1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to the cabinet of curiosities. All of us have 5 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: days we don't quite feel like ourselves. We wake up 6 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: on the wrong side of the bed, we miss that 7 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: early morning latte to get ourselves going, or we notice 8 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: something is just off. It doesn't take much for one 9 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 1: little thing to throw our whole world off balance. However, 10 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: in one man's case, something had been wrong for some time. 11 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: He didn't quite feel right on two worlds. Kirk Allen 12 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: first showed up on doctor Lindner's Baltimore doorstep in the 13 00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: mid nineteen forties. Another physician in a governmental research facility 14 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: across the country had asked doctor Lindner to provide a 15 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: second opinion on his patient. Mister Allen didn't have a 16 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: deadly disease or anything like that, but his symptoms were unique. 17 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: The physician just wanted to make sure the man didn't 18 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: pose a threat to himself or to his colleagues. Kirk 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: Allen had had no outbursts or incidents while employed at 20 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: the research station, He got along just fine with his coworkers, 21 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: and no one questioned the quality of his work. However, 22 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: the people around him were worried. You see, Kirk Allen 23 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: believed he had two homes. I don't mean two houses 24 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: in different cities. He believed he spent half of his 25 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 1: time on Earth and the other half on another planet. 26 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: He spoke matter of factly about it, as though it 27 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: were perfectly normal. For him. In a way, the other 28 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: planet was a means of escape. He'd been born in 29 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: Hawaii to a wealthy diplomat father. His mother, a native Hawaiian, 30 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: spent most of her day's working and almost never with her. 31 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: With both parents absent, Kirk spent his formative years in 32 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: the care of nurses and governesses. The governesses were tasked 33 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: with educating him, which proved difficult as Kirk had an 34 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: unquenchable curiosity and a passion for learning. He'd loved to read, 35 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: and his teachers had trouble keeping up, and one governess 36 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,119 Speaker 1: was so obsessed with cleanliness she instilled in the young 37 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,079 Speaker 1: Kirk a debilitating fear of germs from the very environment 38 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 1: and people he'd grown up around. When she left, another 39 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: governess entered his life. By then, he'd already been living 40 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: within two worlds, that of a child with everything he 41 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: needed and that of a child who lacked parents in 42 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: a real and practical way. Because of that, crossing the 43 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: line into adulthood wasn't easy for him, but he still 44 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: had his books. When the world was weighing down on 45 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: him and he felt like he needed to get away, 46 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: he retreated into the pages of fantasy and science fiction stories. 47 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: The Wizard of Oz books had been his favorite until 48 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:03,240 Speaker 1: one day when a crate of novels was delivered to 49 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: his house. There were religious texts, essay collections, and biographies, 50 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: but Kirk found himself drawn to a novel by an 51 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: English author. He recognized the main character immediately caught his attention, 52 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: as he and Kirk shared the same name. He finished 53 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: the book in a single day, and then read it 54 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: all over again. He reread it three times before moving 55 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: on to another book with a character who bore the 56 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: same name, Kirk Allen. The third time he discovered a 57 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: main character with the same name as his, he felt nothing, 58 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: almost like it had been fated to happen. It had 59 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: been These Latest Stories, a series of American science fiction 60 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: novels about an earth born man taken to another planet 61 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: that captivated him in a way no other books had. 62 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: He didn't just become engrossed in the tales. The fourteen 63 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: year old Allan truly believed they were about him, an older, 64 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: wiser him, biographies of a life he'd lived among the stars. 65 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: Every detail, every character the fictional Kirk encountered was instantly 66 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: recognizable to the real person. To Kirk, while his physical 67 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: body went to work, ate in diners and slept in 68 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: the same bed every night, another piece of him was 69 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: off having fantastic adventures, battling strange creatures and wooing galactic princesses. 70 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: It was as though the author had found out about 71 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: the real Kirk Allen and had transcribed his story. And 72 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: once he'd ran through all of the volumes of his 73 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: quote biography, Kirk began writing his own. Despite his fantastical 74 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: other life, reality never got away from him. Kirk earned 75 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: a degree and tried to build a normal life for 76 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: himself on Earth, but he never forgot about his obsession. 77 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,039 Speaker 1: He started filling in the gaps and the stories and 78 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: building them out with what he thought were his own memories, 79 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: memories that eventually turned into hallucinations. Kirk was told to 80 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: seek help or find employment elsewhere, which brings us to 81 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: doctor Lindner's office. A good doctor saw only one way 82 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: of curing Kirk Allen of his delusions by entertaining them. 83 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: He went along with his patient, establishing that his memories 84 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,600 Speaker 1: of intergalactic space travel were real. From there, the two 85 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: men worked back through his real biography, including all the 86 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: neglect and abuse that had brought him to this point. 87 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: It was only when Kirk understood why he'd believed the 88 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,119 Speaker 1: stories were about him, that he was able to shake 89 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: the delusion. There was just one problem. Doctor Lindner had 90 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 1: now become obsessed with Kirk's stories. He found himself daydreaming 91 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: and fantasizing, not just about new adventures on distant planets, 92 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: but the very idea of allowing one's brain to exist 93 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,559 Speaker 1: on another plane of existence while the body languished on Earth. 