Unexplained disappearances
Encyclopedia
Unexplained disappearance is the physical disappearance of people or other objects without apparent cause or reason.
diplomatic envoy who disappeared from the White Swan inn in the town of Perleberg, Germany
, during the Napoleonic Wars
. A reward of ₤1,000 was offered by the British government (a vast sum of money in those days) for information leading to his return and was doubled by Bathurst's family and even contributed to by Prince Frederick
of Prussia
, who took great interest in the case, to no avail. It was thought he may have been murdered by French
espionage agents who were monitoring his activity, and Bathurst's family even went so far as to approach the Emperor
Napoleon himself about the disappearance, who swore he knew nothing more about it than he had read in the newspapers of the day. The town of Perleberg was also known to have a strong criminal element at the time and another theory was that he was snatched away and murdered, given that he was a man of obvious wealth. In 1852, forty-one years after Bathurst's disappearance, a male human skeleton
with a fractured skull
was discovered when a house some 300 m from the White Swan inn was demolished. Bathurst's sister travelled to Perleberg but was unable to identify the remains. Bathurst's disappearance is referenced in several works of science fiction
and the paranormal
, most of which describe him falling into a portal leading to some other place, time, or alternate timeline.
was a ship discovered in December 1872 abandoned and unmanned in the Atlantic. The crew were never seen or heard from again and what happened to them is the subject of much speculation. Their fate is regarded as one of the greatest maritime mysteries of all time. Some say the crew was thrown overboard by a large wave, but no remains were ever found.
(born 1842) was an American
editorial
ist, journalist
, short-story writer
and satirist. Today, he is best known for his short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
" and his satirical dictionary The Devil's Dictionary
. In October 1913, the septuagenarian Bierce departed Washington, D.C.
, for a tour of his old Civil War
battlefields. By December he had proceeded on through Louisiana
and Texas
, crossing by way of El Paso
into Mexico, which was in the throes of revolution. In Ciudad Juárez
he joined Pancho Villa
's army as an observer, and in that role participated in the battle of Tierra Blanca
. Bierce is known to have accompanied Villa's army as far as the city of Chihuahua
. After a last letter to a close friend, sent from there December 26, 1913, he vanished without a trace
, becoming one of the most notable disappearances in American literary history. There is no evidence to support speculation that he went to the Grand Canyon, found a remote spot and shot himself. Investigations into his fate have proved fruitless, and despite an abundance of theories his end remains shrouded in mystery.
and her navigator Fred Noonan
disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island
. Fascination with her life, career and disappearance continues to this day. No confirmed remains or debris have ever been found.
in Florida
for a non-stop flight to Ben Guerir Air Base
in Morocco
and completed their first aerial refueling without incident. After descending through cloud to begin their second refueling, over the Mediterranean Sea
at 14,000 ft, the aircraft manned by Captain Robert H. Hodgin (31, commander), Captain Gordon M. Insley (32, observer), and 2nd Lt. Ronald L. Kurtz (22, pilot) failed to make contact with the tanker. Neither the aircraft nor wreckage from it was ever found.
disappeared in 1978 while piloting a Cessna 182L light aircraft over Bass Strait to King Island, Australia. In his last radio contact, Valentich reported an unusual aircraft was following his, and his last words were: "It is hovering and it's not an aircraft." No trace of Valentich or his aircraft was ever found, and an Australian Department of Transport investigation concluded that the reason for the disappearance could not be determined.
is a play by James M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan
) which tells the bizarre fictional story of a girl who vanishes twice. As a child, Mary Rose's father takes her to a remote Scottish island. While she is briefly out of her father's sight, Mary Rose vanishes. The entire island is searched exhaustively. Twenty-one days later, Mary Rose reappears as mysteriously as she disappeared ... but she shows no effects of having been gone for three weeks, and she has no knowledge of any gap or missing time. Years later, as a young wife and mother, the adult Mary Rose persuades her husband to take her to the same island. Again she vanishes: this time for a period of decades. When she is found again, she is not a single day older and has no awareness of the passage of time. In the interim, her son has grown to adulthood and is now physically older than his mother.
adaptation) is about a group of Australian schoolgirl
s who disappear in mysterious circumstances. It is often thought to be a true story. This belief was propagated by Joan Lindsay
, the author of the fiction book. There are no newspaper accounts of the event, nor any record of any searches conducted between the supposed disappearance and the book's publication – a gap of over sixty years.
