It is Finished? The Case of the Somerton Man (Episode #21)

On December 1, 1948, the body of an unidentified man was discovered on Somerton Beach near Adelaide, Australia. The man had no identification, and all labels were removed from his clothing. In a hidden pocket of his pants, a scrap of paper with the words “Tamám Shud” (meaning “ended” or “finished” in Persian) was found. The circumstances of his death, linked to theories like espionage or poison, persist as an unsolved mystery despite extensive investigations. So, who was the Somerton Man and how did he die?

MUSIC

Theme Music by Dethlehem (dethlehem.bandcamp.com)

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EPISODE RESOURCES

• “Professor’s 15-Year Search for Answers Seeks to Crack the Secret Code to the Death of the “Somerton Man” Found on an Adelaide Beach | Herald Sun.” Web.archive.org, 12 Oct. 2016, www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/portrait-may-hold-key-to-somerton-man-beach-mystery/story-fni0ffnk-1226674957043. Accessed 30 Dec. 2023.
• ‌“The Body on Somerton Beach | Past Imperfect.” Web.archive.org, 27 Dec. 2013, web.archive.org/web/20131227041357/blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/08/the-body-on-somerton-beach/. Accessed 30 Dec. 2023.‌
• “DEAD MAN FOUND LYING on SOMERTON BEACH.” News, 1 Dec. 1948, trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/129897161. Accessed 30 Dec. 2023.
• ‌“Somerton Man.” Wikipedia, 7 Aug. 2023, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerton_Man.
• ‌“The Lost Man.” The California Sunday Magazine, 7 June 2015, story.californiasunday.com/somerton-man/. Accessed 2 Jan. 2024.
• “Researcher Says He Has Identified Somerton Man, Ending Decades-Long Mystery.” ABC News, 26 July 2022, www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-26/somerton-man-identified-melbourne-born-engineer-researcher-says/101272182.