The 1960s churned out a dazzling roster of music icons, a generation that not only reshaped sound but also seemed to stare skyward, chasing mysterious lights and otherworldly whispers.

Why These Music Icons Captivate UFO Enthusiasts

From psychedelic guitar riffs to glittering stage personas, each of these artists left a trail of stellar music—and, according to their own accounts, a trail of close encounters that keep UFO fans buzzing decades later.

10 Jimi Hendrix

Rolling Stone once crowned Jimi Hendrix as one of the greatest guitarists ever, but his fascination with the cosmos went far beyond his six‑string wizardry. As a youngster he devoured everything about outer space, a hobby that climaxed when he spotted a UFO hovering outside his window—a sighting his brother Leon later confirmed.

Extraterrestrial references pepper his catalog, especially the track “Third Stone from the Sun.” Spin the song at high speed and you’ll hear alien‑like chatter that sounds like a secret conversation about UFOs between Hendrix and his manager.

UFO aficionados have even elevated Hendrix to alien status, claiming his spectral presence still haunts the Isle of Wight.

9 John Lennon

Beatles legend John Lennon never shied away from the strange. He told illusionist Uri Geller that four extraterrestrials visited his New York Dakota apartment in 1973, even handing Geller an egg‑shaped object allegedly supplied by the visitors.

In a later recording from 1974, Lennon described a UFO he observed from his Manhattan balcony. He said the craft lingered above the skyline, drifted down the East River, veered toward the United Nations building, then vanished back into the river’s night‑darkness.

Although he snapped a photo, the film never developed, leaving him without hard evidence. The experience moved him enough to inscribe “On the 23rd Aug. 1974 at 9 o’clock I saw a U.F.O.” on his Walls and Bridges album.

8 Cat Stevens

Now known as Yusuf Islam, Cat Stevens earned fame for his soulful songwriting and charitable work throughout the ’60s and ’70s. He often mused about the universe, once telling a reporter that a UFO had “sucked him in.” Some listeners interpret his track “Longer Boats” as a musical retelling of that close encounter.

7 Dave Davies

As the gritty guitarist for The Kinks, Dave Davies helped shape the era with hits like “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All of the Night.” Though he kept his UFO experiences private until the 1980s, Davies now claims multiple alien sightings and even a ongoing telepathic link with those beings.

He says ridicule followed his revelations, but he and his brother Ray—also a Kinks member—share a childhood psychic streak that, in his view, predisposes them to communicate with extraterrestrials.

6 David Bowie

Pairing Bowie with aliens feels as natural as pairing peanut butter with jelly—especially when his alter ego Ziggy Stardust is literally a space‑born rock star. Songs like “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars?” echo his fascination with the cosmos, and he even starred as an alien visitor in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth.

His most prolific UFO sightings occurred in 1968, when he and his girlfriend spent nights watching the skies, reporting six to seven sightings per evening. A planned sci‑fi musical featuring aliens, mariachi bands, and Bob Dylan songs was cut short by his death in 2016.

5 Elvis Presley

No list of ’60s music icons would be complete without The King. Elvis’s swagger and signature hip shake were matched only by his reported UFO sightings while touring the desert. He told friends those lights never frightened him because he’d been communicating telepathically with aliens since childhood.

One of those early communications featured a vision of a man in a white suit singing to a crowd—a spooky preview of his later stage persona.

4 Gram Parsons

Affectionately dubbed the “Grievous Angel,” Gram Parsons rode the wave of 1960s rock as leader of The Flying Burrito Brothers and a collaborator with The Byrds. He was a regular at UFO conventions and spent countless nights scouring Joshua Tree National Park for strange lights.

Parsons even acted in a sci‑fi thriller called Saturation 70, a film about spacecraft and alien contact that never saw the light of day. His promising career was cut short by his untimely death in 1973 at just 26.

3 Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger’s rock‑star swagger extended to the night sky. He first reported a UFO while camping with 1960s songstress Marianne Faithfull in 1968. A second sighting came during the chaotic Altamont concert in 1969, where he allegedly saw a craft identical to the one he’d spotted a year earlier.

Rumor has it that the experience inspired Jagger to install UFO‑detection gear inside his home.