, a 2007 sci-fi/fantasy novel by Donald Jeffries, begins with the mysterious disappearance of the main character's grandfather, and the subject of disappearances in general is central to the story (with Ambrose Bierce playing a prominent role).
, sister of Fox Mulder
, is one of the central characters in the TV series The X-Files
, and her disappearance plays a central role in the mythology of the series. Much of Mulder's obsession with the paranormal, particularly aliens, is explained by reference to Samantha's disappearance and his belief that she was abducted by aliens. The mystery of her disappearance is also used as a recurring plot line with Mulder occasionally forming, and then usually rejecting, different theories about the true nature of her disappearance.
s and other supernatural
folk. An example is the tale of Jan Coo, who was said to have vanished after being called away from his Dartmoor
home by a mysterious voice. This story would appear to be a warning against wandering away from safety on the dangerous moor, woven into a tale involving the little people to make a better story.
Typical tales of fairy kidnapping are told by William Butler Yeats
in his book, Mythologies. Yeats describes how many stories of fairy kidnappings involve newborn babies or newlyweds being carried off by the fairies. In one such story, a young newly-wed man met a band of fairies who had stolen his wife for their chief to marry. The fairies appeared at first to be mortal men, but the young man realized the truth when he saw them carry his wife away.
s which are said to lure men away from land by singing. The mermaid of legend perhaps dates back to Classical
times (c.f. Aphrodite rising from the sea), and the comb and mirror are stated in Anna Franklin's The Encyclopedia of Fairies (Paper Tiger, 2004) to signify the vulva. Thus the sexual nature of the mermaid seems a long-running theme, perhaps linked to the possibilities of temptation while at sea.
A very similar scenario is noted in the modern Egyptian folklore tale Al Naddaha.
Celtic legends exist of the Kelpie
. This is a horse which, once harnessed or mounted, leaps into the nearest body of water, taking its human captor with it - never to be seen again. Similar stories appear in Scandinavia
.
According to the stories surrounding him, on 23 September 1880, Lang, of Gallatin, Tennessee
, was walking across the grounds of his farm to meet Judge August Peck who was approaching his farm in a horse and buggy, when Lang vanished mid-step and in full view of the judge, his wife Chanel and his two children, and the judge's brother-in-law. The ground around where Lang had been walking was searched in case he had fallen into a concealed hole, but no trace was found. The story further states that Lang's children later called out to him, and heard a disembodied voice calling as if from a great distance.
The story of David Lang was published in Fate magazine by journalist Stuart Palmer, who claimed that he had been told the story by Lang's daughter. However, no trace of David Lang nor his family (including his apparent daughter) was ever found in any records of that period, and the entire article was later determined to be a hoax likely inspired by the short story "The Difficulties of Crossing a Field" by Ambrose Bierce
(1909), collected in his book Can Such Things Be?. In 1999, the modern composer David Lang
based an opera on Bierce's story. (The story has also become a popular urban legend
).
The story of Oliver Larch (Sometime known as Lerch or Thomas) follows a similar pattern to that of David Lang. According to the narrative, Larch was on his way to collect water from a well one winter when he vanished, leaving nothing behind but a trail of footprints in the snow which terminated abruptly, and a series of terrible cries for help such as "Help, they've got me!" that appeared to come from above. Larch's story was later found to be a variation on "Charles Ashmore's Trail", published in 1893 by Ambrose Bierce. In some versions, Larch's story is set in late 19th century Indiana
, in others, it is set in North Wales
. One particular recurring variation was an Oliver Thomas of Rhayader
, Radnorshire
, mid-Wales with the date given as 1909.
notes that some areas, such as the Bermuda Triangle
, which have a reputation as sites of frequent vanishings, do not in fact have significantly more instances than other areas with similar geographic, tidal or meteorological conditions.
Notable disappearances
Benjamin Bathurst
Benjamin Bathurst (born 1784) was a BritishKingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
diplomatic envoy who disappeared from the White Swan inn in the town of Perleberg, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. A reward of ₤1,000 was offered by the British government (a vast sum of money in those days) for information leading to his return and was doubled by Bathurst's family and even contributed to by Prince Frederick
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany
The Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was a member of the Hanoverian and British Royal Family, the second eldest child, and second son, of King George III...
