1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,759 Speaker 1: Welcome to Thrilling Threads, the show where we take your sources, 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,040 stitch together the most compelling facts, and really try to 3 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:11,560 unravel the biggest mysteries that history or in some cases, 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:12,640 legend has to offer. 5 00:00:12,839 --> 00:00:16,359 Speaker 2: And today we are definitely sailing right into a classic 6 00:00:16,519 --> 00:00:17,440 maritime nightmare. 7 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: We really are. This is the story of a ghost 8 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:24,079 ship whose final terrifying moments were broadcast via Morse code 9 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:28,000 across the ocean, ending with two chilling, unforgettable words. 10 00:00:28,399 --> 00:00:31,239 Speaker 2: We are talking about the legend of the ss or 11 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,399 rang Medan, the so called death ship, And you just 12 00:00:34,439 --> 00:00:37,039 have to imagine the scene for a second. A rescue 13 00:00:37,079 --> 00:00:42,240 party boards a drifting freighter in these sweltering tropical waters, 14 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,240 only to find its entire crew debts sprawled across the 15 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,479 decks and below, and all of them are wearing identical 16 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,320 expressions of just absolute bone chilling horror. 17 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 1: That expression that this is the key, isn't it? That 18 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,719 tableau of terror is the central enduring hook of this 19 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,320 entire mystery. And it all begins with this desperate SOS call, 20 00:01:00,079 --> 00:01:02,920 intercepted sometime in that chaotic post World War II era. 21 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,000 Most accounts placed around what June nineteen forty seven, or 22 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:07,519 maybe February nineteen forty eight. 23 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,519 Speaker 2: Yeah, the dates are a little fuzzy, but the location 24 00:01:10,719 --> 00:01:13,519 is usually the Strait of Malacca. That's that narrow sea 25 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,560 gap between Indonesia and Malaysia, a very very busy shipping lane. 26 00:01:17,599 --> 00:01:21,359 Speaker 1: Okay, So messages are picked up by several vessels, American ships, 27 00:01:21,879 --> 00:01:24,519 the City of Baltimore, and the Silver Star. 28 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 2: The silver Star was reportedly the closest. Yeah, and there 29 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,519 were also Dutch and British listening posts that picked it up. 30 00:01:32,359 --> 00:01:35,799 And the mariners receiving these signals, you know, they're professionals, 31 00:01:35,799 --> 00:01:38,760 they're trained for anything, but they quickly realized they were 32 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,280 dealing with something completely outside their training manuals. 33 00:01:42,359 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: So let's unpack that original distress signal, because this is 34 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,040 really the only piece of like verifiable action that launched 35 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,879 the entire legend. It starts out pretty urgently, it does. 36 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,799 Speaker 2: It starts SOS from oring Madan, We float all officers, 37 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,560 including the captain dead in chart room and on the bridge, 38 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:00,480 probably whole of crew dead. 39 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: And then it just falls apart, right, The professional communication 40 00:02:03,439 --> 00:02:04,920 just breaks down completely. 41 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:10,199 Speaker 2: What followed was this frantic, garbled sequence of dots and dashes. 42 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,039 I think one report called it frenzied gibberish. It suggests 43 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,479 the radio operator was in just extreme dress, maybe convulsing 44 00:02:17,599 --> 00:02:19,439 or struggling to even stay conscious. 45 00:02:19,479 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: And then the ultimate climax, the transmission cuts out. There's 46 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,280 a moment of silence, and then this final horrifying broadcast 47 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,120 that just silence the airwhere I die, I die, and 48 00:02:29,159 --> 00:02:34,439 then nothing, just silence. No further communication was ever received 49 00:02:34,479 --> 00:02:35,280 from that vessel. 50 00:02:35,479 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 2: That phrase I die. That's what really crystallizes the whole tale. 51 00:02:39,879 --> 00:02:43,599 It suggests this singular, immediate confrontation with death that's happening 52 00:02:43,599 --> 00:02:46,240 to everyone at once, including the person sending the message. 53 00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: It taps into all those deep post World War II fears, 54 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,400 doesn't it, You know, hidden weapons, secret government operations, and 55 00:02:52,479 --> 00:02:56,400 just the terrifying unknowability of the deep ocean. Absolutely so, 56 00:02:56,479 --> 00:02:58,240 our mission today it's a bit of a forensic puzzle. 57 00:02:58,280 --> 00:02:59,800 I have to treat this whole narrative like a crime 58 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,199 scene where all the evidence was immediately and conveniently destroyed. 59 00:03:05,319 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 2: So we're going to go through the historical records. What 60 00:03:07,319 --> 00:03:09,919 few there are the scientific theories that people have tried 61 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:13,240 to apply to the scene, and the investigative journalism that 62 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,639 you might have uncovered the real origin of this whole thing. 63 00:03:17,719 --> 00:03:20,159 Speaker 1: We have to figure out what researchers have actually found, 64 00:03:20,319 --> 00:03:22,719 and this is the big one who might have been 65 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,639 responsible for creating this enduring legend in the first place. 66 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,039 Speaker 2: It really is the maritime mystery that rivals the Mary 67 00:03:29,039 --> 00:03:31,919 Celeste in just how macabre it is. And it all 68 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,159 starts with that terrifying discovery. 69 00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: Okay, So let's start with the canonical version of the disaster, 70 00:03:37,599 --> 00:03:41,680 the story told by the supposed rescuers, because these details, 71 00:03:41,759 --> 00:03:44,919 this is what makes the tale so powerful. The vessel 72 00:03:45,439 --> 00:03:47,400 was the ss oron Madan. 73 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,479 Speaker 2: A Dutch merchant vessel, a freighter. The name translates loosely 74 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,840 to man from Madan, and Madan is a big city 75 00:03:54,919 --> 00:03:57,199 in Sumatra, Indonesia, so. 76 00:03:57,039 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: It kind of grounds it in the location right in 77 00:03:58,879 --> 00:04:00,240 the Malaca Strait exactly. 78 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 2: It gives it this air of authenticity. So according to 79 00:04:02,599 --> 00:04:04,879 the reports, the American ship, the Silver Star was the 80 00:04:04,919 --> 00:04:07,680 closest and it races to the coordinates from the distress call. 81 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: And when they get there, it's really good, quiet. 