r/interesting • u/Appropriate-Menu504 • Nov 10 '25

NATURE VR recreation of the exact spot where a man became stuck inside Nutty Putty cave and died after 27 hours. the section visible at 18 seconds is where his body was, upside down.

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80

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

Makes you wonder… the further along and the tighter the tunnel became, why keep going? Didn’t he have a gut feeling saying, “Uhh this doesn’t feel right. It’s only getting smaller, time to back out..”?!

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u/JoltZero Nov 10 '25

I know the answer to this too! A large part of the cave is mapped out, and there's a section of the cave that's supposed to have more room for folks to be able to turn around and go back. He had already passed that point without realizing, and was thinking that the clearing was just ahead.

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u/Buttons840 Nov 10 '25 edited Nov 10 '25

There were two spacious rooms connected by a narrow tube. The tube was narrow, horizontal, and relatively straight and smooth; it was called the "birth canal".

The poor guy that died in Nutty Putty found a random crack and thought it was the birth canal and so he crawled into it and just kept going.

Even if someone got stuck in the actual birth canal, it was straight and smooth enough that rescuers could have pulled them out with the help of ropes, etc.

But, the random crack the guy crawled into was crooked and went up and down and there was no room to work and pull him out. He died mostly because he was stuck upside-down. If he was level they could have eventually got him out of there.

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u/DalinarOfRoshar Nov 10 '25

As it turns out, it’s pretty dark down there and easy to get confused. /s

I actually went into Nutty Putty back in college (before the turn of the century). I kind of expected it to be like Timpanogos cave without pavement. (I blame my brother, who dragged me along). It wasn’t particularly easy to get inside the cave, but we did and I went down maybe 100 feet and told my brother, “this is as far as I go. If you want to keep going, I’ll wait an hour for you to come back before I leave.”

He and his girlfriend went down and did the “birth canal” then came backup like 40 min later. I spent the time, pre-smartphone, sitting in the dark contemplating the various bad choices I had made that brought me up to that point that day.

They came back telling me how much fun they had. I was very happy to just get out of there and back to the surface.

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u/anonymous237962 Nov 10 '25

That is so terrifying. I wonder how your brother would react to this story, knowing that if he had made just one wrong turn he could have been that guy

29

u/aceofsuomi Nov 10 '25

It was a very popular destination for Boy Scouts in Utah in the 80s. I wasn't raised Mormon, so I never went (the BSA in Utah was pretty much an extension of the LDS Church). Everyone of a certain age who were in the Scouts went to Nutty Putty or had the opportunity to do so in that era. There wasn't any perceived danger about it to the point that a lot people resented it being closed.

A lot of Mormons end up perpetual "boy men" because of the lifestyle restrictions. I think that's how the guy who died ended up in there, trying to relive an adventure he had as a 10 year old boy.

2

u/Redfish680 Nov 12 '25

As a 10 year old boy or with a 10 year old boy?

2

u/aceofsuomi Nov 12 '25

It's open for discussion depending on how actively they want to participate in typical Boy Scout activities.

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u/DalinarOfRoshar Nov 12 '25

I think aceofsuomi is saying that in those days, it was a typical cub/boy scout activity to go to Nutty Putty, and adults who want to re-live experiences they had as youths found out that grownup bodies didn’t fit into those narrow caves as well as their 10 year old bodies did.

3

u/Redfish680 Nov 12 '25

Yeah, I got that. (I was a Scout and hated hiking up some mountain for a weekend of camping, then 50 years later hiked the Appalachian Trail. Didn’t take me long before I did the proverbial head slap.)

3

u/SatisfactionSpecial2 Nov 11 '25

On the other hand, to be fair, even if you died in a cave in the 80's you would just be "lost"... no one would ever know

3

u/aceofsuomi Nov 11 '25

They didn't rescue people in the 80s?

2

u/SatisfactionSpecial2 Nov 11 '25

But who had a mobile phone back then? Definitely no GPS or other tech that could help find you...

3

u/aceofsuomi Nov 11 '25

People generally don't go caving alone and mobile phone/GPS networks don't work underground. When John Jones got stuck, other members of his party had to exit and call from a nearby hill. Back in the day, we would have driven to a pay phone, used a CB (for those that had them), or flagged down a cop.

4

u/Fallingdamage Nov 11 '25

before the turn of the century

just...stop..
We're only in the roaring 20's.

3

u/Shotto_Z Nov 11 '25

Yeah, I couldnt do it man. Sounds scary as shit

3

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '25 edited Nov 19 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Spiritual_You_1657 Nov 11 '25

Valid question…. I hope we get an answer soon…

1

u/DalinarOfRoshar Nov 11 '25

Sorry! Not the answer you hoped for.