2 Keith Richards

Keith Richards joins his Rolling Stones bandmate and fellow UFO believers by claiming countless sightings. He even jokes that his West Sussex residence doubles as a UFO airstrip, though he admits he’s never actually met an alien.

Understanding how skeptics scoff, Richards says he empathizes with anyone who’s been ridiculed for sharing such stories.

1 Jerry Garcia

The Grateful Dead’s frontman Jerry Garcia recounted a baffling “event” he witnessed in the Marin County sky alongside Jefferson Starship’s David Freiberg. The duo described the heavens looking like a sheet of black construction paper with a hole punched through it, allowing light to pour in and out for roughly fifteen minutes.

Because no conventional aircraft matched the description, Garcia labeled the phenomenon an unidentified flying object, a term that still fuels speculation among fans.

When you hear the phrase 10 images rocked the medical world, you might picture a dimly lit radiology suite and a patient clutching a thin blanket. In reality, these ten iconic pictures transformed how doctors see us, saved countless lives, and even sparked wars of controversy. Below, we dive into each groundbreaking image, complete with the original photos that made headlines.

10 Bertha Roentgen’s Wedding Ring

In November 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, a physics professor from Würzburg, Bavaria, was experimenting with electrical rays when he realized they could pass through objects and create images on a fluorescent screen. By placing his own hand in front of the rays, he observed a stark contrast between his bones and the translucent flesh surrounding them.

Roentgen quickly understood the medical potential: doctors could now view internal anatomy without invasive surgery. He swapped the fluorescent screen for a photographic plate and, on November 8, 1895, produced the world’s first X‑ray photograph—a picture of his wife Bertha’s left hand adorned with her wedding ring.

Initially, the press was skeptical. The New York Times dismissed the discovery as a mere photographic curiosity. Yet within a week the paper ran stories highlighting the diagnostic value of X‑rays, including a report on British physician John Hall‑Edwards, who used the new technology to locate a needle lodged in a patient’s hand. Roentgen later received the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physics, cementing his work as one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs.

9 Moving X‑Rays Of The Heart And Digestive System

Following Roentgen’s breakthrough, scientists raced to animate X‑rays. John Macintyre, a throat surgeon and electrician at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, had already established the world’s first X‑ray department and had used it to locate a foreign object—a half‑penny stuck in a child’s throat—and to detect a kidney stone.

In 1897, Macintyre presented a short film to the Royal Society in London. He filmed a frog’s leg—chosen for its lower energy requirement—at 300 frames per second while flexing and extending it, then spliced the frames together to create a moving image. He later captured a human heart beating and even filmed a patient’s stomach digesting bismuth, demonstrating early fluoroscopy.

These moving X‑ray movies, now known as fluoroscopy, are still used today to guide heart catheter placement, monitor the digestive and urinary systems, and assist in various surgical procedures. In 2013 alone, the United Kingdom performed 1.3 million fluoroscopic procedures.

8 Major Beevor Hunts For Bullets

Within months of Roentgen’s discovery, X‑rays entered the battlefield. The first recorded military use was during the 1896 Abyssinian War, where Lieutenant Colonel Giuseppe Alvaro employed an X‑ray machine to locate bullets in Italian soldiers’ forearms—though those images have been lost to history.

A year later, similar techniques were used in the Greco‑Turkish War, yet those films also vanished. However, in June 1897, during the Tirah campaign between British India and Afghanistan, Major Walter Beevor set up a field X‑ray unit at a hospital on the Tirah plateau. He captured over 200 X‑ray images, including the one above showing an Indian soldier’s elbow with a lodged bullet, and even located a bullet in General Woodhouse’s leg.

Beevor presented his findings to the United Services Institution the following year, prompting the British Army to adopt portable X‑ray units for field use. The technology’s military utility accelerated the development of mobile units, a legacy continued by Marie and Irene Curie, who drove 20 X‑ray vans to the front lines during World War I. Today, portable X‑ray machines can be wheeled to a patient’s bedside for imaging when transport is impossible.

