Just wondering, has anyone else read Van Der Vat & Gardiner's - 'Riddle of the Titanic' such that you would care to share your opinions on the sense and plausibility of these guys' interesting and cogently argued conspiracy theories with me?

Personally, I think that conspiracy theories are all well and good if you treat them as just that - theories. And remember that what happened probably did just happen without any ulterior motive behind it.

-- Simon (ia501060@ntu.ac.uk), March 09, 1998

Answers

Response to Riddle of the Titanic

I have always believed that the Trilateral Commission and the Freemasons, acting under orders from the Vatican, were primarily responsible for the sinking. It's also not generally known that the earth's poles flipped for a brief time in April of 1912 (I suspect alien UFO's were responsible) causing the Bermuda triangle to move to the North Atlantic. The "mystery ship" seen by some of the passengers was in fact an Imperial German U-boat that was sinking rescue ships in the area and disrupting telegraph communications between the Titanic and the Californian. And now Cameron has been bought off by the Hollywood establishment (you KNOW who I'm talking about) to perpetuate the myth that the Titanic struck an iceberg and that (conveniently) the ship was not "designed" to stay afloat. Those bastards! Wait, what was that.... Bill Gates is screwing around with my computer again! I'll get you, you SOB. Right after I get back from my militia meeting. I'll get you. AAAAAAHHHHH.

-- Dan Dalton (DDalton2@prodigy.net), March 09, 1998.

It's all so clear now! The mystery ship that Capt Lord said was in between the two ships was actually a UFO and that's where all of the unrecovered people went!

-- crystal smithwick (crystal@9v.com), March 09, 1998.

Dan and Crystal, I'll take it that you haven't read Van Der Vat and Gardiner. Anyway, clever/inquisitive/mad though these guys are, I doubt whether even they could have come up with what you are coming up with. And for that matter, neither could I. Being corporately minded, I would have favoured the, somewhat more obvious, conclusions these guys jumped to, but then whatever lights your candle and all that :)

Just out of interest, what medication are you on? Whatever it is can you send me some please?

But seriously, my intention was not to start a conspiracy theory discussion, I think it would be terribly bad form of us to do so. Especially in light of what we have all said about the memories and the tragedy of Titanic on this forum. So now that we've had our fun, how about we 'hard a' starboard' around starting any more conspiracy theories, in jest or otherwise!

Thank you!

-- Simon (ia501060@ntu.ac.uk), March 10, 1998.

You guys are too funny! I really laughed at reading this! Unfortunately I haven't read that book on conspiracy theories though I have seen it at the store.

-- Bob Gregorio (sorry@donthave.net), March 29, 1998.

Funny you should mention this book, I'd never heard of it and found it by accident at my library just last week. I found it to be thought provoking and interesting, fairly open minded. It doesn't try to convince you of any conspiracies or anything but does point to some strange things. I don't believe that it was the Olympic substituting the Titanic, but by gum, if they had wanted to they sure could have! And as for the dashing Captain Smith he was apparently a shocking captain who " drove super liners like they were speedboats." The coverage of White Stars history was very interesting, they were an ill starred lot, who were expert at whitewashing the facts along with the establishment.

Another book I found was new, just out. Put together by Bob Ballard, and called the Lost Liners. It is a masterpiece of a collection, about all the great liners that have sunk, and how they all look today as explored by him. I don't know how I'm going to part with this one when I have to take it back to library. I'll just have to buy a copy.

-- Lianne (liannegraham@one.net.au), March 30, 1998.