Did you know that yesterday—January 29th—was National Puzzle Day? If you want to do a little after-the-fact celebrating and torture your mind with a real-life puzzle, read on!
Last week, I told you about the curious case of the S. S. Ourang Medan, a real-life ghost ship that was found (then spontaneously combusted). Here’s a quick recap:
The S. S. Ourang Medan was a Dutch vessel proceeding through the Straits of Malacca in February of 1948. The United States Coast Guard’s Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council reports its eerie fate—its mysterious SOS and ultimate spontaneous combustion upon discovery. In 1958 and 1959, C. H. Marck Jr. wrote to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) about the case of the Ourang Medan and other similar cases (including some that sound suspiciously like UFOs)—and was cooly rebuffed. The mystery of the Ourang Medan remains unsolved to this day.
The full text of the United States Coast Guard’s report is now in the Database of Demons and Death Gods, where you can read it and puzzle your mind as to whether ghosts (or aliens!) really were responsible or what kind of chemical reaction might have caused the death of the crew and subsequent explosion.
Happy puzzling!
Finished 1.29.20
Posted 1.30.20
Short and Sweet WTF 