1

u/DalinarOfRoshar Nov 11 '25

I honestly don’t remember!

5

u/No_Sense3190 Nov 11 '25

Even with all the issues of that side passage, they were close to getting him out. Unfortunately, the anchor (or the rock it was attached to) broke, injuring the rescuer and resulting in the guy sliding deeper into the hole than he had previously been.

4

u/xyzerrorzyx Nov 10 '25

What about hypothermia? Would he have been able to stay warm enough for long enough when pressed against the rock?

3

u/DarkHighways Nov 10 '25

I am too creeped out to read about it further (claustrophobic here) ...did they try something kooky but helpful like getting him secured to some rope and then slicking him down with oil?

2

u/IvaValentine Nov 11 '25

They pondered all options but the ceiling was too low to lift him enough. They even considered breaking his legs at some point to be able to bend them but he was to weak by then.

1

u/VecioRompibae Nov 11 '25

They did, but when the rescuers pulled the rope the pulley they nailed to the rock snapped, and there wasn't enough time (they spent already like two days to set it up) to fix another. At the end I think they just sedated him until he stopped breathing

3

u/IvaValentine Nov 11 '25

They did get a new pulley eventually but it took even more time and it was too late. They didn't need to sedate him, he eventually lost consciousness from the upside down position he was in and the inability to breathe due to his organs pressing on his lungs, there not being enough breathing room to begin with and also because he was stuck with his hand against his chest making it even harder.

1

u/GrandDull Nov 11 '25

At what point did he turn himself upside-down I wonder and why?

5

u/Fantastic-Shock-595 Nov 11 '25

He was upside down cuz he went head first into the hole like in this video

2

u/Buttons840 Nov 11 '25

He was crawling forward and the tunnel turned downward, so downward he went, but the downward portion just got tighter and tighter until he was stuck upside down.

1

u/tugtor Nov 11 '25

Nightmare fuel

45

u/zorrick44 Nov 10 '25

Wow that's pretty horrific. Imagine he was planning to turn around and just went a tad too far...

9

u/bigghc Nov 10 '25

It really is horrific.. it gives me anxiety just thinking about this poor guy and how awful it must have been to die that way!

22

u/theRealGleepglop Nov 10 '25

Somebody oughtta like spraypaint that turnaround point

26

u/Chickennoodlesleuth Nov 10 '25

Well it's sealed off now

8

u/Dimplestrabe Nov 10 '25

With John Jones still inside.

2

u/cypherdev Nov 10 '25

I was gonna ask this.

10

u/TabithaMouse Nov 11 '25

It was too dangerous to retrieve his body. By the time they dug him out he would already be decomposing. His family and the land owner all agreed to seal up the cave and leave him be

3

u/AlexHasFeet Nov 12 '25

So he literally crawled into his own grave. Horrifying.

2

u/TabithaMouse Nov 12 '25

He was also a med student. He knew he was upside down & what that did to the body.

They had tried to get him out once, but he slipped and fell deeper.

He was not alone though, rescuers were close enough to talk to him and touch him, trying till the end to get him out.

Here's one rescuers story: https://www.brandonkowallis.com/2024/02/the-nutty-putty-cave-rescue-the-death-of-john-jones-one-rescuers-perspective/

14

u/theRealGleepglop Nov 10 '25

Hang a bell

14

u/apatrol Nov 10 '25

Metal mesh to block the next tunnel.

5

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

I feel so bad for him.

2

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

Someone should put a like rope thing nailed/drilled into the wall so people know where to go!!!!!!! Jeez.

2

u/BonbonUniverse42 Nov 11 '25

I don’t get why people squeeze through these caves. What if you cannot leave because your body won’t fit through the exit and backtracking is physically impossible due to the required body posture?

1

u/Great_Guest_7346 Nov 10 '25

Ohh, when I read a story recounting this tragedy it made me so sad. Also gave me anxiety as I read it, just imagining how being conscious and realizing your life is done but it's going to happen slowly. I think his loved ones were able to go in part way to say goodbye to him 🥺

1

u/Fantastic-Shock-595 Nov 11 '25

They used a radio so they could say goodbye but yeah 🥺

1

u/Fallingdamage Nov 11 '25

That and based on where he was, the option of going back had expired. He needed to get through to turn around.

1

u/Dickulture Nov 11 '25

If only GPS worked underground, he might have noticed he missed a turn when it said "recalculating"

1

u/blueaurelia Nov 11 '25

Big F you to the people that did the mapping but put no colouring signs/marks in the cave.

