Can a bullet be stopped by simple pocketed items like a bible, a notebook, a pocket watch or even your beloved phone? A trope that has appeared in multiple movies since the days of Hitchcock and mocked by the likes of The Simpsons, but how true is it? How does the science hold up? Let’s find out. Can a bible stop a bullet? Can a book stop a bullet? What things can stop a bullet? Can a phone stop a bullet? Bulletproof bible? Pocket protector, CREDITS: Stu K - Researcher | Illustrator | Producer | Presenter Jacob T - Researcher | Writer Ross G - Illustrator | Editor | Animator Robin M - Guest VO MUSIC CREDITS Epidemic Sounds SOURCES: TV Trope Info https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PocketProtector EXAMPLES Richard Baxter - ENGLISH CIVIL WAR (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A27006.0001.001/1:8?rgn=div1;view=fulltext) (https://triviumpursuit.com/free-soldiers-pocket-bible/) Sam Houston Jr. - U.S CIVIL WAR https://civilwartalk.com/threads/bibles-stopping-bullets.93779/ https://heritagepost.org/american-civil-war-biographies/saved-by-his-bible-sam-houston-jr https://digital.library.shsu.edu/digital/collection/p16042coll2/id/189 (Different Bibles?) John Hicks Kelly - U.S CIVIL WAR https://dchcblog.net/2016/05/31/the-bible-that-stopped-a-yankee-bullet/ William Preston Mangum - U.S CIVIL WAR http://armchairgeneral.com/bibles-and-bullets.htm Theodore Roosevelt - ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, 1912 https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/07/the-pocket-items-that-saved-the-life-of-theodore-roosevelt/ George Vinall - FIRST WORLD WAR https://www.christiantoday.com/article/the-world-war-one-soldier-whose-bible-stopped-a-bulletexecute1/130863.htm https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/1-august/features/features/a-lantern-unto-their-feet Elvas Elliot Jenkins - FIRST WORLD WAR http://malcolmsquirks.blogspot.com/2015/02/yes-virginia-bible-really-did-stop.html Mustafa Kemal Atatürk - FIRST WORLD WAR https://montrespubliques.com/new-long-reads/three-stories-that-every-watch-lover-should-read James Doohan - SECOND WORLD WAR https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/james-doohan-d-day/ Mauricio Zanes Condori - MUGGING, BUENAS AIRES, 2009 https://topnews.in/bible-stops-bullet-and-saves-pastors-life-2172361 https://www.smh.com.au/world/born-again-psalm-book-saves-pastor-from-bullet-20090529-bpsf.html Ricky Wagoner - “SHOOTING”, 2014 https://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/25/us/ohio-bible-stops-bullet/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/20/us/ohio-bible-stops-bullet/index.html Ohio woman - SHOOTING, 2016 https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2016/05/religious_painting_stops_bulle.html Rabbi Zeev Katzenellebogen - SHOOTING, 2021 https://www.israel365news.com/349836/miracle-in-jerusalem-tefillin-stops-bullet-from-hitting-him-in-heart/ Ukrainian soldier - UKRAINE WAR, 2022 https://www.citychurch.ee/miracle-in-ukraine-the-bible-in-the-pocket-of-a-ukrainian-soldier-stopped-the-bullet/ TESTING Mythbusters tests https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PocketProtector https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL7xGGryAMQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(2004_season)#Episode_16_%E2%80%93_%22Ancient_Death_Ray%22 boxoftruth.com tests https://www.theboxotruth.com/threads/the-box-o-truth-31-the-books-o-truth.355/ Oklahoma Police Department tests https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/03/02/oklahoma-police-department-fires-guns-into-textbooks-to-see-if-they-can-stop-bullets-really/ https://ktul.com/news/local/oklahoma-police-chief-textbooks-can-protect-students-during-school-shooting