Case file · High strangeness
Prime Minister Harold Holt vanishes
On 17 December 1967 Prime Minister Harold Holt went swimming in rough surf at Cheviot Beach, Victoria, and was never seen again.
1967 CE · -38.30, 144.67 · status: explained
The account
Conspiracy theories claimed he was taken by a Chinese submarine, faked his death or was assassinated. A 2005 coronial inquest found he drowned accidentally.
The sceptical view
Holt was a keen but over-confident swimmer in dangerous water; his body was never found, which fed the rumours.