
Officers that were on the scene confirm how lucky Montalvo is:
“I heard the shot, I looked, I saw him fall down and to boot he wasn’t even wearing a vest, a bullet proof vest. Which like I said it was an all-around miracle,”
-Carlos Zayas, Police Sergeant.
Unbelievable…But Not Ripley’s First!
[image_border img=”http://www.ripleys.com/weird/files/2013/01/000000008085_1-239×300.jpg” caption=”Marshal W. Pitman shaking
hands with Robert Ripley” pos=”right” border=”true” buffer=”true” /]
In 1932 Robert Ripley hosted a Believe It or Not! Contest. He invited anyone from all over the world to submit their best Believe It or Not! (BION).
Out of 5 million entries, Robert Ripley picked Walter Pitman as one of the winners! Pitman received an all expenses paid trip for two to Cuba.
Pitman was the Marshal of Wharton, Texas. On September 15, 1917 Marshal Pitman tried to arrest Francisco Lopez for public intoxication.
Lopez was in no mood to be arrested that evening. He drew his gun and shot two bullets at Pitman. Pitman returned fire, and his first bullet went down the muzzle of the pistol and jammed Lopez’s gun!
Close to 30 years later, Pitman hears of Ripley’s BION contest. He enters his incredible story and wins! Not only that, we still have the pistol. It is currently being exhibited at our Odditorium in Williamsburg, VA.
[image_border img=”http://www.ripleys.com/weird/files/2013/01/19321207.jpg” caption=”Cartoon featuring Marshal W. Pitman ” pos=”center” border=”true” buffer=”true” /]
hahahahahahahahahaha l want to work with you guys
This one time I was fishing and I cast out my line with a minno on the hook ( a tiny fish approx -1”) a few minutes later nothing was biting so I reeled my line back in. I went to check the line and there was a fish on it. But I thought it was just the minno, upon closer inspection I realized it was a baby trout about 2” long. I still have no idea how it got on there. Either it ate the minno, or the minno fell off and the baby trout bit the hook. Idk why, but this story made me think of that.
just one of the best One in 20 Million Shot | Ripley& I located up to now
If Montalvo fired his weapon before Morales did. Then how did Morales’ bullet arrive at Montalvo’s barrrel before Montalvo’s bullet left that barrel?