(52 X 26 minute episodes)
THE SERIES
Every year in the United States some 75,000 people simply ‘disappear’. 92% are found but what of those who are unaccounted for and have simply vanished into thin air?
When looked at on a global basis, the Twentieth Century saw hundreds of thousands of unexplained disappearances, from lone yachtsmen and vanishing cargo ships to celebrated criminal cases and lone aviators. This series ‘Vanishings’ investigates in detail some of the most famous names who disappeared in the 20th Century. From Michael Rockefeller and Lord Lucan to Donald Crowhurst, Amelia Earhart and Bill Lancaster whose biplane was last spotted flying over the Sahara Desert in 1933 attempting a speed record from England to South Africa.
Why was Amy Johnson’s plane one hundred miles off course? Was she killed under the propellers of the ship that tried to rescue her? What happened to over two hundred soldiers during the disastrous Dardanelles Campaign, when they marched into a mysterious cloud before disappearing without trace? What terrible fate overcame 5 US Navy planes when they disappeared in the Bermuda triangle in 1945?
In some cases there are eventually explanations which come to light either through tenacious investigation or pure accident. For example Bill Lancaster’s plane was found some thirty years later by a French army patrol.
However, most of the disappearances in this series defy logical explanation and although the viewer is presented with as much evidence as possible as to the last sightings of people, ships and aircraft, there are some disappearances which are so total that even to this day no wreckage has ever been found.
This new series ‘Vanishings’ also contains details of mysterious mass vanishings of comparatively large objects, including flights of aircraft for which no flotsam has ever been found. The series suggests in some cases a variety of plausible and logical explanations but there is however, despite living in a scientific age, a number of vanishings which even now eludes logical explanation.
FOR WORLDWIDE TV RIGHTS
PLEASE CONTACT:
MICHAEL KATZ
VICE PRESIDENT PROGRAMMING & PRODUCTION
THE INTERNATIONAL DEPT,
THE HISTORY CHANNEL
A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS
235 EAST 45TH STREET
NEW YORK
NY - 10017
USA
TEL: 001 212 210 9003
FAX: 001 212 907 9476
E-MAIL: michael.katz@aetn.com
FOR WORLDWIDE VIDEO AND ALL PUBLISHING RIGHTS
PLEASE CONTACT:
KATE WINN
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING HOME VIDEO
NEW VIDEO GROUP
A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS
216 EAST 45TH STREET
NEW YORK
NY - 10017
USA
TEL: 001 203 353 7204
FAX: 001 212 907 9418
E-MAIL: kate.winn@aetn.com
ALSO CERTAIN VIDEO CASSETTES AND DVDs AREA VAILABLE FROM:
PLEASE CONTACT (USA):
SUSAN MARGOLIN
NEW VIDEO GROUP INC
902 BROADWAY (9TH FLOOR)
NEW YORK
NY 10010
USA
TEL: (212) 206 8600 X 226
FAX: (212) 206 9001
E-MAIL: SMargolin@newvideo.com
THE STORIES
(each programme = 26 minutes)
Programme 1
Lost in the Bermuda Triangle
On December 5th 1945 five Grumman Avengers lined up in preparation for a routine training flight scheduled that afternoon from the US Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. At 2.00 pm the five pilots and nine crew members were ready. Flight 19 roared down the runway and lifted into the sky. Little did anyone know that they were heading for oblivion.
For video availability click here.
Programme 2
Foo Fighters
On June 24th 1953, an F-94C Starfire took off from the Otis US Air Force base near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to investigate a mysterious unidentified flying object. But, when the plane reached a height of just 1500 feet, all the control systems suddenly failed. There was nothing the pilot and his radar operator could do except bale out. The pilot managed to land safely but wondered why he had not heard the sound of his plane crashing. In fact there had been no explosion and no impact. The plane had simply vanished. So too had the radar operator.
For video availability click here.
