← Hidden History with Dr. Harini Bhat
Loading summary
Transcript28 lines
- [00:01]
A
This is rewind.
- [00:04]
B
Rewind.
- [00:07]
A
In November of 1872, a ship called the Mary Celeste set sail from New York harbor bound for Italy. There were ten people on board. The captain, his wife, their two year old daughter and seven crew members. Less than a month later, the ship was found drifting in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The cargo was intact. The food supply could have lasted another six months. Personal belongings were still in the crew's quarters, but every single person on board was gone. No bodies, no signs of a struggle, no distress signal. Just an empty ship sailing across the ocean like nothing had happened. So where did everyone go? In this episode, I'll get into all the theories about what happened to the Mary Celeste and her crew. From science to sea monsters and everything in between. By the Then you'll have to decide for yourself. Was it a tragic miscalculation or something far more sinister? I'm Dr. Huni Bhatt and this is Hidden History. A Rewind original powered by Pave Studios. On this show we're exploring some of the most mysterious events from history that have yet to be fully explained. In examining all the different theories, from science to the supernatural and everything in between, from vanished civilizations and doomsday prophecies to paranormal experiences and unexplained phenomena, I'm looking at it all and I want you to join me. Before we begin, I'd love it if you could rate, review and follow Hidden History. Your support allows our community to grow and for other people to discover the show. Today's episode is all about the Mary Celeste Ghost ship mystery. Did the crew flee from an explosion? Was it a conspiracy for insurance money? Could a creature from the deep have dragged them under? Or is there something about the open ocean that we still don't understand? Let's talk about it.
- [02:17]
B
We all belong outside. We are drawn to nature. It calls to us. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives richer, calmer, and frankly, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it. But the outdoors is closer than we realize. With Alltrails, you can discover trails nearby or trails worth traveling to and explore. Explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Whether you're looking for a laid back, walk with family or something more adventurous to get your heart pumping, Alltrails gives you the tools you need to get out there and find your outside. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with Alltrails
- [03:16]
C
just got a new puppy or kitten. Congrats. But also, yikes. Between crates, beds, toys, treats, and those first few vet visits, you've probably already dropped a small fortune. Which is where Lemonade Pet insurance comes in. It helps cover vet costs so you can focus on what's best for your new pet. The coverage is customizable, sign up is quick and easy, and your claims are handled in as little as three seconds. Lemonade offers a package specifically for puppies and kittens. Get a'llemonade.com pet your future self will thank you. Your pet won't. They don't know what insurance is.
- [03:52]
A
Before we get to the mystery, we need to talk about the ship herself. Because the Mary Celeste had a troubled pass long before anyone disappeared from her. And it all begins in one of the most unlikely shipbuilding capitals in the world. Spencer's island is a tiny rural community in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, tucked away in the Bay of Fundy. If you've never heard of the Bay of Fundy, it's famous for one thing, having the highest tides in the world. We're talking tidal swings of up to 50ft. At low tide, the ocean floor is exposed for miles. At high tide, it swells everything back up again. It's a dramatic, almost otherworldly landscape. And that matters because in the mid-1800s, Nova Scotia wasn't some maritime backwater. It was one of the great shipbuilding regions of the British Empire. The province's coastline, abundant timber and proximity to transatlantic trade routes made it a natural home for the industry. These weren't slap dash boats. Nova Scotian shipbuilders produced vessels that sailed the world. And the very first large vessel to come out of the Spencer's island shipyard would go on to become the most famous ghost ship in history. In late 1860, a shipbuilder named Joshua Dewis laid the keel for a new vessel at his yard in Spencer's Island. She was rigged as a brigantine, which is a two masted sailing ship. The front mast carries square sails while the rear mast carried a large fore and aft sail. This design made brigantines incredibly versatile. They could be operated by a smaller crew than a full rigged ship while still carrying significant cargo across long ocean voyages. And this was a sailing vessel through and through. No engines, no steam power. Every bit of its movement depended on the wind and the skill of its crew. In 1861, steamships were starting to change the maritime world. But wooden sailing ships like this one were still the workhorses of international trade. Once it was built, the ship measured about 99ft long, roughly the length of a basketball court and 25ft wide. It weighed about 198 tons and sat just under 12ft deep in the water. Not enormous, but solidly built for its purpose as a merchant trading vessel. It was designed to haul cargo across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and