Introduction oceans Oceans cover nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface and many people believe them to be among its most haunted places For centuries sailors have reported strange sightings at sea bright lights weird creatures such as mermaids and ghostly ships steered by the souls of the dead Some of these phenomena can be explained by natural events such as shooting stars and fog or by the imaginations of sailors alone in the middle of the vast oceans Seeing seals or walruses through mist for example might have led to descriptions of mermaids But some stories seem to have no simple explanation Ghostly Visions Some legends describe ghostly vessels that are doomed to sail the oceans forever with a crew of the dead Other ghost ships are said to be visions of real ships that were wrecked in the past In sailors stories seeing such a vessel is often a sign that disaster is about to strike Mysterious Realm 4 Mystery words phenomena things that are not easily explained
The open seas have inspired many tales of mys tery and horror The sea holds many other mysteries such as ships with crews that have vanished for no obvious reason or who have been struck dead Many ships have gone missing completely Did they simply sink or meet a more suspicious fate In this book you will read a range of stories about the oceans the spirits that sail them and the sailors whose fate remains unknown 5
The Flying DUTCHMAN The Flying Dutchman is the world’s most famous ghost ship In legends it is a Dutch man-of-war that sank in the 17th century It is doomed to sail the oceans forever It can never dock because the crew are dead so it just keeps sailing the The ship appears in the ocean surrouded in a ghostly glowing light Its sails are full of wind even if the air is still Sailors dread seeing The Flying Dutchman The ship is said to be an omen or sign of disaster ahead The crew is doomed to sail forever as a punishment for a crime long ago When The Flying Dutchman approaches another ship the crew try to pass on messages to be taken to shore The messages are for people who have been dead for centuries 6 Mystery words man-of-war a heavily armed warship with sails
Mystery File OPTICAL ILLUSION One explanation for ghost ships is that they are illusions Strange light mists and clouds create reflections of real ships far away across the water But that doesn’t explain why old-fashioned sailing ships often seem to appear Common Story The Flying Dutchman has inspired many writers and artists In 1843 the German composer Richard Wagner even wrote an opera about it called The Flying Dutchman That made the legend even more famous More recently the ship was featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies According to legends The Flying Dutchman can never stop sailing 7
