Private Briefing

11/02/2025

The Hunley …

Inside the raised wreck of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, all eight crew members were found still seated at their stations when she was brought up from Charleston Harbor in 2000. None showed signs of escape attempts, panic, or movement. This physical evidence led to a new explanation for their deaths. Fresh research at Duke University demonstrated that the exploding spar torpedo, fixed on a 22-foot iron pole attached directly to the bow, could send a violent pressure wave straight through the hull. That shock would cause instant fatal lung and brain trauma. The boat remained attached to the weapon, so the blast hit the interior with full force. Divers later confirmed the torpedo had not been released before detonation.
The Hunley was a 40-foot iron hand-crank submarine, built for the Confederate Navy in 1863. She had already sunk twice during training, killing earlier crews, including her designer Horace Hunley. Despite this, she returned to service and on 17 February 1864 became the first submarine in history to sink an enemy warship, USS Housatonic. Moments later she slipped beneath the surface and was lost for over a century. Located in 1995 and raised in 2000, she is now conserved in North Charleston. The intact crew positions and wreck analysis strongly support the conclusion that the mission succeeded, but the blast of their own torpedo killed the men instantly before they ever had a chance to surface.

10/31/2025

If anyone’s looking for , he was hanging out in my backyard the other night … eating, exercising and otherwise getting ready for his “Big Night” two months hence …

10/31/2025

Took my wife Robin to see this last night …

Saw it in ‘85

GREAT, SCOTT! It was just as good this second time around (on the Big Screen).

10/31/2025

Lizzie Borden ….

"She gave her mother forty whacks..." Lizzie Borden’s haunting rhyme and unsolved 1892 murders continue to haunt us.

10/31/2025

Great story …

As the World Series heads to Game 6 tomorrow, we're reminded of this legendary intersection of baseball and B-17s!

During Game 1 of the 1943 World Series on October 5, 1943, Lt. Jack W. Watson and his crew, along with three other crews, were flying their B-17s to Maine as a stopover en route to England. As they passed New York City, the 21-year-old freckled-face Watson realized that the game was just starting and decided to do an impromptu flyover. The flight of four Flying Fortresses buzzed Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees were taking on the St. Louis Cardinals. The crews enjoyed it so much, they decided to make two more passes, on the third pass flying so low, one reporter said it looked like they would clip the stadium's flag poles!

New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, who attended the game, was outraged and demanded the USAAF investigate. They did, but given the need for pilots in World War II, the four pilots, including Watson, were given a $75 fine, and the matter was dropped.

As for Watson, he would go on to complete 35 missions in the war effort and, in a radio interview, remarked that he hoped Mayor La Guardia would forgive him. La Guardia, hearing of Watson’s plea, sent him a cable stating:

“Delighted to get your message. All is forgiven. Congratulations. I hope you never run out of altitude. Happy landings. Will be seeing you soon.”

10/29/2025

live among us …

10/29/2025

lol …

10/28/2025

Meet … the X-59!

10/28/2025

I remember this …

After 10 Years, The Search Ends. Remains of Missing Man Identified in PA

"I'm in a tree with 10 to 11 coyotes after me." That frantic, chilling final phone call, made a decade ago by 29-year-old Jesse Lee Farber of Tamaqua, PA, has finally brought a measure of closure to his family.

After ten years of agonizing uncertainty, the remains of Jesse Lee Farber have been positively identified by the Pennsylvania State Police. But the biggest, most haunting question remains: Was it a tragic accident, a drug-fueled delusion, or something much darker?

The breakthrough came a decade after he vanished. Skeletal remains were first discovered in July 2025 by ATV riders in a remote area of Walker Township, Schuylkill County, and were positively identified as Farber's Friday, Oct. 24th.

This discovery was the result of a painstaking, renewed analysis of Jesse's final cell phone tower data. That critical data identified a new search zone; a previously unsearched, treacherous section of Sharp Mountain known to be riddled with abandoned mine shafts and tunnels.

The investigation into Jesse’s disappearance and death is still active, and the PSP has not yet officially announced the cause or manner of death.

Jesse Farber was last seen on August 11, 2015. His last known contact was a desperate, panicked phone call to his long-term girlfriend, Rachel Carroll, at around 8:43 PM.

He told her to "bring guns," claiming he was trapped "in a tree with 10 to 11 coyotes after him." However, Rachel noted the call was "eerily quiet," with no sounds of animals, wind, or running, before the call abruptly disconnected.

In the days before he vanished, Farber was reportedly nervous, worried, and had made a cryptic statement: "I have to do this on my own, but when it's over we'll all be together again."

Adding to the mystery, a year later a hunter found Jesse's backpack and sweatpants tied up in a tree on a remote mountainside; a discovery the family at once suspected was planted.

The discovery of Jesse's remains finally ends the painful question of his status, but it shifts the investigation to how he died.

Initial theories have long shadowed the case: Was it a drug-induced hallucination leading to a fatal accident? Was it an accidental fall into a deep, abandoned mine shaft? Or was Farber referring to people as "coyotes," implying foul play connected to rumors of him owing money?

If you have ANY information regarding Jesse Farber’s death or the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, please contact Trooper Jordan Seiler at Pennsylvania State Police Frackville at 570-874-5300.

10/28/2025

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