through the Mediterranean. She was launched on May 18, 1861, and christened the Amazon. She was owned by nine local investors, including her first captain, Robert McClellan. And from the very beginning, things went wrong. During the Amazon's maiden voyage, Captain McClellan got sick with pneumonia and died before the ship even completed its first trip. If you ask me, that's about the worst omen a sailing vessel can get. But it didn't stop there. The Amazon's next captain, John Nutting Parker, held a position for two years, trading mainly in the West Indies. Those years were relatively quiet, but after Parker, the ship passed to Captain William Thompson. And during his command, the Amazon ran into serious trouble. In October of 1867, a storm drove the ship ashore at Cape Breton Island. The damage was so bad that the owners gave up entirely and sold the Amazon as a wreck. The ship changed hands multiple times after that. It was purchased as salvage, repaired, and eventually sold to an American owner named Richard Haynes, who gave it a new name, the Mary Celeste. Now, I want to pause here, because in the 1800s, sailors were extremely superstitious, and they believed that every vessel had a spirit, and changing its name was basically like erasing its identity. Legend had it that unless you performed a specific ritual involving champagne, salt water, and the proper invocations, the sea would take its revenge. Whether or not anyone followed that ritual for the Mary Celeste, well, let's just say the universe seemed to have an opinion. Despite all that baggage, by 1872, the Mary Celeste had gone a major facelift. A new group of owners, led by New York businessman James H. Winchester, poured about $10,000 into renovations, which in today's money would be well over $250,000. They added a second deck, extended its length to 103ft, widened it to nearly 26ft, and increased the tonnage from 198 to 280. 82 tons. It was basically a new ship wearing an old name. And the man chosen to captain the shiny new vessel was someone who came highly recommended, Benjamin spooner Briggs. In 1872, Captain Briggs was 37 years old and came from a long line of seafarers in Marin, Massachusetts. His father was a ship captain, so were several of his brothers. The man basically had salt water in his veins. Briggs was well respected in the maritime community, known for being level headed, cautious and deeply religious. He didn't drink, he ran a tight ship, but he also treated his crew fairly. One of the later investigators put it simply, quote, there was never a question that he would do something irrational, end quote. All of this to say this was not the kind of guy who made reckless decisions. In October of 1872, Briggs invested his own savings to buy shares in the Mary Celeste and he was appointed her captain for an upcoming transatlantic voyage to Genoa, Italy. And here's where it gets personal. Briggs decided to bring his family along. His wife Sarah was no stranger to life at sea. She had sailed with Benjamin before and was an accomplished musician who brought along a small melodeon, basically a portable organ, to pass the time during the voyage. They also brought their two year old daughter Sophia. Their elder son Arthur, who was 7, was left at home with his grandmother so he could go to school. Briggs carefully handpicked his crew for the voyage. His first mate, Albert Richardson, had sailed with him before and married into the Winchester family. Second mate Andrew gilling was a 25 year old new Yorker of Danish descent. The rest of the crew were experienced sailors, mostly from Germany, including brothers Volkert and boy Lorenzen, all solid men with clean records. To recap, there were 10 people on board. Captain Briggs, his wife Sarah, baby Sophia and seven crewmen. On October 20, the cargo was loaded, 1701 barrels of denatured industrial alcohol. This wasn't the kind you drink, it was basically ethanol used for industrial chemical processes, fuel and manufacturing, not to mention highly flammable and potentially volatile. And every single barrel was packed into the ship's hold for the long journey across the Atlantic. But bad weather delayed the departure of for over two weeks. During that time, Briggs wrote a letter to his mother. He described the Mary Celeste as being in quote, fine condition and seemed optimistic about the voyage ahead. He also mentioned hoping to bring Sarah and Sophia home safely. There was one more notable detail about those final days in New York. The night before the Mary Celeste set sail, Captain Briggs reportedly had dinner with an old acquaintance, Captain David Morehouse of a British ship called the DEI Gratia. Morehouse and his first mate, Oliver Devoe, were experienced, well respected sailors. And as it happened, the de Gauria was planning to follow a similar route across the Atlantic, departing about eight days after the Mary Celeste, which finally set sail on November 7, 1872 bound for Italy. And the next time Captain Morehouse encountered the Mary Celeste, he'd be in the middle of the most haunting maritime mystery of all time. On December 5, 1872. So almost a full month after the Mary Celeste departure, the dei Gratia was sailing about 400 miles east of the Azores islands in the Atlantic Ocean when her crew spotted something unsettling in the distance. A ship drifting, moving erratically through the choppy seas, her sails partially set. But clearly with no one at the helm, Captain Morehouse