Episode 309: In Mike's first book, Murder, Madness and Mayhem, he wrote about an unknown man whose body was found on Somerton Park beach near Adelaide, Australia, by two trainee jockeys who’d been out with their horses on the morning of December 1, 1948. Lying in peaceful repose, the man wore a suit, overdressed for the warm Australian summer, and had no wallet or identification. He was unknown to anyone locally. The labels of his clothing had been ripped out. 

Some enigmatic leads proved fruitless, including the discovery of a book, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, believed to have belonged to the stranger. In that book, what appeared to be coded writing was found. Experts have yet to decrypt the supposed message. Some believe the man was a spy, possibly murdered for what he knew.

Called by many Somerton Man, the stranger's identity has remained unknown for decades until recently, when two separate groups came forward claiming they had information about who he was, leading to further speculation and even more questions.

Sources:

Murder Madness and Mayhem by Mike Browne

The Unknown Man by Gerald Feltus

Archived Newspaper Articles | Trove

Final Report/Thesis 2015 - Derek Abbott

Code Cracking: Who Murdered the Somerton Man | Prof. Derek Abbott

How to Solve Ciphers

Cryptography Hints

2602UMSAU — The Doe Network

‘Truth to come out’: Fresh claims emerge on Somerton Man

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