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30 Of The Famous ‘Unsolved’ Mysteries That Have Actually Been Solved
The most famous mysteries cannot be explained by science, right? I mean, that has to be the reason why they're still so popular. Well, actually, no; they can!
As human beings, we are constantly observing our world and trying to make sense of it. It's what we're good at. But traditionally, whenever we encounter something we can't figure out, we make up a story to explain it — surprisingly, we're good at it too.
Why do so many ships and planes go missing inside an imaginary triangle near Bermuda? Must be aliens! For years, such popular "explanations" have been enough. But as we progress, so does science, and it constantly provides actual evidence on topics that are so important to us. The problem is, we're not always listening.
Many of us still believe the myths rather than the facts. And I get it, mystical stories are more interesting. But that doesn't make them legit. Below is an eye-opening list of famous "mysteries" that are no longer mysterious at all.
(h/t ranker)
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Why The Mayans Vanished
It's one of the most prominent societal collapses in human history. The Mayans seemingly abandoned their complex civilization and disappeared into the Central American jungle. For centuries, people puzzled over the disappearance, theorizing everything from an internal peasant revolt, to conquest by an outside and unknown people, to a UFO holocaust.
It wasn't until 2005 that a legitimate theory was put forward to explain what happened, a theory confirmed in 2012. The Mayan civilization collapsed due to a self-created environmental disaster. The Mayans chopped down too many trees, which reduced the land's ability to absorb solar radiation. This made rainfall more scarce, which caused a crippling drought. The Mayans abandoned their land not due to aliens or revolt, but to find food.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
History is repeating itself on a global scale but yet there are still fools denying that we are destroying our world. Fun fact is that all the right wing presidents in the world are refusing to accept the truth.
JessG 4 years ago
That's not a fun fact at all, it's decidedly un-fun :( and you're right, they're all fools, and I think we all might be doomed to go down with the ship unless things change
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François Carré 4 years ago (edited)
And they didn't vanish at all. Only the State collapsed, the people just scattered around in smaller communities, trying to cope with the environmental issues on their own. There is a strong ideological bias in archeology, which deems a civilization lost just because central State is gone and there was no longer anybody to bother creating permanent pieces of art and architecture that could leave some trace for us to find. In fact, this doesn't mean at all that people tragically disappear. Most of the time, on the contrary, it means they set free from an authoritarian central State and went back to nomad life - which for a fair 90% of human history has been the common way of living. See James C. Scott's works if you want to learn more about this.
Prilsy 4 years ago
This is very interesting and makes you wonder what could happen with our civilization
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JessG 4 years ago
Almost all of the ancient civilizations collapsed by their own doing. Environmental carelessness and ignorance of the consequences of their own actions. We are headed in the same direction because we can't take historical cues.
Stephanie Keith 4 years ago
People don't care because they want satisfaction and fun regardless of who or what it harms. This planet has provided us with everything we needed as far as natural resources. To carry on and live and sustain our lives. But that wasn't good enough, think about horses horses are a natural resource for us to get around. Yet somebody was not satisfied with that and wanted to build a car for more convenience. Knowing that if they did that the chemicals and things it takes to create that would destroy this world. But they don't care because they want things to be easier or more fun. Just because you have an idea to create something or do something. Doesn't mean you should. My point about automobiles. We were given horses as a natural resource that doesn't harm the planet. But it wasn't good enough. I know I'm repeating myself but it just blows my mind. That a person did not see or think that that horse was good enough. Thus trying to create something they knew what harm us or harm this world and years to come.
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Daniel Atkins 4 years ago
and why the calendar stops at 2012 hard to think about the future if you don't have food.
RELATED:
#2
The Death Valley Sailing Stones Don't Move On Their Own, They Float On Pieces Of Ice
The Racetrack Playa is a flat, dry lakebed in the middle of a desert with the lowest elevation in North America. It's also home to mysterious "sailing stones" that have baffled visitors since the early 1900s. To an untrained observer, it looks like these stones have moved across the surface of the lakebed entirely on their own, leaving tracks up to 1,500 feet long without any sign of human or animal interference. Many theories have been offered to explain this phenomenon, including strong winds, the pull of the Earth's magnetic field, a clever prankster - or, once again, aliens.
But thanks to a devoted team of scientists, we now know why these stones move. In 2011, researchers from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography attached GPS devices to 15 rocks and left to monitor them. Two years later, they returned to the site and were lucky enough to witness the phenomenon in person. When Death Valley receives a rare winter rainstorm, water can pool on the flat lakebed and freeze overnight, creating large panes of ice around the rocks. In the morning, the ice thaws and cracks into large sheets, and a light gust of wind is all that's needed to move the ice across the lakebed's surface. The ice sheets push the rocks across the lakebed and then melt, leaving nothing behind but the rock's tracks. The scientists called the phenomenon "ice shoving." One of them jokingly described the study as "the most boring experiment ever."
Susan Green 4 years ago
Well that’s interesting. I’m not surprised it was also blamed on aliens though.
pebs 4 years ago
I do. Why an alien should spend its time moving around rocks only in a specific part of the planet? All these phenomena have a scientific explanation.
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#3
Aliens Are Not Responsible For This Ancient Iron Pillar Not Rusting
Likely built sometime around 450 CE, the 23-foot-tall iron pillar found in Delhi's ancient Qutb Complex amazed both locals and scientists because of its seeming resistance to rust. Theories about the "out-of-place artifact" abounded, with one explanation being that it was built by aliens, since local people at the time couldn't have built such an element-resistant object.
But recent scientific analysis showed that not only was such a feat well within the capabilities of ancient people, it also revealed exactly why the pillar doesn't rust. It's coated with a thin layer of iron hydrogen phosphate hydrate (also called misawite), which keeps the elements out. The film likely ended up on the pillar through a combination of impurities in the iron and the primitive ovens the metallurgists were using. No ancient astronauts needed.
denzoren 4 years ago
Imagine being the people who put this up...never knowing what confusion it would cause. Lol
Šimon Špaček 4 years ago
I hope there is an afterlife, so they may have a good laugh about that. Do you think that afterlife is about sitting there, eating popcorn and betting on whose joke will be best? If yes, I'm in!
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M O'Connell 4 years ago
It's similar to Corten weathering steel. A slight oxide layer forms, but it doesn't exhibit the scale that you find on milder steels.
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Ludwig Van Halen 4 years ago
But what even more confusing is why there is even a giant iron pole in the middle of the street in the first place.
UncleRussian 4 years ago
Well damn, they did it by accident and didn't even know what they did
Michael Sanders 4 years ago
I’m glad there was scientific analysis to prove to us that aliens didn’t build this pillar. Load off my mind
Dhukath 4 years ago
Ok no rust? But why create just one anti rust pillar, the amount of effort and resources needed to create it, what was it for? (Also scientists stop spoiling all the fun).
I'm lay sheep in China 4 years ago
This piller carries inscription by King Chandragupta.It was also made to honour one of the most important Hindu gods Vishnu
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#4
Anastasia Romanov Did Not Disappear And Assume Another Identity; Her Remains Were Verified In 1991
The Romanovs' remains were rediscovered in 1979, and they were finally tested after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991
Suzanne Haigh 4 years ago
Not being a royalist why I do feel a lot of sympathy for this family?
Dodo 4 years ago
Because there's a difference between not wanting a royal family and wanting children shot because of who they are. I hope
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Kayla J 4 years ago
Part of the Romanov's remains were discovered in 1979. This included the Tsar, his wife, and 3 daughters. While Russian scientists believed Maria was missing, the US scientists believed it was Anastasia. In 2007, Alexei's remains with that of the other sister were finally found and definitively put the rumors to rest.
