Monday, February 21, 2011

How About A Monday Mystery...?


Isn't it amazing how many mysteries in history have yet to be solved?

Here's one from 1947 that still baffles everyone! Very unusual and very spooky! What a way to start out the new week, with an old mystery!

In June 1947, a chilling SOS message was picked up: “All officers including captain are dead lying in chartroom and bridge. Possibly whole crew dead." This was followed by some indecipherable Morse code, and one final grisly message... "I die." Then, silence.

It was picked up by nearby ships and listening posts, who identified the vessel as the Dutch freighter SS Ourang Medan and located it within the Strait of Malacca that separates Indonesia from Malaysia. The nearest merchant ship, The Silver Star, raced to her aid. The Silver Star was soon alongside the Dutch ship and their boarding party found a macabre sight: every member of the crew lay dead, their corpses scattered on the decks. More than this, their eyes were still open and expressions of sheer terror were etched on their features. The Silver Star’s party found the radio operator dead too, his hand still on the Morse sending key, eyes wide open and teeth bared. There were no sign of wounds or injuries on any of the bodies.

The decision was made to tow the mysterious ship back to port, but before they could get underway, smoke began emanating from the decks below. The boarding party hurriedly returned to their ship and barely had time to cut the tow lines before the SS Ourang Medan exploded and swiftly sank.

It has been claimed that clouds of noxious natural gases could have bubbled up from fissures in the seabed and engulfed the ship; even aliens and ghosts have been cited as possible explanations for the Ourang Medan’s macabre and mysterious demise. To this day, the exact fate of her crew remains an impenetrable mystery.

Nothing like a good mystery, but I really prefer one with an ending! This is just one of the many mysteries I found while researching on the web!

Ya know, a person can learn a lot on the web if you want to. So many interesting things that I probably would never find out about if it weren't for the information super highway! Guess I'm addicted...sort of an information junkie, if you will!

Would you like some fresh coffee this morning? We can sit outside again, if you'd like!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really strange! As You say there are lots of those mysteries out there on the net. Even if we never will know what happened in most cases they do start ones imagination :-)

Have a great day now!
Christer.

HermitJim said...

Hey Christer...
I'm sure there are more than we could ever find in our lifetime!

I guess our imagination is a good reason to continue to research these types of mysteries!

Thanks for coming by today!

Anonymous said...

I had read this in the past two weeks and considered doing a post on it, strange indeed.

AV

Ben in Texas said...

Ohhh, I just love a good Ghost story. I used to read everything I could find about The Bermuda Triangle, and earlier The Sargasso Sea. Always fasanated me.. More!!! WE want More!!

Anonymous said...

That is one spooky a$$ story sir, I hope whatever or whoever did this stays offshore!

JoJo said...

Good Story, I love history and I read plenty of books about it. But maybe I can save lots of money just doing the research online. Thanks for this interesting tidbit.
Pass the pot please.

HermitJim said...

Hey AV...
Imagine how spooky it must have been to go aboard that ship and find all those dead bodies!

Bet that image was hard to shake!

Thanks for coming by today!


Hey Ben...
This story must have been tailor made for you, then!

So many of these interesting stories out there!

Thanks, buddy, for coming by today!


Hey Anon 7:29...
I'm with you on that one! Rather not have to face it, that's for sure!

I do appreciate you coming by today!


Hey JoJo...
I just knew you would like it, sweetie!

So when do you find out about your operation? Hope that all goes alright!

Thanks, girl, for coming by this morning!

Mechanic in Illinois said...

Neat story. My mystery is what's left in the frig over the weekend. Sometimes it will make you scream. Have a great day.

HermitJim said...

Hey Mechanic...
I'm always reminded about the poker game in the movie "Odd Couple" with Walter Mathau and Tony Randal. Walter comes out of the kitchen with an armload of sandwiches and ask who wants one. "what kind do you have?" they asked. "

"I got brown ones and green ones" he replies."

"What are the green ones?" they asked.

"Either really new cheese, or really old meat" he says.

They chose the brown ones! Hey, thanks for coming by today!

Marjie said...

I've been watching the Masterpiece Theatre thing the past 2 weekends, and they mentioned Harry Oakes. There's an interesting mystery, too!

HermitJim said...

Hey Marjie...
Lots of mysteries all around us, that's for sure!

Kind of makes things a lot more interesting, don't you think?

Thanks for coming by today!