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On a Search and Recovery operation, back in 1978, we were called out to drowning at one of the Bottomless Lakes at Roswell, New Mexico. It was thought that a Van full of kids went off a cliff at one of the lakes. It was no big deal to us. We had dived all the Bottomless Lakes before.

One of our seasoned divers and his buddy went down on a dive and found the VAN. He was looking around the VAN, went around the rear and suddenly came to the surface. He was really white as a sheet. We asked him what was wrong. He said he came face to face with the severed head of one of the victims. He said it really scared the S--- out of him.

We thought - oh boy! - if it freaked this guy out, what are we going to do? [NOTE: I will say that the movie "JAWS' was still on every ones mind and especially the seasoned diver. It was showing in Roswell about this time.] We braced ourselves for the worst. As two divers went down to the VAN, they soon surfaced. We thought now what?

As soon as they took their regs out and got buoyant, they went into uncontrollable laughter. We were concerned, there were civilians around. After they caught their breath, they told the story.

When they went down to the VAN they found what the seasoned diver had found. He did not know that the VAN had a bubble window on the side. As he turned from the rear of the VAN he came face-to-face, in the bubble window, to his own reflection. What he saw was his own head. One can imagine how all of us felt. We could not control the laughter. Bottom line - no one was in the VAN when it went into the water. A great relief, but a good comical relief.