Californian Spotted in Cameron’s Titanic

Reading Time: < 1 minute I spent years thinking James Cameron completely ignored the existence of the “mystery ship” that watched the Titanic sink in his 1997 blockbuster film.

Reading Time: < 1 minute





I spent years thinking James Cameron completely ignored the existence of the “mystery ship” that watched the Titanic sink in his 1997 blockbuster film. While he omitted a key scene that included the Californian in the story, he did leave in the “Light on the Horizon”, albeit scarcely.

Have a look.








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47 thoughts on “Californian Spotted in Cameron’s Titanic”

    1. That is correct. What the video is stating is the Californian could have saved hundreds more had they responded to the distress signals. They could have arrived at the scene of the sinking in time to rescue many of the people who never made it into lifeboats. Of course, this is part of the century-long debate that has two sides; those who support Californian’s captain, Stanley Lord, and those who don’t. The “Lordites” will argue there still wasn’t sufficient time to get there (some don’t believe the “mystery” ship was even the Californian to begin with) while the “anti-Lordites” recognize all evidence supports the theory that the ship was in view, thus could have made it over to the Titanic before she foundered. Californian was less than 20 miles away (some argue less than 10) while the Carpathia was 50 miles away.

  1. dr paul lee , a titanic expert, estimates californian was somwhere betweeb
    14 1/2-16 1/2 miles away north-north west of the titanic, in the middle if
    not at the other (northern) edge of the ice field…

  2. How the heck were we the audience except to see that! It was so tiny and it
    only blink for a second at the end of a scene. James Cameron, you are just
    trolling us.

  3. Mr. Kayoss, do you think James Cameron made it so inconspicuous because he
    didn’t think that it was the Californian? The third-ship mystery has always
    intrigued me the most about the Titanic story. I’m curious as to whether
    you believe the ship was the Californian, or if it was perhaps another ship
    that was seen from both ships? Most of the research I’ve read about this
    mystery is that the ship seen by both ships was small and appeared to be
    moving, and if that is to be believed, then there’s no way that Titanic was
    the ship seen by the Californian, and vice versa, as both ships were
    stopped and motionless. A ship that frequently comes up when this
    mysterious theory is evoked is the Samson, a Norwegian schooner that was
    allegedly sealing illegally in the area, although if you dig really deep,
    you’ll see that it could not have been it. I’m just curious if you believe
    that the Californian was the ship seen by many on the Titanic, or if you
    believe any other possibilities for another ship? Other ships commonly said
    to have been this mystery ship include the Mt. Temple, the Dorothy Baird,
    and the Frankfurt. Just curious to hear your take, from one Titanic buff to
    another. Thanks for uploading!

  4. ya wish it had been in it more- The Californian is one of the biggest parts
    of the story- leaving that out is always a mistake. I also had never
    spotted the Californian in the film until I just say that

  5. Your voice omg wow I can’t even. Love the video by the way. I find Titanic
    very interesting and enjoy seeing all of the documentaries here on YouTube
    but damn your voice makes it even more interesting!

  6. While its plausible the blinking light may of been the Californian, I’d
    have to see the actual source where James Cameron himself acknowledges
    that. And if it *was* intended to be the Californian. My question would be
    why there wasn’t a scene (included or deleted) showing captain smith and
    another crew member noticing it and having some dialog about what ship it
    was.

  7. My issue here is the light from the Californian is on the wrong side of the
    ship. The light was seen about 2° off the port bow, not starboard. Which
    also means Cameron’s Titanic is pointing in the wrong direction when she
    sinks.

    Via the book *The Ship That Stood Still*

  8. Do you know why Cameron built its Titanic’s Film Studios in Rosarito Beach
    (Mexico)??? Because it was closer to the “Californian”!!! 😉

  9. Cameron’s omission is a major smoking gun that he was being stage managed
    by certain powerful interests who would “Prefer” that this be omitted. That
    blinking light may have well as been a lightning bug or a star on the
    horizon for Christ’s sake. This is no small detail, IT’S HUGE because it
    adds an element of hope for those in peril. How could Cameron justify this
    omission, answer he didn’t – He was instructed / advised to. The truth is
    JP Morgan arranged to have the Titanic sunk (Actually the Olympic, it was
    switched before the voyage but that’s another story), it was an elaborate
    scheme to get Astor, Guggenheim and Straus out of the way as they were
    blocking the banking act which would a year later be rushed thru congress
    (With the big 3 out of the way). Of course it was also an insurance fraud
    scheme as the Olympic had suffered 3 disasterous accidental collisions and
    they wanted to collect on the policy, so changed the name plates and other
    identifying features which took only a few weeks in Belfast. Cameron also
    leaves out several other very damning pieces of testimony / evidence such
    as if we are to believe that the spotters sighted the iceburg only a minute
    or so before it struck then why did numerous passengers who survived say
    that they saw that iceburg a good 20 minutes before the collision? Answer:
    Because (Most likely) Murdock was in on the conspiracy and was following
    orders. It’s also a fact that Murdock waited 30 critical seconds before
    giving the order to turn hard to port. There’s a lot more I could add but
    this is enough to show that Cameron was actively concealing the truth and
    promoting “The official version” in his film.

  10. You can see it again after they fire the flare in that scene 🙂 That way
    you know it’s not a bug …it’s placed there on purpose 😀

  11. I heard a survivor in another video say that the Californian came close
    enough that it could be clearly seen without binoculers…and that they
    could actually sort of make out a figure walking on the deck….and it is
    said that it was after the very Rude comments recieved from Titanic that
    the operator on the Californian decided enough was enough, decided not to
    recharge the wireless, and went to bed instead….

  12. The criticism of the Californian should not be one of “could she have saved
    everybody?”, or even “could she have saved more?” It is, “should she have
    tried?”

