There were many things I loved about being a kid in the 70’s. Star Wars; holiday camp cabaret; toys that always looked so much better on the advert; Evel Knievel; lurid orange and brown wallpaper in the kitchen; Barry Manilow… no, really and please don’t mock; I’m fragile and insecure. The list could go well on forever and one blog post it probably will - you’ve been warned.
But some of my fondest memories are of exploring all the books and magazines about the unexplained mysteries of the world. There always seemed to be an abundance of them back then, along with countless TV programmes and films. I’d lap it all up and still be hungry for more.
For me, the Bermuda Triangle was right at the top of that list. I can still remember the sense of awe and wonder I felt reading those accounts of missing aircraft and ships and wondering what really happened to them. The sheer possibilities of the unknown fascinated me.
It was a raw, physical feeling in the gut and in the heart that, as an adult, it’s hard to replicate. Especially when those unknown possibilities are ‘solved’ and turn out to be mundane and, frankly, uninspiring. Check out the news article here for details.
Another piece of my childhood stands in ruins. Still, I’ll always have Barry.
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6 comments:
Commiserations, LRB. I went through the same thing when a BBC documentary showed spontaneous human combustion was nothing of the sort.
I ebayed my 13 volumes of The Unexplained (collected in 156 weekly parts!) shortly after.
Ya know, guys, when mysteries are 'solved' (oh, thank you so much 'science') I find being a crazed mass-conspiracy theorist gets me through. Don't be duped. Repeat after me: The Bermuda Triangle did gobble up those planes because some secret time warp experiment went awry or such n' such. Then it's either a government or corporate coverup that article.
See, don't you feel better? ;-)
Manilow? Please, Neil Diamond over Barry any day.
Mike – It’s a sorry state of affairs, isn’t it? Hope you got a good price for them though.
My brother collected the whole of The Unexplained too. I spent many a happy hour leafing through those magazines and testing my ESP using the free Zener cards.
Becca – I feel so much better now, thanks. I knew I could rely on you to restore sanity and reason.
Sorry to inflict Manilow on you but don't worry, next weeks sponsored video is Love on the Rocks.
I refuse to read the Bermuda Triangle article, I want to believe. :D Oh, and how I miss the seventies.
Bermuda Triangle...of course. But my washer/dryer? They both swallow socks. I promise.
Try to debunk that!
Cate - I'm with you on both fronts there.
Aaron – Some mysteries just aren’t meant to be solved.
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