82 00:04:10,319 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 2: Eerily quiet. The scene is unsettlingly normal. The Dutch freighter, 83 00:04:15,159 --> 00:04:18,639 it just looks Okay, it's undamaged, just drifting aimlessly. There's 84 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,920 no smoke, no distress signals, nothing to suggest the frantic 85 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:24,360 event from the SOS call. 86 00:04:24,519 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: Just a dark hall, silent alone in the middle of 87 00:04:27,959 --> 00:04:30,480 the ocean. You just imagine the dread building on the 88 00:04:30,519 --> 00:04:33,720 Silver Star. I mean, you're trained for smoke, for wreckage, 89 00:04:33,879 --> 00:04:37,319 for survivors, waving, not for silence. Exactly. It's the silence, 90 00:04:37,399 --> 00:04:39,560 not a storm, that makes this so scary. So they're 91 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:44,360 hailing the orangumudan over and over, whistles, radio signal lamps, 92 00:04:44,399 --> 00:04:46,839 just nothing, only the ocean responding. 93 00:04:46,959 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 2: So the captain of the Silver Star, he orders a 94 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,920 small boarding party go over. And what they found inside, 95 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,120 as one account puts, it was a scene of just 96 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,519 unparalleled horror. So the decks, the interior, they were and 97 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,560 this is a quote lousy with corpses. Even the ship's 98 00:05:01,639 --> 00:05:04,360 dog was found dead near its master. The sheer number 99 00:05:04,399 --> 00:05:06,680 of bodies and how they were spread out, it ruled 100 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,079 out some sort of you know, localized accident. This was shipwide. 101 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: Okay, this is where we need to focus, because the 102 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,240 state of these bodies is the central anomaly of the 103 00:05:15,399 --> 00:05:18,800 entire mystery. Describe that tableau of terror that the boarding 104 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:23,240 party found. What were the forensic details that just defy explanation. 105 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,759 Speaker 2: Every single body, and this is without exception, was described 106 00:05:26,759 --> 00:05:30,800 as having this terrifying identical posture. They were sprawled on 107 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,279 their backs, faces turned up to the sun, mouths gaping open, 108 00:05:34,399 --> 00:05:38,800 and eyes staring blankly ahead, frozen in fear, literally frozen 109 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,439 in fear. One rescuer described them as looking like horrible 110 00:05:42,519 --> 00:05:46,600 caricatures of human agony. Even the ship's dog was locked 111 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,079 in this tormented grimace, just like its masters. 112 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: And the posture details are so crucial. Here wasn't just 113 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,079 you know, people who had passed away peacefully. It was active, 114 00:05:55,319 --> 00:05:58,600 instant terror. Many were described as having their arms. 115 00:05:58,319 --> 00:06:01,879 Speaker 2: Outstretched, as if desperately fending off an invisible assailant. That's 116 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:03,120 the key phrase, right. 117 00:06:02,959 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: It suggests a really rapid death while they were actively 118 00:06:05,959 --> 00:06:08,800 fighting or recoiling from something they couldn't see, something that 119 00:06:08,879 --> 00:06:09,519 was coming. 120 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 2: For them precisely. And that brings us to the most 121 00:06:12,639 --> 00:06:16,920 significant forensic detail that just eliminates all the conventional explanations 122 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,920 like piracy or you know, a gunfight, which is there 123 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,040 were no visible signs of injuries on any of the bodies, 124 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,439 no blood, no obvious wounds, no signs of a struggle, 125 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,360 not even signs of poisoning that would leave marks like 126 00:06:30,439 --> 00:06:34,000 foaming at the mouth or discoloration. Death just seemed to 127 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,480 have taken them completely by surprise, right at their posts, 128 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,680 leaving this physical manifestation of pure agony. 129 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 1: And the communications guy, the one who sent those final 130 00:06:42,759 --> 00:06:45,480 fragmented words, Yeah, he was frozen mid action. 131 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 2: Yes, the radio operator was found dead at his station, 132 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,240 his fingertips still resting on the Morse code transmitting device. 133 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:53,759 The captain was dead on the bridge, Officers in the 134 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,360 chart room, engineering crew in the boiler room. The fact 135 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,879 that the deaths were synchronous, happening at the same time. 136 00:06:58,759 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: All over the ship, from the deck to the deepest interior. 137 00:07:01,519 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 2: It just suggests some kind of airborne, rapidly legal agent 138 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,199 that permeated the entire vessel instantly. 139 00:07:07,639 --> 00:07:10,319 Speaker 1: Now, let's talk about the environment on the ship. The 140 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,360 Strait of Malacca is tropical. The inside of a ship, 141 00:07:13,439 --> 00:07:16,399 especially near the engine room, it should be sweltering right, 142 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,759 easily over one hundred degrees fahrenheit. 143 00:07:18,399 --> 00:07:24,519 Speaker 2: Should be Yeah, But the rescuers noted this inexplicable environmental anomaly. 144 00:07:24,199 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: And this is maybe the strangest detail of all. 145 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:31,519 Speaker 2: It is this uncanny, unnatural chill. The boarding party reported 146 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,360 an inexplicable chill pervading the ship. They described the lower decks, 147 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,319 including the boiler room, which should have been stiflingly hot, 148 00:07:38,839 --> 00:07:42,759 as eerily cold. Some accounts even estimate the temperature was 149 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,160 as low as forty degrees fahrenheit or four degrees celsius. 150 00:07:46,199 --> 00:07:49,319 Speaker 1: Wait a second, If the decks were eerily cold, doesn't 151 00:07:49,319 --> 00:07:52,560 that fundamentally contradict the other observation, one that said the 152 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,079 bodies were already decomposing at an unnaturally rapid rate. 153 00:07:56,199 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 2: It does. 154 00:07:56,839 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: How can decomposition speed up in cold temperatures. That's a huge, 155 00:08:00,079 --> 00:08:01,360 huge scientific contradiction. 156 00:08:01,759 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 2: It is a profound contradiction. And that's what adds this 157 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,920 perfect layer of the paranormal, you know, it's what makes 158 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,319 the story so successful. It suggests a phenomenon so alien 159 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,920 that it's literally violating the known laws of physics and biology. 160 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,079 Speaker 1: So you have a scene of mass death by sheer 161 00:08:18,199 --> 00:08:23,120 existential dread combined with environmental conditions that are impossible exactly. 162 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,959 Speaker 2: The contradiction itself becomes part of the mystery. It makes 163 00:08:25,959 --> 00:08:29,399 people just immediately discard the possibility of any natural causes. 