Hell is a Christian Hoax 18
SEARCHING FOR VERIFICATION OF BILL'S SHARK ATTACK
I tried everything I knew to verify both of Bill's stories. In regards to the shark attack, I contacted many Brevard County and Florida agencies:
First, I spent days checking hundreds of Web Sites, but could not verify such a shark attack near Cocoa Beach in which a man had his leg ripped off. I found accounts of lesser shark attacks around Cocoa Beach, Florida, but none in which someone lost a leg. I talked with the Cocoa Beach Police Department, the Cocoa Beach Lifeguard Station, Florida Today newspaper, the Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Public Safety Office, the Cocoa Beach Historical Library, the Cape Surf Shop, the County Health Department, Florida Fish and Wildlife, Marine Fish Management, Florida Museum of Natural History, Hometown News, several life-time citizens of Cocoa Beach, and the International Shark Attack File. Not one of these agencies could verify such a shark attack as described by Bill, or even believed that such an attack had occurred.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The International Shark Attack File is a global database of shark attacks. It began as an attempt to catalogue shark attacks on servicemen during World War II. The Office of Naval Research funded it from 1958 until 1968. During that time a panel of shark experts developed a standard system for collecting accounts of shark attacks from around the world. The file was temporarily housed at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida until a permanent home was found at the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. The file contains information on over 4,000 shark attacks and includes detailed, often privileged, information including autopsy reports and graphic photos. The file is accessible only to scientists whose access is permitted only by a review board.
Robert Buch, who runs the data base at the International Shark Attack File, ran several programs for me on their computers to try and locate the shark attack described by Bill Wiese, which supposedly took place south of Cocoa Beach about forty years ago. Here is his statement following his searches:
"I can't find anything that matches the description of the incident that happened in the book (I read the excerpt about the shark story-to try to match up some of the details)... If you have any more details (victim's name, etc.) I can try a few more queries."
Well as you can see, Bill wouldn't furnish me with any usable information. I do not personally believe the attack described by Bill Wiese's book ever took place.
Mr. Buch stated: "One could encounter a large Tiger (shark) in that area, and it could take a leg off. A board could snap if bitten in the right place (it would have to be a really big shark to just bit clean through one). Also, the event could have been recorded incompletely, or missed altogether (but that kind of event rarely goes unreported)."
International Shark Attack File
There have been 85 shark attacks and one fatality from 1882 to 2004 in Brevard County where Cocoa Beach is located. It seems that no one can confirm Bill's shark attack story. One's statistical chances of being at the beach during a five-minute daylight shark attack once a year is one in over 50,000. I don't believe it.