7 Proof Of The Damage Caused By Metal Corsets

One of the earliest public‑health campaigns using medical imaging targeted fashion. French physician Ludovic O’Followell X‑rayed the torsos of several women both wearing and not wearing tight metal corsets. The resulting images starkly displayed how these garments compressed the ribcage and displaced internal organs.

Although O’Followell did not call for an outright ban, his work spurred a shift toward more flexible corset designs. The images showed that prolonged use of restrictive corsets could impair breathing and organ function, prompting both medical professionals and the fashion industry to reconsider design standards.

At the time, X‑ray exposure times were lengthy—up to 45 minutes for a forearm and 25 minutes for a dental X‑ray—raising concerns about radiation safety. Early pioneers like Clarence Dally suffered severe radiation injuries, eventually leading to amputations and death. Despite these risks, X‑rays were misused for non‑medical purposes: treating depression, ringworm, acne, and even as a novelty in beauty salons and shoe stores, where “Foot‑o‑scopes” exposed customers’ feet to check shoe fit.

Modern X‑ray technology is far safer, yet unnecessary medical imaging still contributes to cancer risk. Studies estimate that 18,500 cancer cases worldwide stem from diagnostic X‑rays, representing about 0.5 % of cancer deaths in the United States.

6 The Very First Catheter

While serving at the August Victory Clinic, surgeon Werner Forssmann hypothesized that a flexible tube could be threaded through a vein in the arm or groin, travel to the heart’s atrium, and allow direct measurement of cardiac volume, pressure, and oxygen content. He also envisioned delivering emergency medication straight to the heart.

Superiors dismissed the idea, fearing the catheter would become tangled in the bloodstream. Undeterred, Forssmann persuaded a fellow resident to insert a needle into his left arm, then advanced the catheter up the cephalic vein, through the biceps, across the shoulder, and finally into the heart—a journey covering 60 cm (2 ft) of tubing. He then walked to the X‑ray department, captured an image confirming the catheter’s position, and repeated the procedure on himself multiple times.

Colleagues mocked the stunt as a circus act, and Forssmann eventually shifted to urology. Unaware of his lasting impact, he was surprised in October 1956 when he received a call announcing his Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. His response? “For what?” Today, over 3.7 million cardiac catheterizations are performed annually in the United States alone.

5 Hyperphonography

While X‑rays excel at imaging dense structures like bone, they fall short for softer tissues and pose radiation risks to fetuses. The quest for a safer, non‑ionizing imaging modality led to the birth of ultrasonic techniques.

The catalyst was the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. To detect icebergs, Reginald Fessenden patented a device that emitted directed sound waves and measured their reflections. During World War I, German physicist Paul Langevin developed a hydrophone to locate submarines, successfully detecting a UC‑3 U‑boat on April 23, 1916.

In the late 1930s, Austrian psychiatrist Karl Dussik proposed that sound could probe the brain and other soft tissues. He coined the term “hyperphonography” for this diagnostic approach. Although his work remained obscure in Austria, after World War II he expanded it, gaining international attention.

A decade later, Scottish obstetrician Ian Donald adapted an industrial ultrasound machine to examine tumors and monitor fetal development, laying the groundwork for modern medical ultrasound.

4 The First CAT Scan

Traditional X‑ray images capture everything between the source and the film, obscuring pathologies hidden behind overlapping tissues. In the 1920s and ’30s, tomography emerged, moving the X‑ray tube and film during exposure to blur structures above and below a chosen plane, allowing cross‑sectional views in sagittal, coronal, and axial orientations.

In 1967, Godfrey Hounsfield, a scientist at EMI (the record label behind the Beatles), envisioned an axial tomographic scanner. EMI funded Hounsfield for four years, using profits from its musical successes. His device replaced film with electronic sensors, moving patients through rotating tubes while a computer reconstructed the data into detailed cross‑sectional images—coining the term computed axial tomography, or CAT scan (now CT scan).

On October 1, 1971, Hounsfield performed the first clinical scan, revealing a brain tumor in a patient’s frontal lobe. Surgeons later confirmed that the tumor’s appearance on the scan matched the actual lesion, validating the technology’s diagnostic power.

3 The First MRI Scan

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) exploits a strong static magnetic field to align hydrogen protons in the body. Brief radio‑frequency pulses then disturb this alignment; as the protons relax, they emit signals that a computer translates into detailed images of soft tissue, organs, and bone.