Programme 3
Amelia Earhart: A Lady Vanishes
She was the darling of pre-war American aviation with her long-distance flights and record-breaking journeys. She married George Putnam, the famous publisher, and knew President Roosevelt who, it has been said, was extremely interested in the Japanese build-up in the Pacific during the 1930s. Ironically it was in this area, over Howland Island, that both she and her radio operator vanished without trace.
For video availability click here.
Programme 4
The Philadelphia Experiment
In 1943 experiments took place in the Philiadelphia Navy yards on a US destroyer the USS Eldridge. By passing high voltage electric current around the warship the scientists intended to make the vessel invisible, and thereby create an invaluable secret weapon for the Allies. Some accounts claim that the vessel did indeed vanish. However, the effects on its crew were utterly devastating.
For video availability click here.
Programme 5
Wrong Way Corrigan
The amazing story of the Irish American aviator who set out to fly across the US from East to West, but surprised everyone by flying by mistake in the opposite direction and miraculously making it across the Atlantic to land in Ireland!
For video availability click here.
Programme 6
The Arizona Balloon Buster
US Lieutenant Frank Luke was the all-American tough guy. A classic rebel, who excelled in the intricate and highly dangerous art of shooting down German observation balloons. On the 29th September, 1918 he took off in his Spad 13 bi-plane and headed for the front line just eleven miles away. His mission – to destroy three German observation balloons. Luke zoomed in for the attack, and just a few minutes later, the balloons exploded, one after the other in a blazing inferno. But Luke never made it home. He had vanished.
For video availability click here.
Programme 7
The Lost Submarine
In 1968 the US atomic submarine USS Scorpion, carrying a crew of 99, failed to return to its home port in Norfolk, Virginia from a top secret mission. No one can explain the reason why the 3000 ton submarine and her crew vanished on the edge of the Sargasso Sea.
For video availability click here.
Programme 8
The Missing Film Star
At 9.35am on June 1st, 1943, a civilian plane took off from Lisbon, heading for England. Among the 13 passengers was Leslie Howard. Three hours later the plane came under attack from enemy aircraft over the Bay of Biscay. The radio operator sent a panic stricken message to ground control in England. A widespread search soon began and continued the following day, but to no avail. The plane and everyone on board had vanished.
For video availability click here.
Programme 9
The Lost Airliner
On August 2nd 1947, a British airliner named Star Dust, took off from Buenos Aires, Argentina and headed for Santiago, Chile. On board were six passengers and five crew. At 5.41pm the Star Dust signalled Los Cerillos airport on the outskirts of Santiago, saying they were just four minutes from landing. But the plane never arrived. What caused the Star Dust and all its occupants to vanish?
For video availability click here.
Programme 10
The Missing Mountaineers
In the spring of 1924 the experienced mountaineer George Mallory climbed Everest with an inexperienced 22 year old undergraduate called Andrew Irvine. As they were nearing the peak, they completely vanished, never to be seen again – until in 1998, a remarkable discovery was made near the top of the mountain.
For video availability click here.
Programme 11
The Kursk Catastrophe
In August 2000 one of the biggest maritime disasters of modern times hit the Russian fleet in the Barents Sea. Confusion, secrecy and cold war antagonism all contributed to the disaster. This programme reveals the true story behind the sinking of the Kursk, the rescue and salvage attempts and the mystery surrounding the terrible loss of its 118 man crew.
For video availability click here.
Programme 12
The Missing Aristocrat
On the evening of November 7th, 1974, a distraught, bloodstained young woman staggered into a London bar, screaming that she’d just escaped from a murderer. When the police arrived at the woman’s house they found the battered body of 29 year old nanny, Sandra Rivett. A short time later a dishevelled man arrived at an old friend’s house in the country. He told his astonished friend he was in serious trouble but didn’t say why. The man was 39 year old Lord Lucan. To this day, despite one of the most extensive manhunts ever mounted, he has never been found.
