# Has anyone been seriously lost in a corn field? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495 "2007-06-02T17:40:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/61 "2014-11-14T14:04:24Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Apologies for resurrecting this zombie, but apparently some corn mazes are so big that [visitors have called 911 after getting lost](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lost-maze-calif-visitors-stuck-corn-maze-call-911-article-1.2008878). Funny coincidence-- I have the TV news on while I’m looking through GQ, and the exact moment I click to open this link this story comes up on the news. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/62 "2014-11-14T15:15:55Z")
About two months ago, there was a huge search for a three year old that wandered into a corn field, in one of the farm communities just outside our city. These are huge farm fields! It took half a day to locate her (no cell phone :D). Sadly this happens once every couple of years, often it’s the family dog that saves the day. Either by guarding through the night, often actually locating. It clears the surrounding farms of people, for miles around, to search, because they all know how dangerous it is, how easily/quickly it can happen, and at least one case where it ended tragically! It likely happened, in some short term version, to one of their kids! It is ALWAYS taken very seriously. (Corn mazes? Not so much!) ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/63 "2014-11-14T16:32:03Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > pumps are placed at the edge or corner of a field. > > water is piped to the pivot. > > obstructions above ground are not good. FTFY: \*\* Pumps placed at the edge Water piped to the pivot Obstructions: Not good\*\* . ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/64 "2014-11-14T22:01:18Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > How about the theory: > > When lost in maze: Place one hand (either, the only possible difference is time/distance to exit) on a wall and keep it there - you may (in a crude machine) run around an obvious box (but maybe the exit is hidden and only visible from within that tiny, obvious box?). > Would/does this work? > I have a magnetic compass in the car - when I’m rich I’ll upgrade to GPS. This only works if the maze is a simple “tree” (in Computer Science parlance). No loops or anything. Also, there can’t be any ambiguity when a wall splits. Some corn mazes have bridges and such. So a wall can split up/down and in other ways. But it will work for simple mazes if you _start_ off with a hand against a wall. Once lost, it won’t work. For a planar maze, you can get by with two markers that you can drop. But it’s going to take a lotta time. Non-planar mazes correspond to the undirected graph accessibility problem which requires deterministic log space but [surprisingly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omer_Reingold) no more. (Which I’m sure you were dying to know.) So no constant number of markers will do. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/65 "2014-11-14T23:28:13Z")
It happened to me as a youngster (four-ish?). And yes, my Dad sent the dog in after me. She’d run straight to me, then Dad would call her and I’d follow in the direction she went. She had to go back and forth quite a few times, but kept me going in the right direction until I was out. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/66 "2014-11-14T23:39:23Z")
I once got lost after I was wished into a cornfield, but it was a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/67 "2014-11-16T23:52:02Z")
> [@Cryptoderk](#): > > All that one needs to do to get out of the field is to walk in some random direction, trampling over the corn. > > Look behind you to ensure you are walking in a straight line. > [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > just how big do these corn fields get? pick a direction and walk No, this usually won’t work. Walking in a random direction will only work if you can stay moving perfectly straight. And that’s quite hard to do, when the corn is taller than you and you can’t see landmarks. Looking behind you will help, but trampling the corn is hard work, and not that easy to see after you get a ways away – you could find yourself circling around in a nice smooth curve. It would be better to look up into the sky at the sun (or moon or stars, at night), and then walk keeping the sun always at that same angle from your body. (Also a lot less damage to the field that you would have to pay for.) Even easier is the method mentioned before – just follow along one of the rows of corn until you come to the edge of the field. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/68 "2014-11-16T23:54:05Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Some of the corn fields around here are _ **huge** _. And the ones in Iowa and Kansas are much bigger than the ones around here. > > I would imagine a person could get easily lost when walking in such a corn field when the stalks are over 8 feet tall. Has there ever been a case where someone ventured into a corn field and gotten so lost that they had to bed down and wait until morning to continue? Or has there ever been a case where someone got so lost that search parties were organized? Steven King has lost a couple of people in corn fields. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/69 "2014-11-16T23:57:20Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Apologies for resurrecting this zombie, but apparently some corn mazes are so big that [visitors have called 911 after getting lost](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lost-maze-calif-visitors-stuck-corn-maze-call-911-article-1.2008878). So what did they do Airlift them out? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/70 "2014-11-17T00:45:01Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > Steven King has lost a couple of people in corn fields. Yes but they were Children of the Corn so that was their naive habitat. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/71 "2014-11-17T05:06:54Z")
I’ll ask (I’m old, and have little to lose): How is one SUPPOSED to make his way through these mazes? (I have never seen one; childhood was completely devoid of anything more complex than “Chutes and Ladders”). Are you given a map to follow? Do they have markers within which require a sharp eye to see? IOW: Why do people willing go into them, knowing that x% embarrass themselves by requiring rescue? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/72 "2014-11-17T05:13:22Z")
OK - maps. nm. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/73 "2014-11-17T05:48:03Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I’ll ask (I’m old, and have little to lose): > > How is one SUPPOSED to make his way through these mazes? (I have never seen one; childhood was completely devoid of anything more complex than “Chutes and Ladders”). > > Are you given a map to follow? Do they have markers within which require a sharp eye to see? > > IOW: Why do people willing go into them, knowing that x% embarrass themselves by requiring rescue? The only one I have ever been in is the Davis Mega-Maze in Sterling, MA but it is supposedly the best corn maze in the world and carefully designed. You don’t get a map and it would not help anyway. The whole point is to go in and get hopelessly lost. However, it isn’t like you are trapped in some kind of agricultural nightmare the whole time. There are very large bridges that you encounter that let you see the entire field from above (not that it helps much when you go back down into the corn). There are also some cleared out sections with activities like climbing walls that you encounter as you progress. Those landmarks help you to not backtrack. They change the maze daily by roping off passages so the solution may be completely different from one day to the next. It generally takes a few hours at least to complete the whole thing but you are never in any real danger. If there is an emergency, you can cut through roped off emergency exits or even the corn itself in an extreme case to reach an edge of the maze. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/74 "2014-11-17T17:09:53Z")
[The Bart solution.](http://babysimpson.co.uk/gallery/frames/6/2f03/49.jpg) Works for corn as well as hedges. ---
**Author:** ![EdwinAmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5fc32e/32.png) [@EdwinAmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwinAmi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495/75 "2014-11-17T22:21:56Z")
dude, I’m posting from a cornfield right now. The crows are sitting there just looking at me. It scares me… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-been-seriously-lost-in-a-corn-field/406495.md?page=3)