The strange story of Reggie Spears - the man who sent himself in a package to another continent
When there is no money, but you urgently need to go somewhere, you can try to ride a "hare". But what if you need to get to the other end of the globe? Australian Reg Spiers, finding himself in this situation, solved the problem in an original, albeit very risky way. He sent himself from the UK to Australia in a package. It was the most dangerous journey in the life of Spears, but everything ended well.
In the mid-1960s, Australian track and field athlete Reggie Spears traveled from his native Adelaide to London to recover from a sports injury. It was a very important trip, as Reggie planned to take part in the 64 Olympics in Tokyo. But it soon became clear that he would not have time to recover and Spears simply decided to return home to Australia.
The athlete was running out of money and, in order to earn money for an air ticket, he got a job at a London airport. Spears was close to his goal, but the unexpected happened. His wallet was stolen, which contained all his savings and documents. Reggie was in despair, because the birthday of his daughter, who was waiting for him in Adelaide, was approaching. And then a desperate idea came into his head.
A desperate Australian turned to his London friend John McSorley, who worked with wood, for help. He first tried to dissuade Reggie from a risky venture, but then agreed to make a travel box. It measured 1.5 by 0.9 by 0.75 meters. Friends calculated that with such dimensions it is possible to accommodate inside with relative comfort.
In the box, you could sit with your legs outstretched or lie down with your legs bent. On both sides, it had removable covers that could be opened and closed with special locks from the inside. Prudent guys also attached straps inside, which could be fastened to the walls. This was necessary in case the container was turned upside down during transportation. Later it turned out that this device was useful.
To ensure that the package was handled with care, it was registered as a shipment of paint for an Australian shoe factory. The cost of sending such a container to Australia was much higher than the price of an air ticket. But it was important that it could be sent cash on delivery and paid upon receipt. On the road, Reggie Spears took a small backpack with clothes, canned food, a blanket and pillow, a flashlight and two plastic bottles. One of them was with water, and the man planned to use the other as a toilet.
The container was cleared and loaded onto an Air India flight to Perth in western Australia. Spears specifically chose not the large Adelaide airport, but a small airfield in Perth, as he was afraid that he would be exposed by customs officials. The traveler thought that the plane would leave immediately after loading, but he had to wait. Due to heavy fog, London airport was temporarily closed.
When the plane finally took off, Spears opened the box and climbed out. He later described the moment as follows:
In Paris, French porters found a bottle of urine, but, fortunately for Spears, they did not understand where it came from. Airport workers thought that their colleagues from London had planted the container as a mockery. They were terribly offended and loudly scolded the jokers. Cursing the nasty Englishmen, the porters moved the box to another plane, and the journey continued.
The next big stop on Spears' way home was the Indian city of Bombay. Reggie had a hard time there and those straps came in handy. The box with the wanderer was loaded very inaccurately, and then they also put it upside down, ignoring the warning on the lid. The Australian had to spend not the best four hours of his life, hanging upside down, even in forty-degree heat.
After another reloading, the parcel with Reggie was at the finish line - on a plane flying to Perth. Arriving at the place, the man heard a native Australian dialect - Perth loaders cursed his box, which seemed too heavy to them. Nevertheless, even the scolding was pleasant to Spears, because he understood that he was already almost at home. When the airport employees left the warehouse, the wanderer got out of the box.
The cargo warehouse was securely locked and sealed. But Spears managed to find some tools with which he made a hole in the wall.
After that, the man changed into a suit that was in his backpack, went out of the airport and got into a passing car to the city. Soon Spears was at home, and his arrival was a real present for his daughter's birthday. But in the euphoria of a dangerous three-day trip that ended well, Spears forgot something. He did not report his safe arrival to John McSorley in London.
The Briton did not find a place for himself. His imagination painted before him pictures of a crushed, frozen, or starving friend. Now, in the era of the Internet, there would be no problem. But in the 1960s things were difficult. Desperate McSorley could not stand it and turned to reporters, telling them an amazing story. This instantly made Reggie Spears a world-famous celebrity. He was admired and cited as an example of a true Australian - resourceful and fearless.
The story of the transcontinental flight in the parcel was so incredible that even Spears' wife did not believe in it for a long time. A scandal erupted at Air India and several employees were punished. But the carrier decided not to prosecute Spears himself. At the main office, it was decided that there was still nothing to take from a poor athlete. In addition, the story of the man in the package gave a lot of food for thought and made me pay more attention to the goods being transported.
It is worth adding that in our day the idea of a man in a box would have ended in failure. Now the cargo compartments are hermetically sealed and the positive temperature is maintained in them. But the goods are carefully inspected and the traveler would have been figured out while loading in London. But what was the fate of the sportsman and adventurer Reggie Spears?
He lived in his native Adelaide until 1981, and then disappeared. He was suspected of dealing cocaine and Spears decided to disappear. He was arrested three years later in Sri Lanka and again for drug trafficking. In this country, they do not stand on ceremony with the merchants of death and quickly sentenced the Australian to capital punishment. Reggie managed to find a good lawyer and won the appeal.
But justice did not let him out of their hands. The handcuffed man was deported to Australia, where he again stood trial. At home, Spears was sentenced to five years in prison, which he completely served. After his release, he settled down and even co-wrote a book about his adventure with John McSorley. Now Reggie Spears is an ordinary Australian pensioner.
A similar journey in a package, although not so far, was once made by a Ukrainian blogger. However, many question his story.