In Search of a Wreck

 

 

 

 

This is my entry for The Titanic in Pop Culture Blogathon hosted by Taking Up Room

 

Once again, dear friends, we delve back into that classic TV series that always asked questions but never really gave us straight answers. Of course, I am talking about one of my favorite shows from the late '70s and early '80s, In Search Of, which delved into mysteries ranging from cryptids like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster to pseudoscience like communicating with plants. But always, the most intriguing dealt with mysteries of history like "Who was Jack the Ripper?" (and. as usual, they never really made a concrete estimation as to the identity, just told us of the possible choices based on conjecture).

In Search Of...The Titanic  (Episode 13; Season 6: Original Air Date: Nov. 30, 1981)

In 1981, the series delved into some of the mysteries surrounding the wreck of the Titanic. Now, when this episode originally aired in 181, the exact location of the Titanic was still a mystery, so it is prudent to take that into consideration when watching this episode. After all, host Leonard Nimoy's first line after the credits roll is "The precise point in the northern Atlantic where the Titanic went down has never been satisfactorily located."

Here in 2025, we know that is no longer true. A lot of research had gone into the mystery of the Titanic's fate, and the circumstances surrounding various questions raised, and some of those questions have had more light shed on them since that episode.  It doesn't take away from the fascinating look that the series episode provides, however. I won't delve to much into the post-In Search Of episode history.  If you are of a mind, you can read this wikipedia article Wreck of the Titanic which gives you some updates. Instead, I will just give an overview of the episode.

There was a wealth of treasure on board, some of which was not even listed in the ship's manifest. It made it a treasure hunter's dream to find.  A man named Jack Grimm, as recently as the same year as the episode had made a search for it his priority, but even with the high tech gadgetry he could use, he still had no success.

The first class parts of the ship were some of the best, but only a few of the items that had been on board survived. Many of the men on board chose to stay on board and die like gentlemen while letting ladies and children take the lifeboats.  The captain, knowing of the existence of icebergs ahead had changed course to sail further south to avoid them, but we know he was not successful.

An interview with an expert explains what probably happened as the ship tried to avoid the iceberg.  He says that had the Titanic hit the iceberg head on, it would have taken some damage, but he beleved it would not have sunk. There is also an interview with a woman who had been a child when the event happened and tells about how her mother and father reacted to it.

 In the aftermath there was a huge investigation into the circumstances. People wondered why there were so few survivors.  And may searched for, as they often do, to find someone to blame.  The captain of the ship became the first casualty of this witch hunt. Also brought into question was the fact that there were fewer lifeboats than should have been on the ship. This is excused by the fact that the water tight compartments should have kept the Titanic from taking on as much damage as it did.

One of the more intriguing things discussed was that several warnings had been sent to the Titanic, via telegraph, but the telegraph operator may have been too preoccupied with sending messages from those on board and was unable to receive such warnings. In fact, as interviews with modern experts attest, all precautions had been taken, except for stopping the ship altogether, which was viewed as being a last ditch operation, due to the desire and need to get passengers to their destination.

Another attempt at scapegoating was cast on the captain of the Californian, the nearest vessel to the Titanic, for not coming to the rescue in time. It was suggested at the time that the captain COULD have seen the distress signals and failed to react, and in that the captain did receive censure.  But it is proposed in this episode that he may not have been as close to the Titanic as had been believed at the time, and may not have been close enough to see the signals.

 The Titanic has become an icon in the realm of hubris, the belief that nothing bad can come because it is impossible.  One of the most egregious results of the aftermath is the use of the Titanic as an example for some other events. I personally am offended by the fact that political cartoonists often use the Titanic as an illustration to get a political point across. Whether it be a Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Labour or what have you, it may be an easy way to get across a point, but it is profoundly disturbing to me to do so.  This despite the fact that I do not think I had any relatives on that ill-fated voyage.

Well, that's it for this time. No usual jokey sign off this time.  Just stay safe.

Quiggy 

Biblical Myths and Legends

 

This is my entry in the Once Upon A Time Blogathon hosted by Hometowns to Hollywood.

