Mysterious Disappearances

Many Disappearances Worldwide Remain Unsolved

There are many things that occur on our planet that can be difficult to understand; however, there are also a number of things that are just simply baffling. By the laws of physics we know that nothing simply disappears, it lives, it dies and it transforms from one form of energy to another, but nothing just ceases being. Throughout the history of our planet; however, a number of important people as well as “things” have seemingly disappeared. For each of these cases of mysterious disappearance there are many possible answers and most include accidents and eventual death; however, even with these explanations there are many unanswered questions that add to the sense of mystery. If individuals did die where are the remains and why were they never found? Why do mysterious disappearances always occur in specified locations? Why did the disappearance happen in the first place? Throughout this article we will cover just a few of the more famous cases of mysterious disappearances.

Amelia Earhart

One of the most famous and recognized incidences of mysterious disappearance is that of Amelia Earhart. Born in 1897, Amelia Earhart became known for being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Earhart was the first woman to be awarded the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross as a result of her cross Atlantic flight. Earhart mysteriously went missing in 1937 and on January 5^th, 1939 she was declared legally dead. In 1937 Earhart set out to circumnavigate the globe in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra that was funded by Purdue. During her flight Earhart disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean. It is believed that Earhart went missing around Howland Island.

The Flight Schedule and Howland Island

During her flight Earhart was scheduled to stop at Howland Island after taking off from Lae in Papua New Guinea on July 2nd. Earhart was accompanied by Fred Noonan, her only crew member. The intended landing at Howland Island was supposed to be navigated through radio navigation; however, somehow the navigation did not go to plan. There are many theories as to what happened to cause the problems in the final approach to the island. The most popular of theories stems from Noonan’s concerns about problems with the accuracy of radio detection finding in navigation, he had written about these problems previously and it is believed that this led to trouble in landing at Howland Island. The particular plane that Earhart was using was equip with a Bendix direction-finding loop antenna which at the time was particularly new technology and some believe that it was this new technology that caused many of the navigational errors because neither Noonan nor Earhart were familiar enough with it to use it to their advantage. Some also believe that part of the navigational trouble was related to the time zones of Earhart and the USCG cutter Itasca which was assisting with navigation. Due to Earhart using Greenwich Civil Time and the Itasca using a naval time zone the two were thirty minutes apart on their communication schedule.

Loss of Radio Transmission

The last radio transmission signal that the Itasca received from Earhart was, according to their records, a strong signal; however, there was evidence that while she could communicate with them, she could not hear their communications. It was 7:42am when Earhart radioed to the Itasca that she was running low on gas, at this time she was flying at 1,000 feet. In an effort to communicate with the Itasca Earhart requested that the Itasca attempt to communicate on a specific frequency; however, the Itasca was unable to communicate on the designated frequency and instead broadcast in Morse code to try to help Earhart navigate herself to land at Howland Island. The Itasca was able to determine that Earhart received the Morse code transmission; however, she was reportedly unable to determine her location. The Itasca attempted to send smoke signals to Earhart to help her orient herself and find the designated landing area on the island, but Earhart did not see the signals and communication was lost.

What Became of Amelia Earhart?

What actually happened to Amelia Earhart and Noonan is unknown which is what makes this one of the most famous cases of mysterious disappearance. Some believe that Earhart made it to land relatively safely because her radio transmissions were still coming for a while after her becoming disoriented. It is believed by these people that had Earhart landed in the ocean her electrical system would have shorted and she would have been unable to communicate at all. The crew of the Itasca believed that perhaps Earhart had been able to land safely and they began a three day search of Howland Island and the surrounding area. No evidence of Earhart was found in the area but later search efforts focused on the Phoenix Islands located to the south of Howland Island revealed evidence of recent activity. Despite finding evidence of activity; however, there was no response to efforts to gain attention by the aircraft. Some believe that Earhart and Noonan were on the island but out searching for supplies at the time that the rescue party flew over. Earhart, Noonan nor their aircraft was ever found. The total cost of the recovery efforts cost $4 million and went on record as being the most expensive recovery effort to date. Recovery efforts were ceased on July 19, 1937 and Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, 1939. Some people believe that she and Noonan lived out their lives on the Phoenix Island for as long as they could before dying there.

Virginia Dare

The Disappearance of America’s First Daughter

Virginia Dare is another incidence of an individual who has gone missing through the history of the United States, but unlike Amelia Earhart there is no evidence as to what actually happened to this woman. In 1587 John White left the colony that he had established in the state of Virginia to return back to England to fetch supplies as well as other individuals to bring back to the Americas to help build on to the colonies. Virginia Dare, was the first child to be born in the America’s to the settlers of the Virginia colony but when John White returned to Virginia with all that he needed he found that the entire colony was gone. All of the individuals including Virginia Dare were missing completely and all that could be seen was the engraving of the word “Croatan” on a nearby tree. John searched nearby and could not find the remnants of the colonists that he had left upon his departure to England. While the colonists were never found later researchers believe that a local Native American tribe may have taken the colonists. There was a tribe of Native Americans in the area named the Croatan tribe; however, there was no evidence that these individuals had been taken other than their missing status and the word “Croatan” carved on to the tree.

The Lost City of Atlantis

Where is the Lost City if Atlantis?