of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, who took great interest in the case, to no avail. It was thought he may have been murdered by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
espionage agents who were monitoring his activity, and Bathurst's family even went so far as to approach the Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Napoleon himself about the disappearance, who swore he knew nothing more about it than he had read in the newspapers of the day. The town of Perleberg was also known to have a strong criminal element at the time and another theory was that he was snatched away and murdered, given that he was a man of obvious wealth. In 1852, forty-one years after Bathurst's disappearance, a male human skeleton
Human skeleton
The human skeleton consists of both fused and individual bones supported and supplemented by ligaments, tendons, muscles and cartilage. It serves as a scaffold which supports organs, anchors muscles, and protects organs such as the brain, lungs and heart....
with a fractured skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
was discovered when a house some 300 m from the White Swan inn was demolished. Bathurst's sister travelled to Perleberg but was unable to identify the remains. Bathurst's disappearance is referenced in several works of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and the paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
, most of which describe him falling into a portal leading to some other place, time, or alternate timeline.
Mary Celeste
The Mary CelesteMary Celeste
The Mary Celeste was an American brigantine merchant ship famous for having been discovered on 4 December 1872, in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned , despite the fact that the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and able...
was a ship discovered in December 1872 abandoned and unmanned in the Atlantic. The crew were never seen or heard from again and what happened to them is the subject of much speculation. Their fate is regarded as one of the greatest maritime mysteries of all time. Some say the crew was thrown overboard by a large wave, but no remains were ever found.
Flannan Isles
The Flannan Isles mystery was the disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in 1900 who vanished from their duty stations, leaving behind equipment important to surviving the hostile conditions at that location and time of year. However, the official explanation for the disappearances was mundane, concluding that the men were swept out to sea by a freak wave.Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose BierceAmbrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
(born 1842) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
ist, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, short-story writer
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
and satirist. Today, he is best known for his short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a short story by Ambrose Bierce. It was originally published in 1890, and first collected in Bierce's 1891 book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians...
" and his satirical dictionary The Devil's Dictionary
The Devil's Dictionary
The Devil's Dictionary is a satirical "reference" book written by Ambrose Bierce. The book offers reinterpretations of terms in the English language, lampooning cant and political doublespeak, as well as other aspects of human foolishness and frailty. It was originally published in 1906 as The...
. In October 1913, the septuagenarian Bierce departed Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, for a tour of his old Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
battlefields. By December he had proceeded on through Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, crossing by way of El Paso
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
into Mexico, which was in the throes of revolution. In Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
he joined Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
's army as an observer, and in that role participated in the battle of Tierra Blanca
Battle of Tierra Blanca
The Battle of Tierra Blanca was fought during the Mexican Revolution. It took place about 35 miles south of Ciudad Juárez. It was a major victory for Francisco "Pancho" Villa over the forces of José Inés Salazar, commander of the forces loyal to Victoriano Huerta.The two armies were of relatively...
. Bierce is known to have accompanied Villa's army as far as the city of Chihuahua
Chihuahua, Chihuahua
The city of Chihuahua is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It has a population of about 825,327. The predominant activity is industry, including domestic heavy, light industries, consumer goods production, and to a smaller extent maquiladoras.-History:It has been said that the...
. After a last letter to a close friend, sent from there December 26, 1913, he vanished without a trace
Missing person
A missing person is a person who has disappeared for usually unknown reasons.Missing persons' photographs may be posted on bulletin boards, milk cartons, postcards, and websites, along with a phone number to be contacted if a sighting has been made....
, becoming one of the most notable disappearances in American literary history. There is no evidence to support speculation that he went to the Grand Canyon, found a remote spot and shot himself. Investigations into his fate have proved fruitless, and despite an abundance of theories his end remains shrouded in mystery.
Amelia Earhart
During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in 1937, Amelia EarhartAmelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
and her navigator Fred Noonan
Fred Noonan
Frederick Joseph "Fred" Noonan was an American flight navigator, sea captain and aviation pioneer who first charted many commercial airline routes across the Pacific Ocean during the 1930s...
disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island
Howland Island
Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Geographically, it is part...
. Fascination with her life, career and disappearance continues to this day. No confirmed remains or debris have ever been found.
B-47 disappearance
On 10 March 1956 four B-47 Stratojets left MacDill Air Force BaseMacDill Air Force Base
MacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force base located approximately south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
for a non-stop flight to Ben Guerir Air Base
Ben Guerir Air Base
Ben Guerir Air Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Morocco, later operated by the Royal Moroccan Air Force, which served as a Transatlantic Abort Landing site for the Space Shuttle...
in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and completed their first aerial refueling without incident. After descending through cloud to begin their second refueling, over the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
at 14,000 ft, the aircraft manned by Captain Robert H. Hodgin (31, commander), Captain Gordon M. Insley (32, observer), and 2nd Lt. Ronald L. Kurtz (22, pilot) failed to make contact with the tanker. Neither the aircraft nor wreckage from it was ever found.
