Parachute

Was it a bird? Was it a plane? Was it a piece of debris flying off the skeleton of the city's tallest building? Nope, concluded a foreman supervising construction of 60-story One Liberty Place at 17th and Market streets. It was a guy floating to the ground with a parachute. From about the 58th floor. More than 900 feet above city streets. Three men with parachutes soared out of the upper reaches of the building shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday. Two landed safely. The parachute of the last jumper snagged on the top of a nearby six-story parking garage and the man apparently was hurt when he dropped to the ground, barely missing a 10-foot-high chain-link fence that surrounds the construction site.

The top-fuel cars are the dragsters whose hoods taper to a point supported by a couple of skinny tires that look as if maybe they were borrowed from a baby carriage. A top-fuel car travels a quarter of a mile in several seconds at a speed of about 270 m.p.h. Then a parachute erupts from the rear of the car, and the car slows and eventually stops. It is a ride that Dan Pastorini describes as "better than sex. " Pastorini caught car fever bad when he was a kid in California.

A man identified as a New York City waiter parachuted off the 47th floor of the partly built Mellon Bank Center yesterday in what was purported to be an event staged to win public acceptance for the "sport. " But angry police and construction officials said the 7 a.m. jump was illegal and said the man, who friends said was Joseph Delett, risked killing himself or passersby. Few people - other than the organizers - witnessed the jump, which occurred just as security guards were leaving and a morning shift of construction workers was arriving at the building on JFK Boulevard.

A new escape system aboard the space shuttle Discovery will allow the five- man crew to reach safety in the event of an emergency - but not under the very worst types of emergencies. Sliding down an aluminum-and-steel pole extending nearly 10 feet from a hatch door on the orbiter vehicle's front left side, the crew would be able to clear the orbiter's massive wing and parachute onto land or water while its failing orbiter barreled toward Earth. The system would work only under limited circumstances - not during the dangerous launch period and not if a stricken orbiter were spinning out of control.

Millions of Americans jumped out of bed this morning. Dale Nelson jumped out of an airplane. Again and again and again and again. . . . Nelson, of Malvern, Pa., is attempting to break the Guinness Book world record for the most consecutive sky dives in a 24-hour period. If all goes as planned, Nelson will throw his 48-year-old body out of an aircraft over Cross Keys Airport every 3 1/2 minutes. To beat the record held by Jay Stokes of Arizona, Nelson must dive more than 384 times before the clock strikes 1 p.m. today - more than 16 jumps per hour.

SAINTE-MARIE-DU-MONT, France - With World War II-era military planes darting overhead and Normandy's Utah Beach visible in the distance, a bronze statue emerged from beneath a camouflage parachute, in tribute to a man whose quiet leadership was chronicled in the book and television series Band of Brothers . The unveiling of the Colorado-made statue of Pennsylvania native Maj. Dick Winters was one of many events marking Wednesday's 68th...

Darryl Tate spent the last two weeks thinking ahead, worrying the whole time about what would be behind him. That's why the Central High senior went out to run by himself on Saturday mornings in preparation for yesterday's Public League cross-country championships. Anticipating all along that he might be alone in front of the pack, Tate wanted to get accustomed to the feeling ahead of time. The practice paid off as he coasted to victory in the boys' race at Belmont Plateau, covering the 3.1-mile course in a personal best time of 17 minutes, 7.01 seconds.

Shea Stadium parachute jumper Michael Sergio walked out of Queens Criminal Court yesterday without paying a penny - all because the man on the bench was a fan in the stands. Sergio, who sky-dived onto the field during Saturday night's World Series Game 6 between the Mets and Red Sox, stood before Judge Alan Beldock to hear charges of criminal nuisance, criminal trespass, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. Queens Assistant District Attorney Michelle Goldstein asked the judge to set $10,000 bail, arguing that the stunt could have backfired and harmed someone.

FRI TWENTY-SEVENTH Longwood Gardens supplies July 4 pyrotechnics a week early with the first of its four magnificent summer fireworks displays tonight at 9:15. The glorious Chester County horticultural treasure - reminiscent of Europe's greatest pleasure gardens - has the nation's most lavish lighted fountains. The combination of fireworks, fountains and accompanying music is breathtaking. Over 700 computer-controlled color lamps tint the water in hues of red, blue, green, yellow and white, plus combinations of the colors.

Lynn L. Elsenhans, the former Sunoco Inc. chief executive, stands to bank $37.4 million for dramatically transforming the Philadelphia oil company that is being sold to a Texas pipeline firm. Elsenhans will receive a severance benefit of $6 million, according to papers filed Thursday - her last day as chairwoman - with the Securities and Exchange Commission. And, she will receive an additional $17.1 million if the $5.3 billion merger that was announced Monday with Energy Transfer Partners L.P. is consummated.