WEBVTT - Short Stuff: The SS Ourang Medang

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, and welcome to short Stuff. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck and Josh gear up on short Stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, this is another fun tale of a ghost ship.

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<v Speaker 2>Ghost Ships are just a lot of fun to talk about,

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<v Speaker 2>and this is the tale of a ghost ship that

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<v Speaker 2>may or may not even exist.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a big one.

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<v Speaker 2>But one thing for sure. One thing is for sure

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<v Speaker 2>is that this story has influenced a lot of a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of pop culture.

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like, yeah, the very least it showed up

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<v Speaker 1>as a video game in twenty nineteen, a horror game.

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<v Speaker 1>I was watching a four hour YouTube video where this

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<v Speaker 1>YouTuber just basically narrated I guess added commentary here there

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<v Speaker 1>to this four hour gameplay.

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<v Speaker 2>Really, you didn't just watch the trailer of the game,

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<v Speaker 2>you watched actual I did four hours. I did.

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<v Speaker 1>I just I mean I didn't watch the whole four hours. No,

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<v Speaker 1>I skipped ahead and it was cute.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh okay, it was.

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<v Speaker 1>Kind of fun. But yeah, I know, I probably watched

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<v Speaker 1>five minutes total of the whole thing to skipping around.

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<v Speaker 1>But it looks very scary. It looks like a really

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<v Speaker 1>cool game. If I played games, I would definitely go

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<v Speaker 1>get it. It's called the Man of Madan. And the

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<v Speaker 1>reason it's called the Man of Medan is because that's

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<v Speaker 1>the English translation from the Indonesian for the name of

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<v Speaker 1>the ship, Wrang Madan. Whrang in Indonesian means man, which

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<v Speaker 1>is why Orangutans are called that they're forest men. I

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<v Speaker 1>think we've said before. So the name of the ship

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<v Speaker 1>in English was Man of Madan, which is a city

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<v Speaker 1>on Sumatra.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. And it looks like a very scary game

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<v Speaker 2>about people that get upon this scot ship and have

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<v Speaker 2>to contend with ghosts. So what happened with the SS

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<v Speaker 2>Orang Madan was that, Well, here's the story. It depends

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<v Speaker 2>on there's some there's some hinking. It goes on with

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<v Speaker 2>the dates, and we'll explain why in a minute. But

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<v Speaker 2>either nineteen forty seven or nineteen forty eight, or maybe

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<v Speaker 2>even nineteen forty is we'll see. There was a Dutch

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<v Speaker 2>freightership named the Orangmudan that's in an SOS picked up

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<v Speaker 2>by some nearby ships, including the Silver Star, an American

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<v Speaker 2>ship in the Straits of Malacca. Where all that said

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<v Speaker 2>was this we float all officers, including captain dead, lying

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<v Speaker 2>in chart room and on bridge, probably whole crew dead.

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<v Speaker 2>I die.

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<v Speaker 1>That is a creepy message. The only way it could

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<v Speaker 1>be creeper is if it said we all float down here.

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<v Speaker 2>Or I'm right behind you.

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<v Speaker 1>You're right. So this was like the SOS the distress

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<v Speaker 1>call in that silver Star, like you said, was close

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<v Speaker 1>enough that it arrived to help the Orang Madan. And

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<v Speaker 1>when it arrived it was you could basically just telp

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<v Speaker 1>looking at it that it was a ghost ship and chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>before we go into detail, I say that we take

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<v Speaker 1>a break. What do you think?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, an early break? Okay, okay, let's do it. Suspenseful

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<v Speaker 2>early break, all right. So, like you said, when they

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<v Speaker 2>floated up to this thing, they could tell that something

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<v Speaker 2>was awry. There was clearly no activity on the boat.

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<v Speaker 2>There was no steam coming from the engines, no smoke.