recognized the vessel almost immediately. It was the Mary Celeste, the ship that had left New York eight days before his own departure. The ship that should have already been docked in Genoa by now. Something was very wrong. Morehouse changed course and sent a boarding party of three men led by first mate Oliver Devoe to investigate. Whatever they expected to find, it wasn't this. The ship was completely empty, not a living soul on board. But here's what made it so eerie. The Mary Celeste was in remarkably good shape. Yes, there was about three and a half feet of water sloshing around at the hold. But considering the circumstances, it wasn't that much. The vessel was absolutely seaworthy. The cargo of 1,701 barrels of alcohol was almost entirely intact, although investigators would later note that nine of those barrels were empty. The crew's personal belongings, their clothes, their pipes, their boots were still in their quarters, neatly arranged as if they'd be coming right back. There was a six month supply of food and fresh water on board. Six months worth. Nobody who was running low on supplies would abandon a ship with that much food. Only a few things were out of place. One of the two onboard pumps had been taken apart. The ship's compass was damaged. The glass cover had been smashed. A section of railing on one side of the ship had been removed. And a rope was trailing behind the ship in the water, frayed at the end, as though something had been tied to it and broken away. But the most telling details. The ship's only lifeboat was missing, and so were the navigation instruments, the sextant, the chronometer and the ship's register. Someone had taken the tools you'd need to navigate to safety. There was also something found lying on the deck that shouldn't have been there. The ship's sounding rod. This was a device used to measure how much water had collected in the hold. The fact that it was out and on the deck suggests that right before they left, someone was checking how much water the ship was taking on. Now, it was only after Devoe and his men had taken all this in that they turned to the ship's lock. And what they found there deepened the mystery considerably. The last entry was dated November 25, 1872. So a full 10 days before the de Gr found the ship. The entry recorded the Mary Celeste position as being about six miles off the coast of Santa Maria, one of the easternmost islands in the Azores. Six miles from land, close enough to see the island. And then nothing. No more entries, no distress calls, no further navigation notes. The log just stopped. That meant whatever happened to the crew occurred sometime after the morning of November 25th. And in the 10 days that followed, the Mariseles drifted over 400 miles from where it was last recorded, with no one on board. Let's pause here, because this combination of details is what makes the Mary Celeste so maddening. If the crew had been attacked, why were their belongings untouched and the cargo still there? If the ship was sinking, why was it still perfectly seaworthy? And if everything was fine, why did everyone leave? Despite all the strangeness, the Mary Celeste was in good enough shape to be sailed. So Devoe and two other men from the DEI Gratia did exactly that. They spent the better part of two days pumping out the water from the hold, and then they sailed both vessels approximately 800 miles to the British territory of Gibraltar, located at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. But why Gibraltar? And why did the British have any authority over an American ship? The answer comes down to maritime law. In the 1870s, salvage riots were governed by admiralty courts. Under the rules of the time, when a crew found and recovered an abandoned ship at sea, they could bring it to the nearest port with an admiralty corps and file a salvage claim. The court would then determine how much the salvagers were owed based on the value of the ship and its cargo. The closest admiral Admiralty court to where the Mary Celeste was found was in Gibraltar, which was and still is a British overseas territory. It didn't matter that the Mary Celeste was an American ship. The British court in Gibraltar had jurisdiction because that's where the salvage vessel was brought. And that's where things got really complicated. What is that? Oh, yeah, it's a world cup holder. Like the soccer tournament. World cup holder for the world. Fits every car, holds every cup. It has a Carvana logo. Carvana made it. They buy and sell cars. So they made a car cup holder. So. Got any good cups lately? Used to. I just couldn't figure out where in the world to put them. The World cup holder, brought to you by Carvana. Proud sponsors of the World cup holder, sign up today to win yours@cup-holder2026.com not authorized or endorsed by FIFA. Not a real product for parody and fair use purposes only.
- [18:53]
C
Just got a new puppy or kitten. Congrats. But also yikes. Between crates, beds, toys, treats, and those first few vet visits, you've probably already dropped a small fortune. Which is where Lemonade Pet Insurance comes in. It helps cover vet costs so you can focus on what's best for your new pet. The coverage is customizable, sign up is quick and easy, and your claims are handled in as little as three seconds. Lemonade offers a package specifically for puppies and kittens. Get a'llemonade.com pet your future self will thank you. Your pet won't. They don't know what insurance is.
