The Build Team learned that this kind of suit was typically fitted with a non-return valve that prevented a loss of suit pressure if the line broke. They chose to proceed on the premise that the diver might have forgotten to keep the valve in good condition, and put together a small-scale ballistic gelatin model of a human diver, complete with suit and helmet. Placing it at the bottom of a 15 feet (4.6 m) dive tank and cutting the air supply, they were surprised to see gelatin being squeezed up into the helmet as the pressure crushed the suit.
At this point, Kari withdrew from further work to go on maternity leave and was replaced by Jessi Combs. The team made a full-size human analog from pork and a model skeleton, filled its chest with simulated internal organs, dressed it in a suit and Mark V dive helmet, and lowered it to a depth of 300 feet (90 m) in the ocean. After the suit was properly pressurized to 135 pounds per square inch (930 kPa) to match the water depth, they cut the air supply. The pressure change caved in portions of the helmet and caused it to fill with flesh, blood, and organs from the body being crushed upward. Based on this result, the team declared the myth confirmed.
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