Case file · Anomaly hotspot
The Lyubov Orlova and its 'cannibal rats'
In 2013 the derelict Soviet-built cruise ship Lyubov Orlova, whose tow line broke on the way to the scrapyard, drifted unmanned across the North Atlantic, and tabloids warned it was a ghost ship full of cannibal rats heading for Britain.
2013 CE · 49.00, -40.00 · status: hoax
The account
Emergency beacons from its lifeboats were picked up west of Ireland in March 2013; the ship is thought to have sunk. Position approximate.
The sceptical view
The 'cannibal rats' were tabloid invention; no one had seen the ship for months.