History & local legend
In August 1963, a collapse at a mine near Sheppton trapped David Fellin, Henry Throne, and Louis Bova underground. Fellin and Throne were together, while debris separated Bova from them. After their helmet lights failed, the two survivors spent several days in darkness as rescue crews worked above.
They later described seeing things that seemed impossible in the mine: a man with a headlamp, a doorway bordered by blue light, and even Pope John XXIII, who had died that June. Throne said some images became smaller as the men crawled toward them. Their accounts of similar visions attracted attention after the rescue and became part of the disaster's enduring mystery.
On August 27, crews brought Throne and Fellin to the surface through a drilled borehole. Bova was never recovered.
