KIghostguy Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 My largest blog post yet. Utilizing newspaper articles, investigative documents, and my own interviews, this is the most comprehensive and most accurate account ever put online of the John Harter accident. Most of the stuff I put here has never been published online before...or published at all, for that matter. I hope you folks find it interesting. https://kingsislandghost.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-truth-behind-tower-johnny.html 6 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoolCrzy Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Well done. Thanks! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evy0311 Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 This was such a good article. Thank you for this! Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlondyRidesOn Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 That was a great article! It really put a face on the legend. When I first read about this happening about 10 years ago, my father and sister thought it was just a FearFest/ Halloween Haunt storyline with my father citing "I remember the Flight Commander accident on the news in 1991, but I don't remember this accident." It is interesting to know that the 50' platform remained open for years after. On a previous thread about the Tower Johnny case, it was pointed out that when the Eiffel Tower opened in 1972, the only thing keeping you safe from falling was a 4' railing on both top platforms. That changed at least halfway through the season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Great article! While long, it was an excellent read. I've not seen any story go so in depth. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Lizard Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Out of curiosity. It says he had half a bottle of rum and some beers on the ride down (which I'm estimating was about a two hour drive?). It doesn't say whether he was a passenger. Did his friends ever elaborate on that at all? I would think that if they mentioned something like that, they also would go into that detail. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIghostguy Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 12 minutes ago, Magenta Lizard said: Out of curiosity. It says he had half a bottle of rum and some beers on the ride down (which I'm estimating was about a two hour drive?). It doesn't say whether he was a passenger. Did his friends ever elaborate on that at all? I would think that if they mentioned something like that, they also would go into that detail. I got that from the investigation report. None of the friends that I spoke with were in his car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightoffear1996 Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 What a great read! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIghostguy Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 I appreciate all these comments! I’m glad so many people are finding this interesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whengodsaysgo Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Very nice! You really did your research on this one. Ironically enough, I'll be in the park on the 13th. 35 years anniversary. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Lizard Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 So you would say it sounds like he had all that on the way down while he was driving? That's pretty crazy. Most people that age would also be unconscious with a blood alcohol of .21, not climbing fences and towers (even using the stairs). It really makes me wonder how much of a problem with alcohol he had prior to the incident. I always had heard alcohol was involved, but I didn't realize it was in such copious amounts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Another A+ blog! A couple of notes and thoughts: Quote Among these people were the four friends of Harter's who had just seen a "big mass" fall about 10 feet onto the elevator roof before the elevator stopped. The instant the "mass" hit the elevator, the group saw "little chunks" fall and land onto the platform. Inspection revealed them to be small bits of flesh. Initially, they assumed that someone was throwing a prank by throwing animal meat off the side of the tower. Unnerved, the group left the tower. The body did not end up on the 50', as common folklore claims, "parts" of it were. As stated in the blog, what was considered the body was found on top of the elevator. Quote Initially, they assumed that someone was throwing a prank by throwing animal meat off the side of the tower. Unnerved, the group left the tower. I'm glad this was mentioned. A long-standing rumor was that it was tradition to throw raw meat at the elevator as a joke during the Grad Nights, thus lending to the rumor that everyone thought this was a big joke. Also, some thought it happened during a 1983 version of Haunt (which didn't exist) for the same reason - all of which were rooted in the quote that someone had thought people were playing a joke by throwing meat off the tower. The truth is far more tragic... Quote Word spread around the park quickly. Bill Mefford, Kings Island's manager of marketing communications, was about to ride The Beast with the Associated Press reporters. Mefford had one foot in The Beast's car and one foot on the loading platform when "I felt a tap on my shoulder and one of the Kings Island people from the marketing department whispered in my ear, 'Meff, you need to get over to the [Eiffel] Tower, there’s been an accident.' I excused myself from my AP ride partner and immediately took off for the Tower. At that point...I didn’t know exactly what the accident was or the extent of it. By the time I arrived at the tower, KI’s safety people were already there, cordoning off the area and doing all of the things they needed to do. Of course, there was a great deal of activity at the time because no one knew exactly what had happened." Well, I know you talked to Mefford because that's the account I've had him recite for my a hundred times. (As many of you know, Meff and I are very close) I can not stress to you what a miracle it was that this wasn't turned into a PR circus. Dozens of members of the AP were at the Kings Island Inn for a conference that night. They were invited to come to the park, and some wanted to do a story on The Beast (which was still blazing hot in the media). Meff and the rest of the PR team commanded the respect of the reporters, allowed them to do their stories, and had a reasonable degree of transparency. Despite the fact that this could have been (in Meff's words) a "sexy story," the story went as quickly as it came. Quote Detective William Dunn arrived at the park shortly afterwards, where security chief Jerry Niederhelman informed him that the incident had happened on the Eiffel Tower... Jerry continued to work at Kings Island until very recently. His last position at the park was Director of Operations. Where is he now? Vice President, Operations for Cedar Point. Great guy! Quote In all my time researching this particular case, I've been unable to put a definitive date on when the Eiffel Tower reopened. Spokeswoman Ruth Voss claimed on May 16 that the tower would be closed "for a week or two" while another spokesman, Bill Mefford, claimed on May 18 that the tower would be closed "at least through the weekend." No announcement or article ever ran in any of the newspapers I checked giving a date of the reopening. The employees working on the tower at the time have not returned requests for interviews. That was towards the end of a different day and age. All they had to do was prove that it wasn't a malfunction and the kid was being an idiot and it reopened. In today's world they'd spend weeks trying to blame the park. I can't find the exact article, but an example is the guy who climbed the fence at Raptor at Cedar Point. An article I read suggested that Cedar Point should be held responsible for the accident because an 8' fence wasn't enough and that the signage didn't warn that you could specifically die if you crossed the fence. If KIC had a snowflake emoji then I'd insert it here. Quote The elevators were replaced in the early 2000's for more modern, updated ones. They were replaced for the 2004 season. Don't ask me how I remember this. The biggest improvement with the new 'vaters was the air conditioning system. Quote "was just sweet and full of vibrant energy and loving and inclusive and just a really great guy." I hope that, when I die, you guys are willing to bend the truth and say things like this about me. Even if it's just for the press. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIghostguy Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 I've added a bit of clarification on why the elevator stopped. One of the counterweight's cables became disengaged from the pulley due to the accident (as I already mentioned). This triggered the elevator's brakes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 I've added a bit of clarification on why the elevator stopped. One of the counterweight's cables became disengaged from the pulley due to the accident (as I already mentioned). This triggered the elevator's brakes. I want to apologize. When you first turned up I thought you were a sensationalist, and just trying to dig up stories for the internet fame. Having spent time in the news media, I find myself very defensive and protective of the job from people that I wrongly thought you were trying to be. This is a great and insightful article. Great interviews that were done with care for the victim. Well done and I learned a ton from it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
presto123 Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Very well done blog. I don't really want to speculate as to what Johnny was thinking, but article says he was extremely drunk and extremely emotional. Maybe devastated enough to split with his group like he did. Headed straight for Eiffel Tower where he did something way outside his character according to all his friend's accounts. Does anybody else think that suicide might be in the equation here? He climbed the inside restricted stairs up, but then he went over the stair railing and onto a support beam near the top. Maybe he was planning to jump and got caught by the counterweight/cables before he actually made the decision on whether to jump or not. I'm not saying this is definitely the cause because nobody knows, but considering his reported "state of mind" at the time, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibilities either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted August 6, 2020 Share Posted August 6, 2020 This is not the place to push your belief or disbelief in ghosts. This thread was cleaned up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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