Case file · Haunting
The phantom ship of New Haven
In June 1648, colonists in New Haven said they saw the ship that had sailed for England in January 1646 and never arrived appear in the sky over the harbour after a storm, then break apart and vanish.
1648 CE · 41.27, -72.91 · status: account
The account
The Reverend James Pierpont's account was printed by Cotton Mather in 'Magnalia Christi Americana' (1702), and Longfellow later wrote 'The Phantom Ship' about it. The colonists took it as God's answer about the lost ship's fate.
The sceptical view
Researchers suggest a mirage (Fata Morgana) over the water, filtered through the colonists' grief and expectation.