- [19:30]
A
When the Mary Celeste arrived in Gibraltar, it was immediately impounded by British authorities. What was supposed to be a routine salvage hearing, basically figuring out how much money the De Gratia's crew was owed for saving the ship, turned into a full blown criminal investigation. And it was all thanks to Frederick Solly Flood, the Attorney General of Gibraltar. Now, Solly Flood is one of those figures who might have been a footnote in history if not for the Mary Celeste. But the case became his obsession. And understanding why requires knowing a little bit about the man himself. Frederick Solly Flood was born in 1801. He was the son of a humble fishmonger in London. But his maternal grandfather was a nobleman who owned vast estates in Ireland. And when he died, Frederick inherited them. He went on to get a good education, became a lawyer and started a successful legal practice in London. But here's where it gets interesting. Solly Flood had a serious gambling problem. His debts eventually forced him to sell his legal practice and at the age of 64, accept the relatively modest post of Attorney General in Gibraltar. It was essentially exile for a man who'd once been King's Counsel in London. Historians have been less than kind about him. One describes Solly Flood as a man, quote, whose arrogance and pomposity were inversely proportional to his iq, end quote. Another called him the sort of man who, once he made up his mind about something, couldn't be shifted. Not exactly a ringing endorsement. So when the Mary Celeste arrived in Gibraltar, Solly Flood saw it as his chance to shine a high profile international mystery right in his jurisdiction. He was convinced that he could crack it wide open. The only problem was that the evidence refused to cooperate with his theories. His first hypothesis? That the crew had gone into the cargo, gotten drunk on the industrial alcohol, then went on a murderous rampage against the captain and his family. Except the Alcohol on board was denatured. It was essentially pulled poisonous. You would get violently ill way before you got drunk. When that didn't stick, Solly Flood pivoted. He accused the DEA's crew of piracy, claiming Captain Morehouse had somehow attacked the Mary Celeste and killed everyone on board to claim the salvage reward. There was just one problem. The day Gara had left New York, eight days after the Mary Celeste, it was a slower ship. There was essentially no way Morehouse could have caught up to the Mary Celeste, ambushed it, and then found it hundreds of miles off course. But Solly Flood wouldn't let go. When that theory sank, he flipped it again. Now, Briggs had murdered his own crew and conspired with Morehouse to split the salvage money. Never mind that Briggs, as a part owner of the ship, would have earned more from completing the voyage than from any salvage scheme. But Sully Flood was convinced that foul play was somehow involved. He had the ship inspected thoroughly, hoping to find bloodstains or evidence of violence. And his inspectors did find some reddish brown marks on the deck. What Solly Flood claimed were sword cuts on the ship's railing. But when the stains were tested by Dr. J. Patron, a local physician, they weren't blood. They were rust or natural wear. And the sword cuts, they were just normal damage from years of use. After this latest dead end, the American Consul in Gibraltar, Horatio Sprague, started to get frustrated with Solly Flood's theatrics. Sprague was convinced that Captain Briggs had been an honest, capable man. So he asked for an independent investigation from a U.S. navy captain named R.W. shufelt. His conclusion was straightforward. The Mary Celeste had been abandoned by master and crew in a moment of panic and for no sufficient reason. After three months of investigation, the court found no evidence of foul play. The De Gratia's crew was cleared of any wrongdoing and awarded a salvage payment. But here's the thing. They only received about a sixth of the total value of the ship and cargo. Normally, salvagers received a much larger share. That suspiciously low payout suggests the court, maybe influenced by Solifla's relentless accusations, still had some doubts. Even without any evidence to support them, the investigation was officially closed. But Solafled's wild theories had already done their damage. His accusations grabbed media attention on both sides of the Atlantic and launched the Mary Celeste into the public imagination. And then one of the world's most famous authors poured gasoline on the fire. In 1884, a ship's doctor in his mid-20s named Arthur Conan Doyle. Yes, that Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who would go on to create Sherlock Holmes, published a short story inspired by the case. He renamed the ship the Marie Celeste, that's M a R I e instead of M a r y, changed the route to Boston to Lisbon, and invented an entirely fictional story about a former enslaved person who hijacks the ship and sails her to Africa. The story was published anonymously in Cornhill magazine and was so convincing that many readers, including some officials, took it as a factual account. Suddenly, the Mary Celeste was famous worldwide. And all those fictional embellishments, they got hopelessly mixed in with the real story. Even today, people still call the ship Marie Celeste because of Doyle's story. Over the decades that followed, the mystery became a magnet for increasingly wild theories. Which brings us to the heart of this episode. Episode and the question that still hangs over the Mary Celeste. What happened to everyone on board? Let's start with the most scientifically supported explanation. And it all comes down to one thing. What was in the cargo hold? Remember, the Mary Celeste was carrying 1,701 barrels of denatured industrial alcohol. That is a lot of volatile liquid. So sealed up in wooden barrels in a confined space, rocking back and forth on the open ocean for weeks. When the de Gartier's crew inspected the cargo, they found that nine barrels were