Suzanne McHenry 4 years ago (edited)
This is a real sad story. How can you do that to the Children?. It was a very callous murder to all of them!. A very dark chapter in history.
Little Panda Bear 4 years ago
This was a horrifying story. Children being shot just because they were born into a royal family - I doubt it was a quick death either.
#5
Male Woolly Mammoth Went Extinct Due To Poor Living Arrangements
Scientists were confused as to why a whopping 70 percent of mammoth fossils were males and those of females were so rare. In 2017, the Swedish Museum of Natural History found that this was due to poor male mammoth living arrangements.
When male mammoths reached adulthood, they were kicked out of the female-led herds. The males then either lived as hermits or formed bachelor herds. As such, the exiled males would engage in riskier behavior that would lead to a better chance of fossil preservation, like getting trapped in a sinkhole or a bog.
François Carré 4 years ago
More seriously, the explanation is simply that mammoths probably behaved like modern elephants, who live in large familial and female herds, with the male loosely following them on their own. Male elephants are aggressive, usually much bigger, and can be dangerous to the calves, so they get kicked out, and only get closer once in a while for mating purposes, or to defend the herd against lions and such.
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Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
This is NOT why they went extinct; it's why the gender distribution is so skewed among their preserved remains (which are NOT typically fossils, because fossilization takes a LONG time). They probably went extinct because of humans... as did nearly all megafauna (giant animals) shortly after contact wth humans.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
The headline here is misleading. The entire species didn't go extinct due to this, it just explains teh amount of male fossils. Plenty of animal species, including elephants. live like this, today.
Hannah Edwards 4 years ago
Riskier behaviour? What were they doing? Fighting outside pubs, trying drugs and drunk driving?
yellowphantom 4 years ago
Whose tusks could gouge the deepest, who could head-butt the hardest, who was brave enough to take on one of those pesky 2-legged things with the sharp sticks....The usual macho stuff.
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Purbasha Banai 4 years ago
I see a lot of parallels here and the movie series ICE AGE. Manny's bachelor group 😂
TimesNewLogan 4 years ago
I'm now imagining a bunch of mammoths standing around, arguing over whose trunk is longer.
Marco Conti 4 years ago
Incel mammoths must have been really hard to be around back then. At least they had something real to complain about.
Jeanie Roundy 4 years ago
Yes. This is why females should always be revered as responsible progenitors of the species.
#6
The Black Sinkhole In Florida
The sinkhole in the Aucilla River, south of Tallahassee, in Florida, has been known by archaeologists for years. However, it is so dark that no divers would want to explore and examine it. But Jessi Halligan, a Florida State University professor, decided to conduct some research. The diving expeditions found mastodon tusks that had long grooves left by human tools. The discovery implies that humans inhabited the Florida area much earlier than had been thought initially thought, which dates back as far as 14,500 years ago.
Oskar vanZandt 4 years ago
Surely they could've borrowed a robot submersible if no diver was willing to explore the murky depths?
bill marsano 4 years ago
And they polluted their drinking water by throwing waste in it, as humans have done throughout history.
#7
The UFO That Crashed Near Roswell In 1947 Was Actually A High-Altitude Balloon
The "UFO" that crashed near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 wasn't alien at all. It's actually a high-altitude balloon designed to monitor Soviet atomic tests. However, the government's commitment to secrecy during the Cold War left the explanation as vague as possible, allowing decades for conspiracy theorists to spread their "work."
Tracy Costa 4 years ago
Fun conspiracy theory: Governments all over the world dress up drones and other flying weapons as UFOs. They can test top secret projects while keeping them secret and who really takes conspiracy theorists seriously?
Alexandru Bucur 4 years ago
Actually, there was a comment on reddit from someone who tested drones for the US Army in the 1980s (small internal combustion powered helicopters) and told how when they tested the things at night close to populated areas they put Christmas lights on them specifically so any watcher would not be sure of what they're seeing... And it's clear from the Roswell incident that when papers started reporting "aliens" and stuff the US Air Force breathed a sigh of relief and went "it's fine whatever you think it was, as long as it's nowhere close to what it actually is..."
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Ian Reynolds 4 years ago
This is what they want us to believe, Bored Panda are in on the conspiracy.
Wouldn't You Like to Know 4 years ago
Aren't you just rehashing the Air Force cover story from 1947 here?
Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
Whenever there is a void in communication, whether because of disaster or cold-war secrecy, you can be sure conspiracy theories will fill that void.
William Teach 4 years ago
The government says it was a weather balloon. And, it may have been, but, the contradictory messages given at the time and the secrecy surrounding it will keep the conspiracy going.
Whitney Gal 4 years ago
There were no contradictory messages given at the time. Newspaper articles and Government documents from the time of the crash all say that it was a weather balloon or similar equipment. It was a complete non-issue for 30 years. It wasn’t until the 1970s, when one dude claimed that it could be an alien craft, that the whole conspiracy theory took off.
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#8
The Kidnapping Of Carlina White
Carlina White, who was kidnapped as a baby, was later reunited with her birth parents. On August 4, 1987, Carlina, who was only 19 days old, was rushed to New York's Harlem Hospital Center. Suffering from an infection and high fever, Carlina was admitted, but disappeared during an early morning shift change. Witnesses claimed they saw a woman dressed as a nurse somewhere near the NICU, however, the hospital's video surveillance system wasn't working, so an accurate description wasn't possible.
This incident was the first non-parental infant abduction in New York history. A reward was set up for Carlina's return, but she was never found. The parents sued the hospital, won a settlement, and eventually split up. The case remained cold for decades. For the next 23 years, Carlina was raised under a new name by Connecticut resident Annugetta "Ann" Pettway.
Carlina eventually became suspicious that she looked nothing like Ann. This suspicion was further heightened when she couldn't provide her with birth documents. Carlina began researching things on the net and eventually came across baby photos that matched those of her when she was small. She called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and was reunited with her real parents in 2000. The kidnapper disappeared, eventually turned herself in, pleaded guilty to kidnapping, and was given a 12-year sentence.
Monday 4 years ago
Cases like these are doubly sad because the kidnapped kid (now adult) loves the kidnapper that raised them. So Pettaway getting locked up is great for the White family since the person who caused them so much grief is finally brought to justice, but it's sad for Ann because now the person she knows as her mother is in jail.
Šimon Špaček 4 years ago
Who knows? Maybe there was a reason why she contacted the authorities. I don't know anything about this story, so do not take me too serious, I just ask if she really loved her "unwilling-adoption mother" or not.
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Parmeisan 4 years ago
I did some reading on the wikipedia article, and it seems that the kidnapper was not an employee of the hospital but had been hanging around for about 3 weeks. She actually spoke to the parents beforehand. The reason was that she had had several miscarriages and did not think she would ever be a parent otherwise. The thing that really gets me about this, though, is she had to remove an IV line from Carlina - and of course remove her from the care of doctors and nurses who were keeping her alive - in order to take her. She wanted a baby so badly that she risked killing her in the attempt. :(
Vicky Zar 4 years ago
This is SO sad. If she hadn‘t been abducted, the parents may never have seperated. She might have had siblings.... I lost a child at birth, but I cannot imagine what these parents had to go through. The not knowing and constant wondering... It can deive people mad
Mimi777 4 years ago
Very true. It’s absolutely heartbreaking I can’t even imagine. My heart goes out to every parent out there who has lost a child the grief must be unbearable.