164 00:08:29,519 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: That combination the frozen terror no wounds, the mysterious chill, 165 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,320 and the rapid decay it creates a perfect storm of 166 00:08:37,399 --> 00:08:42,120 nautical horror that basically demands a fantastic explanation, not a 167 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:42,960 mundane one. 168 00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:45,799 Speaker 2: And just as that horror reaches its peak, we get 169 00:08:45,799 --> 00:08:47,840 to the part of the story that makes any historical 170 00:08:47,879 --> 00:08:50,039 investigation immediately frustrating. 171 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: The rapid and let's be honest, very convenient destruction of 172 00:08:53,399 --> 00:08:54,080 all the evidence. 173 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 2: Right the Silver Star's captain, He's faced with this gruesome scene, 174 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:01,600 no discernible cause of death, and he decides the only 175 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,759 logical thing to do is toe the orangmud Dan to 176 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:09,000 a nearby port for a proper forensic investigation. I mean, 177 00:09:09,159 --> 00:09:12,840 the ship itself was outwardly intact. Salvage was possible. 178 00:09:12,519 --> 00:09:14,679 Speaker 1: So they rig the toe lines. But before they could 179 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:16,720 even get Underwegh, disaster strikes. 180 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,919 Speaker 2: Dark ominous smoke starts aggressively billowing from the number four 181 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,639 cargo hold of the Dutch freighter, and the fire spreads fast. 182 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,879 Speaker 1: It forces the rescuers to retreat from the Orangmu Dan. 183 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,240 They barely have time to cut the toe lines before 184 00:09:30,279 --> 00:09:30,840 the ship just. 185 00:09:30,879 --> 00:09:34,080 Speaker 2: Explodes, and not just a small fire. Accounts describe it 186 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,759 exploding with terrifying force. It wasn't a gentle burn. The 187 00:09:37,759 --> 00:09:40,879 blast was so violent it apparently lifted herself from the water. 188 00:09:41,039 --> 00:09:42,879 Speaker 1: Well, what a dramatic image it is. 189 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 2: It suggests a really powerful internal detonation. And after it 190 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,000 lifted up, it plunged back down and just swiftly sank 191 00:09:49,039 --> 00:09:49,840 beneath the waves. 192 00:09:49,919 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: The sinking was immediate and total within minutes. The Orangmudan 193 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,559 vanishes forever into the depths, and it takes with it 194 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:57,519 every single. 195 00:09:57,279 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 2: Clue, the bodies, the cargo, any structural evidence, the environmental 196 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,960 anomalies all gone. All that's left are the highly unsettling 197 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,159 testimonies of the rescue crew. As an investigator, this is 198 00:10:09,159 --> 00:10:11,759 the moment you start to smell a rat. The crime 199 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,279 scene was perfectly incinerated. 200 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,919 Speaker 1: And because this mystery needed a few more dramatic threads 201 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,240 to weave into that post war fabric, a new narrative 202 00:10:20,279 --> 00:10:24,840 emerged about a year later. It introduces a supposed soul survivor, 203 00:10:25,159 --> 00:10:26,879 giving the whole affair a backstory. 204 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 2: This narrative comes primarily from a nineteen forty eight Dutch 205 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,159 newspaper article in De Locomotive, and it sourced its information 206 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,320 from an Italian man named Silvio Shirley, a name you're 207 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,320 gonna want to remember because he is the key to 208 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:40,080 this whole puzzle. 209 00:10:40,159 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: So this sole survivor. Sometimes he's called Jerry Rabbit, which 210 00:10:43,039 --> 00:10:45,159 is a highly dubious name to say it elas, or 211 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,600 sometimes he's just an unnamed German seaman. He allegedly survived 212 00:10:48,639 --> 00:10:51,200 the disaster and was found by an Italian missionary on 213 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,639 tiongi Atoll in the Marshall Islands. 214 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 2: And that location, tiongi Atoll, is geographically central to disproving 215 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:02,320 this entire story, but let's stick with his confession first. 216 00:11:02,759 --> 00:11:06,120 Before dying from his injuries, this German Man reportedly told 217 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,720 his harrowing tale to the missionary, who then related to Shirley. 218 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,039 Speaker 1: And according to this deathbed confession, the Orangmu Dan was 219 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:17,279 on a clandestine operation. The ship had stopped mid voyage 220 00:11:17,279 --> 00:11:20,639 to take on some suspicious cargo loaded from a coastal. 221 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 2: River mouth right coming from what seemed to be military 222 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:27,159 camouflaged huts, very consistent with a black market or covert 223 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:28,320 military exchange. 224 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,639 Speaker 1: Specifically, he claimed the ship was carrying a badly stowed 225 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,440 cargo of oil of vitriol, which is. 226 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 2: Just the old timy name for concentrated sulfuric acid. His theory, 227 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,360 as relayed through Shirley, was that seawater had leaked into 228 00:11:41,399 --> 00:11:44,840 the hold, reacted with this improperly stored acid, and released 229 00:11:44,919 --> 00:11:47,200 powerful poisonous fumes that killed everyone. 230 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,559 Speaker 1: And to make the clandestine operation theory even stronger, the 231 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,480 survivor alleged that the ship was sailing from some unnamed 232 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,559 small Chinese port to Costa Rica, deliberately avoiding all official 233 00:11:57,559 --> 00:11:59,120 registers and authorities. 234 00:11:58,639 --> 00:12:01,879 Speaker 2: Which conveniently explained the lack of documentation. 235 00:12:01,759 --> 00:12:05,279 Speaker 1: Exactly has all the elements of a classic highdrama pulp 236 00:12:05,279 --> 00:12:09,639 fiction story. You got the secret cargo, the lone tormented 237 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,120 survivor dying tragically in the arms of a man of God. 238 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,639 It is, however, that meticulous level of detail, especially the 239 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:21,240 geographical detail, that makes us immediately suspicious. 240 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,639 Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is where we shift from chilling legend 241 00:12:25,039 --> 00:12:29,759 to some pretty rigorous forensic analysis. The primary problem with 242 00:12:29,799 --> 00:12:31,559 the Orang of Adan is that its story is so 243 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:35,600 profoundly compelling, but the ship itself is just absent from 244 00:12:35,639 --> 00:12:36,720 the historical record. 245 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,879 Speaker 1: Completely absent. The story's mense detail contrasts so sharply with 246 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,639 the complete utter lack of verifiable evidence. When we say 247 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,919 lack of evidence, we aren't talking about, you know, patche records. 