empty. And here's a critical detail. Those nine barrels were made of red oak, while the remaining barrels were made of white oak. It might not seem like a big deal, but red oak is significantly more. More porous than white oak, which means those barrels were much more likely to leak. So picture this. You are weeks into a rough Atlantic crossing. The ship is being tossed around constantly. And below deck, alcohol is slowly seeping out of those porous barrels, filling the cargo hold with invisible, highly flammable fumes. Then imagine what would happen if it explains exploded. I don't know about you, but I'd probably want to abandon ship after that. In 2006, a chemist named Dr. Andrea Sella at University College London actually tested this theory. He built a replica of the Mary Celeste cargo hold and simulated an explosion using butane gas, which behaves similarly to alcohol vapor. And instead of actual wooden barrels, he used paper cubes. The result? A massive blast. A spectacular wall of flame surged upward through the hold. It would have been absolutely terrifying, the kind of explosion that would make you think the entire ship was about to be consumed. But here is the incredible part. When the explosion was over, there was no damage, no scorch marks, no burnt paper for nothing. Dr. Sella described it as a pressure wave explosion. A burst of flame followed by a rush of relatively cool air. Terrifying in the moment, but it doesn't actually destroy anything. This is huge. Because one of the biggest arguments against the explosion theory had always been if the alcohol fumes went up in flames, where's the damage? Well, Dr. Sella proved that this type of explosion could happen without leaving any visible trace. So here's how the theory goes. Alcohol fumes built up in the hold over the course of the voyage. At some point, maybe from two loose barrels rubbing together and creating a spark, or a crewman opening a hatch with a pipe in his mouth, the fumes ignited. There was a massive, terrifying pressure wave explosion. The hatch covers were blown open. Flame and smoke erupted from below deck. Captain Briggs, experienced as he was, would have had one thought. This ship is about to blow. And with his wife and 2 year old daughter on board, he wasn't going to wait around to find out if the rest of the cargo would ignite. So he ordered everyone into the lifeboat. In the chaos, they tied the lifeboat to to the ship, planning to stay close until they could confirm the danger had passed. But the seas were rough. The line frayed. Then it snapped. Remember that frayed rope trailing behind the Mary Celeste? That could have been the tow line, the lifeline that was supposed to keep them connected to the ship. Once the line broke, the Mary Celeste, with its sails still partially set, would have drifted away from the lifeboat at a pace they could couldn't match by rowing. And just like that, 10 people were stranded in a small boat in the middle of the Atlantic, watching their ship disappear over the horizon. The ocean does not forgive mistakes like that. The explosion theory is compelling, but some researchers think the answer might be even simpler. What if the crew abandoned ship because they genuinely believe, believe the Mary Celeste was going down from a breach hull? Even though it wasn't. In 2007, a documentary called the True Story of the Mary Celeste, produced for the Smithsonian Channel brought together a team of historians and scientists to re examine the evidence. And they focused on details that previous investigators had overlooked. First, the sounding rod on the deck. If the water level reading came back high, the captain might have thought the ship was flooding. But one of the ship's two pumps had been taken apart. If you can't pump the water out and you think more water is coming in, that's a crisis. Even if the actual water level wasn't dangerous, a panicked reading combined with a broken pump could have convinced Briggs that the situation was worse than it really was. Then there's the possibility of a water waterspout. These are essentially tornadoes that form over water, and they were common in the waters around the Azores. A waterspout would cause a dramatic drop in barometric pressure, which could force water from the bilge up through the ship's pumps. The crew might have seen water levels rising rapidly and assumed the ship was taking on water from a leak they couldn't find. So they piled into the lifeboat, thinking it was their only chance. But this is where both this and the explosion theory hit a snag, because according to the ship's log, the Marisalis was within sight of the Azores. And if that was the case, they should have been able to row to safety. However, the Smithsonian researchers realized that Captain Briggs had made a big mistake. They used historical weather data and ocean current models to trace the Mary Celeste's probable course and discovered something shocking. The Mary Celeste was actually about 120 miles west of where Captain Briggs thought he was. His chronometer, the instrument used to calculate longitude, appears to have been off. Briggs thought he was within sight of Santa Maria island in the Azores. But in reality, he may have been much farther out to sea. If Briggs ordered the crew into the lifeboat expecting a short road to safety, they would have been devastated when they realized land was nowhere to be found, a small overloaded boat, rising seas, and the vast Atlantic Ocean. It would have been a death sentence. This theory also explains why Briggs took the navigation instruments but left everything else. If he thought he'd be navigating to a nearby island, he'd grab the sextant in the ship's register. But he wouldn't bother with personal items because he expected it to be a short trip. It's honestly heartbreaking. A cascade of small miscalculations, a faulty instrument, a broken pump, a misleading reading creating the illusion of of a sinking ship. And a father who made a decision to protect his family that ultimately sealed all of their fates.
