4

The "Ghost Blimp" Crew

U.S. Navy

Blimps are kind of the fat, slow-moving Rascal scooters of the sky, so Lieutenant Ernest Cody and Ensign Charles Adams probably felt like they were in for a relaxing balloon ride when they were assigned blimp patrol duty on August 16, 1942. Right up until they freaking disappeared without a trace from inside their completely undamaged L-8 airship.

3

Ben Padilla and an Entire Boeing 727

wosabi/iStock/Getty Images

2

The Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers

Chris Downer

The Flannan Isles are a small island group off the coast of Scotland, located right in the path of a major shipping route. Naturally, a lighthouse was built there so that Scottish ships could safely navigate the treacherous North Atlantic waters to deliver their precious cargo of haggis and bagpipes to all corners of the world, despite the world's vehement protests.

The lighthouse was kept up and running by a three-man crew, which in December 1900 consisted of Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, and Donald MacArthur, who were supposed to only spend 14 days there. Unfortunately for them, that's just another way of saying, "They only had two weeks left to retirement." Yeah, they never made it out of there alive.

Via Beforeitsnews.com"I can't believe it!" - No one who's seen the place.

A few days after a major storm hit the isles, passing boats noticed that the lighthouse's "DON'T POINT YOUR SHIP IN THIS DIRECTION OR YOU DEAD" light was out. A team soon arrived at the locked lighthouse, finding it occupied by unmade beds and an untouched meal on the table, with the keepers nowhere to be seen.

The captain of the rescue ship quickly wrote the case off as all three men being caught outside in the aforementioned storm and drowning. However, this was immediately proven wrong by one keeper's rain jacket being left behind in the lighthouse, and the logbook showing entries made well after the weather had cleared.

The current theory is that the missing men were swept away by a freak wave, but even that hinges on the idea that three experienced lighthouse keepers completely ignored regulations stating that a lighthouse must never, ever be left unmanned, no matter what. There is no way that Marshall, Ducat, and MacArthur would have left the lighthouse together for any reason that did not involve someone or something crying blood and wanting to "sate the eternal hunger of the Vile One." Plus, why would they lock the lighthouse door behind them when they went out? What, were they afraid that a hermit crab would break into their rooms and steal their smokes?

Via Beforeitsnews.com"See, the thing about locked doors is they keep things from getting in ... and out."

1

Zebb Quinn

Denise Vlahakis

In January 2000, 18-year-old Zebb Quinn was meeting his friend Robert Jason Owens when he suddenly received an urgent page and rushed to the nearest payphone, presumably in his Model T.

Via Rewards TVSeen here in one of the rare photos where he wasn't panicking over the camera stealing his soul.

He looked seriously perturbed when he returned a few minutes later, and allegedly rear-ended Owens' truck before driving away. This was the last anyone ever saw of him.

A few days later, "Quinn" supposedly called in sick to work, but his supervisor didn't think it was his voice on the line. He then traced the call to Owens, who explained that Quinn had asked him to do it. Naturally, the authorities were suspicious of this story, especially once they learned that Owens had received treatment for broken ribs and a head injury the morning after Quinn's disappearance. Owens claimed the injuries were caused by an unrelated fender bender, and since then has refused to cooperate with the police in any way.

Remains/iStock/Getty ImagesPictured: a fender bender.

It was soon discovered that Quinn had been showing romantic interest in a woman named Misty Taylor, who had a jealous, physically abusive boyfriend. Now this is important, because phone records confirmed that the page Quinn received before vanishing came from his aunt, who claims she wasn't home at the time, because she was hanging out with ... Misty Taylor and her family. And yet, this barely registers on the WTF-o-meter compared to what happened next.

Two weeks after Quinn's disappearance, his abandoned car was discovered in a parking lot with a pair of lips and two exclamation points written on the back window in lipstick. A number of items definitely not belonging to Quinn had also been found in the truck, including a jacket, a still-unidentified hotel room key, and a three-month-old Labrador puppy. Since the car happened to be parked across the street from a hospital where Quinn's family worked, it's almost as if someone was trying to send them a message ... after sniffing copious amounts of glue. Needless to say, it didn't help. Nothing from the truck led the authorities anywhere near Quinn, who still remains missing, presumed dead.

But because we think we know our audience: take solace in the fact that the puppy was given a good home with one of the investigators.

JLSnader/iStock/Getty Images"All according to my needlessly-complicated plan!"

Evan V. Symon is a workshop moderator and the interview finder guy at Cracked. If you have an awesome job or experience you would like to share, hit up the tipline at tips@cracked.com. Robin Warder is the co-owner of a pop culture website called The Back Row and worked on a sci-fi short film called Jet Ranger of Another Tomorrow.

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For more stories fit for a Robert Stack narrative, check out 6 People Who Just Fucking Disappeared and The 5 Creepiest Unsolved Crimes Nobody Can Explain.

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