Joseph DeAngelo, Swimmer Mistaken For Drowning Victim, Appears To Rise From Dead

'It's A Miracle' Cop Says: Man Mistaken For Dead Rises

What's more alarming: seeing a dead body in a river, or seeing that dead body get up and start moving toward you?

Sue Hubbard of Williamsport, Pennsylvania was sure that the man she saw floating in the Susquehanna River on Thursday was a drowning victim, WNEP reports. She was so sure, in fact, that police, firefighters, and even a coroner were called to the scene.

The emergency team was trying to figure out the best way to remove the body from the water when the man, who was wearing a life jacket, sat up.

Needless to say, the onlookers were a bit startled.

"Let me tell you, it was quite a shock for us," Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. told the Sun-Gazette. "He was bobbing up and down in the water and he really looked like he was dead."

"I said, 'It's a miracle!'" Williamsport Police Captain Michael Orwig told WNEP.

The "drowning victim," it turns out, was Joseph DeAngelo, who said he had just been taking a nap in the river. He happened to wake up when a dragonfly landed on his nose, according to the Associated Press.

"I didn't mean to worry anyone," said DeAngelo. He added that on a summer day, it's nice "just to float and forget your troubles."

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