- [33:36]
C
If you're the proud parent of a puppy or kitten, you know you can't pet proof your entire life. There simply isn't a sock drawer high enough or a couch cover thick enough. But you can pet proof your wallet with Lemonade pet insurance. Whether it's an unexpected accident or a routine checkup, Lemonade can cover up to 90% of the bill. Plus, they can handle claims in as little as two seconds. So before you turn into a complete helicopter pet parent, get a'@lemonade.com pet hey,
- [34:04]
D
parents, we all know summer break is for fun, but it's also a time when kids can start losing some of the progress they made during the school year. We want them to stay engaged and keep those young minds active. Between camps, vacations and family time, it can be tough to keep a learning routine going. That's why I want to tell you about ixl. IXL is an award winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning. Whether they're building math confidence, strengthening reading and writing skills, or reviewing science concepts from Pre K through 12th grade, IXL offers personalized interactive learning that adapts to each child's level and pace. It's an easy way to keep learning going through the summer and helps kids feel confident heading into the next school year. Studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests proven in all 50 states. And get this IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. that's a huge endorsement. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixlearning.com audio Visit ixlearning learning.com audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price
- [35:22]
A
all right, let's go to the deep end. Because the scientific theories, not everyone's buying them. And honestly, I get it. When you break it down, there are aspects of the story that tidy explanations don't fully address. And over the last 150 years, some truly wild theories have emerged. Let's start with one of the oldest and most dramatic the giant squid. Now before you roll your eyes, hear me out, because in the 1870s, giant squid weren't science fiction, they were becoming science fact. In 1873, just one year after the Mary Celeste disappeared, two fishermen and in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, had a terrifying encounter. A massive creature surfaced near their small boat and threw its tentacles across the vessel. One of the fishermen managed to hack off two of the creature's arms with a hatchet before it retreated into the deep. The Sephard tentacle was brought ashore and studied by scientists. It was the first physical evidence of a living giant squid ever examined in North America. And that wasn't an isolated incident. In 1874, a ship called the Pearl was reportedly attacked by a giant cephalopod in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of India. According to the captain of a nearby vessel, the creature climbed onto the 150 ton schooner, capsized it and killed at least two sailors. Five crewmen were rescued, but the ship was lost even into the 20th century, the attacks continued. In the 1930s, the Norwegian tanker Brunswick was attacked by giant squid on three separate occasions in the South Pacific. The creatures reportedly pursued the ship and tried to grip the steel hull with their tentacles, but couldn't get traction on the smooth metal. The account was validated by a commander in the Royal Norwegian Navy. So is it possible that a giant squid attacked the Mary Celeste? Here's what we know. Giant squid can grow up to 43ft long, with tentacles lined with powerful suckers that can exert over 100 pounds of pressure per square inch. They are deep sea predators, typically found at depths of a thousand feet or more. But they do come to the surface, especially when they're sick, disoriented, or chasing prey. The waters around the Azores, where the Mary Celeste was last recorded, are actually known for giant squid activity. The deep underwater canyons in the region are an ideal habitat. And sperm whales, the giant squid's primary predator, have been hunted in the those waters for centuries. But here's the catch. If a giant squid attacked the ship, you'd expect to see damage. Sucker marks on the hull, broken railings, something. And the Mary Celeste was found in remarkably good shape. Also, there's no documented case of a giant squid pulling people off a ship without damaging the vessel itself. And no, pirates of the Caribbean does not count. That said, we still know shockingly little about these animals. The first photographs of a living giant squid in its natural habitat weren't captured until 2004. The first video footage came in 2012. We've explored less than 5% of the ocean floor. So the idea that something was out there in 1872 that we can't fully account for today, it's not as crazy as it sounds. So here's a thought experiment. What if the crew of the Mary Celeste saw something in the water that they couldn't identify? Something massive moving toward the ship? In an era before we understood what giant squid were, an encounter like that could have been absolutely terrifying. Terrifying enough to abandon ship in a panic? Maybe. But that's not the only out there theory. Some theorists have tried to connect the Mary Celeste to the Bermuda Triangle. That infamous stretch of ocean between Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, where ships and planes have allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Now, I need to be upfront. The Mary Celeste route from New York to Genoa didn't actually pass through the Bermuda Triangle. But Bermuda Triangle enthusiasts have argued that the phenomenon isn't limited to one specific area. They say the strange electromagnetic anomalies, rogue waves and methane gas Eruptions sometimes associated with the Triangle could occur across wider stretches of the Atlantic. Proponents of this idea point to seabed earthquakes as a possible trigger. It could cause turbulence on the surface, damage cargo, release toxic fumes, and create conditions that would explain many of the anomalies found on the Mary Celeste. Is there evidence for this? Not really. But the Bermuda Triangle connection speaks to something deeper. The sense that the ocean itself is an alien environment, full of forces we don't