Futility Closet

In 1942 Navy lieutenant Ernest Cody and ensign Charles Adams piloted a blimp out of San Francisco into the Pacific, looking for Japanese subs. A few hours later the blimp drifted back to land, empty. The parachutes and life raft were in their proper places and the radio was in working order, but there was no trace of Cody or Adams. In this episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the events of that strange day and delve into the inquest that followed. We'll also sample some unpublished items from Greg's trove of Futility Closet research and puzzle over a drink of water that kills hundreds of people. Sources for our segment on the L-8 blimp mystery: Mark J. Price, "60 Years Later, Pilots' Fate Still a Mystery -- 2 Men Aboard Navy Blimp Vanished," Seattle Times, Aug. 18, 2002. Darold Fredricks, "Airships and Moffett Field," San Mateo Daily Journal, July 22, 2013. United Press International, "Goodyear Blimp Retires," July 9, 1982. Some inquest records are available online here. Links mentioned in lis