Steve Irwin
Appearances
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Is that a big enough force to cause the Honda to go out of control all by itself? My answer to that's no, it's not a big enough force. It's not an intense dent.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
You know, I've had... 50,000 dents in photographs for 37 years, right? So I have this broader array of photographs to compare or dents to compare this one to. It's not the kind of dent by itself that would cause a loss of control.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Of course, if you just got hit by a vehicle and it's speeding by you, then, you know, the idea that you might steer right or left is certainly a possibility, right? Just out of fear alone.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
What is it that substantiates the presence? There's nothing. It's the harsher way to go about it. Like, you know, could there have been another car? Sure. I mean, there's no way to eliminate that possibility. But is there something you can point at after what we've done that says it was there?
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
And right now I'd say, no, there's not a thing that by itself or even taken in the collection with the rest of the evidence, it says there was one.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
I wouldn't phrase it that way, but globally, you'd say loss of control. That's the cause, and I know that's unsatisfactory, but that's as much as I can say sitting here today.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
This is an honor to do. You all are a big part of that sensation of the importance of this job. So I wanted this to really be something that that helped and that maybe gives the family members a sense of a more complete image and maybe just a pause and a moment of peace for that greater clarity.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
I just wanted to say, hello, I'm Steve Irwin. I just get an idea who everyone is. Oh, wow, there's a lot of everyone's. Yeah.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
I felt all of y'all's presence the entire time that we were doing this work.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
So I feel a little bit of a connection to that case because of it. And it's a story that requires my science to help tell part of it. You know, that's part of kind of, you know, it feels like, wow, this is really interesting. And in part because it is that kind of national tale.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
I don't know if we've ever met after all this time.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
So like this damage on the front, that jumps off the page, even to a team that's been doing it this long. That's the impact. Everything else has to serve that. There's no doubt about that. That's the best evidence we have.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
The damage on the front of the vehicle tells a tale that cannot change.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
It's kind of easiest to look at the tire marks first.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
A couple things about those marks. There's photographs of them. They aren't great. If these were photographs today, we'd take 50 of them and we'd march right down those tire marks and we'd record what's there.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
That is, a steer to the right would provide the vehicle position at impact to create the rotation we see for the vehicle, the front of the vehicle pointing at the roadway.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Under the presumption that she left the road at 55 miles an hour, then right now the evidence is very strong that she goes over the wall at about 30. And it's not the kind of deceleration that she would achieve if she just took her foot off the throttle.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
If she slowed from 55 to 30, there's brake pressure. And the 255 feet is plenty for her to get that done.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
There's not evidence here that would say Ms. Silkwood was asleep all the way to that headwall. I don't find support for that in the work that I've been able to do. Quite the opposite, it feels like this idea of braking and steering feels pretty well supported by the evidence that we're confident in.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
The ground can wake her up, right? It's the change in surface as you get off-road. But the idea that she was asleep at the switch the whole way, I don't think is supported by the evidence. And remember, it's the best evidence we have.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Just a simple... absence of control of the vehicle, and it goes left. That is truly just a single-vehicle accident.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
This is the area of the car that has caused so much interest with that dent right there.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
And then to Karen Pipkin alone, there is orange reflections in that bumper. And A.O. Pipkin always wore an orange jumpsuit top to bottom when he was investigating a crash. And so, Karen, I kind of feel like that's your reflection of your dad in that photograph.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
This dent is less descriptive. It's less intense. It's in kind of a weird spot. It's very low. And it doesn't reflect a high force. My anecdotal description is I could go do this with my foot, so I could kick the back of that car, and I wouldn't move it. I could create the damage, but I wouldn't move the car.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Those scratches, to me, there's two things about those areas. Number one, they're scratched, and they're scratched longitudinally, like the scratches kind of go forward on the length of the vehicle.