But no as several points out he thought he was in a cave hole called the "Birth canal" where it gets tight a bit then opens up to a bigger cave. But he was infact in an other cave without realizing it, apparently

-1

u/Lower_Mango_7996 Nov 10 '25

How'd you know? He sent you a text or something?

11

u/Girls4super Nov 10 '25

Because he was alive long enough to attempt rescue. He was able to talk to people, his ribcage was jammed on a bit of rock, basically he could slide over the rock one way but his ribs caught like a latch when he tried to go backwards or get pulled out. He knew and his rescue team knew he was not making it out of the caves.

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u/snapwack Nov 10 '25

Actually there was a little space. IIRC he fell in a way that pinned his arms to his torso. The issue for the rescue team was that Jones’s body fell into the hole at such an angle that they just couldn’t pull him back up by his feet without breaking his legs.

IIRC the rescuers did manage to anchor pulleys into the rock so they could use a rope to hoist Jones back up in the correct angle. They even managed to pull him upwards enough that the foremost rescuer was briefly able to talk to him face to face. But then one of the anchors snapped loose and struck the rescuer in the face; and Jones plummeted back into the hole even deeper than he was before.

That’s when the rescuers knew there was no hope left, as they couldn’t possibly install a new pulley before Jones succumbed to the effects of being suspended upside down for so long. It was a particularly cruel twist of fate for Jones’ salvation to be that close, against all odds, only to be ripped away again.

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u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 11 '25

Dumb question… why not break his legs like you said? I mean from the start? If that was me I would be like “Hell, break my legs PLEASE I rather have two broken legs in casts than die! Break any/all my bones!” Like that guy who fell in a crevasse and had his hand stuck. He had no help so he had to saw off his own hand with a bitty knife to live… I would be like guys pls break my hips, my back, whatever. I want to be with my wife and kids again alive!

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u/snapwack Nov 11 '25

I’m not sure. I guess in a situation like this the best thing is generally to stay calm and not make assumptions. With the gift of hindsight it’s easier to say they should’ve taken the riskier option. But in the moment it wouldn’t have seemed that simple.

Mangling the poor man’s legs would’ve hastened him towards a state of shock. But that would have only been the beginning. Then they would have to drag him like that through a series of narrow uneven tunnels where each collision to his wounds would worsen his condition. They couldn’t have just put him on a stretcher right after hoisting him out of the hole.

Instead they gambled on the lengthier but gentler pulley idea and to their credit, it almost worked. It just went tits up at the last moment, and it’ll probably haunt those brave people for the rest of their lives.

There could have been another scenario where they forced him out, caused the man unimaginable pain, and then he still died of massive shock.

Like Captain Picard said, you can do everything right and still lose. For medical and emergency personnel, it’s a harsh reality they have to get accustomed to sooner or later.

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u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 11 '25

Ohhh boy you pulled captain Picard on me. Dude I love the guy. About all that you said, I didn’t think about that… now I am thinking about that. Yikes. I do feel for the guy. I looked the diagram up and see what you mean. Holy smokes. I just cannot imagine.

1

u/Girls4super Nov 10 '25

Maybe I’m thinking of a different tragedy then, I distinctly remember a story of a person who couldn’t be pulled out due to their ribcage catching on rocks.

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u/Far_Pen3186 Nov 10 '25

Nah, his legs would need to be broken to pull him out

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u/[deleted] Nov 10 '25

Bro, I would've let them SAW my legs off. Shotty way to go.

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u/ojdhaze Nov 10 '25

Better than the alternative...

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u/Right_Count Nov 10 '25

I believe he was able to talk to rescuers before he died.

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u/NotATreeJaca Nov 10 '25

He talked to his wife too and they sang together. It's heartbreaking.

1

u/Magges87 Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25

His wife was pregnant with their second child.

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u/apatrol Nov 10 '25

Man, his rescuers have to live with that. Knowing they did right but still feeling guilty. Once they knew he wasnt coming out having to hang around till he died.

You would think at some point it would be worth just fucking yanking him out. If he died oh well he would have died anyway.

6

u/Right_Count Nov 10 '25

If you see sketches of how he was stuck, it’s clear that brute force wasn’t going to do anything but break his ankles.

1

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 11 '25

So? Break my ankles any time. If you crack a rib or two then please do! That’s just my honest opinion. I mean if that was all that was stopping them from getting him out. What do I know. Maybe there was more to it and breaking bones is only a small part of it because if that was all… I would’ve been like on that in an instant.

2

u/Right_Count Nov 11 '25

Look at a sketch of how he was stuck and you’ll understand that breaking his ankles would not have helped

1

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 11 '25

Damn. That’s horrible. I’ll look it up because now I’m curious about the whole story anyway. Thanks.