While both CT and MRI appear similar, they differ fundamentally: CT uses ionizing radiation, whereas MRI relies on magnetic fields and radio waves, making it safer for many applications. MRI excels at visualizing the spinal cord, tendons, and ligaments, while CT remains superior for bone and acute trauma.

Physician Raymond Damadian first imagined a whole‑body MRI scanner in 1969, publishing his findings in Science in March 1971. In September of that year, chemist Paul Lauterbur experienced an epiphany about magnetic resonance imaging, documenting his invention in a notebook. Both men pursued patents: Damadian filed in March 1972, and Lauterbur produced images of test tubes the same month.

On July 3, 1977, Damadian’s team performed the first human scan. When the initial subject—a volunteer—refused to enter the machine, Damadian himself attempted, but the device was too cramped. Graduate student Larry Minkoff, being smaller, succeeded, producing the chest image shown above.

A bitter dispute erupted over credit. Despite Damadian holding the patent and being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1988, the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded solely to Lauterbur. Some argue Damadian’s exclusion stemmed from his outspoken Christian beliefs and advocacy of creationism, which conflicted with prevailing academic views.

2 Laparoscopic Surgery

For centuries surgeons opened the abdomen with large incisions, exposing patients to infection and lengthy recoveries. In 1901, a Russian gynecologist introduced laparoscopy—“key‑hole” surgery—using a small telescope‑like instrument inserted through tiny slits, allowing internal visualization without major cuts.

Early laparoscopy required surgeons to contort themselves; one recalled having to lie on a patient’s thigh to remove a gallbladder, a physically exhausting 2.5‑hour ordeal. Consequently, adoption was limited.

In the late 1970s, Dr. Camran Nezhat attached video equipment to the laparoscope, projecting the view onto a television monitor. Though the initial gear was bulky, Nezhat’s innovations streamlined the setup and amplified images, enabling the entire operating team to see the procedure. He likened the shift from a “one‑man band” to an “orchestra.”

Nezhat’s revolutionary approach faced fierce skepticism; colleagues labeled his methods “bizarre” and “barbaric.” Nevertheless, by 2004, the New England Journal of Medicine endorsed laparoscopy, cementing its status as a transformative surgical technique.

1 3‑D And 4‑D Ultrasounds

For three decades, ultrasound imaging was confined to two dimensions, sending sound waves and recording echoes that produced black‑and‑white slices of internal anatomy. Expectant parents often struggled to imagine their baby’s appearance from these flat images, which primarily displayed organs rather than facial features.

Since the 1970s, researchers pursued three‑dimensional ultrasound. By emitting sound from multiple angles and reconstructing the echoes, they could capture a baby’s surface, skin, and facial structure. In 1984, Kazunori Baba at Tokyo’s Institute of Medical Electronics produced the first 3‑D fetal image, though the ten‑minute reconstruction time rendered it impractical for routine use.

In 1987, Olaf Von Ramm and Stephen Smith patented a high‑speed 3‑D ultrasound system that dramatically improved image quality and reduced processing time. The technology soon evolved to include 4‑D ultrasound—real‑time 3‑D video—letting parents watch their unborn child move. Boutique services now offer 3‑D and 4‑D keepsake videos for a premium price.

While no adverse effects have been documented, the proliferation of recreational ultrasound has sparked debate over the ethical use of diagnostic tools for entertainment.

When you hear the phrase “10 tragic deaths,” it instantly evokes the razor‑thin line between exhilaration and disaster that defines extreme sports. While millions of people go about their daily lives safely on solid ground—whether by evolutionary design or simple fear—there’s a daring minority who chase the ultimate rush, testing the limits of their nerves and endurance.

Understanding the 10 Tragic Deaths in Extreme Sports

For those of us who shy away from windy cliffs or towering bridges, the idea of meeting one’s end while performing a stunt can seem like a needless waste of life. Yet for the devoted adrenaline junkies, the sheer thrill of soaring, plunging, or hurtling at breakneck speeds is what makes existence feel truly alive.

