The case of the 1942 L-8 ‘ghost airship’ remains a mystery 80 years later

A photo taken of the L-8 after its crew went missing. Image credit: US National Archives

In August 1942, a blimp disappeared and reappeared a few hours later with its entire crew missing.
The airship, designated L-8, was a United States Navy L-class airship that took off from Treasure Island, San Francisco, California and quickly disappeared over the ocean near Fort Funston.

However, when she reappeared a few hours later, something was wrong: the aircraft acted as if no one was in control, and a short time later she descended south of San Francisco.

Investigating the crash site, investigators discovered to their surprise that there was no trace of the two crew members who were on board when the blimp took off.

Even stranger was the fact that the emergency parachutes and raft were all in order and the aircraft’s radio systems were working, meaning that if there had been a problem, none of the crew members had done anything. attempt to ask for help.

Furthermore, there was no evidence of any damage or mishap that might have occurred to the aircraft.

It seemed as if the crew had jumped into the ocean for no apparent reason.

An extensive search and investigation of the incident ultimately yielded no explanation and no trace of the two crew members was ever found.

Even today, 80 years later, what happened to them remains a total mystery.