Frederick Valentich
Frederick ValentichValentich Disappearance
The Valentich disappearance refers to the unexplained disappearance on 21 October 1978 of 20-year-old Frederick Valentich while piloting a Cessna 182L light aircraft over Bass Strait in Australia...
disappeared in 1978 while piloting a Cessna 182L light aircraft over Bass Strait to King Island, Australia. In his last radio contact, Valentich reported an unusual aircraft was following his, and his last words were: "It is hovering and it's not an aircraft." No trace of Valentich or his aircraft was ever found, and an Australian Department of Transport investigation concluded that the reason for the disappearance could not be determined.
"L'avventura"
In this 1960 movie by Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni, Anna, a wealthy woman, disappears while on a leisure trip to a deserted volcanic island on the Mediterranean sea in Italy. Her friends look for her in vain on the rather small Island. The disappearance is never explained. Anna's lover and Anna's best friend slowly fall in love through the journey and, while deciding to go along with their love story, never forget their vanished friend.Mary Rose
Mary RoseMary Rose (play)
Mary Rose is a play by J.M. Barrie, who is best known for Peter Pan. It first played in London in May 1920.It tells the fictional story of a girl who vanishes twice. As a child, Mary Rose's father takes her to a remote Scottish island. While she is briefly out of her father's sight, Mary Rose...
is a play by James M. Barrie (author of Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
) which tells the bizarre fictional story of a girl who vanishes twice. As a child, Mary Rose's father takes her to a remote Scottish island. While she is briefly out of her father's sight, Mary Rose vanishes. The entire island is searched exhaustively. Twenty-one days later, Mary Rose reappears as mysteriously as she disappeared ... but she shows no effects of having been gone for three weeks, and she has no knowledge of any gap or missing time. Years later, as a young wife and mother, the adult Mary Rose persuades her husband to take her to the same island. Again she vanishes: this time for a period of decades. When she is found again, she is not a single day older and has no awareness of the passage of time. In the interim, her son has grown to adulthood and is now physically older than his mother.
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Picnic at Hanging Rock (and its successful filmPicnic at Hanging Rock
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1967 drama and mystery novel by Australian author Joan Lindsay. She wrote it over a four-week period at her home Mulberry Hill in Baxter, on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. It was first published in 1967 in Australia by Cheshire Publishing and was released in...
adaptation) is about a group of Australian schoolgirl
Schoolgirl
A schoolgirl is a girl attending either primary or secondary school, generally aged between four and eighteen years old.-Academic performance:This has led in some countries to calls for greater equality for education in the school system...
s who disappear in mysterious circumstances. It is often thought to be a true story. This belief was propagated by Joan Lindsay
Joan Lindsay
Joan Lindsay, Lady Lindsay was an Australian author, best known for her "ambiguous and intriguing" novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.-Life:...
, the author of the fiction book. There are no newspaper accounts of the event, nor any record of any searches conducted between the supposed disappearance and the book's publication – a gap of over sixty years.
The Unreals
The UnrealsThe Unreals
The Unreals is a science fiction/fantasy novel by Donald Jeffries, published in 2007 by StoneGarden. Conspiracy theories feature prominently in the plot, with the JFK assassination playing an especially significant role....
, a 2007 sci-fi/fantasy novel by Donald Jeffries, begins with the mysterious disappearance of the main character's grandfather, and the subject of disappearances in general is central to the story (with Ambrose Bierce playing a prominent role).
The X-Files
Samantha MulderSamantha Mulder
Samantha Ann Mulder is a fictional character in the television series The X-Files. She is the sister of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder and the daughter of Teena and Bill Mulder. As a child, Samantha was abducted, ostensibly by aliens, and was never recovered...
, sister of Fox Mulder
Fox Mulder
FBI Special Agent Fox William Mulder is a fictional character and protagonist in the American Fox television shows The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, two science fiction shows about a government conspiracy to hide or deny the truth of Alien existence. Mulder's peers consider his theories on...
, is one of the central characters in the TV series The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, and her disappearance plays a central role in the mythology of the series. Much of Mulder's obsession with the paranormal, particularly aliens, is explained by reference to Samantha's disappearance and his belief that she was abducted by aliens. The mystery of her disappearance is also used as a recurring plot line with Mulder occasionally forming, and then usually rejecting, different theories about the true nature of her disappearance.
