If you enjoy an unsolved mystery, here’s one that will pique your interest. It dates all the way back to August 16, 1942.
WWII began on September 1, 1939. On December 7, 1941, the United States entered the fight against Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Four days later, we formally entered the European Theatre when Germany declared war on us.
Because of Pearl Harbor, the United States became extremely vigilant to insure that no other attacks happened on our homeland. Airships had been patrolling the east coast waters. Now, the patrols were scouring the west coast waters, looking for Japanese submarines coming to attack specifically in California.
The Navy commandeered a Goodyear blimp made for promotional purposes along with several other similar airships. They gave the Goodyear blimp a makeover, painting it a solid gray color, and the only distinctive markings on the side said, “U.S. Navy L-8.”
“At about 6 a.m. on August 16, 1942, the United States Navy blimp L-8 took off from a small airfield on Treasure Island, an artificial island built in San Francisco Bay for a recent world’s fair. On board were two men: Lieutenant Ernest DeWitt Cody and Ensign Charles Ellis Adams.
“Five hours later, the L-8 crashed on a suburban street in nearby Daly City, California, scraping rooftops and dislodging power lines along the way. Local fire crews left a blaze in the nearby hills to rush to the site, put out any flames and try to rescue the blimp’s crew. But they quickly discovered there was no one to save. Both pilots had somehow vanished from their ship…
“The first hour and a half of the flight seem to have been uneventful. Then, at 7:50 a.m., the men radioed that they had spotted an oil slick in the water—a possible indication of a submarine—and were investigating it. That was the last time the outside world heard from them.
“Worried when the L-8 failed to report back, the Navy sent out search planes to look for it. Fears eased when a nearby military base reported that the blimp had landed there and two pilots had gotten out—news that soon proved false…
“The mystery only deepened as investigators probed further. The waters off San Francisco that day were busy with fishing boats as well as Navy and Coast Guard ships, so the blimp’s movements were observed by numerous people. According to accounts the investigators pieced together, the blimp had dropped two smoke flares over the oil slick to mark its location, then rose to a higher altitude. A passing Pan Am Clipper seaplane observed it in flight. A search plane spotted it at 2,000 feet, twice as high as it normally flew, before it dropped back under the clouds.
“Meanwhile, on the ground, hundreds of bystanders followed the deflating and increasingly misshapen craft as it drifted through the skies.”1
What happened to Lt. Cody and Ensign Adams? Theories abound, ranging from capture to alien abduction. The most plausible suggestion has been that something had broken on the ship, and Adams went to fix it. Having trouble of some sort, Cody went to help and both men fell out of the craft either to their death or to be captured.
The mystery still has not been solved. The remains of the airship are on display in a museum and L-8 has been more commonly known as the Ghost Ship.
Imagine living in Bible days. Genesis 5:24 says, “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” How did people explain or deal with Enoch’s disappearance at the time it happened?
Then, there’s the event recorded in 2 Kings 2:11. “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” Imagine Elisha going back into town and telling people what happened. Do you suppose that he was believed?
And think about the immediate moments following the Rapture. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” How will the disappearance of millions be explained? Wouldn’t you love to hear those theories?
If people would only read the Scriptures, they would know where those raptured saints have gone. Christian, it could be today!
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
1https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-80-year-mystery-of-the-us-navys-ghost-blimp-180980531/
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