1994 Darwin Awards Honoring Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool--by removing themselves from it in the most spectacular way possible.

Train of Thought 1994 Darwin Award Winner

Confirmed True by Darwin

rockrelf says, "I wonder how many of the bicycles and cars this guy 'stopped' were driven by alert drivers who were able to hit the brakes before turning this nincompoop into roadkill. One would think a person of average intellect, or even average stupidity, would jump four feet to safety at the last moment, as they realized the 'mind trick' wasn't working."

(September 1989, USSR) The Soviet Union is home to a growing number of psychics and mentalists. One of them, E. Frenkel, became convinced that he could use his powers to stop vehicles in their tracks. He believed that "in extraordinary conditions of a direct threat to my organism, all my reserves will be called into action."

Frenkel started small -- a bicycle here, an automobile there -- before graduating to streetcars. Finally, he devised an ultimate test of his psychic power: he would halt a freight train in its tracks.

The engineer of the train that ran Frenkel over saw him toss his briefcase aside, and step onto the tracks with arms raised, head lowered, and body tensed. The engineer applied the emergency brakes, but it was too late.

The mentalist psyched himself out.