UNSOLVED: The Day Australia’s Prime Minister Harold Holt Vanished While Swimming In The Ocean

The Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt was swimming in Cheviot Beach (Victoria) on December 17, 1967. It is a mysterious incident that sparked countless mysteries to this day.

Holt, who was elected prime minister in January 1966 and served less than two years until he vanished without trace, was elected to that office. Holt was a passionate ocean- and spearfishing lover who convinced his friends to swim at Cheviot Beach. He claimed to have known the beach. “like the back of my hand.”

Holt was in rough water that day so Alan Stewart (one of Holt’s closest friends) decided to go with Holt for a swim. Stewart did not venture far, but Holt went deeper into the sea.

However, the prime minister had to have shoulder surgery and was told by his doctor that he could return on Friday. “take it easy” CNN subsequently reported the event. reported.

“So he played tennis on Saturday and went near the water on Sunday. So it was against doctor’s orders,” Holt’s biographer Tom Frame.

Holt’s friends would later tell police that the tide was high that day – higher than they had ever seen – and that there was a strong undercurrent. Holt nonetheless decided to go deeper into the sea. according to a 1968 police report.

“[One witness said] she had watched Mr. Holt continuously from the time he entered the surf and she saw the water become very turbulent around him very suddenly and appeared to boil and these conditions seemed to ‘swamp on him,'” The report stated. “He was not seen again.”

Frame wrote a book on Holt and Marjorie Gillespie about Holt. She was there when the prime minister disappeared. Frame said it was “unfortunate.” “like a leaf being taken out […] so quick and final.”

Nation was stunned to learn of the sudden disappearance and arrest of prime minister.

“I think after the assassination of US President John F Kennedy most people thought world leaders would have a security detail who would not be far away and, if he got in any difficulty, would help him out,” Frame spoke to CNN on 2017’s 50th anniversary Holt disappearedance.

Holt’s mysterious disappearance led to one of the most extensive search operations in the country, which saw up to 300 people looking for the prime minister. Holt was never found. The search ended on January 5, 1968.

Only a few clothes remained from his previous trip to the sea.

Just one day after Holt disappeared, on December 18, 1967, around 10:00 p.m. local time, then-Governor-General Richard Casey terminated Holt’s position as prime minister, presuming him dead. John McEwen (leader of Australia’s Country Party) was elected interim prime minister. Holt’s party the Liberal Party held a leadership vote on January 9 1968 and John Gorton became the new prime minster.

Many conspiracy theories have been circulating about Holt’s disappearance, as his body has never been recovered. John Warhurst (emeritus professor, politics, Australian National University) told CNN that Holt’s disappearance was a result of speculations by the media back in 1967 and 1968 about Holt possibly having committed suicide due to a deteriorating marriage or stress from his job. These theories were dismissed by the 1968 police report.

Warhurst noted also that conspiracy theories that were more bizarre took root after the disappearance. “there was some sort of foreign power involved, that he’d been picked up by a Russian or Chinese mission and been whisked away against his will.”

Anthony Grey, a British journalist wrote one of the wildest theories about Holt. He claimed that Holt had been a spy for China and was captured by a Chinese sub to take him back to China.

“None of them have any evidentiary basis whatsoever … they do not hold water, they do not make sense,” CNN’s Tom Frame, Holt biographer said. “The most simple, straight forward explanation is he just drowned, that’s it, and people thought ‘prime ministers can’t do that.'”

“From UNSOLVED: The Day Australia’s Prime Minister Harold Holt Vanished While Swimming In The Ocean“

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