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Anne Reid 4 years ago
Carlina advocated for a reduced sentence in her victim impact statement. It was big news in NYC. She explained that she was brought up in a loving home by a woman who was desperate to be a mother. She acknowledged that a terrible wrong happened but that it wasn’t meant to be malicious against her birth parents. Of course, her abductor didn’t care what the birth parents felt, so she got some jail time.
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Dixon's Mama 4 years ago
A 12 year sentence seems like a slap in the face to Carlina and her family.
Gosia Buczek 4 years ago
One person's actions destroyed so many lifes - Carlina's, her mother's, her father's, her kidnapper's and their families too. :(
#9
The ‘Shroud Of Turin’ Was Carbon-Dated To A Thousand Years After Jesus's Birth
For millions of Christians, the Shroud of Turin is one of the most revered religious icons in the world. The shroud is a 14-foot piece of linen fabric that was purportedly used to wrap Jesus's body for burial. Most remarkably, the shroud features a negative image of an adult male, supposedly Jesus himself. The image, some have suggested, is actually an incredibly detailed bloodstain left by Jesus's body. Since 1578, the shroud has resided in the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy, where it attracts thousands of visitors each year.
To some, the validity of a religious icon is a matter of faith, not science. But thanks to modern carbon-dating techniques, scientists have been able to prove that the Shroud of Turin couldn't have been Jesus's actual burial shroud. The Bible doesn't specify exactly what year Jesus perished, but most scholars agree it was the year 33 AD. In 1988, carbon-dating showed that the Shroud of Turin originated in the Middle Ages. Forensic scientists also examined the blood spatter patterns on the shroud and concluded they were made by someone sitting in a variety of positions, not lying flat like a cadaver.
Traditionally, churches and cathedrals like San Giovanni Battista have displayed holy relics purportedly belonging to Jesus, the saints, and other important religious figures. These holy relics weren't just objects of worship, but also big moneymakers that attracted thousands of pilgrims, just like they do today. Like the Shroud of Turin, the provenances of these relics are impossible to prove. In more recent years, the Vatican has officially classified the Shroud of Turin as "an icon" rather than a literal holy relic.
BannedFromABoatShow 4 years ago
Read the Bible people. Whether you believe it or not, Jesus was wrapped in a body cloth and a SEPARATE head cloth. For people purportedly believers it’s a pretty glaring detail.
Spiffsmom 4 years ago
Did they have only one piece of cloth? I m sure they wrapped everyone up so how can you say this one piece of cloth belonged Jesus. Churches want believers they will say what they need to say. Whether it’s the truth or not.
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François Carré 4 years ago
Years ago I saw an interesting documentary that not only detailed the probable origin of the shroud, but also explored the possibility that Leonardo da Vinci had created the so-called image of Jesus (the face being actually his own) during an experimentation of what could have been... the very first camera obscura ever.
Ross Keim 4 years ago (edited)
You cant use science to disprove religion, they just argue back saying, nuh uh
pebs 4 years ago
And the funny thing is that the pope of the time knew very well, along with the other priests, that the Holy Shroud was a simple representation of the passion of Christ, and not the sheet that had really wrapped his body. Indeed, he issued a bull in which he stated that the canons could continue to exhibit the Holy Shroud, as long as they clearly warned the faithful that it was a copy and not the original. And in 2021 there is still some who believe that it is indeed the shroud of Christ.
John Montgomery 4 years ago
I saw a documentary years ago showing that the face doesn't even work the way a real face would. The only way they could get a similar result was if it was a flattened but slightly raised more closely to a big rubber stamp or something similar. I forget the actual term they used.
Andrew Gibb 4 years ago
this is what my unwashed bedding looks like when living out in the desert after a few months
#10
Crop Circles Can Be Created With Simple Ropes And Boards
Crop circles aren't evidence of aliens visiting Earth - the explanation is far more mundane. Reports of crop circles actually appear as early as the 16th century, however, they became an object of public fascination only in 1978, when one appeared in a field near Warminster, in Wiltshire, England. It was then that hundreds of crop circles appeared throughout southern England and all over the globe. As you could have expected, aliens were blamed by some for making them.. It was believed that crop circles were actually "flying saucer nests," or sites of UFO landings.
However, crop circles are all a hoax. Sorry, alien fans! Back in 1991, friends Doug Bower and Dave Chorley came forward and admitted they had created the original Wiltshire crop circle. They admitted they'd been inspired by a letter published in a 1963 issue of New Scientist about "flying saucer nests," and decided to have some fun and see if they could make one themselves. They even showed the BBC exactly how they made it: They used a contraption called a "stalk stomper," or a simple board with ropes tied on each end. One of them stood holding one end of the rope, while the other stretched the opposite end of the rope as far as it would go and walked in a circle, allowing the board to gently push over the plant stalks. Bower and Chorley admitted to making hundreds of crop circles across England, always working under the cover of darkness. Despite their admission, some people still believe that crop circles are UFO landing sites.
H Edwards 4 years ago
My mother had a crop circles calendar in the 90s lol. Some of them were incredibly complex and beautiful, very impressive. Extremely annoying for the farmers though, I expect.
Dynein 4 years ago
These days, there even are plenty of examples that are _clearly_ human made - like words and brand logos. There is no excuse for believing in crop circles.
Stephanie Keith 4 years ago
Well there is a reason to believe in them. Because they are real. People create them and make them on their own. So you can believe they are real seeing how people make them. What you should not believe is that aliens make crop circles. You should very much so believe in crop circles because they're real.
Load More Replies... Chich 4 years ago
We had crop circles show up outside town once. All kind of interesting people with weird instruments showed up. Some were interviewed on TV confirming passionately that the circles were definitely Alien in origin. The 'woo' was strong. Anyway, this went on for about a week until some local lads came forward with their tools (boards and ropes) and video of themselves making the circles. The woo went away.
Pazuzu 4 years ago
actually not the more integral ones,which all,and under scientific process,have the same reoccuring feature of its nodes being blown out by some sort of microwaving.also there has been numerous rewards ,including 1,000,000 sterling for anyone to recreate one of these in the single night time frame, only simple circles can be done---with all the surrounding grass trampled all over the place. and don,t get me wrong,its not aliens or any of that crack but maybe read into it a bit more before u make such claims.
Yayaboobo 4 years ago
I'm with you. Too much evidence of some made under mysterious circumstances b
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readingthequibbler 4 years ago
Doug and Dave were proven to be lying as they could not replicate the crop circles, and a university did an experiment that showed humans couldn't be the ones creating crop circles.
LazyPanda 4 years ago
Haha some of the most legendary trolls. I wonder if explanations for stone hedge and the pyramids would make us feel the same. I love this stuff
Signe Manat Hansen 4 years ago
The explanations? It's never been a mystery how the pyramids were built.
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#11
Ships Disappear In The Bermuda Triangle At About The Same Rate As They Do Anywhere Else
For decades, sailors, pilots, and travelers have feared the Bermuda Triangle. This area lies in the Atlantic Ocean, and at least 50 ships and 20 airplanes have "mysteriously" vanished there. Stories about disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle area date back centuries but the name "Bermuda Triangle" was coined in 1964 by pulp science-fiction writer Vincent Gaddis, who wrote an article about it for Argosy magazine. Over the years, many theories have attempted to explain these disappearances, including Earth's magnetic field interfering with navigational instruments; enormous bubbles of methane gas bursting on the surface of the ocean; cryptids like sea monsters or aliens; and something to do with the lost city of Atlantis.