fully understand. And when something inexplicable happens at sea, it's tempting to believe the ocean was responsible. And then there's a theory that goes all the way off the map. Alien abduction. The paranormal explanation for the Mary Celeste gained traction in the mid 20th century as UFO culture exploded. The logic goes something like this. The crew vanished instantly, without a struggle, leaving everything behind. The ship was undamaged. There's no satisfying natural explanation. Ergo, they were abducted by aliens. I know it's not likely, but here are some arguments in favor of it. The compass glass was shattered. Could that indicate a powerful electromagnetic field? The crew left behind all their possessions, including valuables, suggesting they didn't choose to leave. And the complete absence of bodies, wreckage, or any trace of the crew in the surrounding ocean is, for some, consistent with people being removed from the ship entirely rather than falling into the sea. Is there any hard evidence for extraterrestrial involvement? No. But the alien theory endures because it fills the void that all the other theories leave behind. When you can't explain something, sometimes the most fantastical explanation feels like the only one big enough to match the mystery. And finally, let's talk about one of the most bizarre explanations ever put forward. Because in 1913, a story appeared that claimed to solve the mystery once and for all. And a lot of people were convinced. That year, the hugely popular British magazine magazine the Strand, the same magazine that published Sherlock Holmes stories, issued a challenge to its readers. Could anyone solve the mystery of the Mary Celeste? Among the many responses, one stood out. A letter arrived from a man named a Howard Linford, a highly respected headmaster of one of London's most prestigious prep schools. He held a degree from Oxford's Magdalene College. His credentials were impeccable. Linford claimed that a former servant of his, an old man named Abel Fosdick, had confessed the truth on his deathbed. According to Fosdick, he'd been a secret passenger on the Mary Celeste. He said he'd gotten himself into some kind of trouble in America and had convinced his friend Captain Briggs to let him stow away the story. Went like this. Captain Briggs had a carpenter build a special raised platform on the ship's quarter deck so that his wife and baby daughter could have a better view of the ocean. It was essentially an elevated walkway extending out over the bow. According to FOsdick, one day Captain Briggs got into a lighthearted argument with his mate about whether a man could swim well with with his clothes on. To settle the dispute, Briggs and the mate jumped overboard and started swimming around the ship. Mrs. Briggs, baby Sophia, Abel Fosdick and the rest of the crew all gathered on the special platform to watch the fun. Then one of the swimmers screamed. A shark had attacked him. He disappeared under the water. The rest of the crew rushed onto the platform to see see what was happening and it promptly collapsed under the weight, dumping everyone into the shark infested sea. According to Fosdick, he was the sole survivor. He'd managed to grab onto some floating wreckage and drifted for days before washing up on the coast of Africa. Traumatized and fearing he wouldn't be believed, he never told anyone until he confessed to Lindford on his deathbed. The story was a sensation. The Strand published it with dramatic full page illustrations showing the platform collapsing and people tumbling into the sea. Newspapers around the world picked it up. For a moment it seemed like the mystery had been solved. Except it was almost certainly a hoax. The problems were immediate and obvious. Sure, you could say the reason Abel Fosdick's name didn't appear in the ship's crew manifest is because he was a stowaway. But he got basic facts about the Mary Celeste completely wrong. Fosdick claimed the ship weighed 600 tons. It was actually less than 300. He said the crew was English. They were mostly German and American. He described Captain Briggs daughter as being seven years old. Sophia was two. He said the ship sailed from a different port on a different date to a different destination. The story also fails to explain the missing lifeboat, the missing navigation instruments or any of the other key details. There was no evidence that a special viewing platform was ever constructed on the Mary Celeste. And experienced sailors critiquing the story pointed out that no compromise competent captain would ever build such a structure and no sane crew would stand on it. Most historians believe the entire account was a literary hoax, likely written by Linford himself to win the Strand's competition. But it's a perfect example of how the Mary Celeste mystery creates a vacuum that people are desperate to fill. And how a good story told convincingly confused fool even the smartest people. In the end, none of the unconventional Theories have produced any hard evidence, but they've kept the mystery alive for over 150 years. And there's a reason for that. The ocean is still one of the most unexplored environments on Earth. Until we can definitively say what happened on that ship, every theory, no matter how wild, remains on the table. You know what I think is most interesting about the Mary Celeste? It's not what happened on the ship. It's what happens in us when we hear the story. There's something deeply unsettling about an unanswered question. Our brains are not wired for it. We want resolution. We want that neat ending. And when we don't get one, we create our own. That's why the Mary Celeste has inspired over a century of wild theories. It's not because the evidence points to sea monsters or aliens. It's because the evidence doesn't point to anything conclusive. And that blank space, that's where the fear and imagination live. The ocean is the closest thing we have on this planet to outer space. It's vast. It's dark. And we explored less of the deep ocean than we have the surface of Mars. When something goes wrong out there, you are alone. There's no 911. There's no rescue helicopter arriving in 20 minutes. It's just you, the water, and whatever decisions you make in the moment. And