In the last October of World War II, the U.S. Navy destroyer of which I was a vice-captain sailed across the broad southern Pacific Ocean.
It was when our ship was passing by a small tropical island that we saw that indescribable thing. Ten or more Japanese soldiers we found surrounding the bonfire on the beach.
The next moment, they suddenly took off their uniform naked, and danced an eldritch dance around the bonfire. We might have regarded them as Polynesian savages, if we had failed to see them wearing the Japanese uniform at first.
What's more curious, there seemed to be a statue behind the bonfire. Our captain, becoming inclined to see what the statue-like thing was, tried looking through a telescope.
So shocked was he that his eyes almost started from their sockets, I remember.
"Did you see that, sir?" I asked him.
"Yes, I understood. But you had better not see that." replied the captain with a wholly pale face.
I lost forever the chance to know what that was for one reason, and for the very same reason, I thank for not knowing that. Our brave and curious captain, after that, totally lost his sanity to be an idiot.