I love this kind of mystery

Reported from Sweden Man Recovered From Raft Puzzles Swedes:

Swedish authorities Saturday were investigating how a man calling himself a "stateless American" ended up floating on a raft of oil barrels and wood planks in the waters between Denmark and Norway.

The man — who carried no identification, spoke perfect English and said his name was George Williams — was found by a Norwegian oil tanker on Friday morning, floating in the Skagerak sea on a raft of four oil barrels held together by a frame of wooden planks.

He told police he had been thrown from a ship several days earlier and now wanted to go to New York, but offered little further information.

He asked to be taken in by Swedish authorities, and shielded his face from photographers when he was taken to a port in southern Sweden.

"If he was thrown off a ship, they must have thrown off the raft for him to sit on as well, so I don't know," Swedish marine police spokesman Bengt Albinsson said. "We are trying to figure out the circumstances, but we will have to see how much he wants to tell us."

Next he'll say that he was trying to set the 4 barrel and wooden plank course record between Denmark and Norway...

UPDATE: More info here including photos of the rescue and the raft. Photo credit: BERGESEN WORLDWIDE GAS