The fog of war brings with it many mysteries that arise from confusion in battle, the sheer inhumanity of atrocities, and the destruction of entire cities whose rubble often hide the unspeakable carnage. Yet, among the grim realities of combat are the rare impossibilities that we call MIA (Missing in Action). We’re not just talking about men or women blown to bits by artillery or unrecognizable corpses, but actual disappearances with no logical explanation! These incidents have plagued the curiosity of many historians over the years attempting to appease the grief of families or simply to set the record straight. Occasionally, the answers are unearthed when battlefield forensics or more modern methods of research manage to unlock the secrets that time has forgotten. Below, we will explore some of the most odd and unexplained vanishings that have yet to be solved.

A costly campaign

The year is 1915 and the bloody battles of World War I are raging across Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean Theater, and across the seas of the Atlantic. Combined forces of French, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and Great Britain have already attempted a massive amphibious invasion to take coastal fortifications of Turkey. Gallipoli is the site of much bloodshed and not much real estate for the number of casualties given up by the Allies. Yet, not long after this campaign one of the most bizarre mysteries of the war is to occur. Although there are some bizarre incidents concerning the war this one may be the most inexplicable.

Eerie Observation

Hill 61 stands overlooking a valley and in close proximity to several high points that will become strategic priorities to be captured. On a clear morning with a 4 to 5 mile per hour breeze blowing across the contested battlefield an amazing sight is spotted by a British Regiment. On the top Hill 61 is a Lenticular Cloud, disk shaped, and hovering around the hill top obscuring visibility to the summit. A formation of battle weary soldiers are poised to advance into waiting Turkish defenses, but something strange takes place. Based upon the eye witness testimony of three New Zealand soldiers sitting exhausted and wounded alongside the road they see a strange phenomenon.

Baffling conclusion

The British troops seem suddenly blissful and unfettered by the upcoming battle. They gaze wistfully up at the cloud covered hill, lay down their arms, and begin walking toward their unknown appointment with fate-toward a lingering cloud that sits atop a random hill. This anomaly that towers over one of many killing fields, refusing to react to the prevailing wind continues to defy normal weather behavior. As the New Zealand soldiers look on in wonder they watch their English Allies simply stagger through the battlefield with their facial expressions transfixed upon the misty slopes of Hill 61 in a trance-like state. All elements of the British regiment disappear forever and are never accounted for. Years later, British authorities attempt to retrieve any remains of or documented existence of prisoner records even after battle reports concerning the lost regiment, but the Turkish military insist they have no such evidence of their whereabouts. To this day it remains an unsolved mystery.

A Kennedy Vanishes

The Kennedy family has paid a dear price to the world and to the events of World War II. One might recall the saga of PT-109 and the near capture of John F. Kennedy, who managed to escape along with his surviving crew after their high speed patrol boat was cut in half by a Japanese Destroyer in the Pacific, but few can recall the tragic fate of JFK’s older brother who disappeared mysteriously while in the skies over Europe. For years his fate was hidden behind a mysterious secret mission that authorities claimed remained unsolved. All they would divulge was that Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was missing in action during the course of a classified operation.

Circumstances Uncovered

Decades later it was finally revealed that Kennedy had volunteered for a secret mission known as “Aphrodite” where the first primitive drones would be tested for a guided bomb delivery to a target that conventional bombing formations could not crack-German submarine building docks. What the British and Americans had proposed was to load B-24 Liberators with excessive bomb tonnage take off for the target to a height of 2,000 feet where instruments could then be used by accompanying aircraft to steer the bomber into the intended target once the crew bailed out of the B-24 so as not to take part in a suicidal mission. Just like a Kamikaze minus the pilot the heavily loaded Liberator bomber would dive into the enemy position.

Tragic Explanation

However, as fate would have it, an electrical malfunction triggered the huge bomb load before Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. and his accompanying officer could bail out. Though there was no witness to the explosion itself, failure to be able to contact the men and loss of the aircraft prior to the scheduled sequence of the mission pretty well spelled out the fate of the 2 USAF bomber pilots. His disposition remained unknown for years until the military finally admitted the complete details of the secret mission. “Aphrodite” was so catastrophic that only one of several attempts ever landed an aircraft against the intended target.

Famous Band Leader Missing Forever

Glenn Miller was probably the most world famous big band leader in his day rivaled only by Benny Goodman. Through-out World War II Glen Miller and his incredible band played for American servicemen everywhere the enemy wasn’t. His popular brand of music lifted the spirits of many a fighting man during the war and he was anxiously awaited by GI’s who needed cheering up as the war raged on. In 1944 Glen and his band took a small plane across the English Channel for a performance the following day in Paris. That evening the aircraft took off and flew into the mist of the unknown never to return. The most famous band leader of all time was to vanish in an unsolved disappearance for eternity.

Lost to eternity

In an age when such ships as the Titanic, the Bismarck, and even ancient boats off the coast of Massachusetts have been identified and extensively probed by sophisticated divers and ROV's (Remote observation vehicles) no trace of the famous band leader's aircraft has been found. Some theorize that friendly fire might have shot down Miller’s plane mistaking him for a Nazi fighter or medium bomber. Others have offered a UFO abduction scenario as in the case of Hill 61 in 1915, but to date no evidence or wreckage of Miller’s small plane had ever been located. Even though the English Channel is a relatively small search area still Glenn Miller's crash wreckage has never been located. Such are the ironies of war and peace time when the inexplicable seems to swallow celebrities and little known folk alike. It seems that they have slipped into the pages of history under the anecdote of unknown.