I think that's what scares us the most about the Mary Celeste. Not that something terrible happened, but that something, something ordinary might have. A faulty chronometer, a leaking barrel, a broken pump. A panicked decision made by a father trying to save his family. The idea that something so small could go so wrong. That is more terrifying than any ghost story. There's another possibility, too, and it's the one that keeps me up at night. One of the ocean really does hold secrets we haven't discovered yet. We found the giant squid. We're still mapping the deep sea floor. Every year, scientists discover species we never knew existed. The Mary Celeste sail through waters we still don't fully understand. Maybe the most honest answer is we don't know. And maybe that's okay. Because sometimes the mystery is the point. Okay, so what do I really think happened on the Mary Celeste? Personally, I think it was a combination of factors. And honestly, the most likely scenario might be the most heartbreaking one. I think that alcohol fumes played a role. Over weeks at sea, the porous red oak barrel slowly leaked and vapors accumulated in the hold. At some point, maybe during the rough weather near the Azores, something triggered a pressure wave Explosion. It was loud. It was terrifying. It blew the hatch covers off, and it absolutely would have looked like the ship was about to be engulfed in flames. Now add in the faulty chronometer. Briggs thought he was close to land, and his pump was disassembled so he couldn't clear the water in the hold. So when the explosion happened, he made the call. Get everyone in the lifeboat. We'll row to shore and figure it out. From there, they tied the lifeboat to the ship with a rope, planning to stay close, but the seas were rough. The rope snapped, and the Mary Celeste drifted away from them, carried by the wind and current. I think Briggs stood in that lifeboat, watching his ship disappear, and realized the terrible truth. Land wasn't where he thought it was. They were alone. They had no supplies. And the Atlantic Ocean is unforgiving. It's not the most exciting explanation. It's not sea monsters or pirates or aliens, but it's profoundly human. A series of small mistakes compounding into an irreversible catastrophe. And at the center of it, a man trying to do the right thing for the people he loved. Now, do I think there could be more to the story, something we haven't discovered? Honestly? Yes. The ocean keeps its secrets better than any vault ever could. And I don't think we've heard the last word on the Mary Celeste. So if the Mary Celeste were to set sail today, how would things be different? Well, first of all, we'd know exactly where the ship was at all times. Gps, satellite tracking, AIs transponders. Modern ships are basically impossible to lose. The second a vessel goes off course or stops responding, maritime authorities would be alerted. Captain Briggs wouldn't have to be relying on a faulty chronometer. He'd have pinpoint accuracy on his phone and communication. Forget waiting weeks to hear from a ship. Satellite phones, radio e, even Internet. At sea, if something went wrong, Captain Briggs could have called for help instantly. There wouldn't have been any mystery about what happened. We'd have distress calls, GPS coordinates, maybe even a live video. But here's where it gets interesting. The myth of the Mary Celeste would be completely different in the age of social media. Think about how fast conspiracy theories spread today. Within hours, you'd have tiktoks breaking down the crew's last movements, Reddit threads analyzing every scratch on the hull, and hot takes ranging from reasonable to absolutely unhinged. Think about the Oceangate. Tight submersible implosion. The Marisoles would be that times a thousand. In the Arthur Conan Doyle factor. The idea that fiction can become confused with fact would be amplified even more. We already live in an era where AI generated content and deep fakes make it harder than ever to tell what's real. Imagine someone releasing a fake survival footage from the Mary Celeste. It would go viral before anyone could debunk it. On the other hand, modern forensic technology would give us answers that 1872 investigators could only dream of. Chemical analysis, weather modeling, ocean current data, hull forensics. We'd probably have this thing solved in weeks, not centuries. Which makes you wonder is part of what makes a Mary Celeste so captivating? The fact that we can't solve it? That in our age of information, some mysteries still belong to the past? Maybe some questions are meant to stay unanswered. But then again, the ocean has a long memory and it might not be done talking yet. Thanks so much for joining me for this episode of hidden history. I'm Dr. Harini Bhatt. Join me next time as we explore another unbelievable story from the past. What do you think happened on the Mary Celeste? Alcohol, fumes? Bad navigation? A creature from the deep? Or something we haven't even considered? Let me know in the comments and I might talk about it in a future episode. And be sure to subscribe to my channel to keep up with every mystery. And be sure to rage. Review and follow Hidden History so we can keep building this community together. Thanks for listening and I'll see you next time.
- [54:06]
B
Are you really buying a car online on Autotrader right now?
- [54:09]
A
Really?
- [54:09]
B
At a playground?
- [54:10]
A
Yeah, really. Look at these listings from dealers.
- [54:13]
B
Wow, your search can really get that specific.
- [54:16]
A
Really?
- [54:16]
B
And you just put in your info and boom. Cars in your budget.
- [54:20]
A
Mom needs a second.
- [54:21]
B
Honey, you can really have it delivered.
- [54:23]
A
Really? Or I can pick it up at the dealership. One sec, sweetie. Mommy's buying a car. Mommy, look.
- [54:29]
B
I think your kid is walking up the slide.
- [54:31]
A
Kyle. Again? Really? Autotrader? Buy your car online?
- [54:35]
B
Really?
- [54:38]
A
This is the sound of captivity. This is the sound of rescue.
- [54:47]
C
And this is the sound of freedom.
- [54:50]
B
Give Armenia's captive bears a second chance
- [54:54]
C
by supporting International Animal Rescue. Call 508-826-1083 or search the Great Bear Rescue to learn.