
A large pumpkin impaled on the spire 173 feet up caught the attention of Cornell students, faculty, and staff who were strolling by McGraw Tower on a brisk autumn morning on Wednesday, October 8, 1997.
The pumpkin remained atop McGraw Tower for 158 days, enduring a grueling fall, a severe winter, and a brief spring. Two questions were posed by Cornellians: Whodunit? Is it true?
No one was aware.
Like swim tests, Dragon Day, or commemorating Theodore Zinck, Cornell history is intricately linked to the mystery surrounding the pumpkin.

Thanks to coverage in The New York Times in late October, word of the practical joke gained long-lasting notoriety. Until Halloween, the Cornell Daily Sun published a daily “Pumpkin Watch” feature. Additionally, Matt Lauer conducted a live campus interview with Sun Editor-in-Chief Hilary Krieger ’98 for the “Today” show. A pumpkin-themed story and photo from the Associated Press made their way into hundreds of newspapers. Radio interviews were accepted from all around the country by the Cornell News Service, which was the forerunner of the Media Relations Office. MTV and CNN both ran reports.
Playfully, the campus lost its mind. Pumpkin lyrics for the Alma Mater were created by Cornell Chorus and Cornell Glee Club. A webcam from Olin Library provided live images 24 hours a day, which was new at the time.

The university constructed scaffolding to repoint the mortar on McGraw Tower in January 1998, after a century. The partially rotten pumpkin remained intact.
Provost Don M. Randel organized a competition for students to judge whether or not the pumpkin was real early in the spring semester.
Pumpkin samples were snared by physics majors Jon Branscomb ’98, Eldar Noe ’98, Fred Ciesla ’98, and Samuel J. Laroque ’98 using a remote-controlled balloon and some Rube Goldberg creativity. They discovered that the cored gourd provided ventilation, enabling the pumpkin to dry naturally while writing a thirty-page report. According to the report, it had turned into “a leathery husk, that could cling to the spire for decades.”

The media excitement persisted. The Chorus and Glee Club sang, “Far above Cayuga’s waters, with its waves of blue, stands our noble orange pumpkin, glorious to view,” during a feature report about the pumpkin that aired on ABC News’ “World News Tonight” in March. The lyrics were displayed at the bottom of the screen, and viewers could follow along with a bouncing pumpkin.
Randel was supposed to climb McGraw Tower in a gondola lifted by a crane on Friday, March 13, 1998, in order to get the pumpkin.
The group won top prize of $250, and each team member was given a signed lithograph of Charles Schulz’s “The Great Pumpkin” cartoon and a Cornell pumpkin T-shirt.
For the removal, Cornell faculty, staff, and students congregated in Ho Plaza. Many wore celebratory pumpkin T-shirts, Cornell dairy served pumpkin ice cream, and staff members created cakes shaped like pumpkins and the tower.
Related Topic You Might Find Interesting:
- Death Valley’s sailing stones mystery SOLVED
- The mysterious GIANT spherical stones
- Poland’s Krzywy: The Mysteries of the Crooked trees
However, mishaps with pumpkin parties do occur. A gust of wind caused the gondola to crash into the pumpkin during the crane test, breaking it and sending it smashing onto the scaffold planks, frozen solid from the previous night’s chill.
Following the pumpkin’s removal from the scaffold, Randel appointed John Kingsbury, a plant biologist, to head a commission to investigate it.
The culprits behind the pumpkin haven’t come to light twenty years later. However, in April 1998, the issue of whether the gourd was real was settled. The Kingsbury commission verified the object with a fitting fanfare in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall, summarizing it in four words: “It is a pumpkin.”

What Is the Taos Hum? The Strange Low-Frequency Noise Heard in New Mexico
Since the early 1990s, residents of Taos, New Mexico, have reported hearing a mysterious low-frequency noise called the "Taos Hum." This strange, persistent buzzing or droning sound is only audible to a small fraction of the population and has baffled scientists and locals alike. Despite extensive investigations, the source of the Taos Hum remains unresolved, making it one of the most intriguing acoustic mysteries in the modern world.

Mysterious ghost ship found with mummified captain inside [SOLVED]
German captain had been sailing the world for 20 years. It was unknown when or how he died or how long the ghost ship had been adrift

Top 10 Mysterious And Least Explored Places On Earth
Some people believe that there is nothing unexplored remaining on earth but the world doesn't cease to surprise us with its mysteries. Today I'll tell you about the lost places of the planet and animals that live only there.

The mystery of India's 'lake of skeletons'
In 1942, a British forest guard in India made an alarming discovery. Some 16,000 feet above sea level, at the bottom of a small valley, was a frozen lake absolutely full of skeletons.

The story of a boy who claims to be on Mars: Boriska Kipriyanovich
Boriska Kipriyanovich, who lives in Volgograd, Russia, claims he lived on Mars before being resurrected on Earth on a mission to redeem humanity. What we know about him is as follows:

Famous abandoned cities and ghost towns in the world
Learn the stories behind seven of the world's most renowned abandoned cities and villages, from the infamous Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe zone to Hashima Island.