10 Uli Emanuele

BASE jumping—short for Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth—allows daring athletes to leap from towering structures, using parachutes or sleek wingsuits before deploying a canopy. The sport’s very nature grants it a notoriously high fatality rate and has led many governments to ban it outright.

One of the most widely witnessed wingsuit fatalities unfolded while a live Facebook stream captured the moment. Uli Emanuele was filming his high‑altitude flight over the dramatic Dolomite peaks in Italy when his trajectory intersected the mountain, sending him crashing to his death upon impact.

Emanuele had already earned a reputation for threading impossibly narrow gaps in cliff faces, showcasing a precision that set him apart from amateurs. His untimely demise sent shockwaves through the wingsuit community, underscoring how even the most meticulous planning cannot always outrun fate. He was 29 years old.

9 Malik Joyeux

Malik Joyeux grew up riding the massive swells of Tahiti, quickly establishing himself as a formidable big‑wave surfer. An outspoken anti‑drug advocate, he also earned accolades for conquering one of the biggest waves ever ridden at his hometown break, Teahupo’o.

The French‑born, goofy‑foot surfer—meaning he led with his right foot—also excelled in kite‑surfing and windsurfing, subsisting on a modest mix of sponsorships and friendships. While still carving out his reputation, he headed to Oahu’s legendary Pipeline on Hawaii’s North Shore for what seemed like an ordinary session.

His final wave, a thick 2.5‑meter (8‑foot) breaker, slammed down on him, pulling him beneath the surface and shattering his board, which was flung far from the water. The wave was part of a set, leaving Joyeux trapped underwater while two additional waves crashed overhead. It took rescuers a painstaking 15 minutes to locate his body, and despite aggressive CPR and defibrillation attempts, the young surfer could not be revived. He was 25.

8 Dwain Weston

Dwain Weston was an Australian legend in the world of BASE jumping, boasting a staggering portfolio of over a thousand jumps and holding the 2002 world title for the discipline. Despite his extensive experience, the sport’s minuscule margin for error offers no guarantees of safety.

By day, Weston worked as a computer analyst, but his true passion lay in the sky. In 2003, he took part in a spectacular demonstration at the inaugural Go Fast Games in Colorado, leaping from a plane alongside another jumper as part of a wingsuit showcase.

The planned flight route required one athlete to soar over a railway bridge while the other flew beneath it. Weston was assigned to glide over the bridge, yet at a blistering 193 km/h (120 mph), he collided head‑on with the structure. His parachute deployed after the impact, but the crash severed his leg at the hip, sending him tumbling onto the rocks below.

He succumbed to his injuries on impact, though spectators initially thought he might have survived because the parachute opened after the collision. Weston was 30 years old at the time of his tragic accident.

7 Jay Moriarity

Jay Moriarity captured worldwide attention at just 16 when a photo of his wipe‑out on a massive wave at Mavericks—an iconic surf break off Northern California—graced the cover of Surfer magazine. Mavericks is famed for producing waves up to 18 meters (60 feet) high, a true test for any big‑wave rider.

Although many elite surfers have perished at Mavericks due to its ferocious surf, Moriarity’s death occurred elsewhere. While training for big‑wave performance, he focused on building the lung capacity and breath‑holding endurance required to stay submerged for extended periods.

During a free‑diving session in the Maldives, Moriarity descended a buoy rope and settled on the ocean floor without the aid of scuba gear or fins. He ventured to a depth that normally demands such equipment, and it is believed he blacked out on his ascent, never resurfacing for air. The tragedy ended his promising career at the age of 22.

6 Jimmy Hall

Jimmy Hall became a recognizable figure in his native Hawaii, not only for his daring exploits but also for his multifaceted involvement in extreme sports. Residing on Oahu, he owned Hawaii Shark Encounters, a venture that catered to thrill‑seekers eager to get up close with some of the ocean’s most feared predators.

Hall’s expertise earned him the unique distinction of swimming alongside Hawaii’s sole great white shark, an achievement that caught the eye of the Discovery Channel. The network subsequently tapped him to host an episode of Shark Week, showcasing his fearless interactions with the apex predator.