The point is not to debunk these explanations, because the real flaw in the Bermuda Triangle theory is the premise that an unusually high number of mishaps involving ships and planes happen there. Pilot and author Larry Kusche spent years researching these disappearances, and he found that many of the reported disappearances didn't actually occur within the Bermuda Triangle. As for those shipwrecks and plane incidents, Kusche and others like the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration have pointed out that maritime disasters occur at about the same rate within the Triangle as they do everywhere else.
Tina Smith 4 years ago
Just ask an actuarial. Insurance isn't any more expensive for ships or planes going through that area.
GirlFriday 4 years ago
Actuary. Actuary is a person. Actuarial is the science that an actuary studies/works in/performs.
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Beatrice Multhaupt 4 years ago
A guy with a Phd in geophysics once told me that there is a great deal of submarine volcanic activity in the area, resulting in the water's being temporarily a mix of carbon dioxide and water. Once you get past a 50-50 ratio of the two, a ship entering the area will sink like a rock, without warning. These events are rare but the absence of distress calls from ships that literally vanished from the radar screens was indeed worrisome enough to give rise to more rumors than there ever were missing ships.
Sky Render 4 years ago
Fun Fact: there's been more maritime accidents at the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon than there have been in the Bermuda Triangle. The sandbar there is absurd, and the tides can become quite fierce!
Islandchild 4 years ago
It wasn't so much about the number of disappearances, as it was about the oddities involved in them. Which modem knowledge can now understand. Consider that Bermuda itself was referred to a the devil's isle before people figured out that sailors were embellishing stories about rocks, bad weather and weird sounding birds.
Nathan Pogorzala 4 years ago
A lot of accidents happen in this area because there is a lot of traffic there.
bill marsano 4 years ago
And many are reaily explainable (e.g., the disappearing collier was floating scrap iron) or date from mid w20th Cy or earlier. Many are distinctly minor as well: What--some am,bitious but unskilled yacht owner starts a half-assed voyage w/o chercking the weather forecast, then disappears? Where in the world has that NOT happened?
Kevin Camp 4 years ago (edited)
My father was a flight engineer in P3s after the Viet Nam war based out of NAS Jacksonville. he logged 1000's flight hours in this area over a decade with his squadron. They never had a problem except with the occasional Russian cold war spy ship watching space flights out of Canaveral or monitoring the fleet and Cecil Field airbase in Jax.
Little Panda Bear 4 years ago
I'm actually more curious to find out what happened to MH370. Like how does an entire plane carrying 239 people vanish entirely? They even used satellites and an approximately 4 year long expedition with experts from all over.
#12
The Loch Ness Monster Is Probably A Large Eel
For almost 1,500 years, people have reported seeing an enormous, mysterious creature living in Loch Ness, a freshwater lake near Inverness, Scotland. The earliest reference to a Scottish lake monster dates back to the biography of Saint Columba, which was written in 565 AD. Reports continued periodically afterward, but they kicked into high gear in 1933, when a road was built along Loch Ness's shore.
One year later, British doctor Robert Wilson shared the infamous Loch Ness Monster photograph, which purported to reveal the monster in its natural habitat (and in no way looks like a plastic dinosaur toy in a bathtub). Though Wilson later admitted the photo was a hoax, belief in the legend persists to this day. As of 2012, a quarter of Scots believed Nessie was real, or at least told a pollster they did. Some think the Loch Ness Monster is a prehistoric holdout, a dinosaur that somehow survived to the present day. Others think it's a cryptid.
There has never been concrete proof of a lake monster living in Loch Ness, not even a washed-up carcass. So why do so many people still believe it? As with a lot of these popular myths, it's not because people are delusional, or that they're seeing something that isn't really there; it's more likely they are seeing some kind of creature and misunderstanding what it is. Skeptics have suggested that many supposed Nessie sightings are really just large fish native to the area - possibly a wels catfish, a sturgeon, or a Greenland shark.
In 2019, a team of researchers from New Zealand analyzed water samples from Loch Ness and studied the DNA of every type of living organism found within it. They found no evidence of dinosaurs, sturgeon, catfish, or sharks, nor did they find the DNA of a previously unknown organism. However, they did find plenty of eel DNA. Like many freshwater lakes in Europe, Loch Ness is home to the European conger, a species of eel that spawns in the Sargasso Sea near the Bahamas and migrates to European bodies of water. European congers can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh up to 130 pounds, making them the likeliest Nessie candidate. If there is a bigger animal living in Loch Ness, it hasn't left any DNA behind.
Bored Birgit 4 years ago
But... but I bought a small porcelain Nessie when I was at Loch Ness, and it assures me that it is real!
KatHat 4 years ago
This picture is a famous fake, known as The Surgeon's Photo (link below). It's been debunked for years. It's kind of a shame it was used with this post as any bits of truth that DO exist around the Loch Ness monster have nothing to do with this pic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ness_Monster
Charlotte A. 4 years ago
But but but, what about the caves between the loch and the sea that keeps appearing and disappearing thanks to earthquakes we never hear about (must be a cover up) or the way Nessie time travels thanks to the quartz content in the nearby mountains? I saw these claims on TV so they must be true! (Seriously, though, I was quite disappointed to find that one of my supposed "science channels" almost exclusively shows this kind of nonsense. It can be amusing, but not when it's toted of as "credible" or "serious".)
Julia Atkinson 4 years ago
The monster in the St Colomba biography was in the River Ness, not Loch Ness, and the book is full of supernatural events. And the road along the banks of Loch Ness has existed since the 18th century - it was merely resurfaced in the early 1930s. The "legend" was created almost single-handedly by a local water bailliff and part-time newspaper reporter who claimed to have seen the monster many times but somehow never had a camera handy...
Anne Reid 4 years ago
I always thought it looked liking a man swimming with a stocking over his outstretched arm. To the left, I thought it was his hip. Finding out it was a toy and not just a dude posing for a blurry photo kinda threw me.
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Remi Flynne 4 years ago
Yes - this was a theory that cropped up again a few weeks ago.
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The 'Flying Dutchman' Ghost Ship Was Likely The Result Of A Common Optical Illusion
Practically since sailing was first invented, sailors have reported seeing mysterious floating objects on the horizon. The most famous of these is the "Flying Dutchman," sightings of which likely originated in the 1600s - but persisted into the 20th century. Usually, these sightings had similar details: A ghostly ship appears just over the horizon, appearing to be lit by some kind of unearthly light, usually during a storm. Sailors theorized that this ghost ship was a former Dutch trading vessel doomed to sail the ocean for eternity, and whenever it appeared before living sailors, it was a bad omen. Poems about ghost ships helped spread these legends even further, like Walter Scott's Rokeby or Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Ghost ships are just one type of unearthly object people have spotted at sea. In 1643, the Jesuit priest Domenico Giardina reported seeing a floating city over the strait of Messina, just over the horizon. In 1810, cartographers Yakov Sannikov and Matvei Gedenschtrom reported seeing a floating land mass among the New Siberian Islands.
In reality, reports of ghost ships, ghost cities, and ghost islands are all examples of a common optical illusion called "Fata Morgana." (The name derives from the character Morgan le Fay, a sorceress from the legend of King Arthur who could create beguiling illusions.) A Fata Morgana is caused by the way our eye perceives light when it passes through spaces with different densities. At the ocean's surface, the water keeps the air relatively cool. Above that layer of cool air is another layer of warmer air. These differences in temperature create atmospheric layers with different densities. When light passes through them, it refracts, or bends. The human eye assumes the light it can see travels in a straight line, so from a distance, refraction can make an object on the water's surface appear as if it's floating above it. Most likely, superstitious sailors probably were seeing real ships. They just looked like they were floating in the air.
