Search & Recovery
Missing people, ships, aircraft, and objects traced through search patterns, field evidence, technology, and later discoveries.
Investigations
All Well Was Written First
Franklin’s final Arctic note first said “all well.” A year later, 24 men were dead and 105 had abandoned the ships. In 2026, DNA is still giving those survivors their names back.
They Found the Bomb Twice
After the 1966 Palomares nuclear accident, Alvin found the missing bomb 2,550 feet underwater—then it vanished again during recovery. The Navy had to find it twice.
The Geologists Found the Spy Satellite
When Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 re-entered over Canada in 1978, Geological Survey aircraft used full-spectrum gamma-ray spectrometers developed for mineral exploration to distinguish radioactive spacecraft debris from naturally radioactive rock.
They Walked Beyond the Search
Searchers thought the missing Lady Be Good crew could have walked perhaps 25 or 30 miles through the Sahara. Months later, five men were found roughly 80 miles from where they bailed…