While preparing for a BASE‑jumping expedition on Canada’s Baffin Island, Hall was filming a documentary that would feature his high‑altitude parachute jumps off the island’s rugged mountains. During one of these jumps, tragedy struck, and Hall’s descent ended fatally. He was 41 when the accident claimed his life.

5 Erik Roner

German daredevil Erik Roner rose to fame through his appearances on MTV’s Nitro Circus. He met his end during a seemingly routine sky‑diving stunt performed at the opening ceremony of a celebrity golf tournament in California.

While two of his fellow parachutists touched down safely, Roner’s trajectory led him straight into a towering tree, where he became entangled and hung helplessly. Bystanders and officials attempted a rescue, even forming a human ladder to reach him, but their efforts could not free him. Roner died while suspended in the tree at the age of 39.

4 Mark Sutton

Mark Sutton, a seasoned stunt double, performed as Daniel Craig’s James Bond during the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. A year later, his life was cut short in a tragic wingsuit accident.

Sutton teamed up with fellow veteran wingsuiter Tony Uragallo for a three‑day event called HeliBASE 74, which was slated for filming by Epic TV. During the first day’s jump, he accelerated to roughly 200 km/h (125 mph) before veering off the predetermined flight path and colliding with a ridge.

The impact proved fatal; his parachute never deployed, and rescue helicopters could only locate his body after the crash. The event continued in his memory, but the loss was profound. Sutton was 42 at the time of his death.

3 Caleb Moore

During the 2013 Winter X Games, spectators were horrified when Caleb Moore’s snowmobile backflip went disastrously wrong. While his brother Colten attempted a separate jump nearby, Caleb launched his machine, under‑rotated, and the skis caught in the snow, pinning him beneath the vehicle.

Although he initially walked away, the crash inflicted severe trauma to his heart, leading to cardiac arrest before medical staff could perform surgery. The lack of oxygen caused brain damage, and Moore succumbed a few days later, becoming the first fatality in X Games history. He was 25.

2 Dario Barrio Dominguez

Dario Barrio, a celebrated Spanish television chef, turned his culinary fame into a passion for wingsuit flying. While performing at the International Air Festival in Spain’s Sierra de Segura range, he leapt alongside two fellow flyers.

The other two athletes landed safely, deploying their parachutes without incident. Tragically, Barrio’s chute never opened, and he slammed into a ridge, dying on impact. The fatal crash was captured on video, underscoring the peril inherent in the sport. He was 41.

1 Kuraudo “Cloud” Toda

Kuraudo “Cloud” Toda, a Japanese motocross prodigy, survived a severe 2008 accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Determined to ride again, he fitted his bike with a custom cage that allowed him to control the machine using only his upper body.

Training for the X Games Best Whip competition, Toda constructed a foam pit with friends as a safety measure. During a rehearsal, the bike ignited the foam, creating a blaze that quickly engulfed the pit.

Strapped into the cage, Toda was unable to free himself as the fire spread, ultimately leading to his death. His friends watched in horror, unable to approach due to the intense heat. Toda was 34 when the tragedy occurred.

TV game shows are the one place left in the world where you think everything would be on the up-and-up. Regular, hard-working folks earn the chance to win huge amounts of money and prizes in front of an audience and millions of viewers at home. It’s everyone’s dream, right?

Well, believe it or not, there’s quite a sinister underbelly in the game show world. There always has been, but the glitz and glamour of Hollywood do a good job of deflecting the scandals. Here now are some of the biggest controversies to ever come out of popular game shows. 

10. Guy Hacks Press Your Luck

Press Your Luck was a hugely popular show in the 1980s, revolving around contestants answering questions and then hitting a button to stop at a random point on the board. A bad turn would result in a “whammy”, which would then trot out the show’s adorable little animated goblin mascots, who would do some kind of funny act, while also erasing the contestant’s current winnings. 

An Ohio ice cream truck driver named Michael Larson figured out how to hack the seemingly-random game board, after analyzing it for some time. He noticed the lights and patterns on the board actually had some methods to them. So he got on the show in 1984, won over $100,000 dollars and a vacation to the Bahamas, but the network didn’t seem to think it possible his odds could have been as good as they were. While they were right, they couldn’t prove it, but the producers did reprogram the game board soon after. The show would fold three years later. 

