[Music] dating in the military can be tough especially in the Sea Service branches hard to meet someone and keep the relationship going when you spend all your time out on the Open Water I actually did meet my wife during a port call that's what they taught us right improvise adapt and overcome but suppose a military man did meet a girl in a foreign city immed it spks what would make their first date memorable let's say it starts with a romantic walk along the beach to watch the sunset and then an evening stroll through a quaint little village nearby so quaint the inhabitants still light their streets and homes with oil lamps and then what if as they both lay down on the grass to stare up at the stars everything suddenly went dark they both fell asleep blacked out really and when they woke up the village they had just walked through was now gone that certainly seems like a night that neither of them would soon forget bizarre as it may seem this is exactly what happened to a young Coast Guardsman named John and His companion a young nursing student named Barbara both of whom verified this story despite having never known each other when they first met in Bermuda while John was on Shor leave what happened to them that night would become what some have called one of the most convincing accounts of time travel ever recorded this is the baffling and somewhat heartbreaking story of a coast Guardsman in [Music] Bermuda the Mist which hangs before you offers you a choice to pass through or to Escape Beyond it are stories which defy explanation and fly in the face of what we know to be real it is a void of both reality and impossibility of both fact and Superstition you alone are left to discern what to believe as you pass through what we call the fog yeah the story in this episode interestingly touches on many of the various difficulties that we might face in life over the weekend I had the chance to speak with a family member of a marine that we lost several years ago it was his mom we talked for about 3 hours catching up and since I'm going to go visit their family soon she invited me to skip the hotel and stay at the house in his old room which he told me that she hasn't touched since the day he died she's just kept it clean and tidy losing someone is never easy whether through death or when our relationships suddenly end and coming back from a place of grief can take us years it's taken us years but during that time we all sought therapy which greatly helped and in light of this I want to quickly say thank you to better HP for sponsoring this episode regardless of what you've been told you don't need to have a clinical mental health issue like depression or anxiet to benefit from therapy work stress overcoming personal challenges there's a million reasons to try it and better help has made it their mission to make starting therapy easier if you're struggling and think you'd benefit from a therapy session click the link in the description below or go to betterhelp. com wartime stories and get 10% off your first month of therapy all right let's get back to the episode so what's the Coast Guard really like I mean I know it's not like the Navy but you're always out there right on the water I mean yeah we're always out there it's different though a lot of people think it's all rescues and chases but a lot of it's just routine watching the waves keeping things safe it's quiet in a way you get used to the isolation I guess that must get lonely sometimes s huh I don't mind it kind of peaceful actually but um yeah I can get a little quiet out there that's why I don't mind coming to places like this could change of scenery I get that nursing schools well it's a grind you know you've got your hands full with those books huh it was Thanksgiving Day 1964 as the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war and a little known country called Vietnam began to dominate newspaper headlines the US Coast Guard Cutter Half Moon sailed its way into Waters off the island of Bermuda for the young Coast Guardsmen aboard including John Murphy the tiny Island situated in the western Atlantic was a paradise like their own little slice of Hawaii half a world away while the half moon was there on an official training Mission the day's Thanksgiving festivities were in full swing for the vessel the crew enjoyed being treated to a hearty meal before then getting to spend some free time off ship in the nearby port for John and his three buddies there wasn't a moment to waste as soon as the ship was docked and their dinner plates were scraped clean they headed straight down to the pier excited to start enjoying their next few days of Shor leave of course it didn't take the coast Guardsman long to find the nearest bar and it was there that Jon's life would take both an exciting and yet rather unbelievable turn seated nearby at another table a group of four young women student nurses with the US Navy caught the attention of John and his three friends after a couple drinks provided them some much needed Courage the men decided it was time to make introductions John felt a bit sheepish he hesitated before leaving the table he had a fiance back home and then maybe it was the alcohol but he just couldn't help himself one of the women at the table gave gave him an odd feeling as if he recognized her from somewhere he felt inexplicably drawn to her and it didn't help that she seemed to be just as interested in him so JN made his way over feeling a bit flushed of course he was just going to talk to her but boy was she a knockout John soon discovered her name was Barbara she was 19 John kept laughing in spite of himself he couldn't believe she was talking to him she was one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen after a few more laughs and cheerful Conversation Over drinks the men invited the women back to the half moon offering to give them a private tour of the ship when their tour had finished the four Coast Guardsmen each of them now locked arm in-arm with one of the young women made their way back out into town eager to keep the night going with more drinks and some dancing John and Barbara however had other plans they quietly broke away from the group deciding they would much rather enjoy one another's company alone they walked towards the nearby Fort St Catherine a fortress with its origin stretching back to the earliest days of British settlement in 162 as they walked and talked John felt a little more at ease it turned out that Barbara was also engaged to be married so they kept things light their conversation feeling both fun and effortless but as their time alone wore on John began to realize it was much more than flirty banter and Charisma for some strange reason