Photographer Robert Landsberg was taking photographs during the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980. Upon realizing he wouldn’t survive, he lied down on top of his equipment to preserve the photographs he had taken of the event. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://huckberry.com/journal/posts/robert-landsburg-s-brave-final-shots
He LAY down. “He lied” means he told an untruth. Thanks for the interesting fact, though!