For video availability click here.
Programme 13
The Mystery of the Missing Frogman
Early on the morning of April 19th, 1956, Commander Lionel Crabb, apparently acting on the orders of British intelligence made his way towards the harbour at Portsmouth, on England’s south coast. Once there he pulled on a frogman’s suit and slipped into the murky waters. Swimming just below the surface, he headed for a large Soviet warship, the 16,000 ton cruiser, Ordzhonikidze. But he never returned to report his findings. The commander had vanished.
For video availability click here.
Programme 14
Lost in the Amazon
On April 20th, 1925, British explorer, Colonel Percy Fawcett, his son, Jack and his friend, Raleigh Rimmel set off from the frontier town of Cuyaba, Brazil into the Amazon jungle. They were in search of an ancient city that Fawcett was convinced had lain hidden for hundreds of years. On May 29th Fawcett wrote to his wife, telling her that they hoped to make contact with native Indian tribesmen in about a week. He gave the letter to one of the guides. It was the last time anyone heard from him. Fawcett and his two young companions were never to be seen again.
For video availability click here.
Programme 15
Amy Johnson – The Lost Lady Flyer
On January 5th, 1941, an Airspeed Oxford airplane took off from a Royal Air Force base near Blackpool in northern England. At the controls was 37 year old Amy Johnson, a world-famous record breaking pilot. She was to deliver the plane to RAF Kidlington, 150 miles south. At around 3.30pm her plane was seen over the Thames Estuary, apparently in trouble. Johnson managed to parachute out just before the plane plummeted into the sea. A nearby ship raced to pick her up as she struggled in the icy water, but it lost sight of her. Amy Johnson was never seen again. She had vanished without a trace.
For video availability click here.
Programme 16
Jimmy Hoffa – The Missing Trade Unionist
At 2.00 pm on July 30th, 1975, Jimmy Hoffa – one time leader of the all powerful US Teamsters Union – arrived at the Red Fox, a suburban Detroit restaurant. He was there to meet two former colleagues to talk about how he could win back his old position as President of the Teamsters. Hoffa didn’t return from his meeting, and his family never saw him again. Some say he was murdered, dismembered and buried deep in a garbage dump. But to this day his body – or what remains of it – has never been found.
For video availability click here.
Programme 17
The Missing Solo Yachtsman
At 3pm on October 31st, 1968, 36 year old Donald Crowhurst set sail from Teignmouth in south-west England, on a round-the-world solo yacht race. Crowhurst’s limited experience as a weekend sailor scarcely qualified him for such a hazardous undertaking yet he was soon sending back reports of steady progress. At one point he claimed to be making 243 miles a day. He seemed certain to win the 30,000 mile race. Then, on July 10th, 1969, almost nine months after leaving England, Crowhurst’s boat was seen drifting alone, about 700 miles south-west of the Azores. But there was no sign of Donald Crowhurst… He had vanished without trace.
For video availability click here.
Programme 18
Donald Campbell – The Missing Record Breaker
At 8.47am on January 4th 1967, Donald Campbell fired the engine on his jet powered boat, Bluebird and began his attempt to break his own world water speed record of 276 miles an hour. Soon he was hurtling down the lake at what seemed to be well in excess of 300 miles an hour. But then, to the horror of the onlookers, Bluebird suddenly lifted 50 feet in the air, somersaulted, smashed back down, cartwheeled and disappeared in a torrent of spray. The following day divers located pieces of wreckage, 140 feet down. But the divers could find no sign of Donald Campbell.
For video availability click here.
Programme 19
Kingsford Smith – The Missing Aviator
Just before dawn on November 6th, 1935, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, took off from an airport near London in a Lockheed Altair monoplane, the Lady Southern Cross. Kingsford Smith, an Australian, was one of the best known pilots in the world. As the Lady Southern Cross sped down the coast of Burma, en route for Singapore, it overtook another plane, flying about 200 feet below. Kingsford Smith was due in Singapore on November 8th. But, as dawn broke, there was no sign of his plane. It had vanished without trace.