this all just felt too familiar it was an odd sensation as if they had known each other for many years as he looked at Barbara her arm tucked in his her Carefree laugh and wonderful smile JN suddenly realized this wasn't merely a boyish attraction he may be young but he knew this feeling it was love [Music] Oh what a beautiful view nothing like this back in North Carolina huh uh no uh not as such Barbara this is going to sound crazy and maybe it is but what is it John does this feel familiar to you I don't know how to explain it but talking to you just feels I know what you mean uh you do talking to you just feels right it's like I've been away for a long time but the second I saw you I was I was back home uh listen uh why don't why don't we why don't we just keep walking huh I need to uh I need to stretch my legs come on so we're sitting on top of this low wall looking out at the the battlements Fort St Catherine you got the ocean and there's the sun just dipping below the Horizon it was very beautiful and I finally told Barbara what I what what I was feeling which was this sense that I already knew her and I was hoping she wasn't just going to think it was some kind of pickup line it was truly a feeling I I could not explain fully but to my surprise Barbara not not only seemed to understand but she said that she had been feeling much the same they stared at each other the sun now slipping out of sight as the sky turned a brilliant pink then they came to their senses both were engaged and an affair was the last thing either of them wanted smiling sheepishly JN and Barbara left their place on the low wall but decided to at least continue their walk without really thinking about it their feet seemed to draw them both down a small Trail leading away from the fort and towards a hill as they neared the crest of this hill Jon was struck by another odd sense of familiarity like deja vu he had never been to Bermuda before but now even the landscape around him suddenly felt very familiar he then had a strange thought knowing she wouldn't make fun of him for sharing it he turned to Barbara before reaching the top he said that even though he had never been here he knew what was waiting for them on the other side of the Hill he couldn't explain it but he just knew they were about to see an Old Colonial Village with a tall Church Tower seemingly beused as he was Barbara said yes that's exactly what she was thinking further adding that the church steeple had a broken clock showing a time of 12:30 then it felt as if the world world around them had in a moment become unnaturally calm and Silent even the constant crashing of the Waves now seemed to be muted finally reaching the top of the rise the couple looked down over the other side and stopped even in the tropical humidity they felt the chill run down their backs before them was a small 18th century colonial settlement it was almost exactly as Barbara and John had predicted PR minent amongst the small houses and buildings was a church its Tower looming over the humbl toown square on its steeple a clock displayed the time of 12:30 the hands appeared to be unmoving it was broken while baffling the scene felt overwhelmingly familiar to both of them so taking one another's hand they descended the hill and enter the village the old town was like something out of another time not only the buildings themselves but John and Barbara couldn't help noticing that the streets were still lit by oil lamps peering in through Windows they saw lanterns burning within the many homes and buildings what was more The Village was eerily desolate John and Barbara saw no one else as they wandered the streets seemingly all alone crossing the Village Square the two made for the church pulling on the solid wooden doors only to find that the building was locked looking around feeling drawn to it they then strolled over to the nearby cemetery across the center of it they noticed a low stone wall had been built evidently to divide one half from the other again despite this being their first time seeing it the two instinctively knew something they couldn't explain this wall was meant to segregate the headstones of white and black burial plots Barbara wanted to rest for a moment John agreed unable to explain the feeling finding a spot to sit at top the wall that bordered the exterior of the cemetery something even more extraordinary than happened Barbara and John were flooded with strange memories but this time it wasn't about old churches broken clocks and Cemetery walls it was as if they were catching glimpses of a life they'd once shared together as if they had once lived on the island as a married couple raising a family though neither John nor Barbara could begin to understand how after sharing these memories as they occurred one after another the two of them reached an identical and awful conclusion they had an overwhelming sense that they had also died together in this past life an ominous feeling they had both met a tragic end still they were perfectly fine now they smiled it was an odd thing meeting each other in a bar touring his ship and then walking into a strange Village and recounting identical memories from a life they had never lived it was only a shame they hadn't met each other sooner Barbara looked up at the night sky hopping down off the wall she dug into her bag pulling out a blanket she'd used earlier during a trip to the beach laying it out on the soft grass of the cemetery she and John lay down staring up at the stars the air was chilly they held each other a little more closely trying desperately to keep their thoughts on the fact that they were both engaged to someone else this is really nice yeah sure Pats ditch and rescue drills that's for sure John yeah Barbara I want you to kissed me just once oh uh okay yeah and that's when it happened I closed my eyes and lean forward to kiss her but before our lips came together everything around us grew dark and it felt as if we were tumbling together into a bottomless Abyss [Music] the sensation of falling finally ended and then without any warning both of us passed [Music] out John said that he and Barbara woke up a few hours later feeling groggy and very confused about what had just happened as it was now in the early morning hours they left the village in a hurry making for the town of St George to the hotel where Barbara and her friends were staying before she went inside Barbara stopped and looked at John what could she say he forced a smile their goodbye was awkward they exchanged addresses promising to stay in touch the next morning barbar would catch her flight back to the US JN would stay in Bermuda for another 10 days after a brief hug she turned and Jon watched her walk