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<v Speaker 2>They said, does someone want to go check and see

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<v Speaker 2>what's going on in that thing? And everyone said, not me,

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<v Speaker 2>not it, not it. And there was one guy that

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<v Speaker 2>was eating some sea rations looked up and what so

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<v Speaker 2>he went aboard and what he found supposedly were people

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<v Speaker 2>on deck frozen in place, with their fearful looks on

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<v Speaker 2>their faces, their eyes wide open, their mouths stretched in

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<v Speaker 2>like they were screaming. Even a dog in mid snarl

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<v Speaker 2>all frozen. Immediately, I thought of another pop culture thing

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<v Speaker 2>this reference. Did you see the seasons this year's True

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<v Speaker 2>Detective Night Country? I think so? Right.

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<v Speaker 1>I tried to, and I couldn't make it past the

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<v Speaker 1>first episode.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh god, it was so good, dude, I know.

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<v Speaker 1>You said that, and I just I didn't see it.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, maybe you should watched more than the first episode.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, that's what I'm saying. I didn't see it coming.

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't see the contours of it being great. I

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<v Speaker 1>actually was like, oh, I can't watch this.

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<v Speaker 2>In your mind's eye. He didn't see how it could

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<v Speaker 2>have been good? Possibly after that?

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<v Speaker 1>No, and believe me, I know stuff. I can figure

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<v Speaker 1>stuff out.

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<v Speaker 2>Well it was did you see enough to see the

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<v Speaker 2>influence here for Night Country?

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<v Speaker 1>When they Yeah, I think it was an episode one

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<v Speaker 1>where they show up and yeah, it's it's a similar thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Sure, yeah, it was part of the thing, part orang Medan,

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<v Speaker 2>I think for sure.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well put oh you want me to take over it?

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<v Speaker 1>So I also saw I also saw that the people,

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<v Speaker 1>all of the corpses were described as having their arms

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<v Speaker 1>outstretched as if they were trying to fend off some

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<v Speaker 1>unseen something, But there was no trace of anything on

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<v Speaker 1>the ship that would have suggested what had happened to

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<v Speaker 1>this crew and the dog. And they hooked up I

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<v Speaker 1>guess the toe line from the Silver Star to the

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<v Speaker 1>Irang Madan and they started to tow it. But before

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<v Speaker 1>it could get anywhere, the thing caught fire and actually

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<v Speaker 1>blew up, and so any traits of the Orangmudan and

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<v Speaker 1>its mystery sank to the bottom of the Straits of

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<v Speaker 1>Malacca and became enshrined in sea shanties from that moment on.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, But was this even a real ship at all? No,

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<v Speaker 2>we're not going to take it. They can find out.

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<v Speaker 2>We're going to talk about it right now.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I guess we should have done it like that. Shack.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, it's fine. It seems like this probably was completely fabricated.

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<v Speaker 2>There's never been a shipping record of that vessel. No

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<v Speaker 2>like living human ever came forward and said, hey this

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<v Speaker 2>like I was that person eating the sea rations that

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<v Speaker 2>got shoved aboard this thing. There were also depending on

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<v Speaker 2>when the article came out, there were varying details that

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<v Speaker 2>were different, which is always sort of a giveaway that

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<v Speaker 2>it could be fabricated.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, I mean the fact that there's like different dates,

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<v Speaker 1>different locations, that kind of stuff. It's at the very

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<v Speaker 1>least the thing's been embellished as we understand it today.

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<v Speaker 1>And there was a researcher named Distelle Hargraves who found

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<v Speaker 1>the first mention of this story all the way back

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen forty, a good seven or eight years before

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<v Speaker 1>the story supposedly took place. This was during World War Two,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was a British merchant ship, not an American

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<v Speaker 1>ship that came to help out. But the thing that

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<v Speaker 1>does you know, bear a resemblance to the following stories,

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<v Speaker 1>was that there was the ship exploded and there was

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<v Speaker 1>no trace of any thing or any evidence that could

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<v Speaker 1>have explained what happened.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, this one was kind of fun because I was

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<v Speaker 2>on read it looking at some like theories and stuff

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<v Speaker 2>just for fun, and someone said, hey, I think I've

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<v Speaker 2>figured this thing out. Like everybody knows this is probably

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<v Speaker 2>a hoax, but I think I've actually got the paper

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<v Speaker 2>trail and figured out who this was. And I was like,

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<v Speaker 2>oh interesting, and I started to read it. It was

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<v Speaker 2>Estelle hard Gravees on Reddit Oh really, Yeah, it was

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<v Speaker 2>that researcher. I was like, oh, okay, well that makes sense.

