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On December 17, 1967… Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt
(pictured, left, with US President Lyndon B. Johnson) went missing on a Sunday trip to the beach with friends. Holt had fulfilled his official duties that
morning by witnessing British solo yachtsman Alec Rose sail through Victoria's Port Phillip Heads. Later, he took some friends to Portsea for a swim. His friends warned the keen swimmer of the big swell that day, but he chose not to take their advice and went in alone. Holt, 22 months into his role as prime minister,
soon disappeared from view. Not a trace of the man was found during what became one of the largest searches in Australia. Two days later Holt was officially pronounced dead by parliament. His body was never found. While his friends gave no indication that Holt
was struggling in the water, suspicions had been raised when he fainted in parliament earlier that year because of a 'vitamin deficiency', which some speculated was really a heart condition. Rumours spread that Holt had committed
suicide or faked his death to run away. Other unlikely theories included his kidnapping by a Chinese submarine or a UFO.
