Incredible stories of the mass disappearance of people

World history knows many cases when people in groups went missing. And sometimes these disappearances can not be explained. A few of these cases will be discussed in our article.

Steamer "Varata"

In the summer of 1909 the steamer "Varata", carrying about 200 people, was traveling from Australian Melbourne to South Africa's Cape Town. On the way, he made a planned stop in Durban. Here one of the passengers descended from the ship, who was concerned about the behavior of the ship during the voyage.

"Varata" left the port of Durban on July 26 and continued his journey. The next day he met with another ship - "Clan McIntyre." It was then that the steamer was seen for the last time, because it did not come to Cape Town or another port. Later, there were eyewitnesses who claimed that they saw debris and bodies in the water, but there was no reliable evidence of the crash.

In the 1980s, unsuccessful attempts were made to find a steamship. The fate of "Varata" remains a mystery until now.

Residents of Aztalan

On the territory of the American state of Wisconsin are the remains of the Indian city of Aztalan. For the first time this settlement was discovered by settlers in 1836.

In the city there were stepped pyramids and cone-shaped mounds. The found items of everyday life testified that the locals were engaged in farming, fishing. According to legends, these people built large pyramids in the valley of Lake Mills. Later this place was flooded, so the veracity of this history is very difficult to verify.

Approximately 7-10 centuries ago the number of Attalian reached 500 people. But at the beginning of the 14th century the city was empty for unknown reasons. There are several explanations, among them - lack of resources or aggression from neighboring settlements.

9th Rome Legion

The ninth legion of the Roman Empire is a military formation in which about 5,000 soldiers and officers served. He was stationed in the northern part of England during the occupation of Britain. The purpose of the unit was to deter attacks by the indigenous inhabitants of the island. In 108, the legion is located in the city of York. This was the last mention of him.

Nobody can say for sure what happened to the ninth legion. It is known that 14 years later, when the sixth legion entered York, the city was empty. Perhaps all the Roman soldiers were destroyed by the rebellious mountaineers. There is also a version that the detachment was sent to another place, but there is no evidence of this.

The disappearance of the L-1049 airliner over the Pacific Ocean

On March 16, 1962, the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation airliner made the flight No. 739. On board the aircraft, there were 96 American servicemen traveling to Vietnam. On the route there were several landings for refueling, and at first everything went according to plan. However, after the departure from the island of Guam, the plane never landed for the last refueling in the Philippines.

During this flight, the crew reported on all their actions in a timely manner, and then a strange request was made to change the altitude from 10 to 16 thousand feet. After another two hours, the connection with the plane was interrupted, and he himself disappeared from all radars.

The most likely cause of the disappearance of Flight No. 739 was an explosion in the air. However, none of the nearest control towers received a distress signal. In addition, during the search and rescue operation, absolutely no debris was found.

Since this type of airliner was considered very reliable, it was difficult to believe in mechanical failure. Representatives of the airline assumed that the aircraft could be hijacked, but it was never found anywhere. The fate of the flight number 739 and its passengers has remained unknown.

The population of Great Zimbabwe

The name of the African country of Zimbabwe, meaning "stone houses", was taken from the name of the mysterious city - Great Zimbabwe. It was a large settlement - about 18 thousand inhabitants. This civilization was quite advanced: people knew how to build stone walls up to three stories high. All the more strange is their disappearance about 400 years ago.

Now Great Zimbabwe is a completely abandoned city. Its buildings are constructed of granite slabs, fastened together by a method in which it is possible to do without mortar. Here, a large number of things were found on which scientists were able to study the culture and life of the local population. As it turned out, the townspeople knew how to make metal things, were actively engaged in trade, and also were religious.

Despite the many finds, there is no single theory that could shed light on the fate of the city's residents. When asked what happened several centuries ago with a large city, it is unlikely that an exact answer will be given once.

The ship "Poet"

During the Second World War, this vessel served as a transport ship. After the end of hostilities, the Poet was mothballed and stood idle for more than 20 years. Later it was redeemed and re-used as intended, until in October 1980 the ship, together with the captain and an experienced team of 33 people mysteriously disappeared.

October 24, "Poet" went from Philadelphia to Egypt with a load of corn. The next day in the northern Atlantic raged storm, but he did not pose a great danger to a ship of this class. When the hurricane ended, the ship disappeared without a trace without any signal of distress.

There were several versions of the disappearance - from flooding as a result of a hole to the criminal negligence of the ship owner, who was silent about losing contact with the Poet. Clearly only one: such ships for no reason do not sink, however it will be very difficult to know it.

Link 19

Soon after the end of World War II, another strange disappearance occurred. In December 1945, five American bombers conducted a training flight in the Bahamas. After the completion of the assignment, the link returned to the base, but for some reason it flew completely to the other side. In addition, the weather rapidly deteriorated, and soon the planes disappeared from the radar.

Immediately a large-scale rescue operation was organized, in which hundreds of aircraft and dozens of ships were used. However, no signs of the missing link were found.

As it turned out, on that day the victims of the Bermuda Triangle were not only these planes. Two seaplanes, flew to look for the missing bombers, also disappeared without a trace. While there was no rational explanation for these disappearances, the true version seems to be the fault of the mystical Bermuda Triangle.

Civilization Moche

This South American culture existed in the territory of modern Peru in the period between the first and ninth centuries. According to archaeological research, these people knew how to handle metals well, mastered even gilding and soldering. They had a system of irrigation of fields, capable of feeding up to 25 thousand inhabitants. However, in a certain period of history, they disappeared without a trace.

According to one of the versions, the blame for this could be the El Niño storm that raged in the 6th-7th century. After 30 years of heavy rains, a thirty-year drought occurred, with which the inhabitants could not cope. There were also versions according to which civilization was exterminated by neighboring tribes, but traces of military operations were not found. Unfortunately, the trace of this mysterious culture is lost forever.

5th Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment

This British detachment, who took part in the First World War, was formed mainly from volunteers. After training, the battalion landed in 1915 on the peninsula of Gallipoli, where it faced the task of withdrawing Turkey from the war. In place of the detachment arrived on August 10, and two days later the soldiers went to the first battle for themselves, which became the last.

Attack of the Allied forces was thought out very badly. Without accurate maps in battle against a well-prepared opponent, the regiment was doomed to defeat.

During the attack, the 5th Battalion pursued the enemy in a burning forest and never returned from there. At first there were versions that the soldiers were ambushed and were captured. However, in the records of the Turkish government there was not a single mention of such prisoners of war. Later, there were eyewitnesses who assured that they saw a cloud enveloping the soldiers, which then simply disappeared. True or not, the fate of the 5th Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment remained an unsolved mystery.