For video availability click here.
Programme 20
A Close Encounter
At nineteen minutes past six on the evening of October 21st, 1978, 20-year-old commercial pilot Frederick Valentich took off on a routine solo flight from Melbourne, Australia. At six minutes past seven, Valentich radioed ground control reporting a large craft 1000 feet above him. It appeared to be made of some kind of shiny metallic material and was showing bright green lights. There followed a six minute conversation between the young pilot and air traffic control and then…. complete silence. To this day, his disappearance over the Bass Strait, while making an apparently routine flight, remains an intriguing mystery…
For video availability click here.
Programme 21
Lost in the Arctic
At dawn on May 23rd, 1928, the airship Italia set off from Kings Bay, West Spitsbergen, towards the North Pole. Aboard was a crew of 16 men, led by Umberto Nobile, an Italian pioneer of aerial exploration of the Arctic. When the Italia reached the North Pole it circled for two hours before heading back. But bad weather closed in and, conditions grew steadily worse until finally, the controls iced up. The Italia went into a dive and smashed into the ground. The impact tore the main gondola and rear engine compartment from the hull, leaving ten men sprawled on the ice. The sudden loss of weight caused the Italia to rise into the air back towards the Pole. There were six men still aboard…Neither they nor the Italia were ever seen again.
For video availability click here.
Programme 22
Agatha Christie – The Missing Lady Author
On December 4th, 1926 a car was found abandoned, at Newlands Corner, a well-known scenic spot, a few miles from Guildford, Surrey. The car belonged to the famous crime writer, Agatha Christie. Inside, the police found Christie’s driver’s license, a crumpled newspaper, her fur coat and a few items of clothing spilling out of an open suitcase. Fearing the worst, police scoured the surrounding countryside. But there was no trace of Agatha Christie. She had vanished.
For video availability click here.
Programme 23
Lost at Sea
Shortly after 6.00am on January 22nd 1974, a deep sea trawler named the Gaul, slipped out of Hull harbor in north-east England. Five days later she reached the fishing grounds in the Barents Sea off Norway’s North Cape. But soon bad weather closed in and the Gaul was battered by gale-force winds and high seas. The skipper radioed Hull saying he was having trouble with the trawler’s steering. The next day he sent two more radio messages. It was the last time anyone was to hear from the Gaul and the 36 men aboard. Was she a spy ship at the height of the Cold War?
For video availability click here.
Programme 24
The Missing Duke
Shortly after 1.00pm on August 25, 1942, a Sunderland flying boat took off from the Cromarty Firth in north-east Scotland and headed for Iceland. There were 15 men on board, including the Duke of Kent, the 39 year old younger brother of King George VI of England. About half-an-hour into flight the Sunderland ran into dense cloud. Thereafter it disappeared from radar screens. Had it been on a highly secret mission?
For video availability click here.
Programme 25
The Disappearance of Michael Rockefeller
Early in the morning of November 18th, 1961, 23 year old Michael Rockefeller, a member of one of America’s most famous families, set out from a missionary outpost to visit some remote villages deep in the interior of Papua New Guinea. His native catamaran was swamped in rough seas, and Michael decided to swim for help. He was never seen again. What really happened to the wealthy son of the Rockefeller dynasty?
For video availability click here.
Programme 26
Lost in the Andes
On 13th October 1972 a Fairchild FH-227 twin turbo-prop airplane carrying an Argentinian rugby team crashed in the Andes Mountains. The outside world thought that all 45 people on board had disappeared. But 72 days later 16 survivors were rescued. How had the survivors managed to stay alive for so long?
For video availability click here.