248 00:12:46,919 --> 00:12:49,159 We're talking about a definitive historical void. 249 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,519 Speaker 2: Let's start with the maritime bible, Lloyd's Shipping Register. This 250 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,279 is the global gold standard for tracking commercial vessels. It's 251 00:12:55,279 --> 00:12:58,320 been around since seventeen sixty four. It records everything about 252 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,639 a ship, construction, ownership, tonnage, its eventual fate. 253 00:13:01,799 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 1: And the Orangmudan is. 254 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 2: A non existent vessel. Maritime historians like Roy Bainton and 255 00:13:07,759 --> 00:13:12,240 Professor Theodore Siersdorfer have spent decades combing through global archives. 256 00:13:12,759 --> 00:13:18,360 It is not in Lloyd's Shipping Register. They've checked Dutch registries, Singaporean, Indonesian. 257 00:13:18,919 --> 00:13:21,559 There is simply no record of a vessel by that name. 258 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: No construction details, no crew manifests, no insurance claims, and crucially, 259 00:13:26,919 --> 00:13:29,519 no official wrec records have ever been found. 260 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 2: The only photo that was ever published of it, which 261 00:13:32,039 --> 00:13:35,279 appeared in that nineteen forty eight Dutch newspaper, was almost 262 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,039 certainly just a generic stock photo, even though the caption 263 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,840 insisted It was the Irang Maudan right before. 264 00:13:40,639 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: It sank, and the name itself Urang Mudan from m Dan. 265 00:13:43,799 --> 00:13:47,600 It's essentially a regional identifier. It roosted in Sumatra's geography, 266 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,120 giving it that air of local authenticity. But even in 267 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,679 the Netherlands, it's supposed flag country investigators true a total blank. 268 00:13:54,879 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 2: The fact that its name is its only proof is 269 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:57,759 pretty telling. 270 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: So what about these supposed rescuers The Maria Rican silver Star. 271 00:14:00,919 --> 00:14:01,639 That was a real ship. 272 00:14:01,759 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 2: It was a real vessel, yes, owned by Gracelines of 273 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:08,240 New York, but its involvement in this narrative is historically impossible. 274 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:11,879 Researchers who have analyzed the Silver Star's official logs found 275 00:14:11,919 --> 00:14:16,080 no record whatsoever of this dramatic encounter. A logbook entry 276 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:20,080 for finding dozens of corpses witnessing a spectacular explosion and 277 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,200 a ship sinking that would be an undeniable, high priority 278 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,759 event that a captain would meticulously record. 279 00:14:26,919 --> 00:14:27,879 Speaker 1: And it's just not there. 280 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 2: It is simply not there, and even more damning. By 281 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,360 the alleged date of the incident nineteen forty seven or 282 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,600 forty eight, the Silver Star had undergone some changes. Its 283 00:14:37,679 --> 00:14:40,240 history is a bit complex, but the crucial fact is 284 00:14:40,279 --> 00:14:44,440 its operational location. By nineteen forty eight, the vessel, which 285 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:48,919 had been renamed the SS Santa Cecilia, was reportedly operating 286 00:14:48,919 --> 00:14:50,840 on shipping lanes near Brazil. 287 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:53,639 Speaker 1: Brazil, thousands of miles away from the Straits of Malacca. 288 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 2: Exactly. That geographical incompatibility just completely pulls the rug out 289 00:14:58,039 --> 00:15:00,919 from under the entire rescue narrative. If the rescue ship 290 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,639 wasn't where the incident supposedly happened, the whole core event 291 00:15:03,679 --> 00:15:06,399 relies solely on that initial distress. 292 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: Call, the distress call, which itself is highly suspicious. 293 00:15:08,919 --> 00:15:12,399 Speaker 2: Very and that lone survivor narrative we mentioned geographically is 294 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:13,320 just absurd. 295 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: Okay, let's dissect the impossibility of Jerry Rabbit's journey to 296 00:15:16,519 --> 00:15:17,279 Tungi Atoll. 297 00:15:17,519 --> 00:15:20,639 Speaker 2: Right, So, if the incident happened in the Straits of Malacca, 298 00:15:20,759 --> 00:15:23,799 the journey for a survivor, you know, clinging to some 299 00:15:24,039 --> 00:15:27,679 flotsam to reach tongy Ashole in the Marshall Islands is 300 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,840 roughly five thousand miles in a straight line. 301 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: A near impossible distance to traverse without navigation resources or supplies. Yeah, 302 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:37,399 especially in that timeframe. 303 00:15:37,559 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 2: It strains all credulity and navigational roads would add even 304 00:15:41,279 --> 00:15:44,720 more mileage. But even if you set aside the staggering distance, 305 00:15:44,799 --> 00:15:47,679 the existence of a missionary station on tongy A Toll 306 00:15:47,799 --> 00:15:49,000 is highly improbable. 307 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: Why is that. 308 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,639 Speaker 2: Tongy Atoll is tiny, it's uninhabited, and crucially it lacks 309 00:15:53,639 --> 00:15:58,080 fresh water. It just couldn't sustain a long term missionary station. Historically, 310 00:15:58,159 --> 00:16:01,120 even the seasoned Japanese soldiers set up an outpost there 311 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,159 during the war struggled with resource scarcity and had to 312 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:05,000 be evacuated. 313 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,279 Speaker 1: So the core element of the survivor's story, the deathbed 314 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:12,480 confession to a missionary, is geographically impossible, and it just 315 00:16:12,519 --> 00:16:16,159 feels structurally designed to give this religious gravitas to an 316 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:17,519 unverifiable tale. 317 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 2: Exactly, But despite this mountain of evidence proving the incident 318 00:16:20,919 --> 00:16:23,919 never happened, the story still managed to infiltrate the highest 319 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:25,559 levels of government and intelligence. 320 00:16:25,799 --> 00:16:29,519 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is fascinating. Little footnote a declassified nineteen fifty 321 00:16:29,639 --> 00:16:32,919 nine CIA memo from C. H. Mark Junior, who was 322 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,320 an assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence. 323 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 2: He specifically mentioned the frenzied SOS call, and Mark asked 324 00:16:39,519 --> 00:16:42,080 if the story dealt with something from the unknown. He 325 00:16:42,159 --> 00:16:45,519 even stated with some confidence that he felt sure the 326 00:16:45,639 --> 00:16:48,759 ss R rang Medan tragedy holds the answer to many 327 00:16:48,759 --> 00:16:51,519 of these airplane accidents and unsolved mysteries of the sea. 328 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:54,919 Speaker 1: Wow, So why would the CIA be interested in an 329 00:16:55,039 --> 00:16:59,200 unsubstantiated ghost story a decade after it allegedly happened. 