Before the Final Destination
films hit movie theatres, the subject of premonition and
fate had never
been so philosophically dealt with. The notion that
Death itself might actually
be capable of "stalking it's prey" with a pre-laid-out
plan as to where, when and by what means our ends
will be met is an intriguing one to ponder. Most are familiar with
the long list of unexplained "coincidences" related to the assassinations of presidents
Lincoln and
Kennedy, but less are familiar with those other equal, but no less eerie, examples of
fate in it's most obvious form.
While it may sometimes be alluded to in certain situations, it is also often ignored for the most
part, out-weighed by common logic and rational
explainations of reason.
Coincidence is the term usually applied to ironic aspects of a happening.
The superstitious fear of the numbers 3 and 13, when applied to certain
situations for example...
In the 1997 car crash that took the life
of Princess Diana, another car (never located) was thought to have side-swiped
the Princess' vehicle as it entered the tunnel--causing it to hit the
number 3 support beam,
just inside the entrance. This then
sent the car she was riding in out of control, causing it to strike
another beam farther down--number 13. It was beam 13 that caused
the majority of damage to the car and was ultimately responsible for her death. Was it fate or
coincidence that out of all those beams that line the inside of that Paris tunnel, only those
particular two were involved?
Death appears to have kept very close company with the crew of Apollo 13 in 1970. In the end, tragedy
was averted. But there is no question in the minds of those who were
there and witnessed the events unfold first hand, that something strange was happening.
It was NASA's 13th Apollo mission into space (and 3rd mission to the moon). Lift-off occurred
at exactly 13:13 hours on April 11th. For the next two days, the mission was routine. But then
on April 13th, one of the oxygen tanks exploded, damaging not only the crew's fuel supply, but
venting the remaining supply of oxygen out into the darkness of space. Too far into the mission
to turn back, Apollo 13 continued on, uncertain of it's fate...and into history as one of America's
most gripping adventures. The 1994 documentary Apollo 13: To the Edge and Back
presented
a chilling portrait--and reminder, of just how close the Grim Reaper had come.
Then there was the strange suicide
death of actress Peg Entwistle in 1932. A former New York stage actress, she became desponant over her
inability to obtain acting work once she moved to Hollywood. She had landed a bit part in a low-budget Myrna
Loy picture--the plot of which, centered around "suicide and the supernatural." But it had not
been released yet. Depressed, Entwistle climbed to the top of the then, thirteen-lettered Hollywoodland sign and jumped
to her death off the letter "H". Ironically, the
film she had done with Loy (ironically entitled Thirteen Women) was released the following week. The
critics all gave Entwistle positive reviews. Too bad she hadn't waited
around to hear them. Years later, when a decision was needed to either tear down or
repair the aging letters on the famous landmark sign, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce elected
to repair only the ones spelling out the word "Hollywood". The decision for leaving the last
four letters off is still cloudy, but it was later rumored that it had been done for
"superstitious reasons."
Premonitions and fate have also been associated with sea traveling vessels as well. The most
unusual being the eerie similarities between the sinkings of Titan and Titanic. The Titan
was a fictional vessel, introduced in 1898 in the novel Futility
(aka
Wreck of the Titan) by author
Morgan Robertson. In it, Robertson introduces readers to a ship, the likes of which no one
has ever seen before. He dubs it "The Titan." Not only is it "big, fast and luxurious," but
also "unsinkable." Though Titanic (also touted as being "unsinkable")
would not go down until 14 years later (in 1912), when it did, many recalled the odd novel that had
apparently "forecast" the tragedy. Both ships were designed almost the same. Titan had a running length of
800 feet. Titanic...882. Each had the same number of propellers...three. The
displacement tonnage of the Titan was 75,000, as opposed to Titanic's close-running 66,000. The
Titan carried only 24 lifeboats. Titanic carried only 20. Titan carried 3000 passengers. Titanic carried
2207. Strangest of all though,
both ships were sunk in the seas of the North Atlantic, and on their
maiden voyage...each after striking icebergs. Titan had stuck it's iceberg while traveling
at 25 knots. Titanic had hit traveling at 23 knots. Both had set sail in the month of April.