Programme 27
Disaster at Sea
On July 11th, 1980, the giant British bulk carrier, Derbyshire set sail from Sept-Illes in south-east Canada, for an 11,000 mile voyage to Kawasaki, Japan. Just a few days before the ship was due to arrive, the Derbyshire was unexpectedly caught in the full fury of a tropical storm. The skipper sent a position report to the ship’s owners in Liverpool. He also contacted another ship, the Alrai, about 80 miles astern. It was the last time anyone heard from the Derbyshire. The fate of the huge ship and the 44 people aboard would remain a mystery for the next twenty years.
For video availability click here.
Programme 28
John Stonehouse – The Missing Politician
On the afternoon of November 20th, 1974, John Stonehouse, a former member of the British Government, went down to the water’s edge in Miami Beach, Florida. The beach was deserted and no-one saw Stonehouse as he walked into the ocean and started swimming away from the shore. Days later he was reported missing, presumed drowned. In fact, Stonehouse had fled to Australia. This programme reveals Stonehouse’s elaborate plans to deceive the authorities, and how if it had not been for suspicious bank officials in Melbourne he would have got away with faking his own death.
For video availability click here.
Programme 29
Lost in the Desert
Early in the afternoon of April 4th, 1943, a flight of American B-24 Liberator bombers took off from a desert airbase at Soluch, Libya and headed for Italy. The target was Naples harbour. But when they arrived it was dark and they couldn’t see properly. Because they had orders not to risk hitting civilian buildings, they headed back to base. But one of the Liberators, the Lady Be Good never arrived. Together with the nine man crew, the plane had vanished creating a mystery which took seventeen years to solve.
For video availability click here.
Programme 30
The Disappearing Lady Flyers
This programme follows the attempts of three women to fly across the Atlantic: Princess Loewenstein Wertheim, Frances Grayson and Elsie Mackay. All three set off from the United Kingdom with high hopes, but none of them ever made it. They all vanished somewhere over the Ocean. What happened to the brave lady flyers who were never seen again?
For video availability click here.
Programme 31
Harold Holt – The Missing Prime Minister
Shortly after midday on December 17th, 1967, Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, made his way down to the beach for a swim. The surf was particularly turbulent that day, but Holt was undeterred. Watched by a small group of friends, Holt swam further and further from the shore until he was lost to view. Everyone waited for him to return but, after half-an-hour, there was still no sign of him. 59 year old Harold Holt had vanished from the ocean. The fact that his body has never been found and revelations about his past have continued to feed the ever deepening mystery.
For video availability click here.
Programme 32
Alfred Loewenstein – The Missing Millionaire
Shortly after 6pm on July 4th, 1928 a Fokker FVIIa took off from Croydon Airport, London. It headed across the Channel to Brussels, Belgium. On board was Belgian financier Alfred Loewenstein – one of the richest men in the world. But by the time the plane landed the financial wizard had mysteriously disappeared from the cabin, somewhere over the English Channel at an altitude of 4,000 feet. Had he opened the wrong door?
For video availability click here.
Programme 33
The Mystery of Katyn Forest
On December 3rd 1941, General Wladyslaw Sikorski, head of the Polish Government in exile and commander- in-chief of the Free Polish armed forces, arrived in Moscow to meet with Josef Stalin. Sirkorski wanted to know what had happened to the thousands of Polish army officers that had been captured by the Russians in 1939. Why was there no record of their capture or death? Stalin was dismissive, telling him that they had escaped. The disappearance remained a mystery until 1943 when a 90 foot long pit was discovered in the Katyn Forest. In it were the bodies of more than 4,000 decomposing bodies. The Russians blamed the Germans but what was the true story?
For video availability click here.
Programme 34
The Mystery of the Missing Judge
Early on the morning of June 15th, 1955, distinguished State judge, 58 year old Eugene Chillingworth and his wife went missing from their home in Manalapan beach resort on the Florida coast. Their bodies were never found. Judge Chillingworth had one enemy – Judge Peel. Chillingworth had been keeping a close watch over Peel’s business interests, which included running a profitable, but illegal gambling racket. Was he involved in the disappearance?