away earlier in the evening it had felt like he had lost her once before although he couldn't understand why Jon felt like he was losing her all over [Music] again making his way back to the ship Jon fell into a Restless sleep in his bunk that same night he had a very Vivid dream he was back in the village when he woke the next morning he knew the dream meant something his meeting with Barbara none of it made any sense but he had to find out why he decided he would try to find out as much as he could about the strange Village before his time in Bermuda ended it was another 2 days before he was granted Shor leave again his first stop would be the village on one hand he wanted to see if he would experience the same sense of eerie familiarity that he had felt with Barbara at the same time he wanted to recreate the sense of being with her to relive that uncanny feeling that they had shared together about having once lived there as a husband and wife however as he once again crested the top of the same small hill which hid the town from view he stopped dead John looked around feeling as if the bottom had dropped out of his stomach The Village was gone all that he could see was open pasture land not a single building in sight I fully expected it to be there in addition to wanting to see it in the daytime I was going to find a place to sit and write a letter to Barbara I was totally surprised and found it hard to believe when I wasn't there I don't know if it's important but thought you might want to know that we were able to touch and feel the houses and the church and both of us sat on the graveyard wall these were solid objects also when we tried to enter the church the doors wouldn't open but they definitely made noise when I pulled and pushed on the door handle so there were definitely sounds understandably shaken John quickly made his way back to St George stopping at a local pub he needed a drink to settle his nerves probably more than one after a few sips the Co Guardsman struck up a conversation with the bartender trying to sound casual as he asked the elderly man if he knew anything about an old village nearby the man thought for a moment while he wasn't aware of any current Villages or towns in the direction John had pointed he recalled once hearing about a hamlet that had once stood near the Old Fort it had been built sometime in the 1700s but was wiped out in the late 18th century by what he called the great hurricane the massive storm was otherwi wise known as hurricane San kixo the great hurricane of the Antilles and the 1780 disaster it wreaked havoc on the islands of the western Atlantic Caribbean and Florida coast with wind gusts up to 200 mph it devastated the settlements killing upwards of 20 to 22,000 people making it the deadliest hurricane to ever hit the Atlantic as John thanked him and got up to leave the bartender suggested that he should try talking to a local sea captain by the name of Sam he was pretty sure Sam's ancestors had lived in the old lost Village then remembering it was called St Catherine he scribbled something on a bar napkin and handed it to John it was a map showing where the captain lived he then recalled the captain was likely on an extended trip to England and wouldn't return until after the New Year John decided he would check for himself following the old man's directions to the Captain's House but before he could knock one of the neighbors leaned out of their window and confirmed what the barman had said Sam wouldn't be back for several weeks JN felt a Pang of disappointment it's not as if he could just come back to Bermuda whenever he wanted leaving Sam's home his feet then carried him back to the Town Square to meet his friends at the White Horse Tavern he sat quietly mulling over a few drinks two of his Shipmates from the first night out then started bragging about how they had made out with the student nurses John forced a smile then down his last drink he then ducked out of the bar before anyone could ask him what had happened with Barbara making his way back to the ship he had a sudden surge of hope it was likely they would return back to Bermuda sometime in the next year that's when he would speak with the captain in the meantime he would make the most of the remaining days he had on the island to do some research two days later Jon's request for early Liberty was approved JN made his way back into St George his first stop being the modest two room Cultural Center for being such a small island the many displays of memorabilia gave johon the sense that Bermuda had a long history he paged through photo albums and scrapbooks hoping to find something that would reference the missing Village halfway through one binder something caught his eye it was a picture of a man wearing a nautical hat standing by several paintings the caption for the photo told him the man in the picture was Captain Sam John's eyes then moved over the painting to Sam's right it was a portrait of two people a man and a woman what sent chills down Jon's spine was when he looked at the face of the woman in the painting it was Barbara now John was certain he needed to speak with Captain Sam [Music] the following day John's cutter the half moon left Port it wasn't time to leave Bermuda but the ship sailed offshore to conduct a series of ditch and rescue exercises a routine practice which prepared the crew for real life rescues of ditched aircrafts the drills kept John's mind off of Barbara and the growing mystery of St Catherine what brought brought them back to mind was something the crew witnessed later that night the ship continued on with the exercises past Sundown johon was assigned to the 8: to 12:00 p. m.
watch as they stared at the radar Jon and the other crew saw what seemed to be a large land mass appear that wasn't plotted on their Maps the only piece of land that existed near Bermuda was off the other side of the ship this was something else confused the technicians checked the radar thinking it might be a glitch it was working fine the chief technician then turned on the air search radar to confirm that the land mass appeared on that set as well sure enough as soon as it had warmed up there it was clearly defined it looked like a small island about 3 Mi across situated about 10 Mi away from the ship radioing up to the bridge to report this the men heard the quartermaster laugh into the handset suggesting that maybe they had discovered Atlantis John was the only one who didn't laugh at this with everything else he had seen over the past few days nothing would surprise him the crew eventually returned to focusing on their exercises almost forgetting about the strange appearance of the island until a few minutes before 11:00 p. m.