94 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: It seemed a bit of doctor Lindner's patient had rubbed 95 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: off on him, though not to the same degree. He 96 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: understood that none of it was real, but he wondered 97 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: if it could be. Could we be in two places 98 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: at once? Could we bear memories of lives unlived? We 99 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: may never know, just like we may never know the 100 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: real kirk Ellen. Kirk Allen, you see, was a pseudonym 101 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: used to protect his identity. The fictional character's name was 102 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: also not kirk Allen. Some have theorized the books that 103 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: kicked off the man's obsession was the Barsoom series by 104 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: Edgar Rice Burrows. To this day, though we still don't 105 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: know what his real identity was, which only adds to 106 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: the mystery behind the man. What isn't so mysterious is 107 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 1: how what happened to kirk Allen could have happened to anyone. 108 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: The books we read have a tendency to affect us 109 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:44,119 Speaker 1: in ways we aren't even aware of at the time. 110 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: Perhaps the author George R. R. Martin says it best 111 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: a reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The 112 00:06:52,760 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 1: man who never reads lives only one. The fishing boat 113 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: known as the High Aim six left a Taiwanese port 114 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: in the fall of two thousand and two. Aboard the 115 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: vessel where the captain and his first mate and engineer. 116 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: They stopped in Indonesia to pick up a crew of 117 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: eight other men to assist with their expedition, and then 118 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: the ten fishermen set out to sea, their ship filled 119 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: with fuel and provisions enough to last the whole trip. 120 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: There were no storms that had doomed them to a 121 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: watery grave, nor engine failure leaving them stranded in the 122 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: middle of the ocean. By all accounts, the voyage was 123 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: supposed to be a standard fishing outing, like many they 124 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: and other ships from the region had been known to make, 125 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: which is why it was so odd when Australian naval 126 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: officials spotted the High Aim six drifting eighty nautical miles 127 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: off their coast. They hailed the ship on the radio, 128 00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: but only received silence. Something was clearly amiss. Officials boarded 129 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: the vessel and found the engine had been running at 130 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: full throttle, but the gas tank was empty and the 131 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: rudder was locked. The ship couldn't have moved if it 132 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: wanted to, so it drifted aimlessly until it was found. 133 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: They then searched for signs of distress or struggle, but 134 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: found nothing out of the sorts. In fact, it appears 135 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: as though nothing had gone wrong at all. A half 136 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: empty pack of cigarettes rested above the helm, seven toothbrushes 137 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: were found in the living quarters, and the refrigerator was 138 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: fully stocked, oh and over three tons of rotting tuna 139 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: and mackerel sap below stinking up the hold. The ship 140 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: was ultimately towed to Australia's western coast for an investigation 141 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: as to what had happened. There was just one problem. 142 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: Investigators couldn't interview a single crew member about what had happened. 143 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: The vessel had been empty when they found it. All 144 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: ten of them were assumed dead. It seemed Australia had 145 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: a real life ghost ship on its hands. There was 146 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: one survivor. One of the Indonesian crew members had made 147 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:07,559 Speaker 1: it off the ship safely and was arrested shortly after 148 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: the High aimsix's discovery. According to his story, the captain 149 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: and the engineer had been murdered. Though he didn't know 150 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: what had caused the mutiny or where the rest of 151 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,839 Speaker 1: his crew mates had gone, he assumed they'd hitched a 152 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,959 Speaker 1: ride back to their homeland. That tall tale didn't sit 153 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 1: well with police, however, they'd noticed nothing of value had 154 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:29,839 Speaker 1: been taken from the ship and not a single trace 155 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: of blood could be found, and all the other crew 156 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: members had disappeared. There was no sign of them back 157 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:40,679 Speaker 1: in Indonesia. Australian police and naval authorities searched the water 158 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,839 Speaker 1: for any signs of the captain, the engineer or the crew, 159 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: but came up empty. It was as if they'd disappeared 160 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: into thin air. When investigators checked the call logs on 161 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 1: mobile phones belonging to the captain and the engineer, they 162 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: noticed something even more bizarre, a series of calls made 163 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,359 Speaker 1: from the engineer's phone to his daughter folloween his disappearance. 164 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: When she picked up, she said she heard sounds from 165 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: a karaoke bar in the background. The call had been 166 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,079 Speaker 1: traced back to the Philippines. She feared that her father 167 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: had not been murdered, but kidnapped and held by the 168 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: Indonesian crew, though no ransom demand was ever made. Similar 169 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: calls were made from the captain's phone around the same time, 170 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: only his came from the island of Bali. Had the 171 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: crew really murdered the captain and his first mate, as 172 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,319 Speaker 1: the survivor claimed, or had they taken the two men 173 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: hostage and let the ship float away. The Australian police 174 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,439 Speaker 1: and Navy still don't have any answers, and the fate 175 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: of the men involved is still unknown. The idea of 176 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: pirates isn't entirely out of the question. Piracy and all 177 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: that comes with it, including murder and kidnapping, are still 178 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,200 Speaker 1: a large problem for cargo ships and fishing vessels in 179 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: many parts of the world. We may never know what 180 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,320 Speaker 1: happened to the nine other men aboard the High Aim 181 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,679 Speaker 1: Six or where might be today. All we know is 182 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: at a certain point the authorities stopped looking and assumed 183 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: that they were dead. It seems that they bought the 184 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: survivor's story bookline and sinker. I hope you've enjoyed today's 185 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 186 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 187 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 188 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: me Aaron Mank in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 189 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 190 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 191 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Loore dot com. 192 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.