The Mary Celeste is perhaps the most famous case of a "ghost ship." However, when it was discovered adrift on December 5, 1872, no ghosts were found nor any human form for that matter, not Captain Briggs, his wife, his two-year-old daughter, nor the seven crew members. They remain forever missing. But what caused them to vanish? Theories range from seaquakes to hazardous cargo, to a giant squid attack, and even aliens... yes, aliens. We're not saying it was aliens because we'd rather believe it was a giant squid. No matter what it was, the ship may have been doomed from the start, when seafaring superstitions were broken.

Tonight's Quote:

“The craft seemed possessed of the Devil to begin with, but where she got it I don’t know. I am sure it couldn’t have been from any of our good people.” 

— Dr. John W. Dewis, son of Joshua Dewis, the builder of the Mary Celeste, from The Story of the Mary Celeste by Charles Edey Fay

Show Links:

We've found that some sites are not showing these links as clickable unless they are URLs, so until those outlets improve their show notes section, we are providing actual URLs next to the clickable description of each link to make things easier for our listeners!

Mary Celeste: The Greatest Mystery of the Sea - http://bit.do/MaryCelesteBook

The World’s Greatest Unsolved Mysteries (Mysteries and Secrets) - http://bit.do/worldsgreatestmysteries

Capt Kirk and the Zumwalt - http://bit.do/captainkirk

The Smithsonian’s Take on the Mary Celeste - http://bit.do/smithsonianCeleste

HMS Friday - http://bit.do/hmsFriday

Maritime Superstitions - http://bit.do/maritimesuperstition

The Captain of the Polestar by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - http://bit.ly/2avJYrN The Ship’s Cat - http://bit.do/shipscat

Dogs know when the shakin's about to go down! - http://bit.ly/2aYEaIu

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Credits:

Episode 042 - "The Mary Celeste - Ghost Ship (Part 1)" Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Edited by Sarah Vorhees, Ryan McCullough Sound Design; Research Assistance by Tess Pfeifle and the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a,k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess 2016. All Rights Reserved.