Some people are "literalists" when it comes to the Bible.  God created the universe and the Earth in seven days. It says seven days in the Bible, so it means seven days. It also says that Noah and his wife and his children built an ark and loaded up 2* of every animal on Earth and survived the holocaust of a world-wide flood that destroyed the rest of the living creatures on Earth. No question about it.  The Bible says it, so it must be true.

(*Note: The Bible actually says at one point that Noah was to take 7 of every clean animal and 2 of every unclean animal.) 

Of course, by taking this view, they have to ignore the fact that scientific evidence takes a different tach on the history of the Earth.  Instead of being 6000 some odd years old, science seems to indicate that it is millions of years old. If that is true, does it negate any spiritual significance of the essence of the Bible? My personal opinion is that you can take the first part of Genesis (everything leading up to the introduction of Abraham) as allegorical and still not diminish the spiritual message. 

For it's part, the In Search Of... episodes covered here do not dispute that those events did not happen. In fact, in two of them, the focus is that the producers of the series are actually trying to find the location of the places mentioned in the Biblical passages (The Garden of Eden and Sodom and Gomorrah). In the third episode the theme is trying to determine whether or not a worldwide flood actually happened.

As the prologue of the series states: This series presents information in part in theory and conjecture. The producers purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily the only ones to the mysteries we will examine.  In essence, it meant that they were approaching each subject with an open mind, not giving credence to or disparaging any viewpoint. 

In Search Of... was a regular part of my life back in the late '70's.  As a young man in my late teens and early twenties I was fascinated by such things as cryptozoological creatures (Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster) and the possibility of extraterrestrials either coming to Earth or already here. (Still am, to some extent, although 40 to 50 years of not having been presented with incontrovertible evidence to prove such stuff has made me a bit more skeptical.)

In case you are interested, each section below includes the episode covered. 

In Search Of...

The Garden of Eden- (original airdate June 1, 1978):

Two people who got along pretty well until there came someone else to break up the relationship.

The episode opens with host Leonard Nimoy giving the standard background of the Biblical story of God casting out Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, then gives a teaser about a remote island that has one solitary tree growing on it.  The tree is called "The Tree of Life" by the natives.  Is this the tree of the Biblical legend?

For those of you not familiar with the Biblical Garden of Eden and it's supposed location, not to worry.  Host Lenard Nimoy gives a brief description.  There was a river flowing out of the Garden that created other rivers and these were the Tigris, the Euphrathes, the Pishon and the Gihon. The problem is, although we know today where the Tigris and the Euphrates are, the locations of the other two are not known: at least by the names listed in the narrative.

But scholars think the Gihon may have been the ancient name for the Nile. There are some ancient beliefs concerning the Nile.  According to history, the Egyptians thought of the Nile as a god.  If the Nile is indeed the Gihon in the Biblical legend, then it remains to be found only the Pishon.

Thus, the producers introduce the island nation of Bahrain.  Bahrain has been an oasis in a desert in more ways than one.  It is a land where pearls re as plentiful as dates, and an underground river provides water where for most of the area it is a rarity.  Could that underground river be the lost river Pishon?

As usual with In Search Of ..., the producers make no concrete statements, only suggestions of the possibilities.  And, of course, no trace of the Biblical Garden of Eden is presented at the end.  But that is the essence of the popularity in my mind of the series; just to get you thinking about those possibilities.

Noah's Flood- (original airdate February 8, 1979):

Noah has many other "contemporaries, but he got all the press.

Did the flood of the Bible actually happen?  And if it did where is the remains of this fantastic ship that did the trick of keeping the Earth populated after that? The Bible claims that God destroyed the Earth in order to wipe out the offending citizenry and start all over with one family.

The episode delves into scientific evidence that a flood may have happened. As Nimoy states in the opening sequence "no legend has survived as much skepticism". as such, there are interviews with detractors who are certain that the Earth is much older than Biblical historians would have you believe.

But there also so-called "Christian scientists", like Dr. Henry Morris, who believe that evidence exists that a worldwide Flood happened relatively recently (recently as in with the last 10,000 years).  Also delved into is an 1870 discovery of some old Cuneiform tablets that mention a man named Utnashpitim, who some believe may be another name for Noah.

In defense of the theory that the flood actually happened, the producers present the fact that nearly every culture in the world has it's own world wide flood narrative. Of course, as in the case of one Native American legend, the hero that saved mankind to repopulate the Earth did it with a canoe.  (That must've been one BIG canoe...)

