A plan to launch a steam powered rocket from Amboy today has been cancelled. Mike Hughes, 61, cancelled the event after the BLM demanded that he get proper permits for the widely publicized launch. Hughes, a member of the Flat Earth Society, had planned to launch himself into the air to test his rocket that he wants to eventually take into space to see for himself if the Earth is flat. Hughes spent years building his $20,000 steam-powered rocketship himself in his garage from scraps and salvaged materials. The launch had been planned for today, November 25, 2017, between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., from an old air strip next to an abandoned hangar, going about a mile and reaching an altitude of about 1,800 feet into the air before releasing two parachutes to float down to Earth. Hughes had planned to record the launch and televise it on his pay per view YouTube channel.
