Did you know that giant coconut crabs might have been involved in the disappearance of Amelia Earhart? Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of MentalFloss.com, and today we’re diving into the stories of explorers who vanished without a trace. From daring mountain climbers to adventurers searching for mythical cities, history is full of mysteries. Let’s explore some of these intriguing tales.
Amelia Earhart, the famous aviator, and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937, during Earhart’s attempt to fly around the world. Although their plane was never found, one theory suggests they landed on Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean. Human bones and U.S.-made artifacts were discovered there, hinting at their fate. The island is home to coconut crabs, which can grow up to three feet wide and are known to eat almost anything, including large animals. This theory is just one of many surrounding Earhart’s mysterious disappearance.
In 1500, Portuguese explorer Gaspar Cortereal set out for Greenland, believing it was part of East Asia. He returned in 1501 with his brother Miguel, but Gaspar’s ship never made it back to Portugal. Miguel launched a rescue mission, but he too vanished. Their brother Vasco wanted to search for them, but the king denied his request. The Cortereal brothers’ story is a reminder of the dangers faced by early explorers.
In 1291, the Genoese brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi attempted to find a sea route to Asia. After passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, they were never seen again. Although their journey failed, it provided valuable lessons for future explorers like Christopher Columbus, who learned from their mistakes to successfully navigate the seas.
Japanese adventurer Naomi Uemura disappeared in 1984 while climbing Alaska’s Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley. Uemura was an experienced explorer, having climbed Mount Everest and traveled to the North Pole solo. He reached Denali’s summit on his 43rd birthday but vanished on the descent. His belongings were found, but his body was never recovered. Uemura is celebrated as a hero in Japan, with a museum dedicated to his achievements in Tokyo.
Percy Fawcett was searching for a legendary city he called “Z” in the Amazon rainforest. In 1925, he embarked on his final expedition with his son Jack and Jack’s friend Raleigh Rimmel. Despite Fawcett’s request that no one search for them if they didn’t return, many expeditions tried and failed to find them, resulting in numerous deaths. Some believe Fawcett assimilated into a local tribe, but without evidence, his fate and the existence of “Z” remain mysteries.
In the 2nd century BCE, Greek navigator Eudoxus of Cyzicus attempted to sail around Africa from Europe. After successful trips to India, he tried to circumnavigate Africa but vanished. His journey was centuries ahead of its time, as it wasn’t until 1488 CE that Bartolomeu Dias successfully rounded Africa’s southern tip.
In 1845, John Franklin led an expedition to find the Northwest Passage with over a hundred crew members. His ships, the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, became trapped in Arctic ice, and the crew eventually abandoned them. For years, their fate was unknown until the wrecks were discovered in 2014 and 2016. While some crew members’ remains have been identified, most, including Franklin’s, remain missing.
Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was known for his successful expeditions, including the first to reach the South Pole. In 1928, he set out on a rescue mission in the Arctic but never returned. Parts of his aircraft were found, suggesting it crashed, but the fate of Amundsen and his crew remains a mystery.
These explorers’ stories remind us of the risks and mysteries of exploration. Their adventures continue to inspire curiosity and wonder about the unknown corners of our world.
Research and create a timeline that highlights the key events and dates of each explorer’s disappearance mentioned in the article. Use online resources to gather additional information about each explorer. Present your timeline using a digital tool or on a poster board, and be ready to share your findings with the class.
Choose one of the explorers from the article and create a news report about their disappearance. Work in groups to write a script, assign roles (such as reporter, eyewitness, or historian), and perform your news report for the class. Focus on presenting the facts and theories surrounding the disappearance in an engaging way.
Imagine you are living in the time of one of the explorers. Design a “Missing Explorer” poster that includes details about the explorer, their last known location, and any theories about their disappearance. Use creative design elements to make your poster informative and eye-catching.
Participate in a class debate about the different theories surrounding the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Divide into groups, with each group representing a different theory. Research your theory thoroughly and present arguments to support it, while also challenging the opposing theories presented by other groups.
Choose one of the explorers and write a fictional short story about their final days. Use historical facts as a foundation, but feel free to add creative elements to imagine what might have happened. Share your story with the class and discuss how it aligns with or diverges from historical theories.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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Did you know that according to OneTheory, giant coconut crabs may have played a role in Amelia Earhart’s disappearance? Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of MentalFloss.com, and this is the List Show. Earhart is the most famous lost aviator of the 20th century, but history is actually full of intrepid individuals who went out on a journey never to return. Today, we’re talking about explorers who vanished without a trace, from record-breaking mountain climbers to a British adventurer who may have died searching for a city that doesn’t exist. Let’s get started.
Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan seemingly vanished on July 2, 1937, during Earhart’s second attempt to become the first pilot to circumnavigate the globe around the equatorial region. The fact that neither their bodies nor their aircraft were ever recovered is common knowledge, but one theory regarding their fate isn’t as well known. According to the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, it’s possible the duo got lost and landed on Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean. This would explain the human bones and U.S.-made artifacts found on the remote island in the years following their disappearance. It would also explain why complete remains of the pair were never recovered. Nikumaroro is home to coconut crabs, which can grow up to three feet across and are known to eat pretty much anything, including the remains of large mammals. In one study involving a pig carcass, coconut crabs dispersed the animal’s bones as far as 60 feet from their original location. The coconut crab hypothesis is just one of the many theories surrounding what happened to the trailblazing aviator, but it may be one of the creepiest.
In 1500, Gaspar Cortereal became one of Portugal’s most accomplished explorers. That year, he led an expedition to Greenland. He thought the icy shores belonged to East Asia at the time, but it was an impressive journey nonetheless. He made a return trip to the region in 1501, bringing along his older brother Miguel. After going to Greenland and possibly Newfoundland, two of the fleet’s three ships returned to Portugal, including the one captained by Miguel. However, Gaspar’s vessel never made it home. When Miguel learned that his brother was missing, he organized a rescue mission to find him. They searched the area where he was thought to have ended up, but there was no sign of the lost explorer. Once again, all but one of the fleet’s ships returned to Portugal, and this time it was Miguel’s ship that never made it back to port. A third brother, Vasco, was willing to launch a second search party to recover his lost siblings, but the King of Portugal denied his request. Based on the family’s track record, it was probably for the best. The Cortereals weren’t the only well-traveled siblings who disappeared on their journeys.
In 1291, the Genoese brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi became some of the first European explorers to set sail in search of passage to Asia. After entering the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar, their expedition was never seen again. Though technically a failure, the Vivaldi brothers’ doomed journey wasn’t for nothing; the mistakes they made helped lay the foundation for more successful voyages down the road. By the time Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, he knew which type of ship was best for the job and how to use wind patterns to his advantage—insights the Vivaldis weren’t lucky enough to have in the 13th century.
At this point, it can seem like we’ve mapped every corner of the Earth, but that hasn’t stopped modern explorers from going missing. In 1984, 43-year-old Japanese adventurer Naomi Uemura vanished while climbing Alaska’s Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley. Uemura was hardly an amateur explorer; a thrill-seeker from a young age, he was part of the first Japanese expedition to summit Mount Everest in 1970. He also completed the first solo expedition to the North Pole and the first solo raft trip down the Amazon River. He had successfully climbed to the top of Denali in 1970, making him the first person to do so unaccompanied. Fourteen years later, he attempted another first, climbing the mountain’s peak alone in winter. Despite the perils of climbing in Alaska that time of year, Uemura accomplished what he set out to do. He reached his destination on his 43rd birthday, February 12, and planted a Japanese flag at the summit. Unfortunately, the journey back proved more challenging than the ascent. On February 13, he radioed news of his achievement, but soon all contact with him was lost. Though his diary and other personal belongings were recovered from a snow cave on Denali, the explorer was never found. Today, he’s revered as a hero in his home country of Japan, and there’s a museum dedicated to his achievements in Tokyo.
Unlike the other explorers on this list, Percy Fawcett was searching for something that’s never been proven to exist. While mapping the Amazon rainforest in the early 20th century, he became convinced of the existence of an ancient jungle city he dubbed “Z.” In the 1920s, he organized several expeditions with the goal of locating the lost ruins. For his final trip in 1925, he brought along his son Jack and his son’s friend Raleigh Rimmel. He had confidence in the mission, but he also had the foresight to request that no one come looking for them if they didn’t return. His wishes weren’t honored. Unfortunately, in the decades since the team disappeared, over 13 expeditions have tried and failed to find them, leading to the deaths of an additional 100 or so people. As for what happened to Percy Fawcett, some theorists are optimistic. Legends tell of the explorer getting lost on purpose and forming an occult commune in the Amazon or perhaps assimilating into a local tribe. The most likely scenario was revealed by New Yorker journalist David Grann in 2005. He reported on a story passed down by Brazil’s Kalapalo tribe, who alleged that Fawcett had stayed with them decades ago and ignored their warnings not to wander into the territory of a more hostile group. But without physical evidence, both Fawcett’s fate and the existence of the lost city of Z remain a mystery.
