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Watch someone stand beneath a Blue Angels fighter on takeoff

Commentary: Why do people do this? Because they do.

Chris Matyszczyk

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


bangels

They stand so still, mesmerized.

Storyful Rights Management/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

I know that people have done this for years.

Why, on the island of St. Maarten, they stand in their swimsuits, waiting to be blown back by large planes taking off from the airport. Even though last year, a woman died after she was blown into a wall.

Yet here, courtesy of Norman Graf Aviation Photography, are two people standing beneath a Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet as it takes off from the Naval Air Facility in El Centro, California.

The Blue Angels were there this weekend to offer a display of their talents. 

So two intrepid individuals decided to stand right in line with Blue Angel No. 6, as Lt. Brandon Hempler took off seemingly quite near their heads.

Perhaps you'd be able to predict what might happen. 

The two gentleman just stand there, taking no avoiding action whatsoever. 

It's as if they're mesmerized by what they're seeing and reluctant to consider what they might shortly be feeling.

They finally duck at a moment when the plane appears to be already past them.

Stunningly, they're engulfed by sand and dust and, surely, the most awful din that will wreck their ears for centuries. 

But it was, apparently, exciting. Shrieks can be heard and now tales can be told. 

And, I suppose that's what doing something like this is all about. To tell someone else about it.