For video availability click here.
Programme 35
Lost in Alaska
On January 4th, 1910, the SS Farallon, a wooden steamship, left the tiny port of Seldovia in Alaska and headed south along the coast bound for the remote island outpost of Unalaska. On board were 29 officers and crew and nine passengers. At 9.30am the following day the Farrallon shuddered to a grinding halt. The ship was stuck on a reef of jagged rock…. In the middle of the Alaskan winter, the crew and passengers had no choice but to abandon ship and make for the rocky shoreline, deserted for hundreds of miles in every direction. Stranded without radio contact and not expected in port for another month, there was no chance of rescue. As far as the outside world were concerned the men had completely vanished. They would have to take their chance in one of the most remote and inhospitable regions on earth.
For video availability click here.
Programme 36
Adrift on the Ocean
This programme tells two extraordinary stories of courage and fortitude whilst lost at sea. Steve Callahan spent 76 days stranded alone in an inflatable life raft, drifting across 1800 miles of ocean after his boat sank. Maurice and Maralyn Bailey struggled to stay alive after their boat the Auralyn sank when it was struck by a whale in the Pacific Ocean. The Baileys were adrift for an amazing 119 days before being spotted. When Callahan and the Baileys vanished no-one thought they’d ever be seen alive again. However, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.
For video availability click here.
Programme 37
Loss of the Andrea Gail
On October 27th, 1991, Hurricane Grace battered the entire Eastern Atlantic Seaboard. 95mph winds drove massive swells onto shore. Four hundred miles offshore, a sword-fishing boat named the Andrea Gail was heading home with a hold full of fish. Sometime in the middle of the night on October 28th, the Andrea Gail found herself at the centre of that so-called ‘Perfect Storm’. She was never seen again.
For video availability click here.
Programme 38
The Missing Polar Explorer
On June 18th, 1928, Roald Amundsen, the world-famous Polar explorer, took off from Tromso, Norway, in a flying boat and headed towards the Arctic Circle. He was joining in the search for the crew of the airship, Italia, which had disappeared over the North Pole almost a month earlier. The 600 mile flight should have taken no more than seven hours. But, by the next day, with no word from Amundsen, everyone feared the worst. The 55 year old explorer had vanished without a trace.
For video availability click here.
Programme 39
The Missing Super Spy
In the autumn of 1925 Sidney Reilly, probably the most successful spy ever employed by the British Secret Service, travelled to Moscow to meet with a shadowy group of counter-revolutionaries. The group, known as the Trust, was dedicated to the removal of Josef Stalin, Russia’s ruthless leader. Reilly wrote a letter to his wife, Pepita, who was in Paris at the time. He assured her he was in no danger and that he would be back safely within a few days, his mission accomplished. But in a sinister turn of events he vanished and she never heard from him again. What happened to Britain’s superspy?
For video availability click here.
Programme 40
The Missing Lighthouse Keepers
The Scottish Highlands have always provided a rich source of myths and legends but few are quite as bizarre as the mysterious disappearance in 1900 of three lighthouse keepers from the same West Coast lighthouse on the Flannan Isles. When a replacement keeper arrived on the island to replace one of the three men stationed on the Flannan lighthouse he realised at once that something was wrong…. A chair was overturned, the remains of a half-eaten meal lay on the table and the ashes in the fire grate were cold and none of the beds looked as if they’d been slept in.
For video availability click here.
Programme 41
The Disappearance of the King's Company
In the Summer of 1915, a year into the war against Germany, the men of the 5th Territorial Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment were sent to Gallipoli. They were to join the bloody campaign raging on a small peninsula in Northern Turkey. Among them was a group of volunteer soldiers known as the Sandringhams, so called because they had all been workers on the Sandringham Estate, King George V’s home in Norfolk. At 4.15pm on August 12th 1915, the order came to attack. But, when the smoke and confusion of the battlefield cleared, the Regiment were nowhere to be seen. It was not until sixty years after their deaths, that the fate of the 250 soldiers of the 5th Norfolks, who seemed to have vanished in the smoke of the Gallipoli battlefield, was finally revealed.