Eudoxus of Cyzicus failed to circumnavigate Africa from Europe in the 2nd century BCE. He probably wasn’t the first to attempt the journey, but he may have been the first one to get lost trying. The Greek navigator had already made two successful trips to India via the Red Sea from Egypt. According to Strabo, on the second of these trips, Eudoxus was driven off course and landed somewhere on the east coast of Africa. There, he found the remnants of a shipwreck. Eudoxus concluded that it came from a ship that had rounded the southern tip of Africa and crashed, so he organized a fleet of three ships to leave from present-day Cadiz in Spain. He ran aground on his first attempt, but that wasn’t enough to convince him to call off the journey. Maybe it should have been. After embarking on that second journey, he was never seen again. It turns out Eudoxus was centuries ahead of his time; it wasn’t until 1488 CE that Bartolomeu Dias became the first European explorer confirmed to have rounded Africa’s southernmost point.
In 1845, explorer John Franklin left Britain with more than a hundred crew members in search of the Northwest Passage. His two ships, the HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus, vanished in the Canadian Arctic, making the Franklin Expedition one of the most infamous doomed voyages in history. Later investigations determined that the vessels had become stranded in sea ice. After Captain Franklin died suddenly in 1847, his surviving crew abandoned the ships and set off to get help on foot. For decades, it was thought that the ships and their crews had vanished without a trace. Then, in 2014, Inuit and Parks Canada archaeologists discovered the wreck of the Erebus in Victoria Strait. The Terror’s remains were found off King William Island two years later in Terror Bay. The discovery of the ships finally brought some closure to one of the greatest mysteries in Arctic exploration’s history. Bones of crew members have also been found, one of which has been identified using their descendants’ DNA, but the whereabouts of the remains of most of the expedition members, including John Franklin, are unknown.
Unfortunately, many of the explorers on this list are most famous for getting lost. That isn’t the case with Roald Amundsen. Where Franklin had tragically failed decades earlier, the Norwegian gained renown for leading the first expedition to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage by boat in 1905. In 1911, a team he led became the first group to reach the South Pole. For his final excursion in 1928, he boarded a Latham 47 flying boat with five additional men. He wouldn’t be exploring new frontiers this time around; instead, the party set out into the Arctic with hopes of rescuing the crew of the airship Italia, which had crashed on a return trip from the North Pole. Amundsen had a contentious relationship with Italia’s captain, Umberto Nobile, dating back to a dispute over who should get primary credit for their joint expedition to the North Pole a few years earlier. Despite their history, Amundsen decided to lead a rescue mission. Nobile was eventually rescued by a different party, but Amundsen and his crew never returned home. Parts of Amundsen’s aircraft were later discovered, indicating that it had crashed in the barren sea, but definitive evidence of the crew’s fate or the location of their remains has never been found.
We’ve got an upcoming episode all about ridiculous things done out of spite. If you know a good example, drop a comment below for a chance to be featured in that episode. Thanks for watching!
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This version removes any informal language, filler words, and maintains a more structured and professional tone.
Explorers – People who travel to unfamiliar places to discover new things or gather information. – Christopher Columbus is one of the most famous explorers who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492.
Disappeared – Ceased to be visible or to exist, often in a mysterious or unexplained way. – The ancient city of Pompeii disappeared under volcanic ash in 79 AD.
Island – A piece of land surrounded by water. – The Galápagos Islands are famous for their unique wildlife and were studied by Charles Darwin.
Artifacts – Objects made by humans, typically of historical or cultural interest. – Archaeologists discovered ancient artifacts in the ruins of the Mayan civilization.
Journey – The act of traveling from one place to another, often involving a long distance or significant experience. – Marco Polo’s journey to Asia opened up new trade routes between Europe and the East.
Expedition – A journey undertaken by a group of people with a particular purpose, especially that of exploration or research. – The Lewis and Clark expedition mapped the western territories of the United States in the early 1800s.
Mysteries – Things that are difficult or impossible to understand or explain. – The construction techniques of the pyramids in Egypt remain one of history’s greatest mysteries.
Navigation – The process or activity of accurately ascertaining one’s position and planning and following a route. – Ancient sailors used the stars for navigation during their voyages across the seas.
Adventure – An unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity. – The adventure of climbing Mount Everest has attracted many daring explorers over the years.
History – The study of past events, particularly in human affairs. – Studying history helps us understand the events that shaped our world today.
