I know what you’re thinking: “How in the world does a fighter jet shoot itself down?” Well, in the early days of fighter jets, pilots didn’t understand just how fast these new vehicles were. Faster than some bullets. Even bullets they fired themselves.

Our story takes place on September 21, 1956. Jet engines on airplanes were barely a decade old. And a Grumman test pilot was taking the company’s first fighter jet model for a spin over the Atlantic.

The single-engine jet fighter was called the F-11 Tiger, and its top speed was 843 mph (Mach 1.1). During a high-speed run, the pilot squeezed off a burst from the jet’s 20mm Colt MK.12 machine guns. He was careful to aim down at an empty patch of ocean. Then, he hit the plane’s afterburners and dove.

Those 20mm bullets left the Colt MK.12’s barrel at a dizzying 2,250 mph. But air resistance rapidly slowed the big bullets. The diving fighter jet, propelled by its afterburners, sped up to near its 843 mph top speed. Then the bullets and jet met back up.

The pilot apparently reported a bird strike. His engine began to make funny noises. His windshield caved in. He attempted to limp the fighter jet back to Grumman’s Long Island airfield but crashed en route. The good news is the pilot survived to fly another day, though he was recuperating for several months.

Later, Grumman’s investigation revealed what had actually happened. The Tiger had simply outflown its own bullets. It was an important lesson in how fast—and dangerous—fighter jets are.

The Tiger was soon retired in favor of newer, faster jets. But the 200 F-11 Tigers the Navy had stuck around and were used by the Blue Angels until 1969—with no guns attached.