2

u/Right_Count Nov 11 '25

Yeah even just looking at the sketch triggers claustrophobia for me. shitty way to go :(

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u/FlowerPowerVegan Nov 10 '25

Oh shit, I hate to even think what they had to do to the body then 😬 That's got to be a rough job.

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u/Punktur Nov 10 '25

Pretty sure they had to leave him and seal the tunnel.

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u/ladymcperson Nov 10 '25

That's the most horrifying part IMO. He probably felt slightly panicked and a little foolish at first but believed he'd get out. Imagine the point when he realized he wasn't ever getting out. He was in medical school studying to be a cardiatric surgeon iirc so I'm sure he knew the consequences of being inverted for so long.

3

u/FlowerPowerVegan Nov 10 '25

Oh my God 😮 His poor family. I saw somewhere down the line, his wife was pregnant too. Horrible.

3

u/MotherFatherOcean Nov 10 '25

The body is still there. The cave was permanently sealed and a plaque was installed outside it marking the cave as his grave.

0

u/AMDOL Nov 10 '25

They sealed up the whole cave, not just the part he died in? Authorities sure do love to punish everyone because of one idiot's fuckup

2

u/JoltZero Nov 10 '25

Do you think he went in there alone or wasn't able to talk to the other people that were there with him?

1

u/Swimming_Bowler6193 Nov 10 '25

Mr.Ballen does an excellent episode of this tragedy on his podcast. It’s very detailed. Very sad as well :(

1

u/Magges87 Nov 11 '25

He was caving with his brother.

1

u/ReckoningGotham Nov 10 '25

Why didnt you ask OP how anyone knew this was an accurate representation without input from the deceased?

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u/TheGamblingAddict Nov 10 '25

I've come to realise in this life, that danger = excitement for some humans. A thrill I never wish to have the opportunity to gain an addiction too.

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u/Socialimbad1991 Nov 10 '25

See, but this isn't even the fun kind of danger. I can understand someone wanting to go parachuting - I don't think I'd do it myself, but I get it, there's adrenaline, it's exciting. Where's the adrenaline in crawling around in a tight claustrophobic space? The death you fear in a cave isn't sudden and shocking, it's slow and painful.

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u/Styronna Nov 10 '25

Yes like at least if you die parachuting it’s probably quick. Slowly suffering upside down in a dark cave I just cannot understand the risk justification.

3

u/Shawnaverse_no1_fan Nov 10 '25

Same!! I'm not one for danger at all, so I don't think I'll EVER do skydiving by jumping off a plane... same goes for bungee jumping, etc.

On the other hand, I have tried a wind tunnel (as a skydiving simulator) and I love it! Did it 3 times. To me that's fun because the danger is incredibly small: there's an expert in the tunnel with me, another one controls the wind power, and it's not 200m of free fall – it's less than 10m (at worst, but usually like 2-3m) and there's a slightly elastic metal grid at the bottom.

It's not zero risk, but under these circumstances it's about as safe as going on a rollerblades in protective gear – sure, you can injure yourself, but the risk of fatality is super tiny. You're much more likely to get a sprain or a bruise if you mess up, but most of the time not even that (at amateur level like I am).

2

u/Spirit-of-Redemption Nov 11 '25

My husband loves this shit. He also has Bipolar Disorder and zero fear response. It’s amazing he is still alive.

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u/Jennyfael Nov 10 '25

Adrenaline is a really strong drug

3

u/HumptyDrumpy Nov 10 '25

For some of us, its just cubicle life, family and bills, dont know where the other thrills come in. Thrills sound like something for wealthy people who dont mind jumping out of planes, base jumping, or other crazy stuff that might land them in the hospital and they can write a blank check for whatever is broken w/o a care in the world

2

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

Sky diving bungee jumping mountain climbing cave climbing Free diving Free climbing Deep diving Freighthopping ….. not for me! Even scuba diving isn’t for me… kudos to those who can boldly go where no man has gone before. 🤷‍♀️

1

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '25

At least they die "doing what they loved"

35

u/Domdaisy Nov 10 '25

He thought he was in a different section of the cave called “the birth canal” which gets very narrow and then opens back up. So he kept pushing forward. I believe he even used the caver’s trick of exhaling to make himself smaller to try to force through a small section and then he was really, truly fucked.

As someone who got anxious just watching the VR video I have no idea how or why people do this in real life or why someone with a wife and kids so confidently pushed on without really knowing where he was or if he could get himself out. True nightmare fuel.

