Hanging Rock and the Picnic That Never Happened
Many people believe that on Valentine's Day 1900, schoolgirls on a picnic vanished at Hanging Rock. It never happened, but the story won't let go.
What was reported
Picnic at Hanging Rock, a 1967 novel by Joan Lindsay, tells of a group of schoolgirls and a teacher who climb Hanging Rock, a towering volcanic formation in Victoria, on Valentine's Day 1900. Some of them never come back, and no explanation is ever found. Peter Weir's 1975 film made it famous worldwide.
Lindsay hinted that it might be true, and the dreamlike film added to the impression. Many visitors still arrive believing it really happened, and some say watches stop on the rock.
Explanations offered
No girls disappeared: no records exist, and 14 February 1900 wasn't even a Saturday, as the book says. Lindsay never fully admitted it was invented. The rock itself is real, formed by a volcano about six million years ago, and sacred to the Aboriginal peoples of the area.
- When
- Novel 1967, film 1975
- Where
- Hanging Rock, Victoria, Australia
- Witnesses
- Readers, film audiences and visitors
- Status
- Fiction
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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