#The Mysterious Case of the Mary Celeste

[seamusicpoetry]

The Mysterious Case of the Mary Celeste

150 Years of Myth and Mystique

By Graham Faiella

4 December 1872: The brigantine Dei Gratia chances upon another brigantine out on the Atlantic near the Azores. She is the Mary Celeste. She is under sail. But she is deserted. Silent as a drowned cadaver.

For 150 years since then, the mystery of why the Mary Celeste was abandoned, and what happened to the ten souls on board, has spawned thousands of conjectures, conspiracy theories, fictions and fantasies. Some have thought they solved the mystery. Some have just spun yarns. One, at least, has claimed it was all a hoax.

The Mysterious Case of the Mary Celeste: 150 Years of Myth and Mystique unveils those stories – the ‘fake news’, ‘alternative facts’ and the myths fabricated from fractured truths. These are the real facts in search of a truth that remains unfathomable to this day.

[conradscrime]

The Mystery of the Mary Celeste

May 11, 2023

The Mary Celeste ship was built in Spencer’s Island, Nova Scotia and was launched under British registration as Amazon on May 18, 1861. On the registration documents the ship was 99.3 feet long, 25.5 feet broad, with a depth of 11.7 feet. 

She had previously been in a wreck in Cape Breton and was very damaged. In November 1868, a man named Richard W. Haines, from New York paid $1,750 (US) for the wrecked ship and spent $8,825 to restore it. In December 1868, the ship was registered to the Collector of the Port of New York as an American vessel under the name, Mary Celeste. Haines also became the captain of her. 

In October 1869, the ship was seized from Haines and sold to a New York consortium. For at least three years there is no record of Mary Celeste’s trading activities. In 1872, she underwent a refit that cost $10,000 and her size was increased, and the new captain’s name was Benjamin Spooner Briggs. 

In October 1872, Briggs, his wife, and infant daughter took Mary Celeste on her first voyage, after her New York refit, to Genoa, Italy. Briggs had left his school aged son behind to be taken care of by his grandmother. 

Briggs chose the crew for the voyage himself, including first mate Albert G. Richardson, second mate Andrew Gilling, 25 years old, the steward was Edward William Head, and four seamen who were German from the Frisian Islands: brothers Volkert and Boz Lorenzen, Arian Martens, and Gottlieb Goudschaal. Briggs and his wife were extremely satisfied with the crew. 

On October 20, 1872, Briggs went to Pier 50 on the East River in New York City to supervise the ship loading 1,701 barrels of alcohol. Briggs’ wife and infant joined him a week later. 

On Tuesday, November 5, 1872, Mary Celeste left Pier 50 and went into New York Harbor. The weather was uncertain, so they waited for better conditions. After two days, the weather was good enough to begin the voyage, and so Mary Celeste sailed into the Atlantic. 

A Canadian ship, Dei Gratia was nearby in Hoboken, New Jersey, waiting on cargo before they set sail. The Captain, David Morehouse, and first mate Oliver Deveau were Nova Scotians who were highly experienced. It was even rumoured that Captain Morehouse and Briggs were friends and had dined together the night before Mary Celeste departed, however the evidence of this comes from Morehouses’ widow 50 years after the event. 

Dei Gratia departed for Gibraltar on November 15, 1872, following the same route as Mary Celeste had seven days earlier. 

On December 4, 1872, between the Azores and the coast of Portugal, Captain Morehouse on the Dei Gratia was made aware that there was a vessel heading unsteadily towards them about 6 miles away. The ship appeared to be making erratic movements, leading Morehouse to believe something must be wrong. 

Captain Morehouse noticed there was nobody on deck when the ship came closer, and they were receiving no replies from their signals. Captain Morehouse sent Deveau and his second mate John Wright in a boat to investigate the strange vessel. 

The two men discovered that this vessel was indeed the Mary Celeste, as the name was on her stern, so they climbed onto the ship and found that it had been completely deserted; there was not one person around. The sails were partly set and in poor condition, some were completely missing and a lot of the rigging had been damaged, with ropes hanging over the sides. The ship had a single lifeboat that was missing. The binnacle that had the ship’s compass in it was out of place and the glass cover was broken. 

There was 3.5 feet of water in the hold, however that was not suspicious for a ship of that size. A makeshift sounding rod which measures the water in the hold was found abandoned on the deck. 

The Mary Celestes’ daily log was in the mate’s cabin, and the final entry date had been at 8 am on November 25, nine days before the ship was discovered. The position was recorded to be about 400 nautical miles from the point where Dei Gratia had found her.