For video availability click here.
Programme 42
The Lost Hero
At around 5.30 on the afternoon of May 7th, 1917, Albert Ball, Britain’s best-known World War One flying ace took to the air leading a flight of eleven planes, Ball was determined to sweep the German opposition from the sky. Soon the air was thick with gunfire as the pilots engaged in a duel to the death. One by one planes were shot out of the sky. But Ball was not ready to quit. He tore after a lone enemy firing at every opportunity. Ball and the German disappeared into a thick cloud, still firing their machine guns. It was the last anyone saw of him alive.
For video availability click here.
Programme 43
The Missing Royal Family
Towards the end of World War One, Russia was in the grip of Revolution. Its Royal family, the Romanovs, were a potent symbol of old Russia. In the summer of 1918, the family was imprisoned in a house near Ekaterinburg. The counter revolutionaries, known as the White Russians, planned to rescue the Romanovs from their Bolshevik jailers. But when they arrived the house was empty. The Royal family had disappeared. In fact the family had been murdered in cold blood by the Bolsheviks. This programme shows how the royal family were hidden and follows the search to find their missing bodies.
For video availability click here.
Programme 44
The Missing Racehorse
Shortly after 8.30pm on February 8th, 1983, a gang of masked men burst into an Irish stud farm. They had come to steal Shergar, one of the most celebrated racehorses in the world. A nationwide police hunt for Shergar and his kidnappers was soon under way. But it was to no avail. The champion racehorse had vanished.
For video availability click here.
Programme 45
The Lost Desert Flyer
At around 6.30pm on April 12th, 1933, a small plane, took off from Reggan, a remote outpost in the Sahara Desert. Bill Lancaster was en route from England to South Africa. His next stop was Gao, 800 miles ahead in French West Africa. He was due to arrive by 2.30am the next day. But the time came and went with no sign of him. At six o’clock that evening, a car left Reggan to see if Lancaster had come down somewhere along the Trans-Saharan motor route. A short time later an air search also got under way. But, there was no sign of him. It would take a further 29 years before the tragic outcome of Lancaster’s last flight was revealed.
For video availability click here.
Programme 46
The Missing Hi-Jacker
On November the 24th, 1971, a Northwest Airlines Boeing 727 airliner headed for Reno, Nevada was hi-jacked by a man claiming to have a bomb on board. At a height of 10,000 feet, the hi-jacker parachuted out into the chilly night air. Tied securely around his waist was a knapsack containing the money he had demanded in return for not blowing up the plane. With $200,000 in $20 bills strapped to him, he vanished. The legend of D.B Cooper was born – the only hijacker in history to get away with the money – or did he?
For video availability click here.
Programme 47
The Mystery of the Missing Comet
Just after 10.30 on the morning of January 10th, 1954, a British Comet, call sign Yoke Peter, took off from Rome, Italy. Weather conditions were perfect and the twenty- nine passengers and six crew looked forward to touching down in London less than two hours later. Twenty minutes after take-off the captain radioed another airliner flying thousands of feet below. But, after just a few words, the message was abruptly cut-off. Complete silence followed. The Comet and the 35 people aboard had vanished. The Yoke Peter was not the only Comet to disappear in mysterious circumstances – What was the explanation for the vanishing planes?
For video availability click here.
Programme 48
Lost on the Ice
British explorer Ernest Shackleton planned to be the first man to lead an expedition by sled across the whole of the Antarctic continent. On December 5th, 1914, he set sail from the remote island of South Georgia in his ship the Endurance, and headed down through the Atlantic. But, just two days after leaving port, the Endurance ran into heavy pack ice and struggled to make headway. The further south they sailed, the thicker the ice became and, on January 27th, 1915, the Endurance stuck. For two years the outside world had no communication from Shackleton and his men. It seemed they had vanished without a trace. Using remarkable film and photographs from the expedition, this programme records Shackleton’s disappearance from civilization.
