The heroine of Cecilia Ahern's novel "Where You Are", by the will of fate, finds herself in a kind of fantastic world, where missing people and objects end up.
Of course, this is just a literary fiction, but the mysterious and inexplicable disappearances of various objects in reality, willy-nilly, make you wonder: is there really such a world of losses?
Chronicle of undeclared missing
Some of the episodes related to the disappearances of people remain unsolved. Here is a short list of them.
XVII century, Russia. The annals report about a monk of the Kirillov Monastery, who disappeared in front of everyone during a meal at the monastery, as well as a merchant nicknamed Manka Kozlikha, who disappeared right in the middle of the square in Suzdal on a market day. The latter was reputed to be a scandalous woman, and rumors immediately spread about her that, they say, "the devil took it."
1763, England, Shepton Mallet. Owen Parfitt, 60, sat in a wheelchair in the courtyard of his sister Suzanne's home. When the weather began to deteriorate, Suzanne and her neighbor went out into the yard to help her brother return to the house. But he was not there. Owen's coat lay lonely in the chair. Where could a person who was actually not able to move independently go?
1809, Germany. British diplomat Benjamin Bathurst and his companion were on their way from Austria to Hamburg. On the way, they stopped to dine at a hotel in Perleberg. After eating, the men returned to the waiting carriage. Bathurst approached him from the front to look at the horses - and immediately disappeared without a trace.
Promotional video:
1867, France. A certain Lucien Busier disappeared in Paris. Feeling unwell, he went to his neighbor, Dr. Bonvilaine, with a request to examine him. He told the patient to undress and lie down on the couch, while he went to fetch the stethoscope. When he returned, he found that the couch was empty, and Busier's clothes were on the chair. In confusion, the doctor went to Busier's home, wondering how he could leave without clothes, and when his neighbor was not at home, he reported to the police. But the search did not yield any results.
1890, France. On September 16, the famous French inventor Louis Leprince disappeared, famous for the fact that he was the first to make images on film move. Leprince left by train from Dijon, where he was staying with his brother, to Paris. But he never made it to Paris. No one saw him getting out of the car. The fate of Leprens remained a mystery, and the patent for the invention of the kinetoscope went to Thomas Edison.
1969, England. On April 8, 13-year-old Norfolk schoolgirl April Fabb rode a bike to visit her sister in a nearby village. Around two o'clock in the afternoon, a local truck driver saw the girl driving along a country road. And already at 2:12 pm, her bicycle was found lying in the middle of a field a few hundred yards from the place where she was last seen. It was assumed that the girl was the victim of an unknown intruder. But not a single clue in favor of this version was found.
1975, USA. Jackson Wright and his wife drove from New Jersey to New York. On the way, they entered a tunnel. Suddenly a strong wind blew, and the rear window of the car was covered with a layer of dust. Martha Wright asked her husband to stop the car, got out and began to wipe the glass. When Jackson turned to his wife a minute later, she was gone by the car.
1985, Canada. On July 30, eight-year-old Nicole Maureen from Toronto went to visit her friend who lived next door. A quarter of an hour after the girl left the apartment, her friend called to find out why Nicole was not yet. A major police investigation was conducted, but no trace of the missing child was ever found.
1999, USA. Early on December 10, 18-year-old UCLA student Michael Negrete left his room on campus. All his belongings, including keys and wallet, remained in place. It turned out that Michael hadn't even put on his boots (and he didn't have any other outdoor shoes). No one saw the young man leaving the hostel, and even the search dogs did not take the trail. Since then, there has been no news about the fate of Negrete.
2007, USA. On July 18, 55-year-old Barbara Bolick from Corvallis, Montana, along with her friend Jim Ramaker, who came to visit her from California, went hiking in the mountains. During the climb, Jim paused for a minute to admire the surrounding landscape. At this time, as he assured, Barbara was 6-9 meters behind him. But when he turned to her, the woman was gone.
Jim could not find her and, upon returning, reported to the police. For some time he was suspected of murdering Barbara, but later he was found not involved in her disappearance, which was never solved.
2008, USA. On August 23, 51-year-old farmer from Happy Valley, Tennessee, Michael Chiron rode out in his ATV to mow the lawn. The next day, Michael's parked truck was found on the road near the farm. There was a lawn mower in his trailer, but the grass remained unmown. The keys, mobile and wallet of Chiron were found in the cab of the truck. Three days later, his all-terrain vehicle was found on a hill one and a half kilometers from Michael's house. And no trace of the missing man!
2011, USA. In December, two children disappeared almost simultaneously - 21-month-old Jason Barton from South Carolina and 20-month-old Isla Reynolde from Maine. Both were at home at the time of their disappearance and could hardly go out on their own. Jason was later found sleeping on the riverbank at a distance of five and a half miles from home, and Isla was never found …
Nakhodology - the science of lost things
But if a person can still go somewhere or leave, then where, interestingly, do inanimate objects disappear?
Professor of the Baltimore School of the Arts (USA, Maryland) Michael Sslomon recently founded a new discipline - discoveries. In his book How to Find Lost Items, he offers readers a number of principles to successfully track down a lost item.
The first principle is for those who cannot get rid of the thought like “I lost my wallet”.
“Don't look for him,” writes Solomon. -The thing is lost, and your first thought - your basic instinct - is to find it. Hunting her in a chaotic and increasingly frantic manner. This is the most common mistake. Wait until you figure out where to look."
The second principle: not the thing is lost, but you yourself. There are no missing things. There are only those who look bad.
The third principle: calm down, as panic often prevents us from effectively searching. Sit down, relax, have a cup of tea - and only then start your search.
Fourth principle: things are often where they should be. Is there a place where you usually keep this thing? A specific shelf, cabinet or drawer? If so, look there first - and properly, to make sure your eyes are not deceiving you and that the subject is not really there. Or maybe you hung your coat in its usual place last night, or put your dictionary on the shelf.
Fifth principle: remember the last time you used the item. “If you calm down, the lost thing can magically float into your head from the lost world,” writes Michael Solomon. "Remember: you have not lost a thing, you just put it in the wrong place."
Sixth principle: sometimes we even manage to forget what we are looking for. Therefore, it is useful during searches to repeat aloud the name of the lost thing.
Seventh principle: remember about the so-called camouflage effect. So, the car keys may be, for example, covered by a newspaper, so we do not notice them.
Eighth principle. “Some objects, moving a short distance, become invisible,” says Professor Solomon. "For example, a pencil rolls up behind a typewriter, the tool falls into the back of the drawer." According to the professor, objects most often "run away" at a distance of no more than 42 centimeters from their original location. Within this zone, and should be searched.
The ninth principle: remember exactly where you were when you found that the thing was lost.
“Don't check the same place once you've checked it thoroughly,” advises Professor Solomon. - Then follow your own footsteps. So, you have already exhausted all the methods of finding research and are left with only one rule, here it is: it was not you.
In other words, someone borrowed your umbrella, ate your donut, or stole your car keys. So this is fate. Accept the loss. Perhaps the lost thing will return."
Dina KUNTSEVA