Deveau reported that the inside of the cabin had been wet and untidy from water that had come in through doorways and skylights, however it was mostly in order. There were personal items scattered in Captain Briggs’ cabin, however most of the ship’s papers were missing, along with navigational instruments. 

There was no obvious signs of fire or violence, and there was no food prepared or being prepared. It appeared that there had been an orderly departure from the Mary Celeste, the crew using the missing lifeboat. 

Captain Morehouse decided to bring Mary Celeste to Gibraltar, which was 600 nautical miles away. Under maritime law, a salvor could get a decent amount of money of a rescued vessel and cargo. 

Morehouse divided his crew, and sent 3 members on the Mary Celeste, which he and four other members stayed on the Dei Gratia; however this meant that each ship was very under crewed. Dei Gratia arrived at Gibraltar on December 12, while Mary Celeste arrived the next day due to fog. 

The salvage court hearings began on December 17, 1872, Captain Morehouse had written to his wife that he believed he would be paid well for the Mary Celeste salvage. Testimony from Deveau and Wright convinced the court that a crime had been committed, foul play was involved.

On December 23, 1872, there was an examination of Mary Celeste, which reported that there were cuts on each side of the bow, caused by what they thought a sharp instrument. There was also what appeared to be possible traces of blood on Captain Briggs’ sword. 

The report stated that the ship did not appear to have been struck by heavy weather, or been involved in a collision. A group of Royal Naval captains also examined the ship and said the cuts on the bow seemed to be caused deliberately. There was also stains on one of the ship’s rails that might have been blood, with a deep mark possibly caused by an axe. 

On January 22, 1873, the reports from the court hearings were sent to the Board of Trade in London, with Frederick Solly-Flood, the Attorney General of Gibraltar concluded that the crew on the Dei Gratia had wanted to steal the alcohol on the Mary Celeste, and murdered Captain Briggs’ and his crew in a drunken frenzy. Flood believed that Captain Morehouse and his men were hiding something, that the daily log of where the Mary Celeste had been had been doctored. Flood did not believe that the ship could have travelled 400 nautical miles while being uncrewed.

It was discovered that what appeared to be “blood stains” were in fact not blood, which setback Flood’s theory of murder. Another blow was when Captain Shufeldt of the US Navy reported the marks on the bow were not man-made, but came from natural actions of the sea. 

There was nothing concrete, so Flood had to release the Mary Celeste from the court’s jurisdiction on February 25, 1873. The salvage payment was decided on April 8, 1873, the award was about one-fifth of the total value of ship and cargo, far lower than what was expected. 

While Flood’s theories of murder were not very convincing, there was still suspicion that the ship had met foul play of some sort. Some believed that Briggs and Morehouse were involved together, wanting the money, but it doesn’t make sense that they would have planned such an attention drawing event. Others also comment that if Briggs wanted to disappear permanently he wouldn’t of left his young son behind with his mother. 

Some believed the Mary Celeste was attacked by Riffian pirates who were active off the coast of Morocco in the 1870′s, however this has been largely dismissed because pirates would have looted the ship, yet the captain’s personal possessions were found; some which had significant value. 

A New York insurance appraiser named Arthur N. Putman, was a leading investigator in sea mysteries in the early 20th century. He proposed a lifeboat theory, stating that only one single lifeboat had been missing, the rope had been cut, not untied, which meant that when the Mary Celeste was abandoned, it happened very quickly. 

There was multiple times in the ship’s logs where it was mentioned there was ominous rumbling and small explosions from the hold. Putman believed that the alcohol on ship gave off explosive gas and one day there was a more intense explosion of this. A sailor perhaps went below deck with a light or a lit cigar which set off fumes causing an explosion that was violent enough to blow off the top covering on the hatch, explaining why it was found in an unusual position. Putman believes Briggs and the crew were in a panic and piled into one lifeboat, abandoning Mary Celeste. 

Deveau, who was one of the men who examined the abandoned ship on sea, proposed that Briggs abandoned the ship after false sounding, there might of been a malfunction of the pumps or another mishap, giving the impression the ship was taking on water at a rapid pace, the crew might have assumed the ship was in danger of sinking. 

Mary Celeste made her way to Genoa, and then left on June 26, 1873. She arrived in New York on September 19, 1873. Due to the Gibraltar hearings and newspaper stories she became quite unpopular, nobody wanted her. In February 1874, Mary Celeste was sold at a considerable loss to a partnership of New York businessmen. 