For video availability click here.
Programme 49
The Missing Airship Crew
On the morning of August 16th, 1942, the inhabitants of a small town near San Francisco, were astonished to see a US Navy airship drifting aimlessly overhead. Minutes later it crashed to the ground in a crumpled heap and was immediately surrounded by curious onlookers. But there was no sign of the two-man crew; sometime after setting out on what should have been a routine patrol over the Pacific coast, they had vanished without a trace – never to be seen again.
For video availability click here.
Programme 50
The Mystery of the Missing Thai Silk King
Just after 3.00pm on Easter Sunday, 1967, Jim Thompson, the 61 year old Thai silk magnate, went for a walk in the Cameron Highlands of Central Malaysia. At 7.30 pm when he still had not returned, the police were called and the following morning a full-scale search was mounted for the missing businessman. They didn’t find a single clue. Thompson – one of the most successful and best-known entrepreneurs in South-East Asia had vanished. Now over 30 years later, Thompson has still not been found. Was he kidnapped by tribesmen…mauled by wild animals…or fallen foul of the Triad gangs? The mystery remains to this day.
For video availability click here.
Programme 51
The Missing Train Robber
On April 15th, 1964, Ronald Biggs was sentenced to 30 years prison for his part in stealing more than £2,500,000 from a British mail train. He was sent to Wandsworth prison in London. But, 15 months later – on July 8th, 1965 – he made a daring escape and went into hiding. His extraordinary story involved plastic surgery, kidnap and his eventual return to prison in Britain where he remains to this day. Following his escape in 1965, he had seemingly disappeared. And, even when found, he remarkably eluded the authorities with a series of lucky breaks. But now, it appears his luck has finally run out.
For video availability click here.
Programme 52
Missing Over the Sahara
On May 25th 1952 a British Hermes airliner named Horus was en route from London to Kano, Nigeria. On board were 10 passengers, and a crew of eight. The second leg of their journey was 1400 miles across the Sahara desert, and was expected to take five and a half hours. But an hour before they were due to land, the crew realized they had made a major navigational error. They had drifted 1300 miles off course, and were now dangerously low on fuel. The Horus crash landed in the vast empty wastes of the Sahara.
This programme tells how the plane and its passengers vanished and of their struggle to escape from complete isolation in the middle of the desert, beyond the reach of conventional rescue teams.
For video availability click here.
FOR WORLDWIDE TV RIGHTS
PLEASE CONTACT:
MICHAEL KATZ
VICE PRESIDENT PROGRAMMING & PRODUCTION
THE INTERNATIONAL DEPT,
THE HISTORY CHANNEL
A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS
235 EAST 45TH STREET
NEW YORK
NY - 10017
USA
TEL: 001 212 210 9003
FAX: 001 212 907 9476
E-MAIL: michael.katz@aetn.com
FOR WORLDWIDE VIDEO AND ALL PUBLISHING RIGHTS
PLEASE CONTACT:
KATE WINN
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING HOME VIDEO
NEW VIDEO GROUP
A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS
216 EAST 45TH STREET
NEW YORK
NY - 10017
USA
TEL: 001 203 353 7204
FAX: 001 212 907 9418
E-MAIL: kate.winn@aetn.com
ALSO CERTAIN VIDEO CASSETTES AND DVDs AREA VAILABLE FROM:
PLEASE CONTACT (USA):
SUSAN MARGOLIN
NEW VIDEO GROUP INC
902 BROADWAY (9TH FLOOR)
NEW YORK
NY 10010
USA
TEL: (212) 206 8600 X 226
FAX: (212) 206 9001
E-MAIL: SMargolin@newvideo.com