PORCH PONDERINGS

Fact is Stranger than Fiction

Prompt: Tuesday, April 6

Ghost Ship: The Mary Celeste

On December 4, 1872, a British-American ship called “the Mary Celeste” was found empty and adrift in the Atlantic. It was found to be seaworthy and with its cargo fully intact, except for a lifeboat, which it appeared had been boarded in an orderly fashion. But why? We may never know because no one on board was ever heard from again.

In November 1872, the Mary Celeste set sail from New York bound for Genoa, Italy. She was manned by Captain Benjamin Briggs and seven crew members, including Briggs’ wife and their 2-year-old daughter. Supplies on board were ample enough for six months, and luxurious—including a sewing machine and an upright piano. Commentators generally agree that to precipitate the abandonment of a seaworthy ship, some extraordinary and alarming circumstance must have arisen. However, the last entry on the ship’s daily log reveals nothing unusual, and inside the ship, all appeared to be in order.

Theories over the years have included mutiny, pirate attack, and an assault by a giant octopus or sea monster. In recent years, scientists have posed the theory that fumes from alcohol on board caused an explosion that, as a result of a scientific anomaly, did not leave behind signs of burning—but was terrifying enough that Briggs ordered everyone into the lifeboat.

Give us your opinion of what happened. Maybe you were even there?!


“Get on the boat, woman. We have no time for that.”
Hope Briggs stopped at the edge. She had in one arm Peace and in the other her sewing basket.

“But I have to gather the music, the sewing, all the clothes. We must have those things.”

Captain Briggs grabbed his wife. He threw her into the life boat. Their daughter, Peace, flew into the air. She was caught by a sailor on deck. The sewing basket fell into the sea, soon dropped out of sight.

“We have not the time! All into the boat!”

Soon the lifeboat was loaded and floated to the wide open ocean. The Mary Celeste grew smaller and smaller as they drifted away.

“We are doomed, doomed I say!” Hope Briggs grabbed her husband’s arm. “What of my sewing machine? My piano?”

“Good grief woman, we have bigger worries. Sit down. Be quiet.”

The men rowed, the Captain surveyed the ocean.

Suddenly the lifeboat bumped into a large round, gray object floating in the ocean.

“Stop here men. Get ready to be boarded.”

The gray object had a lid that opened. Several bodies stepped out. The occupants of the lifeboat suddenly found themselves floating through the air and down into the body of the floating gray object.

“Welcome aboard. We will take care of you now. Hope, we want to know how you make a second skin for your people. We also want to know how you make sounds from ivory, ebony and wire. You will teach us. Captain, you will teach us how to steer by your stars. We will teach Peace our knowledge. The other workers will be our slaves. Make yourselves comfortable. This may be a bumpy ride.” The bodies transformed themselves into the aliens known as Argons. The humans sat transfixed and uttered not a sound. The ship sped off through the air to the planet of the aliens.

This little known story of the Mary Celeste was hidden for a few centuries. It just now was revealed when Peace Briggs gave an interview on the Oprah network just last week. She wanted to talk about the aliens, but all Oprah was interested in was the fact she didn’t look a day over 144.

W/C 373