Missing: Ten Mysterious Disappearances Quiz

Answer: Insignia worn by the Order of St. Patrick

The Irish Crown Jewels were actually badges and insignia which were worn by members of the Order of St. Patrick, Ireland's highest order of chivalry. They weren't crowns at all despite the name. The set included a diamond star, a diamond badge, and five gold collars decorated with precious stones. These items were created in the 1830s and were of extreme value both financially and historically.

The jewels were kept in Dublin Castle under secure conditions. On July 6, 1907, just days before a royal visit by King Edward VII, officials discovered they had vanished from a locked safe. The theft caused a huge scandal. Extensive investigations followed, but the jewels were never recovered.

Nobody was ever convicted of the theft, though several people fell under suspicion. The mystery remains unsolved.

Answer: The Joyita

The Joyita was a merchant vessel that left Samoa in October 1955 with 25 passengers and crew aboard. When the ship failed to arrive at its destination, a massive search began across the Pacific Ocean. Five weeks later, another vessel spotted the Joyita drifting abandoned about 600 miles off course. The ship was partially flooded but still seaworthy enough to stay afloat, but every person aboard had vanished without a trace.

The ship's logbook, navigational equipment, and lifeboats were missing, but there was no sign of what happened to the people. Some supplies remained on board, and the radio was tuned to the international distress frequency but appeared to have malfunctioned.

Despite investigations and theories ranging from piracy to mutiny, no bodies were ever found.

Answer: Roanoke Colony

The Roanoke Colony was established on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina in 1587. It was England's second attempt to create a permanent settlement in the New World. The colony's leader, John White, returned to England for supplies, but war with Spain delayed his return for three years. When he finally made it back to Roanoke in 1590, he found the settlement completely deserted with no signs of struggle or violence.

The only clue to the colonists' fate was the word 'CROATOAN' carved into a wooden post and the letters 'CRO' carved into a nearby tree. Croatoan was the name of a nearby island and also the name of a friendly Native American tribe. White tried to search for the colonists but bad weather forced him to abandon the effort.

It's thought the colonists might have integrated with local tribes or died from disease or starvation. The disappearance of over 100 men, women, and children remains one of America's oldest unsolved mysteries.

Answer: Being loaded onto a US Marine train

The Peking Man fossils were important archaeological discoveries made in China during the 1920s and 1930s. These remains of Homo erectus, dating back hundreds of thousands of years, provided crucial evidence about human evolution. The fossils were kept at the Peking Union Medical College in Beijing. When Japan invaded China during World War II, scientists knew they needed to evacuate them to safety.

In December 1941, the fossils were carefully packed into wooden crates and handed over to US Marines who were meant to transport them to America for safekeeping. Witnesses reported seeing the crates being loaded onto a train heading to the port city of Qinhuangdao. However, the fossils never made it aboard the ship. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, chaos erupted and the fossils vanished completely.

Nobody has ever been able to say with certainty what happened to the Peking Man fossils.

Answer: United States

The Honjo Masamune was one of Japan's most treasured national artefacts. It was a katana sword crafted by the legendary swordsmith Masamune in the 13th or 14th century. The sword was considered a masterpiece of Japanese sword-making and had been owned by the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan's ruling military family, for over 250 years. After World War II ended, the American occupation forces ordered all Japanese citizens to surrender their weapons, including historic swords.

In December 1945, the Honjo Masamune was handed over to American soldiers at a police station. The sword was given to an American serviceman identified only as Sgt. Coldy Bimore, but no military records confirm anyone with that exact name existed. From that point on, the sword completely vanished.

There were extensive searches by the Japanese government and sword enthusiasts worldwide, but the Honjo Masamune has never been found.

Answer: Poland

As World War II drew to a close in 1945, rumours spread that the Nazis had hidden a train loaded with gold, jewels, and looted treasures in tunnels near Wałbrzych, Poland. According to local legend, the train was heading from what is now Wrocław when it entered a tunnel system and never emerged. The story persisted for decades, with various treasure hunters and historians attempting to verify whether the train actually existed.

In 2015, two men using ground-penetrating radar claimed they had located the train and could prove its existence beneath the ground. The announcement sparked international media attention and brought treasure hunters flooding to the area. Polish authorities conducted extensive searches and investigations, but found nothing.

Most historians now believe the Nazi gold train is likely just a legend with no basis in fact. However, the story continues to attract attention and occasional new claims of discovery, which keep the mystery alive.

Answer: Bermeja Island

Bermeja Island appeared on maps for centuries. It showed a small landmass in the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula. Spanish maps from the 1500s onwards marked its location, and it was included in official Mexican territorial documents. The island seemed to be a well-established geographical feature that nobody questioned. However, when Mexico tried to use Bermeja to extend its territorial waters and claim offshore oil rights in the 1990s, surveyors made a startling discovery.

They searched for it extensively using modern satellite imagery and underwater surveys, but no trace of the island could be found. The location where it supposedly existed showed only open water with no shallow areas or submerged landmass.

Some conspiracy theories suggest the CIA destroyed the island to prevent Mexico from claiming oil resources. More likely explanations point to historical mapping errors or natural erosion. The mystery of Bermeja remains unsolved.

Answer: Greek tanker

Built in 1952, the MV Milton Iatridis was a Greek tanker ship. It was a commercial vessel designed for transporting oil and other liquid cargo across international waters. The ship was diesel-powered and considered modern and seaworthy for its time. On November 28, 1969, the Milton Iatridis was travelling on a routine voyage when it vanished.

Weather conditions at the time of the disappearance remain unclear. No distress signal was ever received from the ship, and no wreckage was ever found despite extensive searches. It disappeared completely along with its entire crew to explain what happened.

The Milton Iatridis was officially listed as missing and remains one of many ships that have vanished at sea without leaving any trace behind.

Answer: Angola

On May 25, 2003, a Boeing 727 passenger aircraft taxied onto the runway at Luanda Airport in Angola without clearance or permission, and took off. The plane had American registration number N844AA and was parked at the airport undergoing maintenance work. An American pilot named Ben Charles Padilla was aboard along with a mechanic, but neither man was authorised to fly the aircraft. Despite this, the plane took off with its transponder switched off and all lights extinguished.

The Boeing 727 vanished completely after takeoff and has never been seen again. No wreckage has ever been found, no distress signals were received, and neither of the men aboard has been heard from since. The US government launched investigations and satellite searches but found nothing. How someone could hide or dispose of such a large commercial aircraft remains baffling.

Theories range from the plane crashing into the ocean to being landed at a remote airstrip and dismantled for parts, but without any evidence, the fate of the stolen Boeing 727 remains a mystery.

Answer: The Piri Reis Map

The Piri Reis Map was created in 1513 by Ottoman admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. Historical records confirm that he produced a complete world map showing all known continents and oceans of that era. The map was based on multiple sources including older maps, sailor reports, and possibly charts from Christopher Columbus's voyages. Only about one-third of the original map survives today, which shows the Atlantic Ocean coastlines of Europe, Africa, and South America.

The surviving fragment was rediscovered in 1929 in the Topkapi Palace library in Istanbul, which created excitement among historians and geographers. However, the remaining two-thirds of the map, which would have shown the Pacific Ocean, Asia, and other regions, has completely vanished. Ottoman records indicate the full map existed for some time after its creation, but at some point, the other sections were either destroyed or lost.

There have been extensive searches through libraries, archives, and private collections worldwide, but the missing portions have never been found. What happened to the rest of the map remains unknown.