Summary: <p>In 1828, a 16-year-old boy appeared in Nuremberg, claiming that he'd spent his whole life alone in a dark cell. In the latest Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the short, sad life of Kaspar Hauser and ponder who he might have been.</p> <p>We'll also revisit the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, encounter some self-landing planes, and puzzle over why a man would bury 15 luxury cars in the desert.</p> <p>Sources for our segment on Kaspar Hauser:</p> <p>Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, <em>Lost Prince: The Unsolved Mystery of Kaspar Hauser</em>, 1996.</p> <p>Martin Kitchen, <em>Kaspar Hauser: Europe's Child</em>, 2001.</p> <p>Links from listener mail:</p> <p><a href="http://www.beingintheshadow.com/blog-2/the-passion-of-eclipse-chasing/">Being in the Shadow</a>, Australian psychologist Kate Russo's site about the psychology of eclipse chasing.</p> <p>A <a href="http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20001208X09271&ntsbno=CHI98LA055&akey=1">1997 NTSB report</a> regarding a Piper PA-24 that "landed itself" after the pilot passed out due to a carbon monoxide leak.</p> <p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornfield_Bomber">"cornfield bomber,"</a> a Convair F-106 Delta Dart that landed in a Montana farmer's field in 1970 after the pilot ejected. When the local sheriff arrived, the jet's engine was still idling.</p> <p>This week's lateral thinking puzzle is from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale's 1994 book <em>Great Lateral Thinking Puzzles</em>. Corroborating links are <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19800116&id=TBYyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bqQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1310,3136589">here</a> and <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19820206&id=-zsyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=66QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6046,1683894">here</a> (warning -- they spoil the puzzle).</p> <p>You can listen using the player above, or <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast?id=842593579">subscribe on iTunes</a> or via the RSS feed at <a href="http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset">http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset</a>.</p> <p>Many thanks to <a href="http://dougross.net/">Doug Ross</a> for the music in this episode.</p> <p>If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at <a href="mailto:podcast@futilitycloset.com">podcast@futilitycloset.com</a>. We're off next week -- Episode 30 will go up on Oct. 20. Thanks for listening!</p>