Mary Celeste sailed mainly in the West Indian and Indian Ocean routes, but was losing a lot of money. In February 1879, her captain was a man named Edgar Tuthill, who had fallen ill. Tuthill died and some believed the ship was cursed, as he was the third captain who had died prematurely. 

In August 1884, a new captain named Gilman C. Parker took on the ship. On January 3, 1885, Mary Celeste approached a large coral reef, the Rochelois Bank, where she purposely ran into it, ripping out the bottom and wrecking her beyond repair. The crew then rowed themselves ashore, and sold what was left of the cargo for $500. 

In July 1885, Parker and his shippers were tried in Boston for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud, with Parker also being charged with “wilfully casting away the ship” which was known as barratry, which you could be sentenced to death for. 

On August 15, 1885, the jury could not agree on a verdict. Instead of having another trial, which cost a lot of money, the judge negotiated an arrangement where Parker and his crew withdrew their insurance claims and repaid what they got. The barratry charge was deferred and Parker was set free, though his reputation was ruined. 

Parker died in poverty three months later, one of the co-defendants went mad and another ended his life. This further caused people to believe Mary Celeste was cursed. 

At Spencer’s Island, Mary Celeste and her lost crew are commemorated by a monument, and by a memorial outdoor cinema built in the shape of the vessel’s hull. The fate of the crew of the Mary Celeste have never been discovered, and over 150 years later, it is unlikely we will ever discover the truth. 

[beautiful-basque-country]

Hi, I love your blog! I wanted to ask you, about why Spain seems to not respect basque names? It jumped to my curiosity after you brought up the french pronunciation of as Basque name in the olympics! I'm sure there is a seasoned history for why, but when tried to google it, I wasn't quite sure how to find any info that satisfied my curiosity! I'd love even some recs to find information too!! Sorry if it's an odd request or bothersome! I hope you have a great day <3

Kaixo anon!

Eskerrik asko for your question.

There might not be a clear, absolute answer though. As far as I know, there isn't any study wanting to understand or explain why Basque names and toponymy are so disgusting-tasting in some Spaniards' mouths.

I can give you some characters from my very own experience and conclusions, though, but take them with a grain of salt and don't consider this anything close to science:

- the not bothered (neutral version): some people just learned the Spanish names of our places and that's how they've always heard them. Quite surely they live far away from EH and to them those towns are just terra ignota, no matter if their name is Spanish or Basque. They probably won't ever visit EH and can't see an issue in this.

- the not bothered (evil version): I'd dare to say most commentators belong to this kind. They're veeeery good at saying German surnames, English ones, French ones, Russian ones, you name it. However, their tongue twists when faced with a Basque name; a language that, 99% of the time, follows Spanish pronunciation rules. Forget Roanoke, the Mary Celeste or Amelia Earheart's fate: these guys are the biggest mystery out there.

- the Crusaders: some others may also ignore the Basque name, but even if they don't, the won't use it. It goes against their political beliefs: the language of Spain is Spanish, and all places and people should be called by a Spanish name. Using a Basque name, a Catalan, Galician, Arabic, Chinese name is not acceptable: since all those people are in Spain, they must have a Spanish name all Spaniards can say comfortably.

- the PhDs: these ones are Crusaders but dressed up as cultured people. They will lecture you on how they solely use Spanish names because they say Londres and not London or Jerusalén instead of Al-Quds, see? Or they use San Sebastián instead of Donostia because its use has been documented since the 15th century, so saying Donostia is a modern invent backed by a political agenda they won't be fooled into doing, nu-uh.

- the very frightened: these ones shiver at the word "Basque". OMG IT'S SO DIFFICULT AND HARD TO PRONOUNCE!!!! ... Oteiza or Aduriz look pretty tame to me and still you can't say them correctly... IT'S BECAUSE THE WORDS ARE NEVERENDING!!! LOOK AT THEM!!! ... But Bilbo has literally less letters than Bilbao, same case with Hondarribia and Fuenterrabía... SOOO DIFFICULT I'M HAVING A STROKE OMG!!!

[redbreastedbird]

Hello! I'm sorry this question is so specific but on page 195 of Top Marks For Murder, Hazel says "I thought of our friend George, and his obsession with the story of Mary Celeste, and shuddered".

I've recently been scouring the series for anything that could be construed as a neurodivergent trait, and I wondered if this was an unintentional implied special interest of George's? It was a line that really stood out to me!

I absolutely did not intend it but of course it is, isn’t it! Yes, all the detectives have very intense interests, especially Daisy and George. George is really keen on unsolved historical mysteries - there’s a chapter about them in Cream Buns and Crime, and it also comes up in the Case of the Missing Treasure.

