Paul Really Is Dead

On November 9, 1966, Beatles bassist Paul McCartney was killed in a car crash at approximately 5:00 AM. When the band and their management heard the news, they quickly worked out a way to cover up the tragedy.

Before Paul's Death
At around 3:30 AM, a recording session for the Beatles' upcoming album, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, ended with a heated argument between McCartney and the other band members. McCartney stormed out of the studio and got into his car. While driving aimlessly through London, he noticed a teenage girl, whose name was later found to be Carolyn Rita Northam, on the side of the road. She walked over to the car to ask Paul for a ride and immediately recognized him. She had been walking home, and since it was raining, Paul agreed to take her home.

The Crash
Paul was under the influence of LSD. This, combined with Carolyn's excitement at meeting Paul, distracted him from the road. At 4:38 AM, he went through an intersection, not noticing the light was red. Someone going through the intersection from the left slammed into the car, not having time to stop or dodge. The collision sent Paul—and Carolyn—veering head-on into a telephone pole. Carolyn's face went into the windshield, killing her within minutes. Paul's mouth and nose hit the steering wheel, knocking out all of his teeth and crushing his nose and right eyeball socket. He also crushed his fingers—and his entire right hand—against the dashboard. Finally, he broke both his right knee and thigh. (Thigh fractures are potentially fatal as the muscles can move the pieces of the bone around, causing severe internal bleeding.) The driver who had hit them pulled over to help them, but upon recognizing Paul he was so overcome with shock and guilt that he drove away, seconds before the car caught fire.

Because of his injuries, Paul was unable to get out of his car. By 4:45 AM, eleven people had gathered at the crash site. Inside the car, Paul was screaming, "Get me out! Get me out!", but there was nothing the crowd could do since the car was on fire. An ambulence, fire engine, and two police cars ariived at 4:47 AM, by which time Paul himself was on fire. The blaze was extinguished within a couple of minutes, but by that time, Paul had died. His hair, clothing, and most of his skin had been burned away. Much of Carolyn's body had been burned all the way to the skeleton, so she could only be identified by her dental records. Both were pronounced dead at 4:56 AM.