1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. It's important to take pride in one's home, 7 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: from the lush green grass on the front lawn to 8 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: the crumb free carpet in the living room. Our houses 9 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: and apartments are reflections of ourselves. No one wants to 10 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:48,879 Speaker 1: live in a place with holes in the roof and 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,919 Speaker 1: dirt everywhere. The people of kit Salt no better than anyone. 12 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: Kit Salt is a remote town located on the north 13 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: coast of British Columbia, only a puddle jump away from 14 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: the shores of Alaska. Uh In nineteen seventy nine, the 15 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,040 Speaker 1: town was officially established to provide homes for the miners 16 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: working in the nearby molybdenum mines. The area was no 17 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: stranger to the mining business. Since nineteen eighteen, mines opened 18 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: near kit Salt had produced a variety of metals such 19 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: as silver, lead, copper and zinc. This new one, though 20 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: molybdenum was an element used in producing steel alloys to 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: make them harder and more corrosion resistant. It was a 22 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: lucrative business, so much so that the town attracted twelve 23 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: hundred residents to live and work there. The town also 24 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: became a major opportunity for construction companies from all over 25 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,759 Speaker 1: North America. They flocked to kit Salt to build everything 26 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: from single family homes to apartment buildings, even a hospital 27 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: and a shopping center. Locals lacked for nothing. They had 28 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: a library, several restaurants, a post office, banks, everything a 29 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: modern suburban enclave needed to keep its residents happy. Heck, 30 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: the sewage treatment plant was so advanced. Kit Salt had 31 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: the cleanest water in the province, and from the street level, 32 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: it looked like any other suburb, with well manicured lawns, 33 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: simple homes, and trees and greenery surrounding the town. This 34 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: little corner of Canada was a slice of heaven on 35 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: earth for just two years. Around After eighteen months or so, 36 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: the molybdenum market collapsed. The mines were forced to close, 37 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: and the town's folk had no choice but to uproot 38 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: their lives once again and find steady work elsewhere. The 39 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: company behind that mine, American Metal Company, evacuated everyone fairly quickly. 40 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 1: The people living there took almost all of their belongings, 41 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: save for the furniture and large appliances like television sets. Now, 42 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: when we think of ghost towns, we usually pictured dilapidated 43 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: homes and buildings covered in graffiti, with caved in roofs, 44 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: shattered windows, and ruins claimed by the elements. Kits Sold, however, 45 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: was different. American Metal Company didn't think the malebdenum crash 46 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: would last forever. It hired a caretaker to watch over 47 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: the town until it was able to welcome everyone back. Well, 48 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: that time never came, and Kits Salt sat vacant for 49 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: over twenty years. In two thousand five, the town was 50 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: purchased by an entrepreneur from India named Krishnan Sutan Theoren. 51 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: He spent seven million dollars to own what has become 52 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: something of a time capsule of a lost era the 53 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: early nineteen eighties. Since he bought it, Krishnan has spent 54 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: at least twenty five million dollars sprucing up the grounds 55 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:24,920 Speaker 1: and maintaining each property he's hired a fleet of cleaners 56 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: and caretakers to make sure the grass stays mode and 57 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: the streets stay clean up. Until recently, the public could 58 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: tour Kit Salt and walk through the buildings. Old TV 59 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: sets in wooden frames still sit against living room walls. 60 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: The carpet and furniture are all original, as is the 61 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: wallpaper in rooms that still have it. The grocery store 62 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: shelves are empty, but the registers and the shopping carts 63 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: are still intact. Books even sit on the library shelves, 64 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: and the hospital's various medical equipment is right where it 65 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: was left forty years ago. A gymnasium stands empty, it's 66 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: hardwood flooring waiting for the scuffs and squeaks of sneakers 67 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: during a pickup game of basketball, and the red upholstered 68 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: seats in the abandoned theater patiently wait for viewers who 69 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: will never come back. The shopping center boasts would paneling 70 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: and signs for stores like Sears with painted window designs 71 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: still intact. And it may not seem like it given 72 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: how modern it is, but Kit Salt is a historic village. 