    If we assume that the Californian had a more motivated bridge staff, and
    leave all other factors “as-is” (ie, the Californian’s radio going offline
    at midnight, etc.) we can construct the following timeline (assumes average
    of 7 minutes between rockets):

    00:00 — Californian’s radio shuts down for the night

    00:15 — Titanic sends first distress call

    00:45 — Titanic fires first distress rocket (as it is the first, the
    officers on the Californian aren’t sure what they saw. They watch the ship
    in the distance more closely.)

    00:52 — Titanic fires second distress rocket. Californian bridge watch
    now knows they are seeing rockets and calls the captain to the bridge

    00:59 — Captain Lord sees the third rocket for himself. He orders the
    wireless operator awakened immediately.

    01:05 — Wireless operator (Evans) reports Titanic is sinking and gives
    coordinates. This presents a problem, as the coordinates are 13 miles to
    the west and the ship they can see is to the south. Lord orders Evans to
    ask Titanic if she is firing rockets, and orders the engine room to be
    ready to get underway.

    01:10 — Evans confirms Titanic is firing rockets. Lord decides to ignore
    the SOS coordinates and steam for the ship he can see firing rockets.

    At this point, the Titanic has only 70 minutes to live, and the Californian
    is just getting underway. Even if she is in clear water in 10 minutes and
    is able to make her top speed of 11 knots (and assuming the Titanic is only
    8 miles away – my personal belief), he would arrive no earlier than 02:05.
    At that point, it’s too late to come alongside the much-larger Titanic and
    attempt to transfer people directly from ship-to-ship. Also, the
    Californian’s crew is too small to get more than three or four of their own
    lifeboats into the water for rescue work. The best that could be hoped for
    would be to hove to perhaps 100 yards alongside the Titanic and hope to
    rescue the hardiest of the swimmers. In all likelihood, they may have
    saved 100-200 at the most. (And would’ve had a ringside seat for the
    breakup, so at least *that* point wouldn’t have been debated until 1985…)

  13. Die Kalifornier sind stinkverlogen, die Titanic ist in der Werft namens
    white star line geboren, und falls es Kalifornien vergessen hat die Werft
    in der die Titanic geboren war ist und bleibt ewige in England. In
    Liverpool. Das ist und bleibt ewige der Heimat und Geburtsort der Titanic.
    England kann ja auch als Spott sagen dass Doktor Mengele die Kalifornier
    erschaffen hat nach dem Bild Auschwitz.

  14. I spotted it in the film when I was just a kid. I used to be obsessed about
    the Titanic and when I saw the little light in that scene I nearly flipped
    from excitement.

  15. Only two movies ever showed the so-called Californian incident in any
    detail – A Night to Remember and the 1943 nazi effort Titanic. There’s
    also a Douglas Fairbanks Presents 30 minutes episode of the 1950s called
    Atlantic Night. Whether the mystery light was in fact the Californian is
    problematical because some Titanic witnesses saw a stationary light, others
    a moving one. The Californian was stationary all night. James Cameron’s
    1997 movie ignored the Californian incident – excepting Lord Kayoss’ find
    above – in order to avoid the public controversy and legal threats which
    might have ensued from supporters of captain Lord, the captain of the
    Californian.

  16. yes I agree the BEST film I have ever seen on the titanic is
    the one done in 1958 that had keneth more in it,,called a
    night to remember it had much more detail as to what really
    happend,,,,the titanic film that had robert wagner in and barbara
    stynwick 1953 I didnt like because basically in my opion that
    filmed focused mainly on peoples behavior and how they acted of
    around 1912,,,didnt really focus on the ship,,,and the movie that
    leanordo dicaperio was in I didnt like because all that mainly
    focused on was 2 ficitinol lovers,,,that wasnt about titanic at
    all ,,,, all that was ,, ,,was a love story,,,that never took
    place,,,the film was fiction,,,only truth to lenordeos film is
    titanic hit an ice berg and sank thats the only truth in
    it,,,,YES the BEST FILM ON TITANIC I HAVE EVER SEEN SO FAR IS
    ,,,,A NIGHT TO REMEMBER 1958 HAD KENENTH MORE IN IT,,,,,

  17. We know LORD KAYOSS said in this video that it can be seen on the Blu-ray,
    but was anyone able to see it on a REGULAR dvd; a disc that’s NOT Blu-ray?

  18. If you think you can find the “Light on the Horizon” on the old VHS tape,
    good luck. I already tried that just today.

  19. I spotted it. Since I knew very little about the Titanic at the time, I
    assumed it was the Carpathia, and wondered why it takes so long for them to
    get there.

  20. It is because of the scintillation that Californian did not come. They
    could not read the Morse Code and never realized it was a sinking ship. A
    cold-water mirage caused Titanic to look like a different ship. See
    “Titanic’s Final Mystery” (also titled “Titanic: Case Closed’) for the
    whole story. Man did 20 year study and read both inquiry transcripts.

  21. although it should of come to the titanic it woudnt be much help it was
    only a 6 tone ship it would proberbly only save about 200-300 souls but
    that is a big bunch of people bare in mind

  22. james camerons film actually was the first titanic movie i ever saw, and it
    inspired me to read and look into the titanic, i haven yet got to see a
    night to remember, but i have been to the museum, and bought tons of books,
    and before she died my great grandma, salvaged an actual newspaper that was
    released after the sinking happened and does anyone know a place where i
    can watch a night to remmeber? cause i dont own it and no stores around me
    sell it.

  23. At least Cameron’s movie had the break in half part because other titanic
    movies I have seen don’t include that part

  24. How the fuck did u get to this? Anyways, your voice was amacing over Molly
    Brown haha!! 😉

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