Recipient of suicide victim's heart kills himself 12 years later
In 1995, Sonny Graham received a transplanted heart from a suicide victim. He then committed suicide in the very same manner as the donor.

When the Sky Rained Fish: An Unbelievable Encounter Above Alaska
A small Alaskan plane was hit by a fish falling from the sky. It had been dropped by an eagle that misjudged its grip. The plane was unharmed, but it made the news as possibly the weirdest bird strike ever.

Thousands of Rare "Ice Eggs" Blanket Finnish Beach in Spectacular Natural Phenomenon
Thousands of ice balls recently covered a beach in Finland, a rare phenomenon caused by wind and waves sculpting pieces of ice into smooth spheres. These "ice eggs" can vary in size from chicken eggs to soccer balls and have also been spotted in other cold regions globally.

Mahabalipuram: The mystery behind Lord Krishna's butterball that defies gravity
Krishna's Butter Ball is a massive rock in Mahabalipuram, Tamilnadu, India, that is perfectly balanced on a slope. An attempt was made in 1908 to remove the rock for fear that it would roll down and destroy nearby homes, but the efforts were wasted.

What Caused The Mysterious Patomskiy Crater in Siberia?
Discovered in 1949, the Patomskiy Crater resembles a huge convex cone with a funnel-shaped recess and a rounded hill in the middle, which looks like an eagle’s nest with an egg nestled inside it. The crater’s origin is a mystery that has baffled scientists for decades.

Sandy Island: The Phantom Island That Fooled Maps and Google Earth for Centuries
Sandy Island, charted since 1774, was long considered a phantom island in the Coral Sea. Despite appearing on maps and Google Earth, it was "undiscovered" by scientists in 2012, revealing only deep ocean instead of land. The island's existence was likely a cartographic error or a misidentified pumice raft.

The birth or sign language in Nicaragua
When 50 deaf Nicaraguan children who did not know sign language were placed in the same classroom, they created their own sign language. Scientists are still researching the unique spontaneous appearance of language, as well as its own evolution and training of grammar.

How Were the Two Parts of the Al Naslaa Rock Formation Created?
Scientists have been puzzled by the Al Naslaa rock formation in Saudi Arabia for a long time, and there is still no explanation for why this boulder appears to have a precise incision across the middle of it.

Will & William Wests: The puzzling situation of two inmates who are identical but not related
These are the mugshots of Will West and William West, and they are not related. They were both sent to Leavenworth Prison at the same time, in 1903, and after some confusion, the staff understood they had two different prisoners with the nearly same name, who looked exactly alike. They are part of the reason fingerprints are now used as identification.

Mystery SOLVED: blood Rain in India
The dissemination of spores of microalgae has been identified as the origin of the 'Blood Rain' phenomena, according to a new study by Indian and Austrian experts. Since 1896, reports of intermittent red-colored rain in portions of Kerala and Sri Lanka have been coming in. The most recent one occurred in 2013 over Kerala.

The mystery of the Sri Lankan national handball team's disappearance
In 2004, the whole Sri Lankan national handball team disappeared. Later, the Sri Lankan government denied the existence of such a team. The location of the team is still unknown.

Lightning bolt restores man’s sight and hearing.
In 1980, an old blind and partially deaf man, Edwin Robinson, was struck by lightning. He suffered no injuries, but the impact of the lightning bold cured his vision and hearing.

Jim Sullivan's Mysterious Masterpiece: 'U.F.O.'
In 1969, a musician named Jim Sullivan recorded an album titled "UFO" which featured a song about him being abducted by aliens in the desert. Years later, Jim disappeared and his car was found abandoned in middle of New Mexico desert. His body has never been found.

The Miracle Baby: Nigerian Couple in the UK Welcomes a Rare Blonde, Blue-Eyed Child
A black, Nigerian couple living in the U.K. gave birth to a white, blonde, blue-eyed baby that they call the "miracle baby."

Poland's Krzywy: The Mysteries of the Crooked trees
In Poland, there is a forest with 400 crooked trees that have a 90-degree bend at the base of their trunks. Despite of numerous possibilities, the real reason and how it evolved remain a mystery.

Lucy and Maria The Biracial Twin Sisters with Rare Black and White Skin Colours
Lucy and Maria Aylmer are twins, but they have a hard time to convincing people. Even though they have mixed-raced parents, their mom was still shocked when the midwife handed her babies she’d expected to look alike, but were complete opposite.

The Amazing Hanging Stone in Siberia Has Defied Gravity Since the Ice Age
The unbelievable "Hanging Stone" of Siberia weighs around 300 tons and has been hanging off a 1,000-meter cliff since the Ice Age.

El Ojo, The Mysterious Rotating Island
In the middle of South America, a strange and nearly perfectly circle island moves on its own. The central landmass, known as 'El Ojo' or 'The Eye,' floats on a pond of clear and chilly water, looking strange and out of place in comparing to its surroundings. The bottom appears to be solid in compared to the marsh around it.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Frederick Valentich: Australia’s Most Baffling Aviation Enigma
In 1978, Pilot Frederick Valentich and his plane disappeared in Australia. His last communication was “Melbourne that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again… (two seconds open microphone)… it is hovering and it’s not an aircraft…”