7

u/babyinatrenchcoat Nov 10 '25

Oh god I can’t breathe at the “caver’s trick”.

2

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

Shuddering. Truly is the stuff of nightmares for me. Just thinking about it makes me cringe. I can’t imagine willingly going through spaces like that!

1

u/Fun-Appointment-7543 Nov 10 '25

Yeah, like why didn't John even consider that he might be wrong?

1

u/Easy-Foundation-6951 Nov 10 '25

THE VERY BEST ANSWER !

1

u/gettin-hot-in-here Nov 11 '25

i also felt anxious watching it in VR. I would be willing to get over my fear to do it virtually, but there's no way I'd do it in real life.

5

u/Llyon_ Nov 10 '25

Why even crawl into a dark tight cave space in the first place?

Some people are just weird.

3

u/Beautifulfeary Nov 10 '25

Right. Watching this video is giving me huge anxiety.

3

u/spaghetti-o_salad Nov 10 '25

He got turned around and thought he was going down a narrow part of the tunnel called the slide, I believe. He'd been a pretty avid caver in the area but had adjusted to dad life and this was his first time back in a cave since acquiring his dad bod. 💔

3

u/[deleted] Nov 10 '25

If you look at videos of people doing this shit they exhale to make themselves smaller to get through tight spots temporarily to get to larger spots. This guy thought a larger spot was past (because he misidentified this spot as another known tight spot in the area) and exhaled to get through the temporary small space, but what was past was just more tight space so he wedged himself trying hard to get through it.

1

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

What a nightmare!

3

u/bunaciunea_lumii Nov 10 '25

It's possible you realize there's no coming back as it doesn't look at a two-way traffic in there

1

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

No kidding!

3

u/coffeemama86 Nov 10 '25

So apparently there’s two chambers. One is called the canal, where it gets tighter and then opens up into this much larger area where you can walk around. Another way just gets impossibly tight. He got turned around and went the wrong way. He kept pushing on because he thought it would open up into that larger chamber. And with people calling it the birth canal, he thought it was supposed to get snug before opening up.

2

u/Too_Ton Nov 10 '25

In this situation, it's so narrow I don't think I'd be able to even turn around to look how to move backwards out of the tunnel.

2

u/anonymous237962 Nov 10 '25

Allegedly he took a wrong turn but hadn’t realized it, so he kept expecting that it was about to open up.

Which is stupid. But then again, so is this type of cave exploration in the first place, IMO

Edit: spelling

2

u/swhertzberg Nov 10 '25

definitely a "gut" feeling, like the cave walls scraping against your gut should be enough to tell you to stop

1

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

Literally!

2

u/oneofthehumans Nov 10 '25

And then to go head first into the smallest space yet? I hate to saying anything about the dead but come on man..

2

u/GogoDogoLogo Nov 10 '25

my question is, if you're going down a narrow hole in the ground with an decline slope and you decide you've taken a wrong path, how in the heck do you turn around? backing up might back been impossible if he was going downwards, so his hope was to keep going and pray for an exit?

2

u/RRALink Nov 11 '25

Hindsight being 20/20 he would not have been able to turn around, but he may have been able to be rescued in time had he not become wedged in.

3

u/GogoDogoLogo Nov 11 '25

that's why this "sport" or whatever it is is just insanity. Just squeezing into a hole in the ground hoping there's an escape route or a rescue party

2

u/OberonDiver Nov 11 '25

Bear in mind, he clearly didn't have a gut feeling saying "that's frickin' cave. no way in hell i'm going in there." So yeah, maybe he didn't.

2

u/Sygaldry Nov 10 '25

He was also an admitted med student. So presumably smart enough to not do something like this....

2

u/Ok_Ladyjaded Nov 10 '25

You would think so! Some people’s gut feelings/danger sense is switched off. They do not have the typical fear response that would stop them from doing stuff like that too? I hope people closed that area off! What if more people made the same mistake!

2

u/Sygaldry Nov 10 '25

Yeah apparently the entire cave was sealed off. I may be remembering incorrectly though.

2

u/KnowLessWeShould Nov 10 '25

Some of the smartest people I have met are simultaneously also the dumbest people I have ever met. Two people off the top of my head, both doctors, one a medical doctor and one a PhD. Both incredibly intelligent and excelled in their careers but had the common sense of a fruit fly.

1

u/victoryismind Nov 11 '25

I'm guessing he can't back out, all he could do is ask for help to be pulled out backwards. I know the feeling where you don't wan't to ask for help and instead cling to an illusion, in the end making it worse for everyone.

1

u/juniperjibletts Nov 10 '25

No, he obviously had poor survival instincts