330 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 2: Well, it's us. The narrative, even if it was fake, 331 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:06,039 aligned perfectly with genuine ongoing post war concerns, concerns about 332 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:10,359 disappearing vessels, invisible chemical threats, maybe unconventional Soviet or captured 333 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,920 access technology. The story felt plausible in the Cold War climate. 334 00:17:14,039 --> 00:17:16,759 Speaker 1: It just shows the story's incredible stain power. It went 335 00:17:16,799 --> 00:17:20,680 from sensationalist newspaper fodder to a piece of institutional record. 336 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 2: It really did. It got an air of official legitimacy 337 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,000 when it was reprinted in the US Coast Guard Proceedings 338 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,680 of the Merchant Marine Council in nineteen fifty two. And 339 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:33,880 that is how folklore gets confused with fact when respected 340 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,359 journals start treating a legend as an actual report. 341 00:17:36,559 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: Okay, this brings us to the crucial part of our investigation, 342 00:17:39,839 --> 00:17:43,119 the archival detective work that gives us that aha moment. 343 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:46,759 If the ship didn't exist and the rescue was impossible, 344 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:50,359 where did this tale actually come from? And who was 345 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:52,039 the masterful storyteller behind it. 346 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:55,799 Speaker 2: This investigation is largely credited to researchers like Estelle Hargraves 347 00:17:55,839 --> 00:17:59,279 and Roy Bainton, who used the power of digitized archives, 348 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,480 and what they found found immediately undercut that nineteen forty 349 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,039 seven forty eight timeline. 350 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:05,759 Speaker 1: The story was published years earlier. 351 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 2: Years We're talking nineteen forty, a full seven years before 352 00:18:09,039 --> 00:18:12,200 the alleged States of Malacca incident. It first appeared in 353 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,720 Italian and UK newspapers like The Daily Mirror and The 354 00:18:14,799 --> 00:18:17,640 Yorkshire Evening Post in November nineteen forty. 355 00:18:17,759 --> 00:18:20,079 Speaker 1: And in that nineteen forty version the details were very 356 00:18:20,079 --> 00:18:22,039 different right he shows the tale was still in its 357 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:24,119 sort of embryonic stage. 358 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,599 Speaker 2: Very different. The ship was placed thousands of miles away 359 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,960 near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, and more importantly, 360 00:18:30,079 --> 00:18:34,240 the distress call lacked that dramatic finality. The sos stated 361 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,640 SOS from the steamship or Ragmadan begships with shortwave wireless 362 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,079 get touched doctor urgent. 363 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:44,920 Speaker 1: A call for a doctor and the follow up message 364 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,680 focused entirely on medical distress and a specific need for 365 00:18:48,759 --> 00:18:52,160 military help, which is really telling for a wartime environment. 366 00:18:52,319 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 2: It is it said, probable second officer dead, other members 367 00:18:56,079 --> 00:19:01,079 crew also killed, disregard medical consultation, SOS urgent assistance, warship 368 00:19:01,559 --> 00:19:05,519 and this version ended with the incomplete, much less dramatic phrase. 369 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,759 Speaker 1: Crew has so notice the critical difference there. The specific 370 00:19:08,839 --> 00:19:11,400 mention of a warship in nineteen forty was highly relevant 371 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,920 during the early stages of World War II. It implies 372 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:15,759 naval action or maybe a threat from an. 373 00:19:15,759 --> 00:19:18,559 Speaker 2: Enemy sub right, and the later nineteen forty eight version 374 00:19:18,599 --> 00:19:21,400 of the story completely drops the warship detail. It replaces 375 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,839 it with the simpler, much more chilling I Die, which 376 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,039 better fit that post war narrative of hidden chemical threats 377 00:19:27,079 --> 00:19:28,799 rather than outright military combat. 378 00:19:29,079 --> 00:19:32,880 Speaker 1: This trail of publication dates in shifting details. It leads 379 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,359 directly to the one common thread that links the pre 380 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:38,839 war rumor to the highly embellished post war spectacle. 381 00:19:39,039 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 2: The man responsible for the story's creation and propagation, Sylvia Shirley, 382 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:46,240 the same guy, the same guy. The dateline for those 383 00:19:46,319 --> 00:19:50,599 nineteen forty associated press reports originated in Trieste, Italy and 384 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,720 Sylvia Shirley, an individual known to be from Trieste, was 385 00:19:53,759 --> 00:19:57,519 the acknowledged and repeated source for the later, highly embellished 386 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,480 nineteen forty eight Dutch newspaper article. He even published another 387 00:20:01,559 --> 00:20:04,519 article himself about the Orang Madan in nineteen fifty nine, 388 00:20:04,759 --> 00:20:07,240 showing this decade long commitment to his tale. 389 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,519 Speaker 1: So Shirley was clearly enthusiastic almost quit proprietorial about this yarn. 390 00:20:11,799 --> 00:20:14,359 The nineteen forty eight version basically took his initial nineteen 391 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,680 forty concept. He shifted the location to the Malacca Strait, 392 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,680 which makes the man from Bdan name logical. He invented 393 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,519 the sole survivor who conveniently dies after telling the missionary 394 00:20:23,559 --> 00:20:26,640 the secret cargo backstory, and most importantly, he engineered the 395 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,559 SOS message to achieve that succinct, chilling climax. 396 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,799 Speaker 2: Hi Doug and the geographic hopscotching is key to understanding 397 00:20:33,799 --> 00:20:36,839 his method. He moved the story from the remote Solomon 398 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,519 Islands to the bustling, well known trade route of the 399 00:20:39,519 --> 00:20:43,960 Malacca Strait. This localization made the story feel far more 400 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,519 credible to the Dutch Indonesian newspaper readership. They were primed 401 00:20:48,559 --> 00:20:51,920 for tales of covert shipping and smuggling right after the 402 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:53,559 Dutch East Indies conflict. 403 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,160 Speaker 1: It shows he wasn't just telling a story, he was 404 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,440 adapting it for his market. He understood how to leverage 405 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,160 current events, the fear of black market activity, and unrecorded 406 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,200 chips to give his creation legs. 407 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,839 Speaker 2: And crucially, even the Dutch paper that printed the Embellished 408 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,519 nineteen forty eight series had severe doubts about it. They 409 00:21:12,559 --> 00:21:15,759 felt they had to print a pretty significant disclaimer, which 410 00:21:15,799 --> 00:21:17,880 is often lost in all the retellings. 