If you are at all familiar with the name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it is probably as the writer and creator of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. You may even be aware that he had a strong interest in Spiritualism and more generally in all things paranormal. Being a prolific best-selling author as well… Read More

In 1913, whilst Clarence Willard was staying in England, he needed to renew his passport in order to be able to travel, and most importantly, in order for him to be able to return to the United States, his country of origin. Consequently, Clarence popped into the U.S. Embassy in London, in order to complete… Read More

Before leaving the subject of aviation in the 1970’s entirely, the strange case of Australian pilot Frederick Valentich is another mystery worthy of note. At 6:19 pm on October 21, 1978, Frederick took off from Robin Airport, near Melbourne, in a Cessna 182 light aircraft. His plan was to fly west for forty minutes along… Read More

On 24 November 1971, a man in his mid-forties, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, calling himself Dan Cooper, purchased a one-way ticket in cash from the Northwest Orient Airlines flight counter at Portland International Airport for flight 305, a short 30 minute hop to Seattle. He boarded the aircraft, a Boeing 727-100, settled… Read More

During the course of the Middle Ages, the grim reaper was a far more frequent visitor than today. Illness, famine, and pestilence were commonplace, and with a medical knowledge based on the theories of the ancients, treatments were largely ineffectual, and as a consequence, little could be done to alleviate suffering. But it was not… Read More

Jacob Miller was a soldier in the Union Army that fought against the Confederacy in the American Civil War. On 19 September 1863, during the Battle of Chickamauga, he was shot in the forehead. Given the rudimentary medical care available in the mid-nineteenth century, and the lack of facilities on hand, that should have been… Read More

The English upper class has for centuries been littered with eccentric individuals whose unconventional behaviour has left the more rationally minded bemused. Whether this is due to generations of inbreeding, or simply the result of boredom caused by having too much leisure time, remains a matter for conjecture. Whatever the reason for their outlandish behaviour,… Read More

The eruption of Mount Edgecumbe, located at the southern end of Kruzof Island, Alaska in April 1974, may not be up there with the likes of Krakatoa, which burst forth in 1883, or Mount Tambora, which blew its top in 1815, or even Mount St. Helens, which resulted in the US’s most deadly volcanic event,… Read More

Unless you hail from the United States and are of a certain age, the name of Korla Pandit may not be familiar to you. It certainly wasn’t to me. However, despite the fact that I live on the wrong side of the Atlantic Ocean to have been conversant with the career of the talented musician,… Read More

The beautiful Mediterranean island of Cyprus has a long and chequered history. Of great strategic importance, located as it is, just a stones-throw from the Middle East, it has been fought over for centuries and has at various times been under the occupation of Greece, Persia, Rome, England, Venice, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), and the… Read More