Fata Morganas are convincing enough that even though we now know their cause, we can still fall for them. In 2015, residents of Foshan and Jiangxi reported seeing a floating city in the sky. Once again, it was just a mirage.
Fred Van Der Zee 4 years ago
I see you are a wo/man of culture as well ;)
Load More Replies... François Carré 4 years ago
Same thing, on a smaller and less poetical scale, when it's very hot and puddles seem to appear on the road and disappear as you approach. It's just the warmer layer of air above the road reflecting the sky light.
Scotland's-Favorite-Gay 4 years ago
well this may be true, we sailors have to have something to scare the wee ones haha
Logic and Reason 4 years ago
That last part about the floating Chinese city is entirely false. It was easily proven to be simple video manipulation, despite large news sources and people like the doofus that wrote this trying to make it be a mirage. Here’s proof: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmrn2IuSW-Q
Jon S. 4 years ago
Was just about to comment this myself. It was bizarre how many news sources reported it, despite being a fairly perceivable CGI effect.
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Tim Douglass 4 years ago
My dad always talked about see the Flying Dutchman in the South Pacific in about 1945. He was on a T-2 tanker at the time and it was just before they sailed into a typhoon.
Little Panda Bear 4 years ago
The city in the sky illusion reminds me of "His Dark Materials". But the Fate Morgana is really interesting.
Šimon Špaček 4 years ago
Well, all sailors needed a good story for bordelo girls... And if you have a really good story in local pub, you may get few pints for free, so this is what I think is source of most sailor stories. And honestly, also most of those UFO pilot stories.
#14
A Man Missing For Nine Years Spotted On Google Maps
72-year-old David Lee Niles disappeared after leaving a bar in Byron Township, Michigan, in 2006. Niles had been suffering from both cancer and depression, so his family had assumed the worst, that he'd taken his own life, even putting out an obituary for him in 2011. It took nine years for them to figure out what happened—but the answer would turn out to be startlingly obvious. The answer was always there.
A maintenance worker installing Christmas lights with a crane on a nearby funeral home saw a car in a small lake nearby, and police divers confirmed that it was Niles when they found his wallet. But the twist is that the car was clearly visible on Google Maps. Anyone looking at the lake could have seen it.
Monday 4 years ago
Go for it...there have been a few cars found in lakes thanks to google maps, you might just find something interesting.
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First Name Last Name 4 years ago
Could have seen it, yes. But recognizing it for what it is? That is a different matter.
Dre Mosley 4 years ago
There's probably a website or something with a collection of peculiar things captured on Google Maps.
Josette Bergeron 4 years ago
It's visible on Google Maps, but it was spotted first by a Christmas tree decorator at the top of a tree in the park. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/davie-lee-niles-man-missing-for-a-decade-found-inside-car-visible-on-google-maps-a6733306.html
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
I don't know I would see a "car" when I looked at that, but.... Hey, who did not look in that lake? I mean, wow?
Wendy 4 years ago
Sorry, I don’t see the car in the lake. Can anyone point out where to look in the photo?
Tapio Magnussen 4 years ago
So Google created an automated routine to detect and remove faces, numbers and potential ID stuff but they haven't created yet a "drowned cars in lakes" routine... I wonder why.
#15
The Egyptian Secret To Moving Stone Blocks For The Pyramids Wasn't Aliens, It Was Sledge
Aliens seem to get a lot of credit from conspiracy theorists! Aliens didn't help build the Egyptian pyramids, even though the stones would have been difficult to move. In 2014, physicists from the University of Amsterdam dispelled rumors by putting a method found on an ancient tomb drawing to the test. They determined that the workers hauled the massive stone blocks on a sort of sled. By pouring water on sand or slippery clay as a type of lubricant, the workers reduced the friction of their path and drag the large blocks to construct the pyramids.
I I 4 years ago
we don't , i mean wheres delete , ohhh no i posted it , start the ships engines
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Noel Benavente 4 years ago
I don't understand this, therefore aliens. No, really, if a civilization capable to travel through space came to earth to build this i would say: man, what a crappy design... can't you do better?
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
Pyramids are the best shape if you want to stack a lot of square things real high.
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
A sledge on wet silty soil would be slick as... well, if you ever slipped in that stuff, yeah, you can get that to work!
Toea Muresan Iulia 4 years ago
ok, but how do you put them one on top of the other and cut them so precisely?
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Bei Stenhaug 4 years ago
No proof of this.. sorry.. I was there with a PhD Egyptologist in (yes, in) the pyramids and the museum with a guided tour. And noone knows for sure, since the weight and length of the massive buildings can't be recreated and would never work on a platform where they are at. Further information, there is no way of knowing what is in the very bottom of the pyramids, down underground. Modern elecronics die due to pressure when wired down in the dark, way lower than humans can go
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 4 years ago
There's a guy who theorizes that it'd been done with pulley-system. https://www.cheops-pyramide.ch/pyramid-building.html Says the stones must have been prepared in the quarry and "only" put on place at the site. Ramps (according to him) make no sense because it would just be too long. Also, the ramps would have to have been anchored on the un-hewn stones and if they would have cut the stones after they'd been placed on the pyramid, it would have been very easy t omake a mistake and crack the stones underneath the one you're trying to smooth since the force of the strokes would travel downwards. A mistake on the pyramid would have been irreversible. since you can't just replace a cracked stone. Read the link, it's super interesting and makes a lot fo sense
#16
How Did The Ancient Indus Survive In The Desert Without A River?
The Indus civilization stood around 5,000 years ago in what now is northwest India and Pakistan. The civilization was known for cotton and date farming and some of its cities even had plumbing and a working sewer system.
Scientists were confused about how the civilization thrived in the desert without a nearby river source. Though there was a glacier-fed river there once, historians once believed that the civilization dried up as soon as the river did. But recent research revealed that the river dried up 3,000 years before the collapse of the Indus civilization. Meanwhile, the civilization relied on monsoon flooding to trap groundwater in the clay in order to extract it and feed their crops.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Why are so many people shocked that non-Europeans could live without aliens being involved?
Marie Vallier 4 years ago
Although I agree that, sadly, there is a lot of racism in the world, I don't think it is the case here. It is more about modern day humans assuming that any ancient civilization was necessarily less apt than we are today. Which is partly true, but also a huge underestimation of what past human civilizations could achieve. Also, people were also baffled at Stonehenge, and how such big rocks were moved by "stupid" ancient humans that didn't have cranes and trucks, which also lead to many "the aliens did it" theory, and they are European.
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Monty Is Fiennes 4 years ago
There is no cotton farming without water. Cotton is a thirsty crop...
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
Without googling, I believe that the Sahara Desert goes through phases where it is totally flooded. I think this happens every 200,000 years. I apologise if I am wrong.
#17
Jaw Pain Drove The Tsavo Lions To Hunt People
During a nine-month period in 1898, two lions named "The Ghost" and "The Darkness" killed and ate an estimated 135 railroad workers in Kenya. The story was a worldwide sensation in the newspapers and even resulted in a Hollywood movie in the 1990s. What perplexed animal experts was why the lions had developed an insatiable taste for human flesh before they were finally shot dead. In the past, experts believed it was hunger but new research in a jaw study of lions suggest it was likely jaw pain. Researchers believe that jaw pain in the lions would have made hunting and killing their normal large prey incredibly painful and picking off humans was easier on the lions' jaws.