411 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:18,799 Speaker 1: What did say? 412 00:21:18,839 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 2: They stated, this is the last part of our story 413 00:21:21,519 --> 00:21:24,599 about the mystery of the Orangmadan. We must repeat that 414 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,720 we don't have any other data on this mystery of 415 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,759 the sea, nor can we answer the many unanswered questions. 416 00:21:30,079 --> 00:21:32,880 It may seem obvious that the entire story is a fantasy, 417 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:34,480 A thrilling romance of the sea. 418 00:21:34,839 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: Wow, a thrilling romance of the sea. That disclaimer is 419 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,519 the ultimate proof that the paper knew it was likely fiction, 420 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,200 but the story was just too good to pass up. 421 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,119 Speaker 2: They published it anyway, and even with that massive caveat, 422 00:21:49,319 --> 00:21:52,319 the paper still had to include Shirley's assurance. On the 423 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,839 other hand, the author Silvio Shirley assures us of the 424 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:57,400 authenticity of the story. 425 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: So the conclusion reached by most skeptics, including Roy Bainton, 426 00:22:01,599 --> 00:22:03,799 who spent a lot of time on this, is that 427 00:22:03,839 --> 00:22:07,720 the entire narrative is just a masterfully created yarn. 428 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 2: Or a sophisticated and highly effective hoax orchestrated by Shirley. 429 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,599 He was possibly a former seaman himself who knew just 430 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,319 enough nautical jargon to make all the details sound plausible. 431 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:20,519 He just leveraged the postwar chaos where record keeping was 432 00:22:20,559 --> 00:22:23,039 patchy and the public was primed to believe in hidden 433 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:23,960 military tech. 434 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: So the most terrifying thing about the Orang Madan might 435 00:22:27,039 --> 00:22:29,640 just be the sheer power of an invented tale to 436 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:32,160 rewrite history and infiltrate official records. 437 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,880 Speaker 2: Now we've established to our satisfaction that the historical record 438 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:41,559 points pretty definitively to a hoax by Sylvia Shirley. However, 439 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,640 the story is so compelling that researchers continue to apply 440 00:22:45,759 --> 00:22:50,240 scientific and speculative theories to explain that death scene if 441 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:51,799 the event were real, And. 442 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,920 Speaker 1: This is the important distinction. We are now moving beyond 443 00:22:54,920 --> 00:23:00,799 the historical investigation and into pure scientific speculation operating under 444 00:23:00,839 --> 00:23:04,359 the highly theoretical premise that the Silver Star cruise testimony, 445 00:23:04,559 --> 00:23:08,640 the frozen faces, the cold decks, the explosion was all accurate. 446 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,039 So what unseen killer could have done this? 447 00:23:11,559 --> 00:23:15,440 Speaker 2: Let's start with the strongest, most scientifically grounded hypothesis. This 448 00:23:15,559 --> 00:23:18,000 is the one that tries to rationalize the unexplained death, 449 00:23:18,079 --> 00:23:20,359 the lack of trauma, and the explosive. 450 00:23:19,839 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: Sinking the hazardous chemical cargo theory exactly. 451 00:23:23,319 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 2: This theory posits that the Orangmudan was engaged in a 452 00:23:26,319 --> 00:23:30,640 highly illicit smuggling operation carrying dangerous chemical agents, maybe from 453 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,920 post WWII stockpiles that were on the black market. Its 454 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:35,440 lack of registration was its. 455 00:23:35,279 --> 00:23:37,720 Speaker 1: Protection, and the specific agents that get mentioned are things 456 00:23:37,759 --> 00:23:39,880 like potassium cyanide and nitroglycerin. 457 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:45,079 Speaker 2: Right, early researchers like Automilkea mentioned potassium cyanide or xeoncali 458 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:48,960 and highly volatile nitroglycerin, and of course the sulfuric acid 459 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,119 from the survivor story. 460 00:23:50,279 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 1: So let's focus on the mechanism of death. If cyanide 461 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,920 was involved, the hypothesis needs seawater to get into the hold, right, 462 00:23:57,319 --> 00:23:59,920 maybe through rough seas or just poor maintenance. 463 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,640 Speaker 2: Right, and seawater reacts with potassium cyanide to release hydrogen 464 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:08,200 cyanide gas, or HCN. It's a profoundly potent and invisible 465 00:24:08,319 --> 00:24:12,720 chemical asphyxiatet. HCN works by binding to an enzyme in 466 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,559 our cells mitochondria. Essentially, it starves the cells of oxygen, 467 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,200 preventing cellular respiration even though your body has plenty of 468 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:22,000 oxygen in its bloodstream, so. 469 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,240 Speaker 1: It leads to extremely rapid cellular death. The crew would 470 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,799 have suffered instant collapse, then convulsions, and then death within minutes, 471 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,160 often without any visible wounds. 472 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,599 Speaker 2: And that mechanism explains the mass demize, the death at 473 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,480 their posts, and why the bodies were outwardly intact. The 474 00:24:36,599 --> 00:24:40,079 extreme agony and convulsions associated with this kind of acute 475 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:43,720 asphyxiation the body just desperate for air could certainly account 476 00:24:43,759 --> 00:24:46,720 for those contorted, horrified facial expressions. 477 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,440 Speaker 1: The agonizing physical manifestations of the crew fighting for a 478 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:51,319 breath that would. 479 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:52,160 Speaker 2: Not come exactly. 480 00:24:52,319 --> 00:24:54,680 Speaker 1: And what about the explosion that just wiped the ship away. 481 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 2: The nitroglycerine hypothesis handles that perfectly. If the ship was 482 00:24:58,759 --> 00:25:02,960 also carrying unstable explosives like nitroglycerin, maybe in liquid form. 483 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:08,640 Contamination by seawater, especially warm tropical seawater, could easily destabilize it. 484 00:25:09,039 --> 00:25:12,400 That would cause a massive, rapid explosion that aligns perfectly 485 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,240 with the accounts of the ship lifting out of the 486 00:25:14,279 --> 00:25:15,680 water before sinking. 