[aaronstveit]

read in 2024!

it's that time again! i loved doing reading threads in 2022 and 2023 so i will definitely be carrying on the tradition this year. as always, you can find me on goodreads and storygraph, and you're always welcome to message me about books!

Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu* (★★★★★)

Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks and Stones by Ngozi Ukazu* (★★★★★)

Check, Please! Chirpbook by Ngozi Ukazu* (★★★★★)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (★★★★★)

The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert** (★★★★☆)

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (★★★★★)

None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell (★★★☆☆)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (★★★☆☆)

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett (★★★★☆)

Dream Work by Mary Oliver (★★★★☆)

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson (★★★★☆)

Cain’s Jawbone by E. Powys Mathers

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)

You’ve Been Summoned by Lindsey Lamar** (★★☆☆☆)

The Seven Ages by Louise Glück (★★★★☆)

The Last Girl Left by A.M. Strong & Sonya Sargent** (★★★☆☆)

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Normal People by Sally Rooney (★★★★★)

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin** (★★★☆☆)

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen (★★☆☆☆)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (★★★☆☆)

The Drowning Faith by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (★★★★★)

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang (★★★★★)

King Lear by William Shakespeare (★★★★☆)

All These Sunken Souls by assorted authors, edited by Circe Moskowitz (★★★★☆)

The Big Four by Agatha Christie (★★★☆☆)

The Avant-Guards, Vol. 1 by Carly Usdin, Noah Hayes (★★★★☆)

That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton (★★☆☆☆)

The Avant-Guards, Vol. 2 by Carly Usdin, Noah Hayes (★★★★☆)

Jurassic Park by Michael (★★★☆☆)

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (★★★☆☆)

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (★★★★★)

Violeta by Isabel Allende (★★★☆☆)

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (★★★★☆)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (★★★★☆)

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (★★★★☆)

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (★★★★★)

The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes (★★★★★)

Third Girl by Agatha Christie (★★★☆☆)

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis (★★★☆☆)

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (★★★★★)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (★★★★★)

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (★★★☆☆)

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz (★★★★★)

Persuasion by Jane Austen (★★★★★)

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore & David Lloyd (★★★★☆)

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall (★★★☆☆)

We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie* (★★★★★)

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (★★★★☆)

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin* (★★★★★)

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (★★★★☆)

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (★★★★☆)

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson (★★★☆☆)

The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard (★★★★☆)

You Shouldn’t Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose (★☆☆☆☆)

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (★★★★☆)

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (★★★★☆)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (★★★★☆)

An asterisk (*) indicates a reread. A double asterisk (**) indicates an ARC.

[holycatsandrabbits]

Hey, y’all, it’s Weird Wednesday! Where on some Wednesdays, I blog about weird stuff and give writing prompts.

Today: The Mary Celeste: Famous Mystery of the Sea

The Mary Celeste was an American-registered merchant ship which was supposed to sail from New York to Genoa, Italy, with a cargo of 1,701 barrels of alcohol. The captain was Benjamin Briggs, and his wife and small daughter were aboard as well. When they left port, everything seemed fine: a well-respected captain and crew, secure cargo, and a seaworthy ship.

But somewhere out in the Atlantic, something went wrong. And that’s all we really know. The Mary Celeste herself survived: she was found adrift and deserted on December 4, 1872, off the Portuguese  Azores Islands. The ship was undamaged except for some wear and tear from sailing unmanned for 9 days, according to the log discovered on board, in which the last entry was routine. The ship’s papers and instruments were gone, and so was the lifeboat, which appeared to have been tied to the ship, and then cut free. The food and personal possessions of the occupants were left behind.

Check out the blog post for the whole story and some ghostly writing prompts, such as:

The captains’ curse. The Mary Celeste actually lost three captains to premature death: the other two fell ill while on board. There’s also a theory that Captain Briggs might actually have died before the ship was abandoned, and without his good counsel, the crew were more likely to leave a sea-worthy ship. So you could write about a ship with a particular hatred for captains. Perhaps the ship itself was the killer, or it might have been cursed by someone with a hatred for authority, or malice toward the first captain to die, but the curse unfortunately kept going past him. In any case, the last captain of the Mary Celeste got some revenge: Capt. Gilman C. Parker purposely ran the ship aground in 1884 in an act of insurance fraud.