Fairies
There are several tales of people vanishing at the hands of fairies, pixiePixie
Pixies are mythical creatures of folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name.They are usually depicted with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed...
s and other supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
folk. An example is the tale of Jan Coo, who was said to have vanished after being called away from his Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
home by a mysterious voice. This story would appear to be a warning against wandering away from safety on the dangerous moor, woven into a tale involving the little people to make a better story.
Typical tales of fairy kidnapping are told by William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
in his book, Mythologies. Yeats describes how many stories of fairy kidnappings involve newborn babies or newlyweds being carried off by the fairies. In one such story, a young newly-wed man met a band of fairies who had stolen his wife for their chief to marry. The fairies appeared at first to be mortal men, but the young man realized the truth when he saw them carry his wife away.
Mermaids
There are also many tales of sailors and fishermen being seduced or abducted by mermaidMermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
s which are said to lure men away from land by singing. The mermaid of legend perhaps dates back to Classical
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
times (c.f. Aphrodite rising from the sea), and the comb and mirror are stated in Anna Franklin's The Encyclopedia of Fairies (Paper Tiger, 2004) to signify the vulva. Thus the sexual nature of the mermaid seems a long-running theme, perhaps linked to the possibilities of temptation while at sea.
A very similar scenario is noted in the modern Egyptian folklore tale Al Naddaha.
Celtic legends exist of the Kelpie
Kelpie
The kelpie is a supernatural water horse from Celtic folklore that is believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland; the name may be from Scottish Gaelic cailpeach or colpach "heifer, colt".-Description and behaviour:...
. This is a horse which, once harnessed or mounted, leaps into the nearest body of water, taking its human captor with it - never to be seen again. Similar stories appear in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
.
Hoaxes
Many accounts of mysterious vanishings contain a similar narrative, and a similar lack of evidence that those involved ever existed, and can in many cases be dismissed as new versions of older hoaxes or variations on fictional accounts.David Lang and Oliver Larch
The disappearance stories of David Lang and Oliver Larch are commonly cited hoax examples.According to the stories surrounding him, on 23 September 1880, Lang, of Gallatin, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, was walking across the grounds of his farm to meet Judge August Peck who was approaching his farm in a horse and buggy, when Lang vanished mid-step and in full view of the judge, his wife Chanel and his two children, and the judge's brother-in-law. The ground around where Lang had been walking was searched in case he had fallen into a concealed hole, but no trace was found. The story further states that Lang's children later called out to him, and heard a disembodied voice calling as if from a great distance.
The story of David Lang was published in Fate magazine by journalist Stuart Palmer, who claimed that he had been told the story by Lang's daughter. However, no trace of David Lang nor his family (including his apparent daughter) was ever found in any records of that period, and the entire article was later determined to be a hoax likely inspired by the short story "The Difficulties of Crossing a Field" by Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Bierce
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist and satirist...
(1909), collected in his book Can Such Things Be?. In 1999, the modern composer David Lang
David Lang (composer)
David Lang is an American composer living in New York City. He was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion.-Biography:...
based an opera on Bierce's story. (The story has also become a popular urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
).
The story of Oliver Larch (Sometime known as Lerch or Thomas) follows a similar pattern to that of David Lang. According to the narrative, Larch was on his way to collect water from a well one winter when he vanished, leaving nothing behind but a trail of footprints in the snow which terminated abruptly, and a series of terrible cries for help such as "Help, they've got me!" that appeared to come from above. Larch's story was later found to be a variation on "Charles Ashmore's Trail", published in 1893 by Ambrose Bierce. In some versions, Larch's story is set in late 19th century Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, in others, it is set in North Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. One particular recurring variation was an Oliver Thomas of Rhayader
Rhayader
Rhayader is a market town and community in Powys, Mid Wales. It has a population of 2,075, and is the first town on the banks of the River Wye, from its source on the Plynlimon range of the Cambrian Mountains....
, Radnorshire
Radnorshire
Radnorshire is one of thirteen historic and former administrative counties of Wales. It is represented by the Radnorshire area of Powys, which according to the 2001 census, had a population of 24,805...
, mid-Wales with the date given as 1909.
Myths
American paranormal researcher and ufologist Jerome ClarkJerome Clark
Jerome Clark is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note....
notes that some areas, such as the Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
, which have a reputation as sites of frequent vanishings, do not in fact have significantly more instances than other areas with similar geographic, tidal or meteorological conditions.