73 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: It's a snapshot of a time period many people didn't 74 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: live through and don't remember. For others, it's an eerie 75 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: trip down memory lane. Will it's homes and businesses ever 76 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: be filled with new tenants. No one knows except for 77 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: the current owner. But I kind of hope it stays 78 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: just like it is. We already have ghost towns from 79 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: the Old West and the Turn of the century. But 80 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: a ghost town that looks like it was plucked from 81 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: the pages of a Stephen King novel. That's something you 82 00:04:45,560 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: don't see every day. Few television shows hold up as 83 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: well as the nineteen sixties anthology series The Twilight Zone. 84 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: It was acclaimed for its brilliant writing, moralistic plot lines, 85 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: and mind bending twists. Of its many timeless episodes, One 86 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: of my favorites tells the story of Flight thirty three, 87 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: a Boeing seven oh seven aircraft heading from London to 88 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: New York in nineteen sixty one. After the airplane inexplicably accelerates, 89 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: it appears over what should be New York City. Instead, 90 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: the pilots looked down only to see dinosaurs roaming the earth. 91 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: The plane has traveled back in time, hoping to make 92 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: it back to nineteen sixty one. The pilots catched the 93 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: same jet stream that brought them millions of years into 94 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,119 Speaker 1: the past and make it back to New York City 95 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: of nineteen thirty nine. As far as the audience knows, 96 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: the plane never returns to nineteen sixty one. Its crew 97 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 1: and passengers are lost to time. Something similar happened in 98 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: San Francisco in nineteen forty two, but this aircraft didn't 99 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: go back in time, at least I don't think so. 100 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: The Goodyear Company is known for two things, tires and blimps. 101 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: Except before they were flying over football stadiums, the blimps, 102 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: or airships as they were known, made by the Goodyear 103 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: Aircraft Company, were being used by the United States military. 104 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: They've been built as commercial vehicles, literally vehicles to be commercials, 105 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 1: meant for advertising Goodyear's new range of tires. However, after 106 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U. S. Navy commandeered 107 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: the fleets and designated them under the L class of 108 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: military airships. One in particular, the L eight, was instrumental 109 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,239 Speaker 1: in the Doolittle raid of Tokyo in nineteen forty two. 110 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: It had delivered modification parts for the B twenty five 111 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: bomber to the USS Hornet aircraft carrier which was taking 112 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: the Doolittle Raiders to their destination. That was in April 113 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: of that year. Four months later, on August sixteen, the 114 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: L eight airship was ordered to perform a routine patrol 115 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: off the coast of San Francisco. It's two man crew, 116 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Ernest DeWitt Cody and Ensign Charles Ellis Adams, were 117 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: tasked with searching for Japanese submarines, which had been taking 118 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: out Allied ships in the area for some time. The 119 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: L eight was outfitted with a thirty caliber machine gun, 120 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: three hundred rounds of ammunition, and a pair of three 121 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: D and twenty five pound depth charges to handle water 122 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: bound enemies. Cody was a twenty seven year old senior 123 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: aviator and Navy veteran. He didn't just know his way 124 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: around that aircraft, he also knew how to keep a 125 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: level head in tough situations. His commanding officer once referred 126 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: to him as one of the most capable pilots and 127 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: one of the most able officers that he had ever 128 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: worked with. In fact, Lieutenant Cody had been the one 129 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: flying the L A during the delivery mission to the U. 130 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: S s. Hornet four months prior ensign Adams was older 131 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: than Cody by eleven years and had survived the crash 132 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: of the USS make An airship off the coast of 133 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: California in nineteen thirty five. He'd just recently been commissioned 134 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: as an officer and had twenty years of airship experience 135 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: under his belt. The German government even decorated him after 136 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: he helped rescue passengers from the Hindenburg disaster in nineteen 137 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: thirty seven. On the morning of August sixteenth of nineteen 138 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: forty two, at six oh three a m. Cody and 139 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: Adams took off in the l A from Treasure Island 140 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: in San Francisco. They were to travel to the Farallon Islands, 141 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: followed by a fly by of the Golden gate Bridge, 142 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: all in all a round trip within a fifty mile radius. 