On this day in conspiracies

The Dei Gratia brings the Mary Celeste into Gibraltar, and the Vice-Admiralty Court there opens salvage hearings under Chief Justice Sir James Cochrane.

The Greeneville Sun in Greene County, Tennessee, reports that a Wampus is roaming a ridge near Gethsemane. Follow-up items note that parents say their children are easier to keep indoors after dark now that word of the sighting has spread, an early sign of the creature working as a cautionary tale.

Robert Martens, a political officer at the US Embassy, transmits to Indonesian contacts a list of PKI leadership figures compiled from party publications. Martens later acknowledges providing such lists, saying he believed the named officials were legitimate targets in a struggle he saw in Cold War terms.

Disney is cremated two days after his death. An urn holding his ashes is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. The funeral is small and private, held before most of the public learns the details, which later feeds speculation that something was being hidden.

Around midday, Holt and a small party arrive at Cheviot Beach, an isolated stretch on Point Nepean near Portsea, Victoria. Despite a large swell and visible currents, he wades into the surf to swim.

Citing the Condon Report and a supporting review by the National Academy of Sciences, the Air Force announces the termination of Project Blue Book, ending official U.S. government investigation of UFOs after more than two decades.

Judge Cooper grants summary judgment to the city, ruling on a procedural ground that the family had not filed a timely government claim. On 5 April 2010 the family voluntarily withdraws the suit without prejudice, saying they did not want to interfere with a 'reinvigorated' police investigation and leaving open the option to refile. The murder remains unsolved.

CAS upholds the WADA case but cuts the ban to two years, barring Russia's name, flag and anthem from the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Games while allowing vetted athletes to compete as neutrals.

PolitiFact names the Springfield pet-eating claim its 2024 “Lie of the Year,” describing a falsehood that marked a town and its residents in the name of campaign rage. Snopes had already rated the claim false. No evidence of pet-eating ever surfaced.