The Mystery of Fabio's Goose Incident • Apollo's Chariot, Busch Gardens Williamsburg March 30, 1999

On March 30, 1999, Fabio Lanzoni rode Apollo’s Chariot and was hit in the face by a goose.

Or was he?

Watch this video to learn about Goosegate!

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Gear used by Park Rover Andrew:

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Sources and links in order of their first appearance:

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Articles that we reviewed for this project:

[ParkRovers]

May 15, 2024 update: Thanks to a team of creators, including Bobby Fingers, Adam Savage, and The Slow Mo Guys, we now have proof that the goose couldn't have hit Fabio directly. Case closed.

[Roger-cktu]

Girl : "Fabio Duck!"
Fabio : "That's not a d..."

[adamcorcoran]

A few days after this happened, I remember seeing a photo on the cover of a tabloid magazine. It was a snapshot showing the goose hitting him in the face. Despite being a tabloid, you could tell it was a real photo. It was a goose and not a piece of the camera.

[megaverner]

4:50 If you look at the other riders, you'll notice that the woman sitting next to Fabio is not bloody at all, but the woman behind her has blood splatters on her face and and what seems to be bird crap in her eye. The blood on the woman's face couldn't have been Fabio's, a small cut on the nose doesn't spray like a fountain. If the bird hit the camera only the people in front would have gotten splattered, not the ones in the second row. I'm 100% convinced the bird hit Fabio in the face, pretty much exploding on impact.

[dave]

That woman from busch gardens who said noone else has ever been hit by a goose in the face, burst into hysterics right after the camera cut.

[sweetncool]

Oh memories! I was 14 years old and unable to work there yet. I remember the ride opening and it was all the talk about the goose that flew up. After that, we were told they put more nets by the water so it wouldn't likely happen again. I started working there the next year at 15 and employees were still talking about it

[jelomapleleaf]

I've been searching around for information about this incident, and this video has been a tremendous help. Thank you so much!

[NikFowler]

Well, as a certain Mr Fingers might say, "You can't take a goose to court"

[xjesusxchristx]

It's a bit suspicious when he himself has stuck to the goose thing for so long, and suddenly changes his story 20 years later. But it's also a strange lie, that would serve no purpose so many years later - unless it's just about having attention on him for the first time in forever.

[yourfinalhiringagency]

It was not a freak accident, it was a typical response from a goose when it’s the very first time the ride was used. (Which is super hard to tell if that’s accurate bc the ride should have several test runs prior that spooked the goose).

[V.W.A]

Thanks for the informative video! I've never heard about this until recently.

[Tiff.Wilson]

I see the lens is broke coming back so yes I believe Fabio lol

[davidhunt]

Looks like the light on top of the camera has gone when the coaster arrives back. The woman behind is splattered with something on her face. I wonder where the footage from those front mounted cameras went?

[hillaryanderson]

If he was actually hit by the goose he would have had a broken nose or worse!

[petermorin]

This happened a couple of days after I was born, damn time flies

[stopthethreat]

Why didn't they just interview the goose???

[UKcomedyfan]

Why did it take 21 years for anyone sitting in the same row on the roller coaster as Fabio (or the row behind him) to speak up? Fear of being sued by Fabio? I would think he would want this cleared up. Also, why wasn't there another camera that they could have taken footage from (yeah, they would still destroy the tape from that because they didn't want to get sued, but still) to prove what really happened?

[danjohnson]

No man the camera on the way back looks way different he was telling the truth.

[JTAIT-bg]

6:25 You can clearly see bruising on Fabs right cheek indicative of something (a goose) smashing him in the face rather than a shard of metal just nicking him across the nose.
I think he is just tired of being a meme and his story about how his cat-like reflexes almost enabled him to avoid getting hit by a broken camera sounds significantly less humiliating than copping 4kgs of goose full in the face.

[syrsafox]

I heard a credible rumor that the goose was secretly paid off by BGW to speak to no one. I also heard that it went on to be supported by and later became a large investor in Aflac insurance, when a fowl friend landed a role as the mascot/spokesperson that same year.