487 00:25:16,079 --> 00:25:19,039 Speaker 1: This theory, while it's still speculative, it really connects all 488 00:25:19,079 --> 00:25:21,720 the dots, the lack of trauma, the rapid death, and 489 00:25:21,759 --> 00:25:26,160 the destructive ending. We should probably note that carbon monoxide poisoning, 490 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,799 which is often suggested, doesn't really fit, does it. 491 00:25:29,039 --> 00:25:32,119 Speaker 2: No, not really. Carbon monoxide is a silent killer. It 492 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,079 causes confusion and weakness, but it doesn't typically induce those sharp, 493 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,920 terror filled expressions or convulsions. And plus CO would have 494 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,160 been quickly ventilated from crew members who are found on 495 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,440 the open deck. The frozen grimaces lean much more toward 496 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,559 the acute, agony inducing convulsions caused by something like cyanide 497 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:51,000 or nerve gas. 498 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,559 Speaker 1: And that leads us to the darker sub theory, the 499 00:25:53,599 --> 00:25:57,359 nerve gas cover up, which places the Irong Madan right 500 00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,640 in the center of postwar military secrecy. 501 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,319 Speaker 2: This theory suggests the ship was secretly transporting a consignment 502 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,480 of deadly Japanese chemical weapons maybe nerve agents like taboon 503 00:26:07,599 --> 00:26:10,839 or sarin, seized by the US military after the war. 504 00:26:11,599 --> 00:26:15,200 These were agents developed by notorious facilities like Japan's Units 505 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:16,279 seven thirty one, And. 506 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: The crucial political element here is that the US military 507 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,559 secretly granted immunity the head of Unit seven thirty one, 508 00:26:21,599 --> 00:26:25,359 shiro Ishi, in exchange for exclusive access to all his 509 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,039 horrific biological and chemical weapons findings. 510 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 2: Right, so, transporting these agents would violate international treaties like 511 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,160 the Geneva Convention. That would necessitate a complete cover up 512 00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:38,079 and erasure of all records, which is a perfect explanation 513 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:39,440 for a non existent ship. 514 00:26:39,599 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: A nerve gas release would flood the ship. These agents 515 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:47,640 attack the central nervous system, causing uncontrollable muscular spasms, paralysis, 516 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,200 respiratory failure, all within moments that. 517 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:54,599 Speaker 2: Would absolutely result in the described contorted muscular postures, the 518 00:26:54,799 --> 00:26:58,480 arms outstretched, the mouth scaping, and the extremely rapid death 519 00:26:58,599 --> 00:27:02,200 without physical trauma. And the complete lack of records then 520 00:27:02,279 --> 00:27:05,640 becomes not an indication of a hoax, but proof of 521 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,880 a high level government operation gone catastrophically wrong. 522 00:27:09,079 --> 00:27:12,359 Speaker 1: Okay, so beyond man made chemical mishaps, there are some 523 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,559 non cargo explanations rooted in natural phenomena, tapping into that 524 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:18,799 deep a knowability of the ocean. 525 00:27:19,079 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 2: One very intriguing theory involves methane hydrates. These are massive 526 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,640 ice like cages of frozen methane gas that are trapped 527 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,519 beneath the seabed, often in areas of deep water, like 528 00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:33,480 near the Malaca Strait. A sudden seismic event or a 529 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,480 shift in temperature could destabilize them. 530 00:27:35,519 --> 00:27:38,519 Speaker 1: So if the seabed released a massive volume of methane gas, 531 00:27:38,799 --> 00:27:42,440 it can just engulf the ship in an invisible, suffocating cloud, 532 00:27:42,559 --> 00:27:44,279 displacing all the breathable. 533 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 2: Oxygen, which would cause instant suffocation, leaving no marks on 534 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,359 the bodies. And critically, methane is highly flammable, so once 535 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:52,720 that gas cloud dispersed a little and mixed with air, 536 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,839 the slightest spark a short circuit friction could ignite it, 537 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,839 resulting in a rapid, powerful explosion. 538 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: Perfectly mirroring the dramatic sinking. It's a mechanism that explains 539 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,279 the rapid, nonviolent death and the explosion it does. 540 00:28:06,519 --> 00:28:09,519 Speaker 2: And then there's the truly strange natural theory. 541 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: Infrasound infrasound waves. These are low frequency sound waves below 542 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:15,720 what we can hear exactly. 543 00:28:15,759 --> 00:28:19,359 Speaker 2: We can't consciously hear them, but powerful sources in nature, 544 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:23,480 like massive waves or strong winds funneled through canyons, can 545 00:28:23,599 --> 00:28:29,160 generate infrasound that's capable of causing serious physiological and psychological effects. 546 00:28:28,799 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: In humans, things like disorientation, severe anxiety, nausea, and in 547 00:28:33,319 --> 00:28:37,400 really high intensity situations, panic attacks, and even physical resonance 548 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,960 with internal organs. It could potentially lead to fear induced 549 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:41,839 cardiac arrest. 550 00:28:42,039 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 2: A prolonged exposure to strong infrasound coming from the sea 551 00:28:45,319 --> 00:28:49,039 could theoretically cause a mass psychological breakdown, resulting in those 552 00:28:49,119 --> 00:28:53,079 terrified expressions and synchronous cardiac events. But of course direct 553 00:28:53,119 --> 00:28:55,680 evidence of that happening at that specific time in place 554 00:28:55,759 --> 00:28:56,599 is non existent. 555 00:28:56,759 --> 00:28:59,480 Speaker 1: So it's a powerful explanation for the terror, but a 556 00:28:59,519 --> 00:29:02,480 weak one for the explosion. And finally, we have to 557 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:06,720 pay tribute to the highly specific, deeply entertaining, and utterly 558 00:29:06,839 --> 00:29:08,279 fringe zombie theory. 559 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,759 Speaker 2: You have to This theory draws directly from the suspicious 560 00:29:11,839 --> 00:29:14,240 nature of that cargo loaded at the river mouth. You 561 00:29:14,279 --> 00:29:17,359 see it in fringe online journals. It suggests that the 562 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:21,279 mysterious cargo with the apparent military background was related to 563 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,599 secret military life after death projects or bioweaponry. 564 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,319 Speaker 1: The anxiety around military bioweapons during the Cold War made 565 00:29:29,319 --> 00:29:32,839 this narrative just structurally perfect. The theory posits that the 566 00:29:32,839 --> 00:29:37,000 military was developing serums for soldiers, not necessarily to bring 567 00:29:37,039 --> 00:29:40,319 back the dead, but maybe to manufacture a massive adrenaline 568 00:29:40,359 --> 00:29:43,200 release or modify the brain to create hyper aggressive, pain 569 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:44,480 immune soldiers, and the. 570 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 2: Side effects naturally manifested as uncontrollable aggression and an appetite 571 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,839 for human flesh, in other words, true zombie behavior. The 572 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,599 military would need a hidden staging area like a coastal 573 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,079 river mouth, away from official ports to keep this tech hidden. 