I love mysterious disappearances. Not that i would actually like to disappear nor wish that someone disappear, but i love stories of a disappearance so baffling, that the only remaining explanations are too fantastic to be taken seriously. There have been many strange accounts of people disappearing in the most unlikely of times and places, such as the case of David Lang. This has been in circulation for some time and has become so synonymous with the term 'mysterious disappearance' that it has become legend. The story goes like this :
On the afternoon of September 23, 1880, on a farm just a few miles outside of Gallatin, Tennessee, a remarkable event was witnessed by five people. The farm was occupied by farmer David Lang and his family -- his wife, Emma, his two children, eight-year-old George and eleven-year-old Sarah, and their household servants. On that afternoon, the children were playing in the front yard, when Mr. and Mrs. Lang came out of their house and Mr.Lang started across the pasture toward his quarter horses. As Lang was crossing the pasture, the horse and buggy of the family's friend, Judge August Peck, came into view on the lane in front of the house; the children stopped playing, as Peck always brought them presents when he visited. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lang saw the buggy, and Mr. Lang waved to the judge as he turned to walk back towards the house. A moment later David Lang completely disappeared in mid-step. Fully witnessed by his two children, his wife, Judge August Peck, and the Judge's traveling companion (the Judge's brother-in-law), David Lang had just suddenly ceased to exist; understandably, Mrs. Lang screamed. All five witnesses ran to the spot they had last seen David, but there was nothing to hide behind or under; the field contained just grass. The adults quickly searched the field to no effect. By this time, Mrs. Lang was becoming hysterical, and was taken back into the house as neighbors were called with an alarm bell. By nightfall, all the neighbors were involved in the search, and, by lantern, they checked every foot of the field, stamping their feet to try to detect any holes that David might have fallen into. Nothing was found.
In the following weeks, Mrs. Lang was bedridden with shock; all the family servants except the cook, Sukie, left; and curiosity seekers were chased away from the farm by the local authorities. The county surveyor confirmed that the field was on perfectly solid ground, with no caves or sink holes. Months after the occurrence, in 1881, Lang's children noticed that the grass at the site of their father's disappearance had grown strange and yellow, and formed a circle with about a fifteen foot diameter. Sarah called to her father, and, seemingly as a result, both the children heard him faintly calling for help, over and over, until his voice faded away. Mrs. Lang never fully recovered, and there was never a funeral or memorial service for Mr. Lang. Mrs. Lang eventually left the farm and allowed Judge Peck to rent it out, with the exception of the field in the front of the house. That pasture was left untouched as long as she lived...
The first time i read it, it sent a tingle of wonder running down my spine. If he really did vanish as reported, what could have possibly happened? A portal into another dimension? A momentary wormhole? Did he slip into a parallel dimension or was a victim to an alien abduction? Or could it be more fantastic than that...we often watch in the movies about how time travellers are snatched back into their own times by some enforcement agency or invisible amoeba-like lifeforms that float around us, mutually oblivous to each other but hungry for our substantiality and matter. Could David have walked into one in the wrong place at the wrong time? However, further research into the matter revealed that the source of the legend was unreliable and it was likely that the event never happened. I cannot begin to tell you how immensely disappointed i was at that point. There was still a glimmer of hope that the story might be true but the bulk of research into the origins of the legend weighed heavily against it. Just an interesting story i thought i would like to share with you guys, one that helped steer me into this journey into paranormal discovery.