Jasmine Hufflepuff Henderson 4 years ago
There's actually a movie based on this called The Ghost and the Darkness that came out in 1996. It's certainly not Disney, but it's a great movie.
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Charlotte A. 4 years ago
So what caused the jaw pain? If they both suffered from it at the same time?
John Saunders 4 years ago
Lion: "Should I kill and eat that hairy dirty Wildebeest with horns that can gore me or just pick off this nearby hairless ape like thing that can't run at all?" King of the jungle indeed.
Christopher Walkies 4 years ago
The dead were mostly poor African railroad labourers. Spare a thought.
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Hyde and Seek 3 years ago
Human skin is thinner than their natural prey's hides and thusly probably required less effort for their jaw muscles and then decreasing pain.
Load More Replies... #18
Paul Fronczak’s Real Identity
Paul Fronczak’s Real Identity.
The story of Paul Fronczak has shaken the US as it became the second-longest cold case in US history. Still a baby, Paul was abducted from his parents and later found abandoned in a stroller in 1965. Initially, The Fronczaks were sure that they had found their lost child, but over time, doubt settled in. As Paul was getting older, the family noticed that he looked less and less like either of the Fronczaks and the family decided to order a DNA test.
But in 2012, a test concluded that the child was not the Fronczaks’ and Paul suddenly had no idea who he was. Paul was eventually able to track down his true identity of Jack and learned that both his parents had died. While the mystery did help Paul Jack discover who he was, he also learned that he had a twin sister known as Jill who remains missing to this day. Unfortunately, the Fronczaks still don't know what became of their biological child either.
Suzanne Haigh 4 years ago
his is very sad, he did not find his parents or his twin. His parents died without knowing what happened to their child, so sad.
Pepper DeVoe 4 years ago
And his foster parents still don't know what happened to their real baby
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Maria M 4 years ago
If it helps, they found the real Paul Fronczak. His name was Kevin Baty and he talked to his parents before he died, which is somewhat good. https://www.woodtv.com/news/target-8/mi-man-idd-as-baby-kidnapped-from-chicago-hospital-in-1964/
Sanne H. 4 years ago (edited)
I’d love to read the story, but apparently the site is not accessible from Europe. Anyway it’s good to know they found the guy just in time.
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Jeanie Roundy 4 years ago
This man/ child should be reunited with his sister (if possible)!!!! Is anyone researching this case? From where were he and his sister abducted???
Jeanie Roundy 4 years ago
I'm so sorry he is dead!!! As well as his parents by now? Did anyone find his sister?
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#19
The Mysterious 'Starchild Skull' Came From A Human With Congenital Hydrocephalus
Back in 1999, paranormalist and former Magnum, P.I. writer Lloyd Pye introduced the world to a misshapen skull he claimed as proof of extraterrestrial life. The so-called "Starchild skull" is child-sized and features an enlarged cranium, a flattened back, and no sinuses. Pye also claimed the skull's teeth were much more worn down than a child's would be, and that it was made of organic materials supposedly unknown to science. Pye believed the skull belonged to an alien-human hybrid with a human mother and extraterrestrial father, resembling the "little grey men" that were depicted by sci-fi author Whitley Strieber and the TV show The X-Files.
However, scientists who examined the Starchild skull didn't agree. A dentist who examined the skull's teeth concluded that it belonged to a child aged about 5 years old. A neurologist found that the skull's deformations are consistent with congenital hydrocephalus, and DNA tests concluded the remains were entirely human in origin, not alien.
First Name Last Name 4 years ago
Because it would allow us to blame someone else for our condition.
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Phil Vaive 4 years ago
Now the real question is, who paid the scientists to say that?? (please note, this is sarcasm)
Linda Jansen 4 years ago
if alliens introduce themself to us, it would mean earthlings would finaly see that they are all the same. earth people might finaly become One.
Mandy Shelden 4 years ago
Hydrocephalus doesn't "spread." It's not contagious. And overbreeding animals is one thing, but this condition can happen in humans without any cause or explanation.
Load More Replies... #20
The Lost Grave Of Richard III Are No Longer Lost
When the monastery that Richard III was buried in was bought by a private entrepreneur, his corpse was lost for centuries. The corpse of the dead king was feared gone, but scientists didn't give up hope. In 2012, they caught a lucky break when an old grave was found buried under a parking lot in Leicester. DNA testing was able to reveal that the bones in the grave were indeed the long lost remains of Richard III.
Serial pacifist 4 years ago
It is a really cool story. They were found by a woman who is an amateur archaeologist. She was fascinated with the mystery, went through numerous historical sources, and was able to actually pinpoint the location, and she was proven to be right.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
And it turned out he was indeed a hunchback. The skeleton had a nasty case of scoliosis.
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mcborge1 4 years ago
I live near to were he was found, I passed the dig site a few times whilst it was being worked on. What gets me about this whole thing is that Richards head was found right under the letter R painted on the ground.
Anne Reid 4 years ago
Isn’t that where the (not) St. Mary’s time travelers left him?
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Agfox 4 years ago
Local Council applies 627 years worth of parking fines to nearest living relative
Suzanne Haigh 4 years ago
No lucky break, the lady who found it's position had many facts to work from and a good brain.
Ben Steinberg 4 years ago
So, Richard the third was never lost...he was just parked out back...
#21
It Wasn't Scarlet Fever That Caused Mary Ingalls' Blindess
It Wasn't Scarlet Fever That Caused Mary Ingalls' Blindess.
If you’re a fan of the Little House on the Prairie book, you may recall that author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s real-life sister Mary allegedly went blind from scarlet fever at age 14. But although Mary Ingalls did indeed suffer from scarlet fever as a kid, and it can be a cause of blindness for some patients, physicians believe that wasn't the case with Mary. Dr. Beth Tarini and her team discovered a letter written to Laura's daughter in 1937 that mentioned Mary's blindness. But it also mentioned that Mary had "some sort of spinal sickness." Turns out, a doctor at the time inspected the nerves in Mary's eyes and they were paralyzed. As Dr. Tarini dove deeper into the medical mystery, she found the articles from the local newspaper that said in Mary's teenage years she suffered severe headaches and partial paralysis on one side of her face. The researchers came to a conclusion that it wasn't scarlet fever that caused Mary's blindness, but viral meningoencephalitis. The disease inflames the brain and spinal cord and can cause blindness in the optic nerves.
Katchen 4 years ago
Scarlet fever could have triggered the viral meningoencephalitis though, so tomayto, tomahto. “Meningoencephalitis can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoan.”
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
A more likely candidate would have been measles, often misidentified as scarlet fever by non-physicians in that era. (Red rash! Fever! Must be!).... And measles is known to cause encephalitis, and also blindness. The obfuscation around Mary's blindness by the surviving family, the reality vs the fiction, means we may never be 100% sure, but I wouldn't dismiss measles as a good candidate.
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Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
No. We can, however, extrapolate from descriptions, which were radically crazy different depending on the source and the time. The books, the private diaries, etc., all give different answers. I don't think *they* knew, to be honest.
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#22
The Source Of Blood At Blood Falls Is Iron Oxides
In 1911, explorer and geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor stumbled upon a bizarre sight at the edge Taylor Glacier in East Antarctica. Taylor noted the occurrence of red blood-colored water flowing out of the glacier. At first, scientists thought it was some sort of algae that gave the water the reddish color. They eventually realized iron oxides were the reason, but how this occurred remained a mystery for over 100 years. In 2017, scientists finally discovered the source. Using radio-echo sounding radar, they were able to uncover that the waterfall was connected to an iron-rich source of water trapped under the glacier. The briny water source is believed to be over a million years old -- making Blood Falls one very strange and very old waterfall.
