Theoretically, and from scientific point of view, there is nothing inexplicable in this world of cause and effect. Whatever happens in this world has some assignable cause behind it. Due to the lack of evidence, however, at times causes are not traceable and then people consider possibilities and causes are lost in shrouds of mystery. Human disappearances are mostly assigned to running away after committing a crime, abduction, turning into a recluse, a suicide, an unusual accident or falling victim to a natural calamity. Many ships, aircrafts and other objects have disappeared in the Bermuda triangle, which on this account is also known as the Devil’s triangle.

1.  Mysterious Disappearance of Anastasia Romanov

Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov was born to Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra Fyodorovna on June 18, 1901. She was the Grand Duchess and daughter of the last sovereign of Imperial Russia. She was the elder sister of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and the younger sister of Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duchess Tatiana, and Grand Duchess Maria. She was considered to have died with her family in an extrajudicial killing on July 17, 1918 by the Bolshevik Secret Police, Cheka. Following the rumors of her possible escape, many women claimed her identity. Most notorious among them was Anna Anderson, but after her death, DNA testing proved that she had no link to the imperial family. Dr. Michael Coble of the US Armed Forces published the results of DNA testing in March 2009, concluding that all the four Grand Duchesses had been accounted for and no one had escaped. Historians are still skeptical and consider Anastasia’s disappearance to be unexplained.

2. Amelia Earhart’s Disappearance

Amelia Earhart was a Kansas native and she had earned many first awards, including the first woman to fly across Atlantic, the first women to fly nonstop across the U.S and the first woman recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross Award. She wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world. Along with her co-pilot Fred Noonan, she took off from Miami on June 1, 1937, heading towards Howland Island, 2,550 miles away. Soon after taking off, their navigation equipment went out of order and they never reached their destination. Earhart’s husband George Palmer Putnam appealed to U.S. President for help. U.S. Military ships searched the sea at a daily cost of $250,000. After two years, she was officially declared dead, but the mystery still remains unexplained.

3. 10. USS Cyclops

USS Cyclops, named after the giant from Greek Mythology, was a small ship, built for the U.S. Navy long before the World War I. In 1918, it was sent, under command of Lt. G. W. Worley, to refuel the Allied ships. After March 1918, the ship along with 309 people on board disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle, without leaving any traces. The U.S. Navy officially stated ‘The disappearance of this ship has been one of the most baffling mysteries in the annals of the Navy, all attempts to locate her having proved unsuccessful. There were no enemy submarines in the western Atlantic at that time, and in December 1918 every effort was made to obtain from German sources information regarding the disappearance of the vessel.” This tragedy is considered the single largest loss of life in the naval history of U.S.

4.  D.B. Cooper’s Disappearence

A passenger bought an air ticket declaring his identity as Dan Cooper. On account of the events following the flight, he was known as D.B. Cooper by the media. He hijacked a Boeing 727 on November 24, 1971, in the airspace between Portland and Seattle. The aircraft was conducting Northwest Airline Flight number 305, with 36 passengers on board. Using a briefcase, said to contain a bomb, Cooper hijacked the plane and demanded $200,000 in ransom. He also demanded the provision of some parachutes and asked to keep the rear gate of the plane unlocked. Having received the ransom money, he jumped out of the plane and disappeared for ever. Only $5,800 in ransom money was found in 1980. The disappearance is still unexplained and FBI maintains an active file of the case, accumulating more than sixty files.

5. Disappearance of  Frederick Valentich

On October 21, 1978, twenty year old Frederick Valentich was flying a Cessna 182 L light aircraft over Bass Strait. His objective was landing at King Island and then returning to Moorabin airport. During the flight he informed Melbourne air traffic control that an aircraft was flying about 1000 feet above him. His last communication was ‘strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again. It is hovering and it’s not an aircraft’. A spokesman of the Department of Transport stated to Associated Press ‘its funny all these people ringing up with UFO reports well after Valentich’s disappearance’. The fate of the Cessna piloted by Frederick Valentich is not known and remains an unexplained mystery today.

6. Disappearance of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers

The Flannan Isles, also known as Seven Hunters, is a group of small islands in Scotland. It was named after the 7th century Irish preacher, St. Flannan. The island area is only 120 acres and its highest point, Elean Mor, is 289 ft above sea level. A team comprising of three lighthouse keepers was supported by a reliever. The captain of the relief vessel Hesperus sent a telegram to the Northern Light House Board informing them that ‘A dreadful accident has happened at the Flannans. The three keepers, Ducat, Marshall and the Occasional have disappeared from the Island. The clocks were stopped and other signs indicated that the accident must have happened about a week ago. Poor fellows must have been blown over the cliffs or drowned trying to secure a crane or something like that.’ The disappearance of the lighthouse keepers is still a mystery.

7. The Mary Celeste

On December 4, 1872, a British-American merchant ship Mary Celeste was found abandoned. One life boat and all of its crew, comprising of seven members, were missing. The ship was heading towards straits of Gibraltar.The ship had been at deep sea for more than a month and it had another month’s food and supplies. All the goods including the crew’s belongings were found intact. The disappearance of the Mary Celeste is considered the greatest maritime mystery in history. Today the disappearance still remains unexplained.

8. Disappearance of Percy Fawcett

Lt. Colonel Percival Harrison Fawcett was born on August 1867 and his date of death is not known exactly. He was a British artillery officer and an archaeologist. He was trying to find an unexplored land, Z, which he believed was El Dorado. During this expedition, he, along with his son Fawcett, was lost in the jungles of Brazil. He started his expedition on April 20, 1925. In addition to his two close companions, he was accompanied by two laborers, two horses, eight mules and a pair of dogs. On May 29, 1925 he wrote a letter to his wife, informing her optimistically that he was ready to start his errand only with Jack Fawcett and Rimmell. He was afterwards lost with his companions without leaving any traces.

9. Disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg

Raoul Wallenberg was born on August 4, 1912 in Lidingo Municipality, Sweden and presumably died on July 17, 1947 in Soviet Union. He was best known for his fruitful efforts to rescue many thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary during the holocaust. He was arrested by Soviet authorities on January17, 1945 and since then, his fate has not been known. The circumstances of his death remain mysterious and unexplained today.

10. Disappearance of Harold Edward Holt

Harold Edward Holt was born on August 5, 1908 and presumably died on December 17, 1967. He was the 17th prime minister of Australia. He is noted for his controversial increased involvement in the Vietnam war along with his famous quote ‘All the way with LBJ’. While swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, he disappeared and was presumed drowned. It can be well imagined that no efforts were spared to trace the sitting prime minister but all efforts were futile and no clue, except presumption of drowning, could be obtained.

Conclusion

It is not only common men or objects that disappear mysteriously, but as a matter of fact, celebrities like a sitting prime minister of a developed country also have fallen victim to this strange phenomenon. There are many high profile cases which have not been closed, because no satisfactory explanation was available. Trying to find whatever disappears is human instinct. Human beings always try to explain many natural phenomena relating to disappearances. It was matter of great curiosity for the wisest of people to ponder upon and try to explain where the sun disappears to and why the stars vanish in daytime. Today these phenomenon can be explained by a kid, but new mysteries, like dark matter, habitable planets and extraterrestrial life are still unexplained, serving as food for thought.