143 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: Conditions were clear that morning for the Blimps one thousand 144 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: and ninety third trip, with the previous trips all having 145 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: been completed without incident. Roughly an hour and a half 146 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: after takeoff, Cody and Adams radioed back to Treasure Island 147 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: with reports of an oil slick. Not far from the 148 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,319 Speaker 1: Farallon Islands. The airship dropped down to thirty feet above 149 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: the slick and circled it for a closer look before 150 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: heading back up into the sky. Around eight fifty a m. 151 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: A nearby Liberty cargo ship and fishing boat watched the 152 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: L A do its inspection before it disappeared. For hours, 153 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: no one knew what to make of it. The blimp's 154 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 1: crew wasn't responding to calls from Treasure Island, nor could 155 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: anyone see its bulbous frame hovering above. It had simply vanished. 156 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:13,959 Speaker 1: Navy planes went out looking for it to no avail. Then, 157 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: at fifteen am, just over two hours after its last sighting, 158 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: the L eight popped up again off the coast of 159 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: Ocean Beach. Now it was floating low enough for two 160 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: local fishermen to grab ahold of its tie lines and 161 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,559 Speaker 1: pull it down. They managed to hold it long enough 162 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: to check the control car, and what they found shocked them. 163 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: There was no one inside. Cody and Adams, we're gone. Eventually, 164 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: the fishermen could no longer hold onto the blimp and 165 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: let it go, at which point it hit a hill 166 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: and damaged one of its propellers. One of the two 167 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: depth charges even came loose as well, and wound up 168 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: on a golf course nearby. Now even lighter, the ship 169 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: ascended again until an automatic valve started releasing helium from 170 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 1: the envelope, that giant bag of air that gives the 171 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: blimp it's distinction shape. It drifted over parts of San 172 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: Francisco for a while until it finally crashed in front 173 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: of someone's house in the suburbs. Well, crashed isn't exactly 174 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:13,199 Speaker 1: the right word. Suffered. A bumpy landing is more like it. 175 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: It had caused some scraped roofs and downed electrical wires 176 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: by the time that police arrived on scene, but it 177 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: was the kind of landing that wouldn't have killed or 178 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: even seriously injured Cody or Adams had they been inside. 179 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,439 Speaker 1: Investigators noted that the control card doors were open, all 180 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: three parachutes were still on board, as was an emergency 181 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: life raft. Radios and engines were fully functional, and no 182 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,320 Speaker 1: one had sent out any distress calls. Whatever had happened 183 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: to cause the two men to disappear, it had been sudden. 184 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: The prevailing theory was that one of the men had 185 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: opened the rear hatch and deployed a smoke marker over 186 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: the oil slick, but had slipped the other crew member 187 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 1: in an effort to help him back on board. Also 188 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: must have fallen in the water, making the blimp light 189 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,040 Speaker 1: enough to rise back up on its own. Other of 190 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: suggestions have come up over the years as well, that 191 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: the men had deserted the Navy and defected to Japan, 192 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: or that they had been captured, but nothing definitive could 193 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: be proved. The truth was that nobody had any answers. 194 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:16,400 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Cody and Ensign Adams were declared legally dead in nineteen, 195 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:22,199 Speaker 1: one year after their disappearance. But who knows. Maybe they 196 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: took a trip to the Twilight Zone and ended up 197 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:32,079 Speaker 1: in an ancient version of San Francisco. I hope you've 198 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 199 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 200 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 201 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 202 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 203 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 204 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:56,960 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 205 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Oh