Ian Reynolds 4 years ago
What? It's not the blood of a crying earth weeping out due to its destruction? I am shocked!
#23
Will-O’-The-Wisps From Folklore Were Likely Inspired By Methane Gas Emanating From Swamps
European folklore is full of fantastical creatures, from leprechauns to boggarts to the Baba Yaga, and one of the most enduring folk myths is the "will-o'-the-wisp." Throughout history, people have reported seeing mysterious flickering lights floating over marshes and swamplands at night. Witnesses have speculated these lights are spirits stuck in limbo and wandering the Earth. Often, a will-o'-the-wisp sighting is considered a bad omen. Although the term originates from Great Britain, will-o'-the-wisps appear in different cultures around the world.
"Comparative mythology" is a term used when different societies have similar myths. Different cultures can have nearly identical folklore either because their folklore reflects a universal human concern (i.e. a belief in the afterlife) or they're all inspired by the same natural phenomenon.
In this case, it's the latter. Most likely, will-o'-the-wisp reports are really just swamp gas sightings. Usually when organic matter perishes, it decomposes. But in swamps, lifeless organic matter gets submerged and decomposes underground, without exposure to the air. This decomposition creates "swamp gas," a combination of methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, phosphines, and other chemicals. When swamp gas does get exposed to the air, it can spontaneously ignite and cause a flickering effect like the will-o'-the-wisp.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Having seen swamp gas more than ten times? All you need is the gas, a weird light angle, and natural phenomena can do the rest. No ignition even required, although it was more common when people were using open-flame light sources, I suspect ---- "attacked by swamp wisps!" that put out the lantern, if you believe my gran. Or, y'know, you walked through an oxygen-poor patch.
Eucritta 4 years ago
More recently, a variety of alternative explanations have been posited, along with what I think is the very reasonable hypothesis that all of them may be 'true,' in the sense of giving rise to reports of wisps - phosphine luminescence, bioluminescence, and piezoelectrical lights (earthquake lights). But reports of 'swamp gas' wisps have become very rare, likely due to the widespread destruction of bogs and marshes.
Potter Jackson fan 4 years ago
Just seeing the name "will-o'-the-wisps" reminds me of the movie "Brave".
#24
The Underground Secret Of The Easter Island Heads
It was proven that the Easter Island statues could have been made with the tools used by the people of that time. Thor Heyerdahl launched an expedition to explore the island that led to the unraveling the secrets of the stone idols. Among the other things that the researchers discovered was that the Moai heads had bodies and that some of them even reached 20 feet in height.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Over time all the myths about aliens and kosmonauts introducing alien technology to ancient civilizations have been debunked. But since science is no match for some moron with a Youtube channel and a total lack of knowledge, idiots tend to believe the latter.
frederic eeckman 4 years ago
Which is sad when you think about it. Instead of giving some credits to the amazing things the human beings were doing, they suggest they were basically too stupid to do it, so "it has tO bE aLiEns"
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Why will people refuse to believe that the ancients could do things like Stonehenge, pyramids, etc., *without* aliens? Ancient doesn't mean *dumb as a cowpat*.
Seabeast 4 years ago
If anything, exactly the opposite. Life was hard and you had to be smart to survive.
Load More Replies... Jon Steensen 4 years ago (edited)
I think the coolest thing about them is the aswer to the question about how the got from the quarry to their final location is that they probably "walked". A test revealed that even a large statue could quite easily be tilted by pulling ropes around its neck. They were tilted just enough to have them only standing on a single point. Pushing them, then makes them rotate around that point, and bring them a bit in the right direction but also slightly out of course. They ropes where then slacked so the status was set down and another roped pulled to have it tilt in the other direction, rotated a little, set down and the procress repeated. The statue thereby "walked" to their resting place just like you can walk a barrel that is just to heavy to lift.
Easily Excitable Panda 4 years ago
As to *why* they were built, they almost certainly fulfilled a religious function, but I like to pretend they did it out of sheer boredom. Also, most of them wore little hats, but they eventually fell off thanks to time and weather.
Seabeast 4 years ago
Heyerdahl went to Easter Island in 1955 and took part in raising a statue from one found abandoned in one of the quarries. His book about this was published in 1957. Yet the idiot who wrote the "Chariots Of The Gods" books was going on and on about them being raised by aliens about 20 years later.
M O'Connell 4 years ago
The best evidence proving this was actually the partially completed Moai left in their quarry pits.
bill marsano 4 years ago
How were they moved from quarry to site? Forget when, but a Czech (I think) built a prercise but large scale model in concrete and was able to move it by carefully synchronized rocking movements. (There must be a YouTube of this.) But there are numerous other theories, and some folks insist that moai were carved el;sewhere and floated to the island on rafts..
Marco Conti 4 years ago
Again, not a "stop the presses" moment. Obviously they were made with primitive tools. Obviously they were made by the people living there. Why would ET traverse the galaxy to build stone heads on a remote island? Would we do that? Did the Apollo 11 crew built a stone totem on the moon?
Never Stop Twinkling™ 4 years ago (edited)
So they've always had their bodies ALL ALONG? My life is a lie. 🗿
#25
The Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film
You've probably seen this image of 'Bigfoot' from the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin Film, shot in Northern California. It's the most well-known piece of footage that supposedly proves the existence of Bigfoot.
However, a 2004 book by Greg Long proved that it was all a hoax: a local man, Bob Heironimus, told Long that he wore a suit. However, the stunt may not have been done with ill intentions. Even though Roger Patterson never paid anyone involved with the film and had charges filed against him to get him to return the camera he used, he likely did the whole thing as a stunt to provide for his family, as he was sick with cancer.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Yet some "renowned paranormal researchers" keep referring to this footage as solid proof. Which is in fact solid proof that they all are idiots.
V Martinez 4 years ago
Wasn't this the guy who confessed on his deathbed or left a letter with evidence or something for them to find after he died? I thought there was something in the news years ago about this.
#26
Chemtrails Are Caused By Hot Plane Exhaust Quickly Freezing In The Cold Upper Atmosphere
Conspiracy theories linked to health are nothing new. One of these theories has to do with chemtrails. Some people believe that the US government is secretly dumping chemicals on the American public using jet engine exhaust. Some conspiracy theorists believe chemtrails control the weather. Others think the government uses chemtrails to test how harmful certain chemicals are. While still others think it's a way to weed out the sick and feeble. There are also some who think it's a form of mind control, or even mass sterilization.
However, chemtrails are actually called "contrails," and they're simply hot air and water vapor from a jet engine that freezes on contact with Earth's very cold upper atmosphere. Just like any engine exhaust, contrails aren't entirely harmless. They contain carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfate particles, and soot - all forms of pollution that contribute to climate change. But there's no proof contrails have ever contained any kind of unusual chemical or substance. Even if they did, any chemicals released at such high altitudes would be dispersed by the winds. So, if a shadowy and clandestine organization really did want to dose the public, chemtrails would be the least effective way to do it.
