| ! NOTICE ! |
| This topic has been confirmed as an intentional hoax! |
The Disappearance of David Lang refers to an incident, now known to have been a hoax, that allegedly occurred on September 23, 1880. According to the story, a Gallatin, Tennessee farmer named David Lang was walking across an expansive field on his property. As Lang made his way across the field, he supposedly faded away into thin air in full view of his family members, who were watching him from the farmhouse's front porch, and two men riding in a horse-drawn buggy nearby.[1]
The various witnesses raced over to where Lang had disappeared, fearful that he had fallen into a sinkhole or ditch. No such opening was found. As the story goes, Lang's daughter stood where Lang vanished a year later and called out to him, eventually hearing a faint cry calling for help. Retrieving her mother, both daughter and mother heard the cries. Over the next few days, they continued to hear his faint anguished cries, but they eventually became too quiet to hear.
Interpretations[]
The story is now known to have been a hoax, or at the very least, an honest misinterpretation of a fictional narrative. No records of a Lang family exist for the town of Gallatin at that time and neither do records of anomalous disappearances with similar circumstances.[2] The most commonly agreed upon source for the story is the short story "The Difficulty of Crossing a Field" by American writer Ambrose Bierce, which revolves around a plantation owner vanishing into thin air. The David Lang version of the story likely originated with mystery novelist Stuart Palmer, who published the original telling of his version in the July 1953 edition of FATE magazine and who claimed the story had been told to him by David's daughter, Sarah Lang.
Popular Culture[]
Theater[]
- In 2002, composer David Lang and playwright Mac Wellman collaborated on a musical based on the story titled the difficulty of crossing a field.[3]
Sources[]
| v · e · d Events
|
|---|
| North America |
| Area 51 Caller · Battle of Los Angeles · Beaumont Blackout · Death of Gloria Ramirez · Death of Jeffery Derosier · Disappearance of David Lang · Disappearance of Glen and Bessie Hyde · Kentucky Meat Shower · Massacre of Doc Johnson · Max Headroom Incident · Philadelphia Experiment |
| South America |
| Araçariguama Incident · Itaipu Fort UFO Attack |
| Asia |
| Disappearance of Mahmud Salim Noor · Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 · Dyatlov Pass Incident · Elephant Kills of Maya Murmu · Sankebetsu Brown Bear Incident · Tunguska Event |
| Europe |
| Dancing Plague of 1518 · Disappearance of James Worson · Hollinwell Incident · Murder of Anne Noblett |
| Africa |
| Death of Teteteke Gqotsi · Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic |
| Oceania |
| Disappearance of Frederick Valentich |
| Worldwide |
| Disappearance of Amy Bradley |