hantom Mystery Ship

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Lake Lilliland, located in the center of Lilliland, was quite large and very deep. In its depth were many mysterious items from the past that, when found, often puzzled the experts as to how they came to be in the lake.

It was reported to the Baron that a sunken sailing ship was spotted along the bottom of the lake. It seemed to be moving from the darkest depths to a more shallow position in the lake. Divers were sent down to see if they could identify the ship.

They discovered that the ship was named Good Hope. In searching the naval records, there was no listing of such a ship.

They decided to float the sunken ship by placing small air balloons inside the bow. That seemed to work on a limited basis. The ship began to rise and was very close to the surface of the lake. But there it stayed, so it was decided to change the air to helium in the balloons, which is what they used in dirigibles. That worked and the ship moved up to the surface and, in fact, it was almost above the surface. It was really just skimming over the surface. There, the old wet wood began to dry out in the warm summer sun. The ship looked like it was getting much lighter in the water.

A decision was made to remove some of the helium the next day. But that decision came too late, for when they looked for the ship, it had disappeared from the lake.

A night watchman reported a strange noise about midnight and saw a large mass, like a black cloud, in silhouette against the full moon.

The speculation, at first, was that the ship sank again to the bottom of the lake, due to the helium escaping. But there was no sign that the ship was there.

Now the thinking was that a strong gust of wind and the helium still in the hull caused the ship to become airborne. It was noted that the hull of the ship was made out of a very light, but strong, wood.

Did it just float away? But, nautical records indicated that the ship, Good Hope, never existed in their extensive records.

The wind direction that evening was toward the sea. Did it end up in the Mediterranean Sea as a phantom ship? Or what?