The SS '' Ourang Medan'' Case

  • Simply Weird
  • 5 mins

By Crusader1307

 A genuine ''Mystery'' even today, the bizarre story of The SS ''Ourang Medan'' may have happened between 1940 and 1948. The tale asks more questions than gives answers. According to the most traditional version, a Merchant Ship named The ''Ourang Medan'' sailed from China with an ''unknown cargo''. As many as 50 Sailors may have been on board. Some say The Ship was flagged out of Sumatra, others say The Netherlands. Some 400-miles off The Marshal Islands of The South Pacific, Ships in the vicinity began to pick up a strange radio SOS distress from The ''Medan''. The closest Vessel to Her was The US Flagged SS ''Silver Star''. Her Radioman transcribed the following from The ''Medan'' - ''We float. All Officers including the Captain, dead in chart room and on the bridge. Probably whole of crew dead". The last line was even more chilling.....''I Die''. Despite repeated attempts to re-raise ''Medan'', all frequencies were dead. The Captain of The ''Silver Star'' had a course plotted based on the transmission. The ''Medan'' was found several hours later, indeed ''dead'' in the water.

All Hails went unanswered. The ''Silver Star'' Captain formed a Boarding Party to investigate. Indeed, ''dead'' was a fair description of what they found. The Deck of The ''Medan'' was littered with dead Crewmen. In fact, a search of the Ship found nothing but bodies. Even more perplexing was the condition of the deceased. Everybody was said to have been found ''locked into a rigid state, arms outstretched'' their ''faces'' were fixed into a ''terrifying grimace''. No signs of injury or trauma to the bodies were seen. The Captain determined to investigate further and ordered a tow line be set from The ''Star'' to The ''Medan'', A course was set to The Marshal Islands.

However, within an hour, lookouts on The ''Star'' reported seeing a ''mysterious fire'' suddenly erupt on the Deck of The ''Medan''. Within seconds, it spread to the whole Ship. Suddenly a deafening explosion was heard. The ''Medan'' suddenly split in two and began to sink beneath the waves. In seconds, The ''Silver Star'' crew was able to release the tow, saving them as well. Now comes the strange part. When The ''Silver Star'' made Port to report the incident, they turned over their Logs to The Harbor Master. In addition, photographs taken of The Ship and bodies were also turned over. From this point in History, all records of the incident vanish. However, the tale still circulated around The Marshal Islands of the ''Mystery Ship''. The US Navy ordered an investigation. The Harbor Master had no knowledge, no Log or photos were found and so forth. The Case would eventually make it to the scrutiny of The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

At first no record of a ''Medan'' could be found in any International Shipping Records. After, a few cryptic lines were found linking The Ship to The Netherlands, these Authorities backed away claiming no Ownership. No one on The ''Silver Star'' (when found and interviewed), had any recollection of the Event. It will get stranger yet............ In the 1960s, a Missionary on a small Island near The Marshals, was brought to a Native Hut. Inside was a Man of ''European descent'', who claimed to be a ''survivor'' of The ''Medan''. The Man was dying. He told The Missionary that The ''Medan'' was carrying s ''strange cargo'' and had been ordered to remove any signs of National identity when under steam. Halfway thru their trip, The Crew began to ''act strangely'' opening hallucinating and ''seeing Monsters''. Suddenly, The Crew began to simply ''seize up as if made of stone''. They began to fall over and die. The Man claimed He took an inflatable raft and went overboard, avoiding ''whatever it was'' that was ''killing the Crew''. He made His way to the small Island and ''hid'' for fear that ''they would find him''. He died before answering ''who they were''.

Soon after, in the 1970s, several photographs began to circulate, making their way into Newspapers and ''Sensation'' Magazines. One was a Ship, purported to be The ''Medan''. The other, was what appeared to be a Female Adult, laying on the floor and completely rigid (her arms reaching out). On her ''face'' was a pained grimace. It was claimed that these photographs were ''leaked'' by an ''unknown source'' who knew ''the truth''. This source stated that The US Government had hired The ''Medan'' to transport either an unknown and highly secretive chemical The Imperial Japanese Army had been experimenting on as a War weapon. This unknown chemical had the claimed ability to make Men insane instantly and kill them just as fast. With such a Chemical Weapon in The US Arsenal during The Cold War............

Another version states that The ''Medan'' may have been transporting an ''Ancient Artifact'' of Extraterrestrial origins. Claiming to be of ''immense power'', this ''device'' was to be kept locked in the Cargo Hold and not disturbed. In a case of ''shades of Raiders of The Lost Ark'' could the crew have gotten curious of their cargo, opened the so called ''box'' and ...................No wreckage of The ''Medan'' has ever been found. The photograph of the dead crew member has fallen under scrutiny as well. Pointing out that the ''body'' is that of a Woman why would a Woman be on board a Cargo Vessel This plus the fact that the ''body looks'' as if it was a stage prop dummy, does not help the case either. But, when tested, the photo was judged to be genuine with no evidence of trick photography. Perhaps simply a clever hoax......perhaps........