9. Pasapalabra Contestant Cheated With Her Phone During The Show

The Spanish quiz show Pasapalabra teams up regular folks with celebrities in an assortment of games and tasks. Correct responses build up a time meter, which is then used in the final round to correctly guess specific words. One celebrity who appeared on the show was model Adriana Abenia, whose beauty belied a shockingly bad proficiency for cheating. 

Abiena was involved in a music listening trivia segment where the participants had to guess a song after hearing only a short snippet. What no one knew at first was that she had her iPhone open between her legs, with the Shazam song recognition app pulled up. Too bad she received a text message during that time, which set the phone off with lights and vibrations. The host quickly saw this and playfully called her out, and you have to almost admire the sheer ballsiness of it all. 

8. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Cheater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQoNWw0G2AY

The British version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is exactly like the American version you’re probably familiar with, but with 100 percent more cheekiness. Contestants answer a series of progressively-harder multiple choice questions, on the way up to potentially winning a million dollars. 

Charles Ingram, a former member of the British Army, appeared on the show in 2001. Funny enough, Ingram’s wife and brother-in-law had previously been on and won their own money. When Charles came on, he had his wife in tow, as well as a college professor planted in the audience. When the multiple choice answers were read aloud, one of them in the audience would cough, and Ingram would know the correct answer. It worked, at least initially. He won all the way to the million mark, but they were found out somehow. All the money was suspended, and they racked up all sorts of fines and assorted (suspended) jail sentences. 

7. Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire Guy Wasn’t A Millionaire At All

The name of the show itself is cringey enough as it is. Who wants to watch a cast of ladies show just how shallow they are to try and marry a man for money? And what kind of guy would allow that to take place in front of him? Hollywood doesn’t care! That was the show: purported rich man Rick Rockwell had to sift through 50 women to pick the true love on the reality show. 

We say “purported” because ole Rick already had a history of being less than stellar. There’s the story of him being abusive to a former girlfriend of his. And the fact that Rockwell wasn’t even his name, and he wasn’t even a real estate giant like he claimed. He was actually a part-time stand-up comic. Darva Conger, the “winner” of the show, found all this out after the fact, and it didn’t take long for her to seek an annulment for the wedding. 

6. Super Password Contestant Was Actually A Wanted Fugitive

Patrick Quinn appeared on the game show Super Password in 1988. He was introduced as a systems analyst for the government, and then proceeded to win over $58,000 that day. The thing is, he wasn’t a systems analyst. He was a wanted fugitive. 

Quinn thought he wouldn’t be discovered. He told the producers after the show that he needed to pick up his winnings quickly, as his job was taking him to Turkey very soon. What he didn’t know was that people watching the show recognized him. Quinn, real name Kerry Ketchem, had apparently racked up some forgery and fraud charges in his home state of Indiana, and some of his victims called in to alert the showrunners. When Ketchem arrived at the show offices to receive his money, two Secret Service agents were there waiting for him, handcuffs in hand. 

5. Price Is Right Keeps Firing Pregnant Models

The Price Is Right has been the perfect sick day accompaniment for decades now, but it hasn’t always had the most storied history. Going back to the Bob Barker days in the ’80s and ’90s, there have been allegations of sexual harassment and abuse from the host towards the show’s models. Time hasn’t necessarily helped the program learn from its mistakes, either. 

There have been numerous stories in recent years concerning the models on the show becoming pregnant and then subsequently losing their jobs. Brandi Cochran was one such model who filed a lawsuit in 2010 after the show dismissed her. Another former employee, Shane Stirling, filed a suit that same year, also claiming a firing after her own pregnancy. The judge on this case, however, deemed that the show changing hosts from Barker to Drew Carey was sufficient reason for her dismissal. 

4. Dating Game Winner Wins A Date With A Serial Killer

In 1978, Rodney Alcala appeared on The Dating Game, the famous show where people are blindly matched up with a set amount of hungry bachelors. The lady who would get to choose the best man on this particular episode was Cheryl Bradshaw. After she asked each bachelor a series of questions, she eventually picked Alcala as the best of the bunch. 