20/20
'Radioactive' - Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
There's evidence that supports the notion that these scratches were created starting from the back and going to the front. So if they were created by a passing vehicle, that vehicle's going faster.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Is that a big enough force to cause the Honda to go out of control all by itself? My answer to that's no, it's not a big enough force. It's not an intense dent.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
You know, I've had... 50,000 dents in photographs for 37 years, right? So I have this broader array of photographs to compare or dents to compare this one to. It's not the kind of dent by itself that would cause a loss of control. It's not that big.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Of course, if you just got hit by a vehicle and it's speeding by you, then, you know, the idea that you might steer right or left is certainly a possibility, right? Just out of fear alone.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
What is it that substantiates the presence? There's nothing. It's the harsher way to go about it. Like, you know, could there have been another car? Sure. I mean, there's no way to eliminate that possibility. But is there something you can point at after what we've done that says it was there?
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
And right now I'd say, no, there's not a thing that by itself or even taken in the collection with the rest of the evidence, it says there was one.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
I wouldn't phrase it that way, but globally, you'd say loss of control. That's the cause, and I know that's unsatisfactory, but that's as much as I can say sitting here today.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
This is an honor to do. You all are a big part of that sensation of the importance of this job. So I wanted this to really be something that that helped and that maybe gives the family members a sense of a more complete image and maybe just a pause and a moment of peace for that greater clarity.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
I just wanted to say, hello, I'm Steve Irwin. I just get an idea who everyone is. Oh, wow, there's a lot of everyone's. Yeah.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
I felt all of y'all's presence the entire time that we were doing this work.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
So I feel a little bit of a connection to that case because of it. And it's a story that requires my science to help tell part of it. You know, that's part of kind of, you know, it feels like, wow, this is really interesting. And in part because it is that kind of national tale.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
I don't know if we've ever met after all this time.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
So like this damage on the front, that jumps off the page, even to a team that's been doing it this long. That's the impact. Everything else has to serve that. There's no doubt about that. That's the best evidence we have.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
The damage on the front of the vehicle tells a tale that cannot change.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
It's kind of easiest to look at the tire marks first.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
A couple things about those marks. There's photographs of them. They aren't great. If these were photographs today, we'd take 50 of them and we'd march right down those tire marks and we'd record what's there.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
That is, a steer to the right would provide the vehicle position at impact to create the rotation we see for the vehicle, the front of the vehicle pointing at the roadway.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Under the presumption that she left the road at 55 miles an hour, then right now the evidence is very strong that she goes over the wall at about 30. And it's not the kind of deceleration that she would achieve if she just took her foot off the throttle.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
If she slowed from 55 to 30, there's brake pressure. And the 255 feet is plenty for her to get that done.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
There's not evidence here that would say Ms. Silkwood was asleep all the way to that headwall. I don't find support for that in the work that I've been able to do. Quite the opposite, it feels like this idea of braking and steering feels pretty well supported by the evidence that we're confident in.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
The ground can wake her up, right? It's the change in surface as you get off-road. But the idea that she was asleep at the switch the whole way, I don't think is supported by the evidence. And remember, it's the best evidence we have.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Just a simple... absence of control of the vehicle, and it goes left. That is truly just a single-vehicle accident.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
This is the area of the car that has caused so much interest with that dent right there.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
And then to Karen Pipkin alone, there is orange reflections in that bumper. And A.O. Pipkin always wore an orange jumpsuit top to bottom when he was investigating a crash. And so, Karen, I kind of feel like that's your reflection of your dad in that photograph.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
This dent is less descriptive. It's less intense. It's in kind of a weird spot. It's very low. And it doesn't reflect a high force. My anecdotal description is I could go do this with my foot, so I could kick the back of that car, and I wouldn't move it. I could create the damage, but I wouldn't move the car.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Those scratches, to me, there's two things about those areas. Number one, they're scratched, and they're scratched longitudinally, like the scratches kind of go forward on the length of the vehicle.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
There's evidence that supports the notion that these scratches were created starting from the back and going to the front. So if they were created by a passing vehicle, that vehicle's going faster.
Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery
Ep. 5: The Phantom Vehicle
Then they have to be parallel for a period of time. She can't go left until that vehicle's gone.