DannyeChase.com ~ Ao3 ~ Linktree ~ Weird Wednesday writing prompts blog ~ Resources for Writers ~ Newsletter

Image Credit

[archivist-crow]

On this day (one day late):

A NOTORIOUS NAUTICAL TALE

On December 4, 1872, the brigantine Mary Celeste was discovered erratically sailing 950 kilometers (590 miles) west of its last recorded position in the ship's logbook, which had been filled in eleven days earlier. Captain Benjamin Briggs; his wife, Sarah; their two-year-old daughter; and a crew of seven were missing. Briggs was a devoted religious man who read the Bible daily and had a harmonium brought aboard for hymn singing. The vessel contained plenty of food and fresh water. The cargo of 1,700 barrels of grain alcohol was in good order. Also abandoned were oilskins, coats, boats, and pipes and tobacco belonging to the crew. Toys were left as if they were in the middle of being played with.

Indications were of a hurried departure. The wheel was not lashed, two hatch covers were open, the binnacle was overturned, the compass glass was shattered, and the fore-upper-topsail was lost. The lifeboat, navigation instruments, and the ship's papers were missing. There were two mysterious grooves, two meters (6.5 feet) long, just above the waterline on the sides of the bow. A mark found on the ship's rail was possibly made by an axe. Some brownish stains, perhaps blood, were found on the deck. The leader of the boarding party told the inquiry at Gibraltar, "There seemed to be everything left behind in the cabins as if left in a great hurry, but everything in its place."

Speculation haunted the case from the beginning. Did the crew drink the alcohol and mutiny? Drinking that alcohol would have blinded or killed them. Was it a plot to get salvage money? No evidence was ever found. Did pirates board the vessel? Pirates would not have left the cargo and other valuables behind. Why would the people take the lifeboat, but no supplies? What really happened aboard the Mary Celeste?

Text from: Almanac of the Infamous, the Incredible, and the Ignored by Juanita Rose Violins, published by Weiser Books, 2009

[letsgethaunted]

The Cursed Brigantine Mary Celeste

On December 4th, 1872 an abandoned ship known to be cursed was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean. The ship appeared perfectly sound, possessed a full cargo, and even had enough provisions in the galley to sustain a crew for 6 months of sail... but what happened to her crew and captain? This week, Nat takes Aly across the Atlantic Ocean on a journey full of mystery and mayhem as she unravels the most confounding seafaring case from the Age of Sail. Hoist the colors and make yourself a drink- this one is a doozy!

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED!! Find out more about this week’s advertisers below!

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[confused-robot-cat]

Random Doctor Who Headcanons

The First and Second Doctors were colour-blind

The Doctor's vision was slightly poor until his Tenth incarnation, getting slightly better with each regeneration

The Twelfth Doctor suffered from prosopagnosia

The Doctor doesn't really remember what he looked like in his first incarnation because it was so long ago, and that's why he looks different in The Five Doctors and Twice Upon A Christmas (the latter coupled with the aforementioned face-blindness)

Rassilon survived the cyber-conversion of Gallifrey

Rassilon regenerated immediately after the Tenth Doctor and the Saxon Master sent Gallifrey back into the Time War, putting him out of commission due to regenerative trauma and leaving the War Council in temporary command, giving the full authority to both grant the Doctor a new regeneration cycle and allow the Doctor to put Gallifrey in stasis

Despite what I said about the First Doctor's face earlier, three of him were present for the stasis cube thing

During their time at the Time Lord Academy, the Doctor, the Master, and the Rani stole a TARDIS together and travelled to a stupid, primitive planet in the Mutters Spiral and pranked the natives by carving Gallifreyan obscenities into fields of crops.

The Doctor crying in the barn in 'Listen' immediately follows the backstory told in the Big Finish episode 'Master', where a bully tries to drown either the Doctor or the Master and... Well, I won't spoil it. If you're reading this and haven't listened already, definitely listen to 'Master'.

When Clara is inside the Dalek casing in 'The Magician's Apprentice', the Dalek casing is translating her English into Skaro-language, and the TARDIS translation circuit is translating it back again. That's why the vocabulary is limited. Furthermore, drone Daleks like that one shouldn't understand mercy, but you must remember that the Dalek that begged River Song for mercy was a Supreme Dalek, which is allowed more room for thinking and learning than a drone.

Occasions where the Doctor revisits a location and the story doesn't acknowledge that he's been there before are the cause of time being rewritten, and even the Doctor isn't sure which is the "current" version. Sometimes even his memories are replaced. That's why the mystery of the USS Eldridge or the Mary Celeste have been covered more than once.

