One of the most unlikely true stories is the survival of a man named Anatoli Bugorski, who experienced a catastrophic accident involving a particle accelerator. In 1978, Bugorski, a Russian physicist, was working at the Institute for High Energy Physics in Protvino, Russia when he accidentally placed his head inside a running particle accelerator called the U-70 synchrotron.
The particle accelerator was in operation at the time, and a malfunction caused a high-energy proton beam to shoot through Bugorski's skull. The beam entered his head through his left temple and exited near his left ear. Bugorski reportedly saw a flash "brighter than a thousand suns" but felt no pain during the incident.
Remarkably, Bugorski survived the accident and lived to tell the tale. However, the damage caused by the proton beam was severe. The incident resulted in the partial destruction of his brain tissue, including the loss of hearing in his left ear and paralysis on the left side of his face. Despite these disabilities, Bugorski completed his Ph.D., continued his work in physics, and even lived a relatively normal life.
Bugorski's survival and the subsequent study of his condition provided valuable insights into the effects of high-energy particle beams on the human body. His case remains one of the most extraordinary and unlikely stories of survival in the face of a highly dangerous and potentially lethal accident.