Palmyra Atoll
Photo: nature.org
Palmyra Atoll is a strangely fascinating U.S. territory. Actually, there’s some debate regarding whether it’s really a territory at all.
See, Palmyra Atoll is considered to be an incorporated territory. That means that it is technically subject to the provisions of the U.S. Constitution. However, because it is uninhabited, Congress has not provided any orders regarding how it must be governed.
Like many other uninhabited territories, the U.S. acquired Palmyra as part of the Guano Act. However, no Guano was found. It has since gone through the usual ringer of military and scientific uses.
Interestingly, Palmyra Atoll may contain millions of dollars in sunken treasure. It’s rumored to be one of the possible locations of a sunken Spanish ship carrying gold, silver, and gems. Attempts to scavenge the area for the treasure have been thwarted by legal issues.
Atoll is also the site of the grisly double murder of a wealthy couple. The shocking story of their deaths became the subject of a famous true crime novel called And the Sea Will Tell. To this day, the body of one of the victims has never been found.