Is ballast resistor failure a myth?

hotrod swinger said

Carry an extra ballast resistor in the glove box? I say it's a myth, what say you?

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Definitely not a myth. I have had 2 of them fail on two different Mopars. Car will start and when you release the key it shuts off.

First time it happened I was on my way to a concert around 1978 in a snowstorm. Stopped at a store to grab some more punch and when we came out it was done. Had me scratching my head for a minute.

I didn't have a spare ballast so I jumped the wires and concert bound we were, lol.