# What's the farthest anyone has ever thrown a projectile? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 29, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266 "2017-03-29T03:08:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![m30wc0w](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@m30wc0w](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/m30wc0w)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/1 "2017-03-29T03:08:51Z")
Nothing fuel-powered, I’m talking powered 100% by kinetic energy ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/2 "2017-03-29T03:12:46Z")
[Baseball](http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/long197.html) > [@](#): > > After all was said and done the baseball covered a total of 445 feet 10 inches before hitting the ground and breaking the old record by a whole nine inches. [Boomerang](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-throw-no-tail) > [@](#): > > The record the longest throw of an object without any velocity-aiding feature is 427.2 m (1,401.5 ft) by David Schummy (Australia) with a boomerang on 15 March 2005 at Murrarie Recreation Ground, Queensland, Australia. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/3 "2017-03-29T03:18:45Z")
A previous thread(2006) [Flight distance record for a hand-thrown object?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=399231) ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/4 "2017-03-29T03:48:47Z")
Are you asking about hand-thrown objects? Or human-powered but not necessarily by hand (e.g. a golf ball counts)? Or are you including machines that throw projectiles (trebuchet, artillery)? What about things that are initially self-propelled, then travel the rest of the way by kinetic energy (e.g. ICBMs, interplanetary probes)? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/5 "2017-03-29T03:58:04Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Are you asking about hand-thrown objects? Or human-powered but not necessarily by hand (e.g. a golf ball counts)? Or are you including machines that throw projectiles (trebuchet, artillery)? What about things that are initially self-propelled, then travel the rest of the way by kinetic energy (e.g. ICBMs, interplanetary probes)? Considering an ICBM to be thrown is pushing it just a tad. 😛 I’d say hand-thrown. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/6 "2017-03-29T04:07:05Z")
I wonder if an astronaut has thrown something that might still be travelling? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/7 "2017-03-29T15:25:10Z")
> [@m30wc0w](#): > > Nothing fuel-powered, I’m talking powered 100% by kinetic energy I think we know what you mean but anything that is moving has kinetic energy, and nothing is “powered” by kinetic energy. I think you mean that all of the kinetic energy comes from the human throwing it. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/8 "2017-03-29T17:10:43Z")
Ie, ballistics, with a one-off energy initiation and source biologically generated and mechanically transferred by one system. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/9 "2017-03-29T17:26:34Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Are you asking about hand-thrown objects? Or human-powered but not necessarily by hand (e.g. a golf ball counts)? I have never in my life heard of the act of striking a golf ball with a golf club being called “throwing.” I think it’s pretty clear the OP wants to know what the record is for the furthest a human has thrown an object by THROWNG it - using their arm and hand to throw something without the benefit of a machine or engine of some kind. Clearly the record, assuming throwing the object from level ground, will be held by an person throwing an object designed for this purpose., probably some sort of Frisbee type thing. Throwing a baseball 440 feet is an absolutely incredible feat - there are professional baseball players who can’t HIT a baseball that far - but some types of Frisbee, thrown expertly, will go way, way further. The earlier thread makes mention of some product of this sort that a guy throw over 1300 feet. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/10 "2017-03-29T17:57:41Z")
The current [frisbee (golf disc) distance record](http://www.innovadiscs.com/team-news/new-world-record-338-meters-thrown-david-wiggins-jr/) is 1,109 feet (338 m). ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/11 "2017-03-29T18:06:09Z")
I used to own one of these, until my brother discovered they don’t float nearly as well as they fly… > [@](#): > > The 13 inches (33 cm) Aerobie Pro was used to set the Guinness World Record two times for the “longest throw of an object without any velocity-aiding feature”.[18] The Aerobie’s first Guinness World Record was set by Scott Zimmerman at 1,257 feet (383 meters) in 1986 at Fort Funston, San Francisco.[19] The 1986 record was broken by Erin Hemmings with a throw of 1,333 feet (406 meters) on July 14, 2003 at Fort Funston. Hemmings’ Aerobie was airborne for 30 seconds (not an official measurement) and was the first thrown object to break the quarter-mile barrier (or 1,320 feet) > **[Aerobie | World records](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobie#World_records)** > > The 13-inch (330 mm) Aerobie Pro was used to set the Guinness World Record twice for the "longest throw of an object without any velocity-aiding feature". The Aerobie's first Guinness World Record was set by Scott Zimmerman at 1,257 feet (383 meters) in 1986 at Fort Funston, San Francisco. The 1986 record was broken by Erin Hemmings with a throw of 1,333 feet (406 meters) on July 14, 2003 at Fort Funston. Hemmings' Aerobie was airborne for 30 seconds (not an official measurement) and was Previou... ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/12 "2017-03-29T18:09:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I think it’s pretty clear the OP wants to know what the record is for the furthest a human has thrown an object by THROWNG it - using their arm and hand to throw something without the benefit of a machine or engine of some kind. > > Clearly the record, assuming throwing the object from level ground, will be held by an person throwing an object **designed for this purpose**., probably some sort of Frisbee type thing. The bolded part is where things gets grey, and I would suggest the OP probably didn’t intend to include objects designed to extend distance traveled by taking advantage of lift, air currents, etc… at least that’s what I get from using the term “projectile”. A person can throw a paper airplane (or even a balloon) into the wind and have it travel very long distances; far beyond the distance the person actually “threw” it. I’d say the boomerang record shouldn’t qualify, but the baseball record should. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/13 "2017-03-29T18:23:33Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > The bolded part is where things gets grey, and I would suggest the OP probably didn’t intend to include objects designed to extend distance traveled by taking advantage of lift, air currents, etc… at least that’s what I get from using the term “projectile”. > > A person can throw a paper airplane (or even a balloon) into the wind and have it travel very long distances; far beyond the distance the person actually “threw” it. I’d say the boomerang record shouldn’t qualify, but the baseball record should. I agree that the term “projectile” conjures up images of non-aerolifted objects but just putting spin on a baseball would put it into the aerodynamical category. I also think that it would be easy to qualify the question to specify “no wind currents, on level ground” to remove the cases of paper airplanes flying by the wind or dropped from a height. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/14 "2017-03-29T18:24:34Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I wonder if an astronaut has thrown something that might still be travelling? I don’t think an astronaut has ever had the opportunity to throw something beyond earth or the moon’s gravity. Although throwing something while in orbit is going to win you the record. [See for example](https://youtu.be/nMqZ4iYnjf8) the half a million yard throw from February, on the ISS (YouTube). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/15 "2017-03-29T18:38:03Z")
> [@mmmiiikkkeee](#): > > A person can throw a paper airplane Indoor record 226 ft.: [Paper Airplane Throw World Record Broken | Live Science](http://www.livescience.com/33741-record-paper-airplane-throw.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/16 "2017-03-30T10:38:51Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I wonder if an astronaut has thrown something that might still be travelling? > [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > I don’t think an astronaut has ever had the opportunity to throw something beyond earth or the moon’s gravity. Although throwing something while in orbit is going to win you the record. [See for example](https://youtu.be/nMqZ4iYnjf8) the half a million yard throw from February, on the ISS (YouTube). I guess it depends on whether an object accidentally dropped by an astronaut on EVA counts as ‘thrown’ - a dropped/lost tool will carry on orbiting the Earth for a long time - and that’s long ‘throw’ - if the scenario qualifies at all. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/17 "2017-03-30T10:50:24Z")
Astronauts have intentionally thrown objects off the ISS. [Cubesats, for example](http://www.space.com/26841-spacewalking-cosmonaut-launches-peru-satellite-video.html). Assuming the cubesat stayed in orbit around 6 months, that’s 74 million miles. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/18 "2017-03-30T13:08:32Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Boomerang](http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-throw-no-tail) Does that count both out and back, though? ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/19 "2017-03-30T13:24:30Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I used to own one of these, until my brother discovered they don’t float nearly as well as they fly… > > [Aerobie - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobie#World_records) Came it to say this. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266/20 "2017-03-30T13:28:21Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Does that count both out and back, though? [Non-returning boomerangs.](https://www.boomerangshack.com/hunting_with_boomerang.htm) > [@](#): > > But there are non-returning boomerangs used for hunting, digging up roots, fire pits and sunken shelters, as musical instruments and for hand-to-hand combat, in effect like a wooden tomahawk. Returning boomerangs are not used for hunting because they are too light, and their flight path is difficult to predict exactly, and therefore aiming is virtually impossible. However, they must have been also used for honing the individual throwing expertise and techniques, for use in hunting boomerangs. > Hunting boomerangs – aborigines call them kylies - are usually heavier as well as larger and are made a bit differently from returning boomerangs, mainly in the shape of its airfoil. Many non-returning boomerangs have one arm much longer than the other, so they do not fly in a circular path but are easier to aim, fly faster and are more deadly when used for maiming or killing animals. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-farthest-anyone-has-ever-thrown-a-projectile/783266.md?page=2)