The Man from Taured
In 1954, a Mystery Man who claimed to be from a place named 'Taured' baffled airport security at Haneda Airport, Japan.
Like any other day, Haneda airport was booming with flyers and appeared to be a perfectly usual day. That was until, an unknown European Flight had just landed at the aiport and dropped off its passengers. However, one passenger on this plane was not exactly, normal. As flyers made their way through customs and security checks, a well presented, smartly dressed man stepped up and told airport security that he had travelled to Japan for a routine business trip, the third of the year so far. The man, appearing to be French was also fluint in both Japanese and many other widely used European Languages, supporting his claim that he had travelled to Japan freuquently. The unidentified individual also had a wide range of world wide currency in his wallet at the time.
However, when airport officials asked the man for his country of birth and residence, things became a little.. strange. He casually claimed that he was from a place named Taured, which rest between the border of both France and Spain. However there was one catch.. Taured did not exist. The man, shocked by the claims of security, presented them with his Passport, issued by the non-existent country of Taured, which also showed visa stamps, documentating his previous visits to Japan and many other countries in Europe. Yet when they called the company he said he was having a meeting with, they had never heard of the man, nor his company and had no recollection of any business meeting. Not only this, but the hotel he had reservations with had never heard of him either. The bank on his cheque book was also found to be non-existent.
Believing this could be some form of practical joke, aiport officials presented the unidentified man with a map of the world, and pointed to a small place called 'Andorra' which they believed to be 'Taured'. The man became angry and confused and claimed that Andorra did not exist as it was right where Taured should be. He went on to claim that Taured had existed for thousands of years and was insulted by the thought. Still in shock, he was detained by Customs officers and was given a room in a nearby hotel for the night while officials tried to figure out exactly what was going on.
And if you thought it couldn't get any stranger, it just did. The following morning came and the ongoing mystery deepend. The Taured resident had completely vanished from his hotel room, which had been guarded by immigration officers all night. And to make it worse, all of his personal documents, including his passport, birth certificate and drivers license, had vanished from the airport's security room. Both police and aiport officials spent the following months searching for the mystery man. It was as though the encounter at the aiport had never actually happened. He was never found.
