In 1954, the Japanese authorities detained a man trying to enter the country with a passport that revealed he was from an unheard of country named 'Taured.' A thorough check was made by the customs officials to see if there was such a place anywhere on Earth, but they drew a blank. The defendant's wife, 30, entered the country with him and was repatriated to South Korea on her own passport. This man has been round the world on this passport without hindrance, a passport which as far as we know is written in the invented language of an invented country. All these he recorded on a passport which he made himself. The passport was quite recent having been issued only 4 years earlier in May of 1950. Questa la nota dell'autore: "NOTE: This is based off of a book, but I'm adding enough original info for it to not be entirely from the story. Post-Truth Politics: Why the Facts Dont Really Matter, The Two Junior US Government Employees Who Divided Korea, Lse Majest: When its Illegal to Insult the President, The Berlin Blockade: The Story of Historys Most Incredible Airlift. Category RankScore. Airport officials in Tokyo asked themselves that question one summer day in 1954 when a man from a seemingly non-existent country showed up on their doorstep. He/she also found a CIA reference to Zegrus here: ZEGRUS SENTENCE--The Tokyo District Court 22 December sentenced John Allen K. Zegrus, a man without nationality, to one year imprisonment for having illegally entered Japan and passing phony checks. Zegruss story passed throughout the world and was even cited by a member of the UKs parliament as an example of the ineffectiveness of passports. If you are denied entry into Japan they put you in immigration jail while they wait for the airlines to repatriate you (the airlines are responsible for repatriating you, they will try to get the money from you in advance if you don't have a return flight, they'll often hold you for several days waiting for a free seat). 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. From the northern tip of Scotland to the southern coast of England, it is about 600 miles (1,000 km). He was never seen again, and the mystery was never solved. It doesnt mean that part of the story is credible, of courseno one vanished from a locked roombut the taking-to-hotel is not a fair basis on which to doubt the credibility. I could totally see him trying to pull one over on the judge for what, though, I dont have much speculation. I wish we had more info on the attempt. The traveller was a well-spoken . He seems to have traveled extensively in Europe, but one detail. Call us in Washington, D.C. at 1-888-407-4747 (toll-free in the United States and Canada) or 1-202-501-4444 (from all other countries) from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Textbook Solution from s3-intellify.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com. they were like, "eh, its a made up name, so I guess Ill gust make up a name", The way it sounds like this country's got two middle names and a surname makes it even better! Surely, this was some sort of an elaborate prank. No Change in Rank from 2021. Overall Rank. Neither the country nor the language can be identified, although a great deal of time has been spent in the attempt. Hes of Caucasian appearance and conventional-looking. Saat mengetahui negaranya tidak ada di dalam peta, pria misterius itu mengatakan bahwa negara Taured sudah ada sejak 1.000 tahun yang lalu. EDIT: u/vegetepal and u/tropical_chancer have pointed out that Tamanrasset is a real place in Algeria with a large Tuareg population. A flight from somewhere in Europe landed, and the passengers began to disembark. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 January 2021. Somehow it was picked up again by coincidence and told once more - now it has gained popularity as a real mystery. Until, next time Everyone, Have a Happy New Year everybody, Goodbye! OFFICIAL NAME: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland FORM OF GOVERNMENT: Parliamentary democracy within a constitutional monarchy CAPITAL: London POPULATION: 67,879,000 OFFICIAL. In 1954, a well-dressed Caucasian man arrives at Tokyos Haneda Airport. We have all of the mans documents, so he cant get very far. Belief in malevolent spirits inhabiting the human body has persisted across cultures for millennia. Lanjut ke misteri 'Pria Dari Taured'. No one has ever been able to find any Haneda Airport documentation or contemporary newspaper articles about itor any evidence whatsoever. He then used it to travel throughout the Middle East, before being caught lying by the efficient Japanese. The passport shows him coming from a country called Taured, you see. Mr. Zegrus wanted to travel round the world. While it is entirely possible that the story of the man from Taured was a figment of someones imagination which eventually became an urban legend , it has also been