Following the RMS Titanic’s sinking in the North Atlantic in 1912, some of its recovered artefacts had their next brush with water exactly 114 years later, on the anniversary of the disaster.
At the Volo Museum near Chicago, a Titanic display was unexpectedly affected by flooding on April 15 — the same date the ship struck an iceberg before coming to rest around 12,500 feet beneath the icy surface.
The wreck itself wasn’t located until 1985, and since then roughly 250 people have descended to view it in person, including Titanic director James Cameron.
More recently, the site was also tied to tragedy when the CEO of OceanGate and others aboard the Titan submersible died after the craft imploded during a dive attempt on June 18, 2023.
Only a small number of individuals can say they’ve seen the Titanic with their own eyes — and even fewer have a direct sense of what remains with the ship.
For those interested in the objects recovered from the deep, the Volo Museum says it houses a collection of artefacts that once sat on the seabed.
Staff arriving that day reportedly found an unusual amount of water across the floors, and the timing immediately raised eyebrows given the significance of the date.
In an interview,
“The irony of any Titanic exhibit flooding is strange enough, but the fact that ours flooded on the exact anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking is more than ironic; it’s almost paranormal,” Jim Wojdyla, marketing director for the Volo Museum spoke to ABC 7 Chicago about it.
Wojdyla added that it wasn’t the first time the exhibit had been hit by flooding, saying a similar incident happened in 2024.
He said: “The first time occurred during its opening year, and now again on the anniversary.
“I’m not sure what to make of the coincidence, but it’s enough to give us goosebumps.”
He also noted there didn’t appear to be an obvious internal cause, such as a burst pipe or a structural problem that would normally explain water getting inside.
That night, however, Chicago saw 2.43 inches of rainfall, which was ultimately viewed as the most plausible reason the museum ended up with flooding.
Even with heavy rain as a straightforward explanation, the date itself didn’t go unnoticed among employees, some of whom still wondered aloud whether the coincidence felt “paranormal.”
Online reactions were mixed, with some people doubting any supernatural connection. On the museum’s Facebook page, one commenter wrote: “I’d be concerned if it was saltwater.”
Another shared a tongue-in-cheek personal story, writing: “July 7 2015, Our basement flooded and when I went downstairs my cd was floating on the water.”
Never say never.