Sometimes people have phantom memories of things that were un-written, and that's what the Mendalla Effect is in the Doctor Who universe.

[versey21]

5th December

Mary Celeste by Judith Nicholls

On this day in 1872, the American ship the Mary Celeste was discovered washed up on the shores of the Azores. The crew were nowhere to be seen, though their belongings and the ship’s cargo remained undisturbed, and the ship itself was undamaged. None of the crew were heard from again and what happened to them remains one of the unsolved mysteries of the sea to this day. Excerpts of Nicholls’ poem, which is suitably eerie, follow below.

The Mary Celeste. Source: Daily Nautica website

Mary Celeste

Only the wind sings

in the riggings,

the hull creaks a lullaby;

a sail lifts gently

like a message

pinned to a vacant sky.

The wheel turns

over bare decks,

shirts flap on a line;

only the song of the lapping waves

beats steady time…

…

The child now sleeps, at last,

head firmly pressed into her pillow

in a deep sea-dream.

Then why are the gulls wheeling

like vultures in the sky?

Why was the child snatched

from her sleep? What drew

the Captain’s cry?

Only the wind replies

in the rigging

and the hull creaks and sighs,

a sail spells out its message

over silent skies.

The wheel still turns

over bare decks

shirts blow on the line;

the siren-song of lapping waves

still echoes over time.

The case of the Mary Celeste is a genuine mystery, generating many explanations including suggestions of fraud and mass murder. The most likely account is that the captain ordered the ship to be abandoned for some unknown reason and the six man crew, the captain and his wife and child took refuge in the lifeboat which was later lost in a storm. However, despite much research and speculation, the definitive truth may never be known.

[elancholia]

IMO, the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, Nazca lines, and the Voynich manuscript are the only relevant ones here. If the answer is very open-ended, go with C-Ts or Nazca; if it's going to be magic eight-ball "RITUAL HYGIENE" or "RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS", go with the Voynich manuscript. I would take "comprehensive" to mean the former, personally. Everything else is either already known or trivia.

Mary Celeste -- would be neat to know, but fundamentally a tragic fluke that affected a dozen people. What's the most interesting possibility? Insurance fraud? Almost certainly, they abandoned ship because they mistakenly thought it was sinking.

Jack the Ripper -- Did he exist? Come on. Who was he? Some guy. You wouldn't recognize him and it wouldn't be relevant to anything you care about. Unless it was Gladstone, which it wasn't.

Cucuteni-Trypillians -- actual historical mystery that would give us rare insight into a genuinely enigmatic culture. How much better it is than the other possibilities depends on how "comprehensive" is construed, i.e., the length and depth of the answer. A fully comprehensive "why" would probably touch on numerous aspect of their lifestyles, religion, and ideology.

Voynich Manuscript -- another real answer. The Voynich manuscript is interesting because it's statistically unlike gibberish and it's still unsolved despite every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a computer taking a crack at it. It seems precocious both as weird art and because it seems to understand how to make something look structurally like language without being a code or cipher. Even if it's a prank containing nonsense, I would like to know who did it and why. I'd ultimately prefer the C-Ts, though.

D. B. Cooper -- he fucked up and died. Even if he didn't, who cares.

Nazca Lines -- another real answer, but same deal as the C-Ts: whether you learn anything interesting depends on how open-ended the answer is.

Irish Crown Jewels -- I'd never heard of this one, but probably some lucky rando, who cares.

Man in the Iron Mask -- it looks like there are a bunch of possibilities, none of them earth-shattering if true. This would be neat to know, but not important.

Punt -- somewhere in Eritrea or the Horn of Africa. Not really a mystery at the level of "where", and "where" isn't as open-ended as "why". Possible fourth pick, though.

Dyaltov Pass -- not a mystery at this point and not terribly important in any case.

Lioness/Cheese Grater -- neat, but who cares.

[itscarshub]