suggested that a similar incident did indeed occur. One man, described as caucasian looking with dark hair and a beard, handed over his well-worn, stamp-filled booklet. In his universe, the country of Taured was founded over 1,000 years ago, and Andorra was just as fictional to him as Taured was to those Japanese officials. United Kingdom Rankings. He was from Taured, a small country nestled between the borders of Spain and France. And thats the solution to the mystery of the Man from Taured. After all, Taured had been around for over 1,000 years! Officials go back to the roomand the man has vanished. The mans disappearance was an extraction operation by some high-tech foreign intelligence service. The United Kingdoms Worrying Drift Towards Thought Crimes, The Problem with the Wild Wests Bank Robber Bounty, Fake Anthrax: How Harmless Powder Costs the Government Millions. Its probable, therefore, that Zegrus based the name and location of fictional Tuared on the Tuareg people and the city of Tamanrasset. :D, awesome. For those of you who are not familiar with the story, here is a brief excerpt of what allegedly happened. The man from Taured was therefore taken away for interrogation. Indoor Humidity 66% (Very Humid) Dew Point 68 F. Air Quality Fair. A handful of western newspapers ran the story in 1960 and 61, stating that Zegrus may have worked for the CIA and FBI, but he was now considered a man without nationality. Zegrus had been arrested in Japan earlier that year for attempting to enter the country using forged documents. He was dubbed as the "Mystery Man" ( ) by Japanese news at the time, and became a prototype for some . David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994 as a creative outgrowth of his wide-ranging interests in a variety of subjects (particularly folklo read more. The story of the "man of Taured". Officials take him to a nearby hotel room, on the top floor, and put him under guard. A man was arrested in Japan in 1959 for using a false passport he created, one supposedly issued by a nonexistent country. Flag Challenge #255: Taured There are several versions of the urban legend, but the crux of the story is a mysterious traveler who is obviously out of place. The man had disappeared just as mysteriously as hed arrived, returning to the nowhere from whence he came. Throughout the history of civilization, the concept of the apocalypse has been ever present, in one way or another. ( quickshooting / Adobe Stock). He has money from several different (real) European countries. And if there were any doubters, they were invited to read a kind of proclamation beneath the national Tuared stamp. The United Kingdom is a state made up of the historic countries of England, Wales and Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland. An original report of the story reveals that the man was in fact John Zegrus, a real person detained in 1960 in Japan for alleged document fabrication. See the State Department's travel website for the Worldwide Caution and Travel Advisories. From Ancient Mystery School to Culture Capital: Eleusis Secret Past is Recognized, Restormel Castle, What the English Call A Romantic Scene, In Search of the Fabled 1,000-ft White Pyramid of Xian in China, Mother and Child Reunion Of Thetis And Achilles, Seductive Sirens of Greek Mythology and How Heroes Resisted Them, Celestial Goddess Selene: The Ancient Greek Goddess of the Moon, Pegasus of Greek Mythology: Majestic Winged Horse of Mount Olympus, Dreams of Human-Powered Flight: Daedalus and the Story of Icarus, The Warriors Who Shaped African History: The Horsemen of Oyo, Royal Mistress Jane Shore Walked Streets of London in her Underwear, Leonardo Da Vincis Notes Show He Understood Gravity Long Before Newton, Talks Begin on Repatriating Remains of Patrick Sarsfield, Irish War Hero, The Ramessid Dynasty: A Golden Era in Ancient Egypt, Demonic Possession and the Ancient Practice of Exorcism on the Rise, Unraveling the Mystery of the Carnac Stones: An Ancient Puzzle of Epic Proportions, Unraveling the Enigma of Aramu Muru, The Mysterious Gate of the Gods. The passenger says in French that he is from Taured. He's still a pretty bizarre and mysterious man in my book. The Man from Taured is a legend that allegedly takes place in July 1954 at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan. According to Snopes, this popular tale of the man from Taured, said to have visited Japan from a parallel universe , is actually a greatly embellished and fantastical version of a far less sensational real story. The origin of this outlandish tale seems to have been inspired by the true account of John Allen Kuchar Zegrus , a.k.a. Traditionally Tuareg existed supranationally owing to their nomadic lifestyle. There are around 200 countries in the world, 28 of which are smaller than the tiny American state of Rhode Island. Pha cnh st Nht Bn cng khng khng chc chn v