Too bad Alcala was already convicted of raping an eight-year-old girl a decade before. He quickly showed his true self to Bradshaw after he was unveiled. Immediately backstage, he began giving Bradshaw the chills, and she declined to go on an official date with him. He didn’t take that rejection well, and within the next two years, Alcala would become a legitimate serial killer, murdering at least five people. 

3. Bullseye Contestant Was A Murderer, Went On To Murder Again

Many murderers have shown a shocking ability to lead what appears to be a normal life. Most of them don’t have the kind of sheer fortitude to land on a TV game show in the middle of their killing sprees. But most killers aren’t John Cooper. Cooper was a contestant on the darts-centered Bullseye show in 1989, and already had plenty of blood on his hands. In fact, the episode he appeared on would be used to help track him down and convict him. 

In 1985, Cooper had shot a farmer and his sister to death. And merely a month after he was on Bullseye, he shotgunned down a middle-aged couple, after robbing the husband and raping the wife. Years later, police would use a tape of the show to see that he actually mentioned the area where he would go on to kill the couple. They also had a sketch from 1989 to compare his onscreen face to, and it led to him finally being jailed in 2011. 

2. Man Studies Price Is Right And Wins To The Exact Cent

The Showcase Showdown is the final stage of The Price is Right, where the final two contestants guess the price of a package of extravagant prizes. If their guess is higher than the actual amount, they lose, but that’s rarely a worry, because most people aren’t even close to being right. One man figured out a way to hack into the game show’s process and get the amount right to the exact dollar. 

Terry Kneiss and his wife Linda had a couple of gifted brains for seeing patterns in things, and they watch the show obsessively to learn how things worked. Finally Terry got onto the show and made it all the way to the Showcase Showdown. When the other finalist passed on guessing the price of a karaoke machine, pool table, and camper, Terry conjured a price seemingly out of thin air: $23,743. It was exact to the cent, something that had never happened on the show before. The show was cut short, host Drew Carey was visibly irritated, and allegations of cheating already started to fly around. There was even a side story of a possible plant in the audience. Eventually, Kneiss was awarded his gifts, but the story remains shrouded in suspicion.

1. Twenty-One Was Totally Rigged, As Were Most Quiz Shows In The 1950s

You may have heard about the film Quiz Show from 1994, directed by Robert Redford. In the film, a man wins a game show called Twenty-One, but it’s revealed after a series of scandals that the winners were told the answers beforehand. That show was a real thing, and those scandals really happened. And they’re almost crazier than the movie version. 

The NBC show Twenty-One saw its downfall begin after an episode was won by Herbie Stempel in 1956. Stempel, it was found out later, had been coached on the answers by the show in order to help him win. But the sponsors of the show wanted someone more appealing in the limelight, so another contestant, Charles Van Doren, was coached even harder to overtake Stempel’s throne. During the next few years, it was revealed just how many of Twenty-One‘s contestants were helped along by the show to get rigged results. And it was rampant among the game shows of the time: The $64,000 Question blindsided contestants with much harder questions if they were on a winning streak. Dotto on CBS was found to be giving out questions to contestants beforehand. These stories began to trickle out, and that spelled the end of the game show bubble for quite some time.

TV game shows are the one place left in the world where you think everything would be on the up-and-up. Regular, hard-working folks earn the chance to win huge amounts of money and prizes in front of an audience and millions of viewers at home. It’s everyone’s dream, right?

Well, believe it or not, there’s quite a sinister underbelly in the game show world. There always has been, but the glitz and glamour of Hollywood do a good job of deflecting the scandals. Here now are some of the biggest controversies to ever come out of popular game shows.

This is an encore of one of our previous lists, as presented by our YouTube host Simon Whistler. Read the full list!

TV game shows are the one place left in the world where you think everything would be on the up-and-up. Regular, hard-working folks earn the chance to win huge amounts of money and prizes in front of an audience and millions of viewers at home. It’s everyone’s dream, right?

Well, believe it or not, there’s quite a sinister underbelly in the game show world. There always has been, but the glitz and glamour of Hollywood do a good job of deflecting the scandals. Here now are some of the biggest controversies to ever come out of popular game shows.

This is an encore of one of our previous lists, as presented by our YouTube host Simon Whistler. Read the full list!