The producers also present the fact that some wood was found at the top of Mount Ararat (the supposed resting place of the Ark, according to the Biblical legend) that was carbon dated to about 10,000 years ago, and it is wood not normally found in that region.

The episode ends with Nimoy stating that if the Ark were found tomorrow, believers would say I told you so, but skeptics would still dismiss it.  It remains a rather touchy subject, obviously...

Sodom & Gomorrah- (original airdate May 10, 1979):

And after that, Lot never asked anyone to "please pass the salt"...

The Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah is typical of the sometimes vindictive God as He is portrayed in the Old Testament. As previously noted in the second episode of this blog entry, He destroyed the entire world and started from scratch because the people would not live according to His precepts.  In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the wrath of the Creator once again reared it's ugly side and rained down fire and brimstone on two cities that were so morally corrupt they make Las Vegas look like a Bible camp.

There was an archaeological dig that went on for 12 years in a region near the Dead Sea that produced no real results, that is until the 13th year of the dig when a piece of the puzzle was unearthed that confirmed that Sodom and Gomorrah did indeed exist at one time.  But it's location remained a mystery.

One of the things that came out in the episode was a theory that a monumental earthquake could have produced the results that ended up with the dual cities' destruction.  And one of the theories presented was that maybe they were located very near the Dead Sea, but the evidence is now underwater.

Another legend among the bedouin tribes is that there is a pillar of salt near the region that locals believe is actually Lot's wife. According to the Biblical legend, God told Lot and his family to leave, and to not look back, but Lot's wife disobeyed and was turned into a pillar of salt for her indiscretion.

As usual the episode ends with no clear cut possibility to the solution, but then, that's what made In Search Of... so appealing. No answers one way or another, just speculations, leaving the viewer to make their own conclusions.

So I hope you enjoyed this look into potential solutions to mysteries that remain shrouded by the depths of history.  And maybe, just maybe, I piqued your interest enough to check out other episodes.

Quiggy  

 

In Search Of The Perfect Show For The Warped Mind

When I was a kid/ young man in the late 70's I was into the concepts of anything that bordered on the bizarre.  I read with avid interest anything I could get my hands on on UFOs, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, Aliens Among Us etc.  (Think Weekly World News, except most of it was written in pseudo-scientific jargon and treated as if it were real.  Whether or not such things actually do or did exist notwithstanding.)


In 1977 a new TV series captured my interest.  It was hosted by Mr. Spock (really by Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played Spock on Star Trek) and delved into such subjects as UFOs, The Bermuda Triangle, The Bimini Wall, Atlantis and other such topics.  The series treated these subjects as potentially real, although, as the voice over said at the beginning of each episode:

"This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture.  The producer's p[urpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily the only ones, to the mysteries we will examine."

I religiously made a habit to be around a TV each week to watch the newest episode.  It ran from 1977-82, lasting 5 seasons, but it never really gained a following except among outcasts like myself and the Trekkies who never stopped believing that a Star Trek revival could be just around the next corner.  (At least that subset of the population eventually got their wish).

A month ago I happened to spot the entire original series on the shelf at the local used bookstore.  I treated myself to an early Christmas present (since I was the only one who would actually buy it for me...)  It was like nostalgia, immersing myself in a series that brought back memories of Saturday afternoon in front of the TV.  (That was when I vaguely remember watching episodes, although wikipedia gives some fairly inconsistent air dates.  It wasn't part of a weekly night time schedule, at least that I can remember.)

Some of the best episodes were the ones that dealt with real bona fide mysteries.  Such as a look at potential possibilities for the identity of Jack the Ripper.  Or mysterious disappearances such as what may have happened to Amelia Earhart. Or Glenn Miller.  Or Michael Rockefeller.   Or D. B. Cooper (and if you don't know who D. B. Cooper was, you are way too young...)

But also included, as hinted above, were investigations into sightings of various cryptids, not only Bigfoot and his brother, The Abominable Snowman, and the Loch Ness Monster, but also lesser known ones such as the Swamp Monster of rural Louisiana fame,  and the Ogopopo Monster, Canada's answer to Nessie.

