: . Barry: The most elementary way to see through the paradox is to understand that black holes absorb space and that the speed at which space is flowing into the black hole is exactly the speed of light at the event horizon, and faster within it. That's why light can't escape. It's also why we can't sit just outside the event horizon. We would have to be going at the speed of light to do so. So it's impossible to hover at the event horizon.