Case file · High strangeness
Lapérouse lost at Vanikoro
In 1788 the French expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse vanished in the Pacific; in 1826 Peter Dillon found relics on Vanikoro showing both ships had been wrecked on its reefs.
1788 CE · -11.63, 166.88 · status: explained
The account
Louis XVI is said to have asked on the eve of his execution whether there was news of La Pérouse. Islanders told of survivors who built a small boat and sailed away. Dives since the 1980s have recovered many objects.