Tomorrow, New Year's Day, I am planning on a marathon viewing of several episodes.  The marathon is entirely up to whim and I have no schedule as yet as to which episodes I will watch.  But I can guarantee you I won't be bored.  Maybe I'll even have time to review one or two before the weekend.


Quiggy

You Don't Know "Jack"

This is my entry in the Jack the Ripper Blogathon hosted by Redjack

One of my favorite TV shows back in the 70's was "In Search Of...", a series that delved into strange phenomena such as aliens visiting the Earth in ancient times, as well as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster.  It also studied mysteries of history like the origins of Stonehenge, the Bermuda Triangle and other elements crypto-history.  The series was initially hosted by Leonard Nimoy.

The show never really presented a concrete theory behind anything.  Instead it presented varied theories and let the viewer draw their own conclusions.    As the over the title voice over stated:

"This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture.  The producers' purpose is to suggest some possible explanations but not necessarily the only ones to the mysteries we will examine."

 Anything that had an element of mystery was fair game, thus in the 3rd season of the series, the show delved into the mystery of the identity of Jack the Ripper, a figure whose identity still remains a mystery even today. 

In Search Of...Jack the Ripper  (Episode 5; Season 3: Original Airdate: Oct. 12, 1978)

With the help of "Ripper-ologists" such as Wendy Sturgess, Donald Rumbelow and Stephen Knight, this episode delves into the mystery surrounding the murders of 5 women in Whitechapel area of East End London, ones that are agreed upon as having all been committed by the mysterious murderer known only as "Jack the Ripper"

Anybody with only a smattering of knowledge about Jack the Ripper knows at  least that Jack killed 5 women during his reign of terror (some sources claim a few other murders committed around the same time were also done by Jack, but the series episode only acknowledges the "canonical five" that are accepted by the majority of the public),  and then basically vanished from the theater of the world.  Although the press at the time claimed he was a threat to all of London, it appears he centered his activities only within a Mile and a half square of one area of London.

Beginning with a woman named Mary Ann Nichols,  Jack haunted the streets of London's East End.  The victims that followed, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes (both killed on the same night), and Mary Kelly were all brutally cut up with even parts of the bodies cut off.

Two major theories resulted from the clues.  One was that Jack was a doctor.  This is disputed by one of the interviewees because he feels that, based on the evidence that is in the records, that if Jack was a doctor, he must have been a very incompetent one, due to his technique.  (Author's note: I'm not sure that necessarily discredits the doctor theory.  Jack wasn't working in a hospital operating room, and didn't have the necessary tools on hand, unless, like the movie Time After Time, in which Jack was a doctor and roamed the streets with his doctor bag.)

The other theory is that he would have to have been a member of the elite in order to get away with wandering around with blood on his clothes.  Thus, one of the modern day theories about suspects is that it may have been the Duke of Clarence.  Prince Albert Victor was supposedly slowly going insane due from the effects of syphilis.  This is further enhanced by the fact that the royal family doctor was seen in the east end on nights when the murders were committed. (Although how the doctor himself didn't end up a suspect is a mystery to me.)

The theory that the Duke may have been Jack is further enhanced by the fact that, a hundred years later, Dr. Thomas Stowell published a paper that claimed he had evidence from the royal doctor's papers that implicated the Duke as Jack.  But Dr. Stowell later recanted, and (can you say conspiracy?) died shortly thereafter.

Conspiracy also crops up in that favorite bugaboo of conspiracy theorists, the Freemasons.  Apparently Jack left a message chalked on the wall near one of his victims.  The chief of the police force, a Freemason himself, personally went down to the murder site and erased the message.  Conspiracy theorists immediately lock on to that detail and deduce that Jack was probably a Freemason.

One other detail that comes up is the idea that a mysterious man, who had been seen in the vicinity wearing a deerstalker cap and cape, may have been the murderer.  Because the Duke was a moneyed man and loved hunting, this is used to further fortify the theory that Jack was the Duke. (Of course, it also could implicate Sherlock Holmes...)

I loved the In Search Of... series when I was a kid.  These shows, although not necessarily convincing in retrospect, fired my imagination as a teenager.  The fact that some of the shows covered phenomena that are now discredited, such as The Loch Ness Monster, notwithstanding.

Hope you enjoyed this little foray into history.  Drive home safely, folks.

Quiggy