Finally Solved the Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle

If you’re tuned into viral content, you’ve probably stumbled across a video where a YouTuber hinted at a hidden treasure in the Bermuda Triangle, and a daring adventurer set off to claim it, scoring $10,000 in the process. While his reward was noteworthy, his real victory was returning alive from this infamous region. Known for its strange, sometimes frightening incidents, the Bermuda Triangle stretches between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda, an area often associated with chilling disappearances. With claims that over 50 ships and 20 airplanes have vanished in this zone, the mysteries surrounding the Bermuda Triangle have fascinated people for decades. Many have theorized that mystical powers or otherworldly vortexes are at work, pulling objects into alternate dimensions. However, Australian scientist Karl Kruszelnicki offers a different perspective, believing he may have solved the riddle of the Bermuda Triangle. According to him, these myths and strange disappearances can largely be explained by two key factors: human error and weather. The Case of Flight 19 One of the more famous incidents associated with the Bermuda Triangle was the disappearance of Flight 19 in 1945. In this case, five U.S. Navy planes on a routine training mission from Florida suddenly lost contact about 90 minutes into the flight. Despite extensive air and sea searches, no trace of the planes or the 14 men on board was ever found. Interestingly, weather conditions at the time were clear, making the disappearance even more perplexing. However, Kruszelnicki explains that human error may have played a significant role. The flight’s commander, despite having over 2,000 flying hours, was known to be a poor navigator. Reportedly, he had even become lost at sea on previous missions. On that fateful day, both compasses malfunctioned, and the commander mistakenly believed they were flying over the Florida Keys when, in reality, they were likely over the Bahamas. Rather than heading west toward Florida, he directed his team east into the Atlantic, eventually running out of fuel—a tragic error with lasting consequences. Bad Weather and Unpredictable Currents The second major factor Kruszelnicki cites is the region’s weather. The Bermuda Triangle sits in a zone frequently hit by Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes. Long before modern forecasting, these powerful storms claimed numerous ships and planes. The area also has the Gulf Stream, a strong ocean current that can create sudden and intense weather changes. One well-known example is the USS Cyclops, a massive cargo ship carrying 11,000 tons of manganese that vanished without a trace in 1918. With no distress signal and no wreckage ever found, theories abound, from violent storms to underwater events like rogue waves or landslides. According to Kruszelnicki, the ocean’s sheer depth in the Bermuda Triangle—up to 30,000 feet—could make it nearly impossible to find wreckage, as the deep waters are capable of concealing lost ships and planes indefinitely. Unlikely but Possible: Methane Clathrates Another theory for some Bermuda Triangle incidents involves methane clathrate, an ice-like compound containing methane gas trapped within. When these formations break, they release methane bubbles, which rise to the surface and can potentially reduce water density. Experiments have shown that if enough bubbles surface at once, they could impact a ship’s buoyancy and potentially cause it to sink. While this scenario is rare, it is theoretically possible in the Bermuda Triangle’s deep waters. Separating Myth from Reality While human error and bad weather likely explain most Bermuda Triangle incidents, the mystery has been exaggerated. Despite its fame, the Bermuda Triangle has no official boundaries or dedicated maps, and unexplained events are sometimes wrongly attributed to the region. For example, the infamous Mary Celeste ghost ship, found intact in 1872 but without its crew, was actually abandoned about 400 miles from the Azores—far from the Bermuda Triangle. Ultimately, confirmation bias has contributed to the legend, as people tend to link any eerie disappearance in the North Atlantic with the Bermuda Triangle. In reality, this area sees regular air and sea traffic daily, and incident rates are no higher than anywhere else in the world. As intriguing as the Bermuda Triangle may be, science suggests that it’s not quite as mysterious as some would have us believe—though it will continue to inspire tales of adventure and discovery. That’s it for today! So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, Explore more Amazing Facts and stay on the Didyouknowbyte! Warning Signs That Could Save Your Life Before Disaster Strikes The Eruption of an Island That Shattered and changed Earth's Future Read the full article

[thehorrortree]

