# Army raids coastal towns in Massachusetts in 1927?



## Crothian (Jun 13, 2009)

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?


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## cignus_pfaccari (Jun 13, 2009)

I would be rather amazed if that actually happened.

Brad


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## Umbran (Jun 13, 2009)

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


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## jaerdaph (Jun 13, 2009)

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...


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## Crothian (Jun 14, 2009)

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.


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## cignus_pfaccari (Jun 14, 2009)

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


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 14, 2009)

> 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.


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## frankthedm (Jun 14, 2009)

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.
_


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## cignus_pfaccari (Jun 14, 2009)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> 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


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 15, 2009)

> 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.


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## Wycen (Jun 15, 2009)

This reminded me of a battle between Puritans and I think Catholics in New England, sometime around one of the changes in Kings of England in the 17th century.  I think.

I can't remember enough details to find the wiki article, but if you can find it it may provide some sort of inspiration for your game.


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## Umbran (Jun 15, 2009)

jaerdaph said:


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




Now, now, let us be fair - the WoD is a patchwork of several different ripoffs.


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## Samnell (Jun 16, 2009)

Crothian said:


> 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."




Made up. Whole towns do not vanish without traces, and they certainly do not do so in a peaceful modern country with nobody noticing. We have records of far less impactful events. The people living there had relations and friends outside the towns who would have noticed that their loved ones did not write back, did not answer their phones if they had them, and did not appear for scheduled visits. Eventually one of them would have gone to check it out in person and find the bombed-out buildings, the abandoned buildings, or the razed ground where buildings once stood.

The Army might be able to censor its own records effectively (although sloppy redaction isn't actually unusual on FOIA requests) but the nearby towns and the like would have noticed that their neighbors vanished. Had towns gone missing, especially several in the space of a month, we'd have noticed. We have plenty of records of small towns depopulated by the Influenza, which had roughly the same impact we would expect of a town being disappeared by armed force.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jun 16, 2009)

Samnell said:


> Whole towns do not vanish without traces, and they certainly do not do so in a peaceful modern country with nobody noticing. We have records of far less impactful events. The people living there had relations and friends outside the towns who would have noticed that their loved ones did not write back, did not answer their phones if they had them, and did not appear for scheduled visits. Eventually one of them would have gone to check it out in person and find the bombed-out buildings, the abandoned buildings, or the razed ground where buildings once stood.




While it is much less possible the farther along the timeline you travel, whole human settlements- some quite large- have disappeared without record of why.

Roanoke, Machu Pichu, Chavín de Huantar, Angkor Wat, and even some villages in Norfolk (Map of Vanished Villages in Norfolk) have all had their populations mysteriously disappear.

In most cases, it is speculated that disease or other natural forces made the populace travel to more hospitable places.  In some cases, war & genocide are the probable culprits.

But the bottom line is that the mysteries are as yet unsolved.


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## Korgoth (Jun 16, 2009)

This is obviously a reference to Innsmouth, the famous town from "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H.P. Lovecraft.

I am regretfully obliged to inform everyone who did *not* know that that they are required to turn in their Geek Union card and be forever banished to the dreary outlands of scabdom.


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## jaerdaph (Jun 17, 2009)

Umbran said:


> Now, now, let us be fair - the WoD is a patchwork of several different ripoffs.




That is very true, but to really be fair I should note that the pseudo-intellectualism that ties it all together is 100% pure White Wolf.


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## Umbran (Jun 17, 2009)

Korgoth said:


> I am regretfully obliged to inform everyone who did *not* know that that they are required to turn in their Geek Union card and be forever banished to the dreary outlands of scabdom.




"You're not a geek unless you are my kind of geek," is soooo 20th century.  Maybe you didn't get the memo, but the Geek Union is inclusive now.  Geekitude is about quality, not particular course curricula.


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## Korgoth (Jun 17, 2009)

Umbran said:


> "You're not a geek unless you are my kind of geek," is soooo 20th century.  Maybe you didn't get the memo, but the Geek Union is inclusive now.  Geekitude is about quality, not particular course curricula.




You didn't get the reference to Innsmouth, dude. You're out of the club. Those are the rules... there's nothing I can do.

PRINCIPAL MOSS: Teacher's statement...response from the parents...okay, looks like all our ducks are in a row. Peggy, you're fired. 
PEGGY: But the Dooleys forgave me! 
PRINCIPAL MOSS: Let's see -- there's nothing in here about forgiveness.


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## Achan hiArusa (Jun 19, 2009)

Umbran said:


> Now, now, let us be fair - the WoD is a patchwork of several different ripoffs.




Oh, you mean like Dungeons & Dragons.


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## Crothian (Jun 20, 2009)

I guess I got my answer.  Thanks for the few of you that were helpful.


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