Abstract

This Week. An Arctic Mystery Story

In the summer of 1927 military leader Umberto Nobile with a party of explorers set out for the Arctic in the dirigible Italia. He left his base ship at Kings Bay, West Spitzbergen, on May 23, 1927. At 1 a.m. on May 24, 1927 he flew over the North Pole and dropped an Italian flag and a cross blessed by Pope Pius XI. Then he turned back. His wireless messages reported bad atmospheric conditions. At 10:27 a.m. on May 24, 1927, his messages ceased. No more were heard for many days. A catastrophe seemed certain. Rescue work was begun. Then, on June 2, 1927, word reached the world that a Russian peasant in the village of Voznesenstcoie in the Government of Viatka, operating a small radio set, had picked up faint signals that might be from Nobile.