A 'genius' who said he had been in touch with aliens vanished off the face of the Earth more than four decades ago.
On a stormy night of November 29, 1980, Granger Taylor disappeared from the Canadian town of Duncan, with the mystery of what actually happened to the 32-year-old still ongoing to this day.
Taylor reportedly left a note to his family, claiming he was preparing for a voyage aboard an alien spaceship - but promised he would return.
His loved ones described him as a mechanical whizz, having restored a car, bulldozer, abandoned train and a World War Two jet, according to CBC.
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As a youngster, Taylor dropped out of school early to pursue his passion for mechanics, which is where people spotted he had a spectacular talent for fixing things.
The prodigy also alleged he could communicate with aliens, and to this end had built a life-size replica of a spacecraft from parts he accumulated from the local dump.
His sister admitted to Vice that Taylor was known to take acid a 'few times a day' in the lead up to his disappearance and was known for dabbling in smoking cannabis.
And then he vanished out of thin air, leaving behind a note and all his Earthly possessions to his family.
In the note, Taylor said he was jetting off on a lengthy interstellar trip for three and a half years, but apparently never made it back home from wherever he had gone.
His letter read: "Dear Mother and Father, I have gone away to walk aboard an alien spaceship, as recurring dreams assured a 42-month interstellar voyage to explore the vast universe, then return.
"I am leaving behind all my possessions to you as I will no longer require the use of any. Please use the instructions in my will as a guide to help. Love, Granger."
His family and friends spent months searching for him, but all other traces of the missing man were nowhere to be seen.
That is until six years later in March 1986 when forestry workers stumbled across a blast site and a wrecked vehicle near Mount Prevost, not far from where the Taylor family lived.
Police later confirmed the registration for the destroyed vehicle matched that of his Datsun pickup truck.
Some fragments of human bone and a scrap of clothing believed to be from one of Taylor's shirts were also found at the scene, but no full body was ever found.
A coroner's inquest determined Taylor must have been killed in the blast that had destroyed the car, concluding that he had been carrying dynamite in his truck when it went off.
It made no judgment on whether the fatal blast had been accidental or deliberate, particularly as Taylor often carried dynamite to destroy tree stumps and knew how to use it.
Liv Bridge