[1] The roof of the Sheppton anthracite coal mine collapsed on August 13 and three miners were trapped 300 feet below ground.
[2] After several days a borehole successfully reached a mine, and revealed that two of the miners, Henry Throne and David Fellin, had survived in a small, narrow chamber.
Rescuers dropped provisions to the miners and subsequent larger boreholes were made, including the final large hole bored with the assistance of billionaire Howard Hughes, and the two surviving miners were successfully raised to the surface on August 27.
[6] After they were rescued, Throne and Fellin related similar stories of having seen human-like figures (including the recently deceased Pope John XXIII), crosses, stairs, and other religious imagery.
While the shared visions were similar, they varied enough in the details to suggest the miners had experienced folie à deux.