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Arts & Culture

HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS: The Disappearance Of Glenn Miller

Detective Kaiama Glover in front of a Norseman bush plane, the same kind Glenn Miller boarded before his mysterious disappearance. Can this plane unlock the secret of what happened to him?
Courtesy of Ann McGarry/ Oregon Public Broadcasting
Detective Kaiama Glover in front of a Norseman bush plane, the same kind Glenn Miller boarded before his mysterious disappearance. Can this plane unlock the secret of what happened to him?

Airs Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

The HISTORY DETECTIVES SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS team brings cutting edge tools to some of our biggest historical mysteries. Each new hour-long episode asks probing questions behind a single iconic mystery from America's past. Three investigators team up to solve each case: Wes Cowan, an independent appraiser and auctioneer; Kaiama Glover, professor at Barnard College, Columbia University; and Tukufu Zuberi, professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. As the detectives unearth fresh evidence, sift through clues and crisscross the country in search of answers, they reveal new perspectives on stories we thought we knew.

Glenn Miller was one of the most famous musicians in the world when he mysteriously disappeared in 1944. Can the HISTORY DETECTIVES crack the case?
Courtesy of U.S. Air Force
Glenn Miller was one of the most famous musicians in the world when he mysteriously disappeared in 1944. Can the HISTORY DETECTIVES crack the case?
Detective Tukufu Zuberi does some research on location off the coast of England. Can he discover what happened to Glenn Miller here nearly 60 years ago?
Courtesy of Ann McGarry/ Oregon Public Broadcasting
Detective Tukufu Zuberi does some research on location off the coast of England. Can he discover what happened to Glenn Miller here nearly 60 years ago?

"The Disappearance Of Glenn Miller" - One of the most celebrated, beloved entertainers of the wartime era takes off from England in heavy fog, heading to France to entertain troops. His plane vanishes. Glenn Miller’s disappearance is perhaps the biggest mystery and cold case of World War II.

This HISTORY DETECTIVES investigation contains a great deal of new information: Miller’s pilot was a rank novice who had never flown over the English Channel, never mind in appalling weather; documents from a Lancaster bomber pilot support another possible accounting of the plane’s disappearance; and a 17-year old plane spotter’s notebook — discovered in 2012 at a UK ANTIQUES ROADSHOW — answers a question that has long baffled investigators: which route did Miller’s aircraft take?

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In addition, the German-speaking Miller was working for the U.S. Army’s Psychological Warfare Division, recording German language propaganda broadcasts and musical performances.

PBS HISTORY DETECTIVES is on Facebook, and you can follow @histdetectives on Twitter. Past episodes and video clips from the series are available for online viewing.

The Disappearance Of Glenn Miller Preview

History Detectives Special Investigations Preview

"The detectives are back with a new mission: Solving the biggest mysteries in American history! History Detectives Special Investigations premieres Tuesday