William Swan believes that there are secrets in the stars. It is this hopefulness that brings him high above the sandy shore of sleepy Boca Chica, Texas, with a rocket strapped to his back. As a biplane climbs to 8,500 feet, on a gloomy afternoon in April 1933, Swan’s daredevil plan is to leap from the metal hopper beneath the lower wing, drop through the clouds, and, at the precise moment the rocket in his backpack ignites, explode up into space.
Only it is a disaster. Despite a loud bang, the rocket pack fails to ignite. Swan spirals rapidly downward, toward the deep, dark waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
