'MythBusters' Mishap Sends Cannonball Into House

A stunt for the show MythBusters send a cannonball flying through a California house before it hit a minivan a few hundred feet away in a science experiment gone wrong.

The cannonball was fired Tuesday at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department bomb range when it misfired and plowed into a home where residents were sleeping. Sheriff's spokesman J.D. Nelson -- who also serves as a consultant to the show -- told the Contra Costa Times no one was injured in the incident.

The projectile was supposed to go through some water-filled barrels and a concrete wall, but it instead passed over the barrels, through the wall, and bounced in front of the home, then tore through the front door and out a wall in the back. The cannonball then bounced at least once more and crossed the road before smashing through the window of the minivan and landing on the vehicle's dashboard.

MythBusters -- hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman -- is described by the Discovery Channel as a mix of "scientific method with gleeful curiosity and plain old-fashioned ingenuity to create (its) own signature style of explosive experimentation." Nearby residents said the show often conducts experiments in the area so they've grown accustomed to the sound of explosions.