We have all heard about mysterious disappearances ranging from one to a few or large groups of people. People vanishing suddenly, including entire small towns and even civilizations that seemingly evaporated into thin air. Usually there are no significant clues left behind.
I remember being intrigued in American History class when I learned about the Roanoke Island colony, among the first settlers from England, in 1587. Roanoke was found deserted upon the arrival of John White, the governor, and his crew returning with supplies. In this case, due to a war in Europe, White was delayed three years before he could return to the colony. There are many theories as to what happened, but it was a mass disappearance which remains a mystery still.
Canada has also had its share of vanishings. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were contacted by Joe Labelle in November 1930. Labelle came across an Inuit settlement near Anjikuni Lake, Nunavut, Canada. This was a truly bizarre case. All thirty residents were missing, leaving their clothes, weapons, and even their community food supply behind.
When Labelle arrived, there was still a pot of scorched food with a fire still blazing. Now comes the strangest of all elements to this disappearance: the graves of dead settlers were dug up and the bodies were missing. However, the stone markers were in two piles. These piles of marker stones were placed, half on one side of the graves and half on the other. This is the only case I know of that the living and the dead were taken!
Land or sea vanishings can occur. In December 1872, the ship Mary Celeste was found off the coast of the Azores with no crew or captain. This, of course, would at first be considered a pirate attack, except that the main reason any pirate ship would attack remained below the deck. The entire load and crew supplies were intact along with the captain’s log, which no captain would leave behind.
The Mary Celeste is just one of the many incidents author M.K. Jessup argues in his book, The Case for the UFO: Unidentified Flying Objects, as just one of many mass alien abductions in our history.
Another ship, the USS Cyclops, mysteriously disappeared with a crew of 300 in the Bermuda Triangle. There have been numerous vanishings of ships and planes in the area. There is usually no debris that would give us clues as to what could have happened. Theories range from rogue waves to alien abductions. And with no evidence, we can only speculate.
Earth has lost entire civilizations in our history. One such loss was the ancient cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa in the Indus Valley, 1500 BC, an area now known as Pakistan. This was a truly advanced civilization with a drainage and sewer system, as well as a drinking water system. British researcher, David Davenport, studied ancient writings, concluding the cities were subjected to a sudden exposure to intense heat, such as a targeted nuclear strike. In ancient times? A nuclear strike? Evidence of radiation and the presence of fusing of materials suggest he could be correct, but from whom? Could they have fallen out of favor with aliens?
In our long history, there are a wealth of mass vanishings with little to no evidence left. We can assume some were alien abductions, if you are so inclined, but others will continue to remain mysteriously unknown.
Do you have a favorite lost civilization or mass disappearance to share, along with your best assessment of what happened? Please do, in the comments below.