The lost city of Atlantis was first mentioned by Plato at around 360 BC. There are debates as to whether Plato was actually referring to an island or whether he was referring to something mythical but over time people have come to believe that the island of Atlantis actually did exist at one point before sinking beneath the sea. Most geographers deny the existence of the island of Atlantis citing a lack of proof of its existence but there are those who hypothesize about the potential location of the island. The most commonly location for the long lost island is in the Mediterranean Sea. Most people, who believe that the island existed at one point, believe that it was located close to other small islands like Cyprus and Crete. While the most popular consensus for the location of the island is somewhere in the Mediterranean sea, there are also those who believe that the island is located in the Atlantic Ocean with numerous research teams finding their own “evidence” of the island around the area of Spain. These researchers believe that the island was affected by a tsunami which caused its eventual sinking beneath the ocean. Other teams of researchers believe that the island of Atlantis is located in Antarctica or the Caribbean or even in India, but to date no actual evidence of the island has been found.

While little evidence exists to attest to the existence of the lost city of Atlantis the legend is still one that captures the attention of plenty of people. While individuals go missing all the time entire islands do not. The very idea of an entire landmass going missing is both baffling and intriguing.

The Bermuda Triangle

The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle

While Amelia Earhart makes news as one of the most recognized mysterious disappearances in history and the island of Atlantis makes news as one of the most baffling disappearances in history, no discussion of mysterious disappearances would be complete without mention of the Bermuda Triangle. The Bermuda Triangle is also referred to as the Devil’s Triangle and is located in the west of the North Atlantic Ocean. The Bermuda Triangle has been noted in numerous cultures from those who believe that it has extra-terrestrial ties to those who believe that it has ties to the paranormal. Regardless of whether or not you believe that the existence of the Bermuda Triangle has ties to either of these less scientific explanations, there is no denying that there is something about the Bermuda Triangle that is conducive to mysterious disappearances.

Where is the Bermuda Triangle?

The Bermuda Triangle covers the Bahamas, the Caribbean island area, the Straits of Florida and the Atlantic Ocean east of the Azores. While the Bermuda triangle is known for being an area that is commonly responsible for the mysterious disappearance of many ships and planes, it still remains one of the most traveled shipping lanes in the entire world. As ships pass through the area trafficking goods and moving people, not all of those ships go missing but throughout history a large number of ships and planes have gone missing in the Triangle location.

The Disappearance of Flight 19

The first reported incidence of a mysterious disappearance in the Bermuda Triangle was on September 16, 1950. The most recognized incident of mysterious disappearance in the Triangle location is the disappearance of Flight 19. Flight 19 was a group of Navy Avenger bomber planes that were taking part in a training mission who became disoriented as they were traveling through the Bermuda Triangle. Radio transmissions for Flight 19 indicate that upon traveling through the Triangle area indicate that the planes and pilots quickly became disoriented. It is believed that a combination of weather conditions, geographical features and magnetic properties of the area all contributed to the disorientation of the pilots in Flight 19. All of these contributing factors have been cited by numerous pilots and ship captains as they found themselves becoming disoriented in the location of the Bermuda Triangle. Most commonly the magnetic interference of the Triangle has been noted as creating interference with the compasses and other navigational equipment on planes and ships creating confusion and leading to fast disorientation. Often times as these vehicles became disoriented they would run out of gas as they attempted to find their way out of the location and the crew would find themselves stranded and without accurate navigational data to give to a rescue party.

Other Disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle

The crew of Flight 19 is not the only incidence that is noted for disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle, numerous other vehicles have been lost in this area as well including:

• The Ellen Austin which lost two crews after disappearing and reappearing in the Bermuda Triangle – each time without the prized crew that had been placed onboard.
• The USS Cyclops which went missing in March of 1918 with a crew of 309 individuals on board after leaving Barbados.
• Theodosia Burr Alston the daughter of Aaron Burr who disappeared on a journey from South Carolina to New York while onboard the Patriot.
• The Carroll A. Deering, a five-masted schooner that ran aground near Cape Hatteras in North Carolina in 1921.
• The Douglas DC-3 aircraft number NC16002 disappeared during a flight from Puerto Rico to Miami. The entire aircraft as well as every single person of the 32 on board went missing having disappeared completely.
• The SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a T2 tanker that was redesigned to carry sulfur rather than oil not only disappeared within the triangle but it took its 39 person crew with it. While some believe that this tankers disappearance is due to the Triangle, others believe that it was the poor maintenance of this tanker that led to its rapid sinking and disappearance of the crew.

Many of these planes and ships have other explanations for their disappearance such as that found in the explanation of the SS Marine Sulphur and crew, explanations that include poor maintenance, pirate activity or simply poor navigation skills; however, for those who believe in the power of the Bermuda Triangle, no other explanation is needed. Research continues in to the activity that has been noted in the Triangle but to date there has been no confirmable proof to support the potential mysterious activity within the area.

Why Are We So Intrigued with Mysterious Disappearances?

It may seem sick to think about being so intrigued by mysterious disappearances but there is something about the complete disappearance of anything, land masses, individuals or complete aircrafts or ships. We are taught to believe that there is no death of energy and so particularly when it comes to the disappearance of people we tend to be amazed and obsessed that someone could just disappear from the face of our planet. As for an entire island disappearing – there is no question why that is so fascinating, there may not be any death of energy involved but something as large as a landmass simply should not disappear without a trace. Lastly when it comes to a plane or a ship, vehicles simply do not disappear, while these things may not express energy in the same means that we do as human beings they are large machines that simply do not disintegrate.

Many of these mysterious disappearances do not have explanations that make sense to us as logical human beings and for that reason we are obsessed with these events and trying to discover a reason that does make sense. Until such a time that we find a reason that explains the ins and outs of each of these disappearances we will continue to be obsessed because we are not programmed to simply accept things for what they are. We are raised to question things that do not gel with our concepts of what makes sense and to keep searching until we can make those things make sense. Unfortunately for us, many of these mysterious events may never make sense and we will be left to continue searching for answers that may never be.