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<v Speaker 1>So what'd she say, what's the explanation.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it's the same explanation that we have here, which

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<v Speaker 2>is it's late at the feet of one single person,

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<v Speaker 2>not just like a bunch of people that like kind

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<v Speaker 2>of made up this lore. It was actually at least

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<v Speaker 2>Estelle has put it out that it's a reporter named

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<v Speaker 2>Silvio Shirley sh e Rli and wrote this thing in

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen forty and then wrote about it again in nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>forty eight as supposedly the first time that it had happened,

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<v Speaker 2>which is and you know, it was the same name,

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<v Speaker 2>so it had to be the same person.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, So I guess he's the he's the culprit.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, Well, it seems like it.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, okay, so there were some other parts to this

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<v Speaker 1>story that Shirley added. There was a nineteen forty eight

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<v Speaker 1>Dutch Indonesian newspaper called Der Locomotif, and this was the

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<v Speaker 1>one where we get the story as we kind of

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<v Speaker 1>recognize it today. But one of the extra things that

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<v Speaker 1>gets left off these days is that there was one

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<v Speaker 1>survivor from the Orangmdan who washed up on the shore

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<v Speaker 1>of one of the Marshall Islands was found by a

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<v Speaker 1>missionary and told the story that the ship was actually

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<v Speaker 1>carrying illicit cargo. That's why no one can ever find

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<v Speaker 1>any record.

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<v Speaker 2>Of the ship.

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<v Speaker 1>It's because they didn't want to be found, and that

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<v Speaker 1>the cargo sulfuric acid or nitrogly ghostern or something either

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<v Speaker 1>like off gassed and killed the crew or blew the

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<v Speaker 1>ship up or both.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, And this missionary supposedly told this story to

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<v Speaker 2>that writer Sylvia Sharley. It's interesting that this article says

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<v Speaker 2>like no one can be sure that it was Sharley

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<v Speaker 2>who made the nineteen forty report. But I think this

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<v Speaker 2>is old because online like this, Cel Hargraves posted like

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<v Speaker 2>screenshots of the actual nineteen forty articles with his name.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but everybody knows she's always headed out for Silvio Sharley.

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<v Speaker 1>So can that be trusted in this day and age

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<v Speaker 1>of deep fakes in AI and stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's a good point, but it seems like it

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<v Speaker 2>didn't even exist at all, And it may be was

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<v Speaker 2>this like writer writing about it a couple of times

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<v Speaker 2>and embellishing it even more the second time to see

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<v Speaker 2>if it gets more steam. I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, full steam ahead. So do you want to hear

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<v Speaker 1>a little interesting tidbit, a little appendum By the way,

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<v Speaker 1>no one knows if this is true, but it's almost

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<v Speaker 1>certainly not. And if it is, it's it has taken

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<v Speaker 1>on some shapes or you can barely recognize the actuality

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<v Speaker 1>of or pick it out. But we based this off

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<v Speaker 1>of a house stuff Works article on it correct?

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<v Speaker 2>Correct, I went among other things.

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<v Speaker 1>You're right, I went and read an additional article on

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<v Speaker 1>all Things Interesting, including some others. But in the all

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<v Speaker 1>Things Interesting article it referenced the house stuff Works article

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<v Speaker 1>that this was based on. Ergo, the universe will collapse

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<v Speaker 1>on it. So amazing, chucks that amazing. I'm not going

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<v Speaker 1>to press my look, so I'm just gonna end this now.

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<v Speaker 1>Short stuff is out.

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