vic khng c quc gia Taured no tng c cng nhn trong lch s. Friend may know the case of John Alan Zegrus, who is at present being prosecuted in Tokio. The united kingdom (uk) is an island nation located in europe and comprised of england, scotland, northern ireland and wales. Flag. The story goes that back to the 50s, when a man arrived at a Tokyo airport in Japan and made his way to customs. Seorang penumpang Eropa tengah melangkahkan kakinya ke sebuah bandara di Jepang. Tetapi apa pun yang terjadi sejak saat itu dan seterusnya, membuat semua orang bingung dan prihatin. Zieglass [sic] and his Korean wife entered Haneda Airport with a forged passport from Taipei on October 24 last year, and in December of the same year, he stole about 200,000 yen and $140 in traveler's checks from the Tokyo branch of the [Chase Manhattan Bank], and another 100,000 yen from the Tokyo branch of the Bank of Korea. The mystery man claimed that it was the third time he was visiting Japan from his country. Eat well in great britain with the perfect meal for every craving. Would you believe it exists? More than 80% of the UK's population lives in England. The United Kingdom was part of the European Union from 1973 until 'Brexit' was finalised on 3 1 December 2020 when the transition period (from 31 January 2020) ended with new arrangements between the EU and the UK. Where he got it, though, I have no idea. And the spelling is close that I cant believe its a coincidence. The man had somehow passed into this dimension during his flight only to return to his home dimension in the middle of the night. A totally unlikeable protagonist goes on a clichd romp through an alternative reality. [] When the accused was cross-examined he said that it was a State of 2 million population somewhere south of the Sahara. Well, I think the entire second half can be jettisoned. United Kingdom of Taured's government is a Constitutional Monarchy with very moderate social policies. Replies analysing and speculating over the mystery and possible explanations are encouraged. In evidence, he describes himself as an intelligence agent for Colonel Nasser and a naturalized Ethiopian. The next morning, however, when the officers went to the mans room, they realized that he had vanished. So there you have it - case closed. The United Kingdom has 4 constituent countries, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. That section of the story reads like a later addition to make the reader think the guy really did come from an alternate universe. His passport has multiple stamps, including Japanese ones, and appears real. United Kingdom of Taured is a nation led by King Maxiwilliam VIII on the continent of Asia. The story of the man from Taured begins quite specifically in many sources with a hot day in July 1954. Zegrus claimed to be from a city called Tamanrasset, which is a real city in Algeria. The passport is stated to have been issued in Tamanrosset the capital of the independent sovereign state of Tuarid. In the case of Japan July 1954 the movie that's now a legacy Godzilla was released that same year by the Toho Company. The Japanese official didnt recognize the country of origin. Headquartered in every part of the world, with offices in united kingdom, we provide issuers global solutions through local access points. It also confirms the 1959 date (rather than the 1954 of the story). Note that the French word for Andorra, lAndorre, has some of the same vowel sounds as the made-up Taured. To protect the identity of his country of origin and their allies, his employer invented a new country, hoping it would pass by an unsuspecting airport official without raising concern. Dnde se encuentra el pas Taured? A man arrives at Tokyo airport in Japan. The hotel had no reservation under his name. EDIT 3: At the Forteana forum, AnonyJoolz writes, I am quite pissed off that [Fortean Times] still hasn't accepted/rejected my article and someone has probably nicked the (my) research and gone on with it while I'm waiting. In case Anony reads this, I just want them to know I didnt nick their research. When shown a map, the man from Taured pointed to the area occupied by the Principality of Andorra, and was puzzled as to why his country had been given a different name on the map. Other than the countrys placement south of the Sahara rather than between France and Spain, this basically is the Taured story. Additional articles suggested Zegrus was eventually released on time served and left Japan vowing to embark upon a "new life in a new country," the enigma of who he really was and where he came from unresolved (and his ultimate fate unknown). His passport had been stamped by many airports around the globe, including previous visits to Tokyo. The storys first telling seems to be in a book called The Directory of Possibilities, published in 1981. The UK is low lying in the east. Snopes cannot be trusted as a