The Night of the 32nd Academy Awards had been an utter disaster.
12 actresses and guests attending had been transformed into inflated balloons on the red carpet and been humiliated in front of the whole world.
The culprit was caught that night and a lengthy FBI investigation revealed that he had been a contractor developing the technology for the US Army as part of a weapons program. After his funding had been cut, he turned to the Soviet Union for funding, which they agreed to so long as he provided a demonstration of his technology.
That night at the Oscars had been his demonstration.
Naturally, the Soviets denied any involvement in the scandal and made strong threats to the USA which started heating up the Cold War yet again. By the time a year passed, the story had been all but forgotten. A footnote in Celebrity Gossip history.
25 years passed and in 1985 the 57th Academy Awards were in full swing. Hollywood royalty came out that night to celebrate.
One of these was an old actress, past her prime and presenter of the Science & Technical award that year in attendance with her daughter (also a famous actress). As the older actress swept down the red carpet in her dress, she caught sight of a flash of light from the corner of her eye.
A flash of blue light.
She had seen that flash before, 25 years ago and knew exactly what it meant. She tried to warn the attendees but it was too late.
Quickly, actress after actress began to swell up like a great balloon, panic gripped the celebrities as they tried to figure out what was happening. But the older actress knew exactly what and exactly who. She called to the security guards as she and her daughter began to inflate and pointed out the culprit in the crowd.
The poor man was standing in shock, like a deer in the headlights of a truck. He was caught without much struggle. The culprit's name was David Jefferson. He was a freelance photographer who had found a vintage camera in his Father's attic.
A police investigation discovered that his father had worked for LAPD and had bought the camera at a police evidence auction. This camera being the same one from the fateful night in 1960.
Jefferson was eventually released without charge and the camera confiscated yet again, but there was a side effect to the event.
Public interest in the 'expansion camera' grew, and when the Soviet Union collapsed a few years later, documents containing instructions to its construction leaked to the outside world and onto a very early internet.
The era of the expansion camera had come again.
Tags: Inflation, weightless, real people, clothes ripping, multiple expansions
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Story by Gen-Awesome |
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Artwork by Altercomics-Rearte Gabriel |
High resolution (3432x2195)
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