Army raids coastal towns in Massachusetts in 1927?

[Crothian]

In the Hunter the Vigil book under Task Force Valkyrie I starts with a list of facts that conspiracy theorists love. One of them is "Fact: in December 1927, the US Army raided a number of towns in Massachusetts. The towns no longer exist. Their inhabitants vanished." I've never heard of this and my searches on line yield nothing. It is possible in the list of facts there is one White Wolf made up. Or as I'm hoping it is based on something real that I can read up on.

Has anyone heard of this or have a link about it?

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I would be rather amazed if that actually happened.

Brad

 

[Umbran]

I've lived in Massachusetts well over a decade, and it isn't one I've ever heard.

 

[jaerdaph]

I *think* it's probably supposed to be a fictional nod* to HP Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, or even the Delta Green CoC RPG setting...

*and since it's White Wolf, I use "nod" to mean "rip off", as their entire WoD is one big Anne Rice rip off...

 

[Crothian]

They have plenmty of things they make up so I find it odd that this one they would place under fact. But again it's nothing I've heard about or been able to locate.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

They may've been a bit facetious on the word "facts," especially IRT conspiracy theories.

Hrm. How *would* you find out if a town disappeared long after the fact? Assuming that They don't want you to know about it?

Let's see...

Tax records: I don't think there was a Federal income tax at the time, so you can't dig in the IRS. State property taxes were likely in existence at the time, though, and you could look for odd changes in the rolls that aren't supported by newspaper articles like "Towns bought out by wealthy and eccentric Senator."

Church records: I'm not entirely sure how organized Protestant churches were at that time; today, the various denominational conventions would eventually notice they had stopped hearing from this church, but it wouldn't be immediate. I suspect Catholic dioceses disappearing would be noticed somewhat sooner.

Military records: There are only so many units available at that time, and there are only so many ships capable of supporting a company- or battalion-sized landing. Look for any odd movement orders that may not have been covered up, particularly rail travel.

Atlases: Find old atlases and compare them. Maybe one from 1926 that showed the doomed towns was missed in a library somewhere. See if Rand McNally has an archive. Oooo, Library of Congress!

Other ideas?

Brad

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Tax records: I don't think there was a Federal income tax at the time, so you can't dig in the IRS.

Actually, the first Federal income tax was imposed during the Civil War under Article I, section 8, clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, then again in the 1890s, and again after the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified in 1913.

Just sayin'.

Church records: I'm not entirely sure how organized Protestant churches were at that time; today, the various denominational conventions would eventually notice they had stopped hearing from this church, but it wouldn't be immediate. I suspect Catholic dioceses disappearing would be noticed somewhat sooner.

While we Catholics outnumber any other single Judeo-Christian denomination in America, we're not the best records keepers AND we're outnumbered by the total number of Protestants.

However, the REAL records keepers among the relgions in the USA are the Mormons. They're so meticulous that many geneological and ancestry searches start with their data.

Military records: There are only so many units available at that time, and there are only so many ships capable of supporting a company- or battalion-sized landing. Look for any odd movement orders that may not have been covered up, particularly rail travel.

I have 3 words for you: redacted, redacted, redacted.

If the military doesn't want you to know, you're not going to find your answer in anything you get from them.

Atlases: Find old atlases and compare them. Maybe one from 1926 that showed the doomed towns was missed in a library somewhere. See if Rand McNally has an archive. Oooo, Library of Congress!

Just a word of caution here: commercial map companies often include bogus data in order to keep track of copyright infringement.

You may find a city on one map that is absent from another, and go "Aha!" when in reality its nothing but disinformation on the company's part.

(And that may have even been a bit of inspiration for the Hunter the Vigil book.)

Other ideas?

Check out the UFO/conspiracy theory/occult section of your local bookstore or library. There have been many cities whose populations have been "disappeared" over time, for a variety of reasons. That fact was the part of the basis for the Dean Koontz novel (and later, movie) Phantoms, and Stephen King's Storm of the Century.

Generally speaking, this area is a fertile ground for speculation for all kinds of writers.

 

[frankthedm]

From the same book the OP referrs to

http://www.white-wolf.com/index.php?line=news&articleid=987
It began in 1865, when a hastily organized unit of government men failed to rescue Abraham Lincoln from the clutches of a creature from outside any human frame of reference. Realizing that for the good of the Union, they had to cover up the President's death, they enlisted a look-alike, and without the hapless man's knowledge, hired John Wilkes Booth to follow him to the theater and do the deed before anyone noticed the difference. Ever since then, they've been protecting the US against supernatural agencies and hiding the evidence. They've always operated outside the usual structures of the US government.

And this is what the the "raids" were referencing

The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft

During the winter of 1927-28 officials of the Federal government made a strange and secret investigation of certain conditions in the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth. The public first learned of it in February, when a vast series of raids and arrests occurred, followed by the deliberate burning and dynamiting - under suitable precautions - of an enormous number of crumbling, worm-eaten, and supposedly empty houses along the abandoned waterfront. Uninquiring souls let this occurrence pass as one of the major clashes in a spasmodic war on liquor.

Keener news-followers, however, wondered at the prodigious number of arrests, the abnormally large force of men used in making them, and the secrecy surrounding the disposal of the prisoners. No trials, or even definite charges were reported; nor were any of the captives seen thereafter in the regular gaols of the nation. There were vague statements about disease and concentration camps, and later about dispersal in various naval and military prisons, but nothing positive ever developed. Innsmouth itself was left almost depopulated, and it is even now only beginning to show signs of a sluggishly revived existence.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Actually, the first Federal income tax was imposed during the Civil War under Article I, section 8, clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, then again in the 1890s, and again after the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified in 1913.

Just sayin'.

Ah, thanks!

I have 3 words for you: redacted, redacted, redacted.

If the military doesn't want you to know, you're not going to find your answer in anything you get from them.

This is one of those really fun things where if they're at all competent, it would be removed, yes.

But (a) you're looking for things they themselves might've missed and (b) over 80 years have passed, so you may get to take advantage of nobody currently serving in the military knowing anything about it and materials being accidentally declassified and such.

Brad

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This is one of those really fun things where if they're at all competent, it would be removed, yes.

But (a) you're looking for things they themselves might've missed and (b) over 80 years have passed, so you may get to take advantage of nobody currently serving in the military knowing anything about it and materials being accidentally declassified and such.

The human element is always the "X factor" to be sure. I'm just saying that it would be kind of like mining for diamonds- you'll have to dig through a lot of material before you'd find anything of value.

For a casual inquiry such as this, its probably not worth the effort.