All the way back in 1997, Cornell students and faculty awoke to the greatest prank in the history of the university; a 60-pound pumpkin impaled 173 feet off the ground atop McGraw Tower. Over 25 years later, and one of the nation's smartest schools has yet to figure out exactly who the prankster was, or how they did it.
Without modern cellphones and social media, the legend of the pumpkin was a slow burner compared to what would likely have transpired today. People weren't even completely sure that the object was a pumpkin, a fact that was confirmed after students took a sample using a remote-controlled weather balloon.
As Farhad Manjoo, the editor of Cornell's newspaper, the Sun, during the time of the prank writes, "We were all very busy college kids, after all, but also: Those were different times! We couldn't snap pictures and create funny tweets."
Manjoo, now a New York Times business reporter, wrote a 2017 piece for the Sun revealing all he knows, and asking the prankster to come forward. According to a tip, the prank was pulled off by three guys; one Cornell student, and two Ithaca locals. The method? Some duct tape, rope, and daredevil climbing.
According to Manjoo's source, the boys duct-taped the tower's locks during the day, to keep them open. Then at night, they crept up to the top. One climbed to the top of the spire with a rope tied to the pumpkin. Then once he was there, he pulled the pumpkin up with him and stuck it on.
Many months later, Cornell sent a man up to retrieve the decomposing gourd, but he failed as a gust of wind blew it to a splattery death, 20 feet below. It's only fitting that the legendary pumpkin went out in style.
While it is understandable that the pranksters would stay anonymous back then, they are certainly far beyond facing consequences now. It's time for the McGraw Tower pumpkin pranksters to step forward.
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