Deadline: February 7th, 2024 Payment: A signing bonus and royalty split to be discussed upon offer to publish Theme: Stories that speculate about what is behind real mysteries and legends. Submissions Open November 7 and close February 7 If we don’t find what we want, we may extend this deadline or reopen submission later Please read and Follow All Guidelines Carefully or your story may be discarded without being read. Novellas should be 20,000 - 35,000 words Send a query with a story summary and a bio in the body of the email to: specpubsubmissions@gmail.com Payment is a signing bonus and royalty split to be discussed upon offer to publish. Send full manuscript as a separate .doc or .docx attachment, Formatted in Shunn format style (Standard Manuscript Format) The Collection of Utter Speculation series speculates about what is behind real mysteries and legends. The stories must start with the known facts. They can be rooted in real world explanations or supernatural causes, but they need to answer the question, what causes this? Then they can go wherever you want them to go regarding genre, style and explanation. Our past anthologies have been broad. The Lost Colony of Roanoke, The Jersey Devil, The Lady in White, The Dancing Plague, and Cry Baby Bridge. Historical mysteries, cryptids, prevalent folklore and urban legends which people still claim to experience today. We are not looking for ghost stories or famous hauntings, unless they are specific and there is a mysterious aspect to them that can be speculated on. There are a lot of subjects we would love to see explored in a longer, more in depth format, and many subjects we haven’t even considered yet, including: The Bridgewater Triangle Sasquatch The Lost City of Atlantis The Mandela Effect The Pied Piper of Hamelin The Bell Witch The Mary Celeste The Phoenix lights We do not want specific stories with living people or people with living relatives. Examples of this would be the death of Elisa Lam, Amelia Earhart, or the actual people who abandoned Lincoln Way in Pittsburgh. However, you can take a real case and fictionalize characters to tell the story, or you can use the actual players as long as they have long left this world, such as with Roanoke and The Dancing Plague. We prefer that stories about specifically indigenous mythology and folklore be written by writers from those cultures. We welcome marginalized and other-abled authors of all genders and cultures. We do not want gratuitous or sexual violence particularly toward children or animals. We don’t want rape as a plot device nor are we interested in being a platform for bigotry. There is a clear line here and if you don’t know where it is, we suggest you figure it out before submitting. Speculate for us! We want to know. We reply to all submissions that do not insult us. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know if your work has been accepted elsewhere. Via: Speculation Publications.

[pionia-milly]

Watch "The Mysterious Case Of The Mary Celeste" on YouTube

[risetvusa]

Strange & Unexplained Mysteries: You Will Never Stop Thinking About

Truth is always stranger than fantasy, especially in the case of unsolved mysteries. Essentially, there's something about the unresolved, untold, and unexplainable situations that draw our surveillance. We binge-watch intriguing documentaries, web series, and TV shows, devour many books and podcasts, conduct research, and tumble into rabbit holes just because of our enchantment and obsessive interest in unknown events. History enthusiasts and crime aficionados alike enjoy the excitement of delving into the mysteries of these occurrences.

From spine-chilling unexplained creepy mysteries to unbelievable crimes, we have made a list of a few unanswered tales that may make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end for a long time.

—The Disappearance of Asha Degree

On 2000 Valentine's day, 9 years old Asha walked out of her house willingly during a massive storm in the middle of the night. She was sighted many times walking down an extremely desolate and agrestic highway in the pouring rain. Afterward, she ran into the woods and was never seen again. 

FBI reports claimed that there were no signs or indications of forced entry about where she went. After a year her book bag was discovered a miles away buried in a litter bag. Why a 9-year-old girl was convinced to leave her home alone in the middle of a stormy night? How has there been no substantial evidence at all? Till now, this is a mysterious & unexplained scenario.

__The Shocking Mystery of the Mary Celeste

On December 4, 1872, a British-American ship known as the “Mary Celeste” was found drifting and empty in the Atlantic City. According to Smithsonian Mag, the cargo of the ship was still undamaged, the belongings of the travelers were safe and the food was present on board. The ship’s bottom was accumulated with water and was still seaworthy. The lifeboat was the only missing thing in the ship, which it seemed had been embarked in an orderly way. This is one of the major strange unexplained mysteries of all time and no one got the answer to what incident happened to the people that forced them to leave the ship.

__The Dog’s Suicide Bridge

The Overtoun Bridge in Scotland is also called “Dog Suicide Bridge”. According to the report from VICE, 600 dogs have jumped off this 50-foot bridge yet survived, while 50 have perished since 1950. The survivors returned and tried to jump again. There are several scientific and paranormal theories as to what forces the dog to do this. Some state the bridge is hunted, while others believe that there may be a specific scent that attracts the dogs over the edge.  

___Unresolvable Victim of Oklahoma City Bombing

In 1990, after the bombing in Oklahoma City, they found an extra leg in the wreckage. DNA reports claimed that it belonged to a victim who had been buried already but apparently with the left leg. The wrong leg was already buried therefore they didn't get its DNA but it turns out that the state did have its genetic record after all. All additional legs were matched to their victims, and they found no reported missing body parts or anything except that leg. So, who did that leg belong to? Still account for unexplained mysteries. 

__ Who Were the Green Children?

The occurrence of green children in Woolpit is the most interesting, mysterious unexplained phenomenon of the 12th century. Reportedly, two kids with green appearance were found in Wolprit (a village in Suffolk) England. They had green skin, spoke an unknown language, and eat raw broad beans. Afterward, they began eating other foods and lost their green color but the boy got sick and died. The girl survived and learned English speaking. Later on, she explained that she and her brother belonged to a land where the sun never rose. According to some claims, everything was green there, while others called it Saint Martin's Land.