Hawaiian snow

The camera was still rolling when the gunmen opened fire... Within seconds, people were falling to the ground. Others scrambled beneath the airplanes, desperately trying to survive. And behind the camera was a man who had no idea he was recording the final moments of his own life. His name was Bob Brown. It was November 18, 1978. Brown was an NBC cameraman who had accompanied Congressman Leo Ryan to a remote settlement in Guyana called Jonestown, where hundreds of Americans were living under the control of cult leader Jim Jones. Families back home had been pleading for help, claiming their loved ones were being abused, manipulated, and prevented from leaving. Ryan had traveled there to investigate. When the delegation arrived, Jones put on a show. There was music, food, smiling followers, and assurances that everyone was happy. But as the evening unfolded, residents began secretly passing notes to the visitors. They wanted out. The following day, Ryan arranged to take several defectors with him. They traveled to a nearby airstrip, where two small planes were waiting. For those escaping Jonestown, freedom was finally within reach. Then a tractor pulling a trailer appeared. Inside were armed members of Jones's inner circle. The men climbed out and opened fire. Brown kept his camera pointed toward the attackers, capturing several seconds of the shooting before he himself was struck. He was killed alongside Congressman Ryan, two other journalists, and a woman who had been trying to escape Jonestown. But the horror unfolding at the airstrip was only part of what happened that afternoon. Back at Jonestown, Jim Jones had gathered his followers. A cyanide-laced drink was prepared, children were poisoned, and many adults were coerced into dying. By the end of the day, more than 900 people were dead. It became known as the Jonestown massacre. And among the evidence recovered from the airstrip was something extraordinary. Bob Brown's camera. The footage survived. Nearly 48 years later, we can still watch the moment a journalist unknowingly filmed the attack that would take his life. He never made it home. His footage did.