non-biased site. The forged passport was of the highest quality and was written entirely in a made-up language. Hes from Taured. I cant help but wonder if this was yet another one of his attempted cons, either pulled off and perfectly misunderstood by the people who saw it/reported on it, or failed somehow. Cloud Cover 26%. He/she linked to a 1960 Japanese newspaper article that is clearly about Zegrus. United Kingdom country profile. They began looking up maps. The one distinct detail about that day was that it was "hotter than usual." The man was described as having a Caucasian appearance and was neatly-dressed. On that particular day, a man was said to have arrived at Haneda Airport, known also as Tokyo International Airport. The identity of the riddle was not revealed at the trial, and the English newspaper reported that he was a "mystery man". Turn out, it doesn't even exist. Dnna. Or did he reveal truths about our universe that were previously unknown to humankind? When asked where it should be he pointed approximately to where the small country of Andorra i. The topography of each country differs sli the major landforms in the united kingdom include mountain ranges, marshland, beache. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And Taured doesnt exist. The dramatic story of the origins of humanity in Greek mythology involves love, pain, and a hefty dose of What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? Everything seems to be going normally until the man gives customs officials his passport. And then in Nov. 2020, u/taraiochi figured out the last piece of the puzzle. During the Middle Ages, exorcisms were commonplace to rid individuals of supposed demonic possession. While its unclear where he originally departed from, his passport showed that he had entered a handful of countries throughout Africa and the Middle East on his way to Tokyo. Who Was Really the Worst Dictator of the 20th Century? In another version, the man mentioned that he was from Taured, and when the immigration officer did not believe him, he showed his passport. Too many of the details remain unclear or improbable, if not impossible. One hypothesis posits that the man from Taured is evidence of a parallel dimension, whereby there is another Earth like our own existing in an alternate reality. The passport Zegrus used was the size of a weekly magazine and was recognizable at a glance as a fake, but nonetheless the Japanese Embassy in Taipei had issued him a visa on October 17 last year, and this was the first time the defendant had entered Japan using that passport. His passport listed a country known as the United Kingdom of Taured that none of the officials had ever heard of. Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us. Most investigations into the man from Taured seem to hit the same dead end. The following day, airport officials called upon the man and were met with silence. ( Public Domain ). I do not care to read anything having to do with Snopes referencing toward anything to do with science, history and present education, Ever. Although variations in orthography and spelling in different accounts of Zegrus' exploits make matters even more confusing, we note that Tamanrasset is the name of a province and city in Algeria, and Tuareg is the name of a group of people and languages in and around the country of Algeria, it's possible Zegrus hailed from (or claimed to hail from) that region of the world. 5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth a read. Archaeologists have been able to take a closer look at one of the United Kingdoms most famous shipwrecks. Who on earth was Zegrus (a name that sounds Martian), and why did he try to kill himself? A mysterious foreigner of unknown nationality and background, accused of illegal entry and fraud, tried to commit suicide in front of the judge who handed down his verdict at the Tokyo District Court on April 10. This man, according to the evidence, has travelled all over the world with a very impressive looking passport indeed. His work often required him to travel internationally, and he had picked up Japanese during his regular visits to the country over the past five years. Thankfully, the man spoke Japanese, though with a slight French accent, and was able to tell his story to the airport official. The Moora Mystery: What Happened When a Girl Stepped into the Moor 2,500 Years Ago? In case youre wondering, there is no country by the name of Taured, either today or during the 1950s, the purported time when the incident took place. I would stress, therefore, that passports are not very good security checks. One of the most notable explanations for this incident is that the man from Taured had somehow passed through a parallel dimension by accident, ending up at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Have you ever switched on the news and caught a story about a country that youve never heard of? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Security checked his room and found it completely empty, with no trace whatsoever of any occupant. Strange Story of Mystery Man from Taured Mysterious Country 66 , Read latest hindi news ( ) on . His ultimate fate is unknown. While Tamanrosset is actually the name of real life province and city in modern-day Algeria, Tuareg (with a g) is a Berber ethnic group from the Sahara region. The nature of the text on the passport was also unclear, defying attempts of a linguistic specialist to identify the language it was written in. Customs officials stop a man who produces a passport from the country of Taured. Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? Sama seperti penumpang lainnya, dia pergi ke bea cukai. Like many other passengers who are visiting Japan, he walks to the border checkpoint. Pria tersebut menyebut bahwa ia sering melakukan perjalanan ke luar negeri termasuk Jepang dan terbukti bahwa pria tersebut memiliki stempel yang ada pada paspornya. The hotel he claimed to have a reservation for had never heard of him either. the name of the country, Negusi Habesi Ghouloulouloul Esprit, was completely fictitious, Bolding mine, that just made me chuckle , Actually, I think that was just the Deepl machine translation engine bugging out. The company that he planned to meet with had never heard of this man from Taured or his company. We have no information about him other than those newspaper articles. To impress officials, he invented a nation, a capital, a people and a language. The company officials in Tokyo he was there to do business with? At this point, the case had gone beyond any possibility of reconciliation. Then they do some checking. Facts about the UK Geo Superlatives. Timeless Mystery: How did a Swiss Ring Watch End up in a Sealed Ming Dynasty Tomb. Hence, it could be one of those stories which could have emerged from Wilson's imagination. Taured's one and only known resident completely vanished from his hotel room which had been guarded by immigration officials all night long. However, when officials took a look at his ID, they were baffled to see that he was. Do you know if thats what they did in 1954 as well? Due to his lack of a home country, he was never allowed to leave Japan. Japan was beginning an intense period of modernization and economic expansion, and foreign businessmen from all over the globe regularly arrived at Haneda. Obviously I have no evidence of that, and its entirely possible that he did actually attempt suicide in the courtroom (whether based on his sentence/fear of foreign imprisonment or for completely unrelated reasons), but just based on his general M.O. El hombre aseguraba que su patria se encontraba en Europa, pero dado que los agentes no saban de su existencia dijo que era normal que no les sonase su nombre en Japn. I love this sort of thing. I love watching videos about UFOs and weird, mysterious things. you didnt just prove what we all already knew (that it wasnt true) but managed to make the story even more interesting. It was when he gave his passport to the immigration officer, the confusion started. Thank you for posting this! However it is just a piece of science fiction. As youve probably guessed, this fun Twilight Zone-esque story is almost definitely bogus. He had reportedly travelled around the world with a very convincing, albeit fake passport written in an unknown language. Does the story of John Allen Zegrus ruin the fantastical element of the man from Taured? Officials entered the room, laid a world map on the desk, and asked the man to locate his homeland for them. The first article about 'the man from Taured' was mentioned in Colin Wilson's book, 'The directory of possibilities.' In this book, Colin Wilson has written many such articles claiming the paranormal events. And apparently he wasnt working for the CIAunless he was deep undercover or something. []. Economically, United Kingdom of Taured favors moderate policies. Understanding the Mysterious Kingdom of Shambhala. The story has sparked some interesting conspiracy theories over the years. Common classes of paranormal tales are accounts of persons who have mysteriously appeared (e.g., from the past, the future, other worlds, other dimensions) and those who have mysteriously vanished (to no one knows where). Upon deeper interrogation, he claimed to be a naturalized Ethiopian citizen and a compatriot of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Jenansfer Berhodrick had allegedly entered the airport in July 1954. Archaeologists have been able to take a closer look at one of the United Kingdoms most famous shipwrecks. John Allen is in court, a martyr to Japanese thoroughness. So while the country of "Tuarid" might be fictitious it is obviously based on a very real place and people who have traditionally eschewed ideas of nationality and place.