The Mystery of Mary Celeste

There are lots of unanswered mysteries in this world that boggles mind of those who have curious minds. Be it Mermaid or Aliens or Men in Black (yup, they are claimed to be real too). Yet these topics are always left loose ended in absence of enough proofs. And one of these mysteries are the mystery of Mary Celeste, The Ghost Ship. 

Mary Celeste was a ship sailed from America on November 7, 1872 with Captain Benjamin Briggs but never reached the destination. After 8 days, it was found as abandoned, sailing freely amidst the Atlantic Ocean. The subject was reported by another brigantine, Dei Gratia.  The crew members of the latter observed that the ship was steered aimlessly leading to the doubt of a mishap.  

Upon investigation, it was found that there was not even a single person present on the ship and there was one lifeboat which was missing. There was also an extension of rope which was found tied to the ships deck railing. The ship was loaded with liquor and there was one pump which was broken leading to the deposition of water at the lower deck. There could be a possibility of ship being robbed by Pirates and all the crew members were massacred, however, surprisingly there was no sign of struggle witnessed. Adding to this, some of the food on the tables were half eaten.  

Dei Gartia’s captain stated that the ship was a wet mess with 3.5 feet of water in the hold. The Sail of the ship was broken which might be the result of a storm giving the onboarded an indication to leave the ship.  

The list of missing items other than the lifeboat were the sextant, important papers (but not the captain’s logbook) and chronograph. These items might have been taken by whosoever took the lifeboat. But the compass was found destroyed which made no sense as the crew members would have needed the compass if the left intentionally until they were very skilled in identifying their routes perfectly. 

It seemed like whosoever was present on the ship, left in haste. But the question is why and where? Where could possibly all the crew vanish with one life boat which was also one of the missing items. 

Could this be result of mutiny? 

There was one theory where people thought that the sailors schemed against the Captain which led to his murder. However, the chances were very slim as the captain was a respectable figure) 

There were a lot of findings which created a lot of twists around the mystery. These included the ample amount of food stored in the stock scarcity of which has always been a root for mutiny. So, this theory was very weak for a conclusion.  

Additionally, even if this true, why would crew members abandon the ship and leave in a life boat. 

Alien Abduction? 

Now, when we talk about mysteries, how can we leave some alien theories behind. Now, one of the most insane (possibly true, who knows?) theories was that the aliens were the main culprit behind the disappearance of whole crew. Now, this could hold some magnitude as there were no signs of struggle, possibly due to some tractor beams by an alien ship picking all the crew members at once and taking them to make them their guinea pigs.[Symbol]  

Crew Gone Mad? 

Now, one of the theories stated that the alcohol on the ship was stored very poorly as Captain did not have experience of this type of Cargo. The dangerous fumes from the poorly loaded barrels of alcohol drove the crew members crazy. The reason behind this postulates was the finding of 9 empty barrels out of 1701. The exposure made the crew members go insane to jump off the ship leaving everything behind. But this theory is too crude to be true as the all-crew-members-insanity is too long a shot in the dark. 

Captain is the culprit? 

One of the theories were that to claim the insurance money, captain along with the crew members conspired to leave the ship so that they can come back for the money. However, this is also not too solid theory as the ship was needed to be lost and should not be in sight. Whereas, in this case the crew went missing and the cargo & the ship in place with no one present to claim the money.  

The Explosion? 

The most believable theory out of others in the list is the explosion theory. The empty Nine empty barrels of alcohol created more questions. Possibility was that the alcohol kept in red oak barrels began to leak resulting in inflammable fumes. Upon identifying the leakage of liquor, Briggs analysed that the spilled liquor could have been vaporized and could result in explosion. This left the crew frightened. Briggs became conscious and took the decision of taking the lifeboat and binding it to the rear of the ship till he was not sure that it was safe to board the ship. Unfortunately, the rope could not hold off and broke leaving the crew to the mercy of the ocean where they died tragically. Also, when the barrels were removed there was no trace of any fuming or vaporization. 

Like these, there were many assumptions made about the fate of the poor brigantine but none of them could ever prove what happened that day. As far as the imagination goes, there could be thousand things that might have gone wrong. The knowledge of humans about the vast ocean is granular. There are million secrets that ocean keep with themselves. And the crew of Mary Celeste might have witnessed one of those secrets which led to their unfortunate fate. 

--- Nagendra Singh

St. John Church: Lost in History

History is what makes us what we are today. A series of events in a perfect fashion laid out to design the present, so creatively and perfectly. After all, the gift of present helps us design the future we wish to witness. But some of these events are ignored and allowed to rust in dust.

One such amazing piece of History is St. John Baptist Church, located amidst the busy city of Mumbai, India. The church is situated in the premises of Santacruz Electronics Exchange Processing Zone (SEEPZ), Mumbai.

Built in 1579 A.D by The Portuguese Society of Jesus or Portuguese Jesuits, the structure is now no more than an abandoned ruin. 

The church was made available for worshiping on the feast of John the Baptist starting from the year it was constructed. The era of disintegration of the church started after nearly 250 years of its existence when the village was hit by an epidemic. The authority was left with no choice but to migrate the church to a nearby village including all the relics under the supervision of Fr. José Lourenço Pais, the Vicar of Kondivita under the British ruled India in 1840 AD.  

The deserted building soon became the victim of decay and vegetation amongst the ruins. It was no later than the unfortunate abandonment that the poor thing got associated with rumoured ghost stories. The reason was simple: it was uninhabited and next to a former graveyard. In the late 20^th century, the church was declared haunted. As per the stories, the locality was tormented by the spirit of a young bride. As per the sources, witnesses had encountered the spirit dressed in a white frock. The claim was given proofs by many who came in the vicinity of the church. 

To help the spirit rest in peace for good, there was an exorcism carried out in 1977. The exorcism was carried out on a dark moonless night which was recorded as one of the most thrilling and horrifying experience for its eyewitnesses. The former Public Relation Officer of SEEPZ was one of the many witnesses who were a part of this whole incident. All the experiences were recorded in his book: Ghosts, Occults & Exorcist: True and Real Experiences. Quoting his experience as below:

“As the priest read lines from the Bible, we first heard manic laughter, and then loud wailing. The sobbing of the unknown voice finally stopped, and suddenly there was a loud splashing sound from the pond next to the church. Everything then fell silent. The next day, all the fishes in the pond were found dead and floating on the surface’’ 

According to the priest, the spirit was nearly 300 years old which somehow inhabited the abandoned structure. But after the exorcism, it was never seen or heard. The church is now a part of a very busy industrial compound. But the remains still tell the 500-year-old stories: what it has witnessed and what it has been through. Due to the fragile structure, people are advised not to go near it. But the natives Christians still visit the church once every year as a part of tradition. Only that day, the church sees it being acknowledged.

The place still gives people the creep due to the ravaged structure and the stories associated.

It has been ages since this beautiful monument transformed into horrible ruins but it is still standing, surviving, holding all the secrets within, witnessing the harshness of time for many more years to come.

         ----- Nagendra Singh----