So many secrets, so little time

The BBC has a pretty interesting side-bar piece today as a followup to the solution of the Deep Throat mystery. They ask the question, what other mysteries are left to solve?

Even in a world which prides itself on its great knowledge and sophisticated detection methods, there are some questions only a few can answer.

Unsolved crimes, trade secrets and instances of political intrigue endure despite intense scrutiny from the media and the authorities.

While some of their choices will be familiar to most American readers, the BBC is European based and a number of these famous mysteries were totally unfamiliar to me. If you break out your Google skills, some of these items may provide and interesting hobby for you to explore. Here's the short version of their list.

WHAT HAPPENED TO JIMMY HOFFA?
WHAT DID BLAIR TELL BROWN AT GRANITA?
WHERE IS LORD LUCAN?
WHAT'S THE RECIPE FOR COCA-COLA?
DID LEE HARVEY OSWALD ACT ALONE?
WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL WORLD CUP?
WHO IS THE MINSTEAD RAPIST?
WHERE IS SHERGAR'S BODY?
THE FLOATING LIGHT BULB
WHO DIES IN THE NEXT HARRY POTTER BOOK?

Granted, some of them are old hat to news hound Americans, (Hoffa, Oswald) and some of them fall more into the "who cares?" category in my opinion. (Coke recipie, light bulb trick and Harry Potter.) A couple of them are completely new to me, however, and look pretty interesting. For example, here's the thumbnail sketch of the Lord Lucan story. (Admit it... had you ever heard of Lord Lucan before you read this blog entry?)

The 7th Earl of Lucan vanished in November 1974, a day after the murdered body of his children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was found at his London home.

Over the years numerous people have claimed sightings of the aristocrat, whose body has never been found.

The investigation reopened last year, with detectives examining existing police evidence and using new DNA techniques to try to solve the case.

If you do a Google News search on this guy, you'll come up with some hits where the British press uses his name as a metaphor for mysterious disappearances much the way we use Jimmy Hoffa and Jim Morrison. The short description isn't much to go on, but anyone who "vanishes" the day after a dead body is discovered in their house might have some explaining to do.

Shergar was apparently a champion racing horse. Apparently some folks believe that the IRA kidnapped (or is that horsenapped?) him and then shot him. The body was never found.

Anyway, good mysteries in real life are fun, so you might enjoy browsing this article.