Float Like A Big, Fake, Liar-Liar-Pants-On-Fire Butterfly

My apologies for shattering your universe. I know that since you read the "Mohammad Ali / Levitation" story you've been in a metaphysical tizzy, lying awake at night, fretfully wondering, "Are the physical laws of the universe truly just a construct of human perception? Is there no cause and effect? Am I a slave to the fallacious confines of my own feeble mind? I feel so alone. So very, very alone. [sob!]"

Well, we can't help with the "alone" part, but we can put that metaphysical tizzy to rest with some brand-spankin'-new information freshly ripped from the gaping maws of Google.* Are you sitting down? Here goes. Mohammad Ali cannot actually levitate. Turns out, it's one of the many magic tricks he loves to perform just about any chance he can get. Take this account from the New York Times, for example:

He stood up to demonstrate a levitation trick: by placing his heels together and flaring out his feet he rose up on the toes of one foot: It looked, from behind, as if he were actually lifting off. "Allah has given me the power to fly," he declared. "I don't believe it." "You don't believe Allah can do that?"

"I don't believe you'd take his name in vain for a silly trick."

His face lit up and he said, "You're not as dumb as you look," then headed off to get some more tricks.

That crazy guy! Now, go get a good night's sleep.

* Special thanks to Slimbolala's resident Google-ologist, "Jeff".