574 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: So the theory suggests two of these dangerous zombie boxes 575 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,759 were loaded onto the Irang Madan. At some point, maybe 576 00:30:06,839 --> 00:30:10,079 due to rough seas. The boxes break open and the 577 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:14,680 crew is then confronted by this unimaginable, shabbily dressed enemy, 578 00:30:14,759 --> 00:30:15,480 and the terror. 579 00:30:15,359 --> 00:30:18,119 Speaker 2: That froze their faces is rationalized by the sheer shock 580 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,680 of seeing an animated dead corpse shambling towards them. The 581 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,119 instantaneous death theory is slightly modified here. Maybe they died 582 00:30:25,119 --> 00:30:27,519 from shock, or maybe they were just unconscious, their bite 583 00:30:27,519 --> 00:30:28,759 wounds hidden or small. 584 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: And the final convenient. 585 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,759 Speaker 2: Destruction that's attributed to a wandering, undead creature. A zombie 586 00:30:34,759 --> 00:30:38,200 stumbling aimlessly in the ship's lower decks crashes into an 587 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,559 electric light, shattering it. The cracked light eventually sets the 588 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,759 zombies' ripped clothing on fire, and the mindlessly burning creature 589 00:30:44,839 --> 00:30:47,519 spreads the flames to the fuel compartment boom. 590 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,240 Speaker 1: The ship explodes and sinks, eliminating the evidence and the 591 00:30:51,319 --> 00:30:52,559 zombie threat all at once. 592 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,599 Speaker 2: It's a testament to the evocative power of the original 593 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:59,400 narrative that it can support theories ranging from sophisticated chemical 594 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,839 warfare covers er ups all the way to military grade zombies. 595 00:31:03,359 --> 00:31:05,559 The story's gaps are so large they can be filled 596 00:31:05,559 --> 00:31:07,680 by any collective fear do you want to throw at it? 597 00:31:08,119 --> 00:31:10,359 Speaker 1: So, as we wrap up this very chilling thread on 598 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,720 the Orang Madan, we're left with this fundamental tension. We 599 00:31:13,759 --> 00:31:17,400 have a haunting, detailed story of mass death by sheer terror, 600 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:22,079 the frozen faces that final desperate message, I die. But 601 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,519 we also have meticulously documented archival inconsistencies. 602 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,599 Speaker 2: In a single source Silvio Shirley, who is responsible for 603 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:30,799 its entire propagation over decades. 604 00:31:31,359 --> 00:31:34,880 Speaker 1: The forensic reality defined by the total absence of Alloyd's registration, 605 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:38,720 the impossible geography, the Tongian Tol survivor tale, and those 606 00:31:38,799 --> 00:31:42,720 pre war nineteen forty publication dates. It all points definitively 607 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,119 toward a sophisticated and highly effective hoax. The physical wreck, 608 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:48,160 if it ever existed at all, is gone. 609 00:31:48,319 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 2: Yet the irang medon indoors, and that's the true deep 610 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,640 dive here. It survives not because we can prove it 611 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,839 was real, but because Shirley created the perfect vessel for 612 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,680 all of our collective post war anxiety. It contains fears 613 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,480 of invisible chemical killers, the specter of sees Japanese weapons 614 00:32:05,519 --> 00:32:08,640 from Unit seven thirty one, Cold War government secrets, and. 615 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: Just the terrifying unknowability of the deep ocean that swallows 616 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:13,119 all secrets. 617 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 2: And we can't forget how the story went from just 618 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:19,400 sensationalist newspaper fodder into institutional record. Its inclusion in the 619 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,119 US Coast Guard's proceedings in nineteen fifty two gave it 620 00:32:22,119 --> 00:32:26,079 the ultimate air of official legitimacy, and that then became 621 00:32:26,079 --> 00:32:28,640 a source cited by later researchers who just assumed the 622 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,200 Coastguard had verified all the details, the fact. 623 00:32:31,039 --> 00:32:33,079 Speaker 1: That the story was potent enough to move from a 624 00:32:33,279 --> 00:32:36,119 thrilling romance of the sea, as the Dutch paper called it, 625 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,599 all the way into a nineteen fifty nine CIA memo 626 00:32:38,599 --> 00:32:41,359 where a director's assistant wondered if it holds the answer 627 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:43,400 to many of these airplane accidents. That just shows the 628 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:47,920 narrative's incredible staying power, the psychological impact of those frozen faces. 629 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:48,880 It's just immense. 630 00:32:49,279 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 2: Ultimately, the researchers who proved the hoax, like Estelle Hargraves. 631 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,759 They remind us that the most terrifying aspect of the 632 00:32:55,759 --> 00:32:59,240 Orangmudan is not the possibility of a ghost ship, but 633 00:32:59,279 --> 00:33:02,440 the ease which a single man in Triesque, Italy could 634 00:33:02,559 --> 00:33:05,359 use the sensational details of terror and a perfectly timed 635 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:08,839 explosion to convince the world and even official bodies that 636 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:09,519 it was real. 637 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,559 Speaker 1: He leveraged the chaos and paranoia of a post war 638 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:16,160 world with just surgical precision. The blending of these potent 639 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,880 dark themes is why this legend sails on in the 640 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,839 shadowy waters of folklore. Long after genuine maritime disasters have 641 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:24,160 faded from public memory. 642 00:33:24,359 --> 00:33:25,799 Speaker 2: And that leads us to our final thought. 643 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,359 Speaker 1: For you to ponder, if the Irrangmudan was a deliberate 644 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:32,559 fabrication written and embellished by Sylvia Shirley, why do you 645 00:33:32,599 --> 00:33:36,039 think this specific story, with its frozen faces, mysterious chill, 646 00:33:36,079 --> 00:33:39,160 and that perfect vanishing act from the explosion, was so 647 00:33:39,279 --> 00:33:42,480 much more successful at infiltrating official records and enduring in 648 00:33:42,519 --> 00:33:45,720 global culture that any other thrilling romance of the sea 649 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,319 published during that paranoid post war era. Was it the 650 00:33:49,359 --> 00:33:52,960 specific trauma of the terrifying expression, the psychological shock of 651 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,640 the unknown killer, or just the neat convenience of the 652 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,599 explosion that eliminated all skepticism? 653 00:33:58,039 --> 00:34:00,359 Speaker 2: What stands out to you is the most powerful element 654 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,440 of this masterful hopes. Let us know what you think. 655 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on this very chilling thread.