Strange Tales 6: Which Story is False?

Three of the four stories are true; guess which one is fiction
How good are you at discerning true tales of the unexplained from pure bunk? It's not always easy as truth is often far stranger than fiction. Let's see how well you do, however, with another installment of our popular "Which Story is False" game.
Here's how to play. Presented here and on following pages are four stories of the unexplained. But only three of them are true; one was invented by your About.com Guide. Your job is to read all four of the stories and then vote for the one you think is false. Good luck!

Story 1: The Ghost Ship of Phillip Greene

It was a cool, foggy evening in July, 1981 when the fishing trawler Balasco came upon a peculiar sight about 150 miles off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Through the swirling fog, the crew of the Balasco saw the running lights of another ship.

They hailed it, but there was no reply. As they approached it, they saw that it was a small yacht, and was apparently adrift. Two crew members boarded the yacht and found that it was deserted. A pot of warm coffee sat upon the ship's stove and two half-eaten dinners were on the galley table. There was no sign of anything amiss, and it looked as though the ship had suddenly been abandoned. No rough weather could account for the mystery.
The captain of the Balasco radioed in the yacht's identification from which he learned that it belonged to Phillip Greene, the best-selling novelist. He had taken the yacht out for a day's excursion six days earlier with a female companion. The Balasco prepared to tow the yacht back to shore, but the tow line was broken and the yacht was lost in the thickening fog.

But that was not the last Phillip Greene's yacht was seen. Two weeks later, the yacht somehow drifted on its own to Nantucket island -- Greene's home port! -- and ran ashore just three miles from Greene's summer home. Greene's disappearance has never been explained.

Story 2: The Ghost Who Named Her Murderer
The body of Teresita Basa was found by police in her Chicago apartment on February 21, 1977. The 48-year old Filipino immigrant was dead -- stabbed to death and partially burned. She hadn't shown up for work at the Edgewater Hospital, leading police to find her murdered body, but they had no clues at all as to who the murderer might be. There was no evidence, no motive to work from.

Then a lead came from an astonishing source: Teresita's ghost! Dr. Jose Chua and his wife worked at the same hospital, although they did not know Teresita very well. One night while at home, Mrs. Chua suddenly fell into a strange trance. Speaking in a Philippine language, she said, "I am Teresita Basa..." and then named the man who murdered her: an orderly at the hospital named Allen Showery.

The Chuas didn't know what to make of these trances, which reoccurred for several days.
Finally, Dr. Chua felt compelled to call the police and tell them the strange story. Naturally, the detectives were highly skeptical of the Chua's claims, even though Mrs. Chua seemed able to relate specific details about the crime, including the allegation that her jewelry was also stolen, and that Showery had given her pearl cocktail ring to his girlfriend. With no other leads to go on, the detectives investigated Showery.

Sure enough, Teresita's jewelry was found in his apartment; her pearl ring was found in the possession of his girlfriend -- just as Teresita's ghost had said. Showery confessed to the crimes and was convicted.

Story 3: The Sea Monster of South Pender Island
On a February morning in 1934, Cyril H. Andrews and Norman Georgeson were duck hunting on the shore of South Pender Island, which is not far from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the men shot a duck from the sky, which fell into the water. They climbed into their small boat and paddled out to retrieve their game when something most unexpected happened.

As they later reported it, "a head and two loops or segments" emerged from the water. This monster -- whatever it was -- was only 10 feet away, and the hunters watched it in utter astonishment. The creature opened its large mouth, snatched the duck from the surface of the water and gulped it down. It then snapped at several sea birds before vanishing into the water.

Andrews and Georgeson were close enough to observe that the monster was grayish brown in color, had a horse-like head, sawlike teeth and a pointed tongue.

Andrews rushed ashore to find a telephone. A local Justice of the Peace and others hurried to the scene where they could still see the creature swimming about 20 yards off shore. They estimated it to be about 40 feet long and two to three feet in diameter at its thickest.

Story 4: The Phantom Accident
It was just outside Blythburgh in Suffolk, England in the 1970s where a truck driver (or lorry driver, as they are known there) had a frightening experience. He was driving north along a narrow stretch of road on route A12. Suddenly, out of nowhere, his headlights illuminated the figures of a horse-drawn cart in which a man rode and besides which a woman walked.

He swerved to avoid hitting them, but it was too late. The banks along the road were high, and there was nowhere for the truck to go. Although he slammed on the brakes, his truck hit the figures hard. The driver was in a panic, thinking he surely must have severely injured or even killed the poor travelers.

He climbed out of his truck and walked back along the road, horrified at what he might find.

But there was nothing. No people, no horse, no cart. He searched the entire site, even under his truck, but there was no evidence of anything at all. Yet he was certain of what he saw and was convinced that he had struck something.
The truck driver later learned that the phantom figures with the horse-drawn cart had been seen on other occasions on that very section of road. They are believed to be the ghosts who date back to the 18th century.

Vote for the false story