H Edwards 4 years ago
Most of us have known this since we were children, it's never been a 'mystery'.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Yes, that's exactly what I would say if I wanted to shower the unsuspecting public with microchips and chemical substances to control their mind using airplanes. It also explains why so many people are "woke" now. Due to Corona airplanes couldn't fly, so they had to stop the treatment and a lot of people recovered. The truth is out there, sheeple!!!! /S
Monday 4 years ago
OMG and have you heard that now that planes are flying again more and more people are getting these headaches! Right along the flight paths of the planes! I bet their doubling the doses to get everyone under control again!! /s
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marianne eliza 4 years ago
Chemtrails a myth? Ha. Everyone who has ever been to an airport and looked out at the tarmac and apron have seen those super secret tanker trucks pulling up to every single plane. The super secret driver then pumps super secret chemicals into super secret holding tanks where super secret nozzles then spray it over the world when a super secret person hiding onboard the plane pushes the super secret button. And let's not forget the super secret chemical plants manufacturing the super secret chemicals they then pump into their super secret tanker trucks and drive via super secret roads to every single commercial airport in the entire world. And all those super secret employees involved in making, trucking, pumping and releasing those super secret chemicals. Not a single one has ever spilled the super secret beans to family or friends.
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
I've heard people say, "We hardly ever saw these when I was a kid." Yes, because the number of flights has increased dramatically with increased populations, globalism, and advances in technology.
WillemPenn 4 years ago
Rly? I'm nearly 50 and remember them all the time as a kid? Ppl just don't have great memories.
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Nubis Knight 4 years ago
My grandpa explained this to me (using "condensed water" as explanation") when I was four or five years old. Never understood how some people can believe in chemtrails.
labaguette🥖️🥖️ 4 years ago
I used to think that the trail left behind planes were rocket ship trials. So my sister would point at the sky and be like “what is that?” and I, being the all-knowing six year old, would say “It’s a rocket ship.”
Bender Bending Rodríguez 4 years ago
Interesting. That was widely accepted answer in my neck of the wood among kids and adults alike. We never thought it to be any chemicals just rocket ships going to moon.
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#27
The Location Of The Lost Santa Maria Ship Of Christopher Columbus Was Discovered In 2014
37. The Location Of The Santa Maria Ship Of Christopher ColumbusIn 1492, Christopher Columbus' ship the Santa Maria ran aground near Hati. Columbus recorded the location of the ship's wreckage in his journal and historians for years searched for it to no avail. That all changed in 2003, when a team of archaeologists led by Barry Clifford finally found the lost vessel. It would take years after making the discovery to determine if it was indeed the Santa Maria. Then in 2014, all the clues such as Columbus' description of the ship, an old cannon, and the wreckage itself led Clifford to concluded that it most likely is the Santa Maria.
Agfox 4 years ago
Christoper Columbus: "Hey, everyone, I discovered America!". Amerigo Vespucci (for the win): "Yeah, but they named it after me!"
Aunt Messy 4 years ago
Not to mention that by the time Old Chrissie showed up, Vikings had been living in America for over 500 years.
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#28
The 'Yeti' Is Most Likely A Rare Species Of Bear
For thousands of years, native Himalayans and visitors have been convinced that the Himalayas are home to a mysterious, bipedal, apelike creature called the Yeti. (Just like Pacific Northwesterners have believed in Sasquatch.) Stories of the Yeti date all the way back to the Lepcha culture in modern-day Bhutan and Nepal, and they've persisted into modern times. But like most cryptids, there has never been concrete evidence of the Yeti's existence, like a living specimen or even a carcass. The best Yeti enthusiasts have been able to offer is shaky proof like footprints or samples of doubtful origin.
In 2016, a documentary film crew gathered some of these "Yeti" samples and asked a team of biologists at the University at Buffalo to examine them. The team examined a collection of hair, bone, skin, and excrement supposedly belonging to a Yeti. DNA analysis revealed the samples mostly came from either Himalayan brown bears or black bears.
Like the Loch Ness Monster, it's most likely that people have been mistaking a relatively common animal sighting for something fantastical. The fact that so many cultures around the world have reported seeing cryptids like the Yeti means one thing: Brief encounters with apex predators can confuse pretty much anyone.
Monday 4 years ago
If we name that species of bear the Yeti we can confirm it!
Load More Replies... Suzanne Haigh 4 years ago
I thought they had decided it was a cross between a polar bear and a brown (?) bear?
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
It's documented that people see threats are larger than they truly are. So a bear is suddenly 10 feet high, or a swooping bird is 10 feet long, etc. etc. etc. Works as a survival mechanism, but isn't half-bad for a fireside story, either!
#29
The Cause Behind The Great Potato Famine
The Great Potato Famine was devastating to Ireland in the mid-1800s and resulted in one million deaths. Scientists new that a potato blight was to blame for the mass starvation, but the precise strain of the pathogen that triggered it was unknown until fairly recently. "We have finally discovered the identity of the exact strain that caused all this havoc," study co-author Hernán Burbano said. The study named the deadly strain HERB-1 and its discovery was the work of 11 historic samples of potato leaves that were collected about 150 years ago throughout Europe and North America. It's believed that HERB-1 didn't originate in Ireland, but emerged out of Mexico before arriving in European ports.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
And that's why some countries have such extensive border controls. Too stop idiots bringing in foreign species that might destroy local fauna and flora.
Iggy 4 years ago
Ireland was a colonised nation under harsh and inhumane British control at the time so enforcing border controls wasn't really an option for the Irish.
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sofacushionfort 4 years ago
Every potato crop from Russia to Ireland was contaminated, but the deaths in Ireland were because of the economic system imposed on the island. Ireland was exporting beef and butter while people starved. Food was only distributed at designated sties that starving people had to literally crawl to, or die in the ditches failing to. All famines are man-made: India had them routinely until independence, and then none thereafter.
Jon S. 4 years ago
Absolutely. The British of the day even believed that to give charity during a famine only made future famines more likely and might spread it further by distorting the food economy. They never seemed to learn even after the same thing happened time and time again.
Load More Replies... Iggy 4 years ago
This was hardly a great mystery. We knew what caused the potato crops to fail all along, just not which blight. The failure of the crop was not the only reason for the famine. Mass starvation could have been averted. Ireland's soil is, in the main, very, very fertile. There were plenty of other crops being grown but the natives were not allowed access. The food was exported to Britain and the rest of the British Empire.
Jon S. 4 years ago
More grain was imported to Ireland during the famine than exported. It's not as a simple as saying "the British did it!" It was a complex set of factors involving an extraordinarily long famine, years of punitive religious intolerance, a set of tax laws that backfired and made it better for landlords to evict poor tenants, insufficient charity after the first year of famine and a cold political determination that suffering was necessary to improve efficiency.
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Grace Note 4 years ago
It should also be noted that it wasn't an actual famine. Ireland was producing other food stock which was exported to the "mainland". There is evidence that imports were greater than exports as the blight continued, specifically corn grain, but because of politics in Westminster it was not widely distributed. There were many incidents of corn rotting in barns that could have been distributed to the starving. Under the Whig government and specifically Charles Trevelyan who was responsible for public relief. He saw the blight as a gift from god to rid the UK of the Irish. In order to get food, the corn that was sitting in barns, the Irish had to apply for outdoor relief which meant people who were already starving undertaking heavy work. Soup kitchens were closed. In short it could be argued that the Irish were deliberately starved for political reasons. The same blight was active throughout Europe, yet the devastation of extreme famine and death was most prevalent in Ireland.
Grace Note 4 years ago
Sorry for the long post. I wrote a dissertation on this and can get a bit full on when talking or writing about it!
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Carol Anne Benoit 4 years ago
So much so, that the phrase, 'Taking the soup' refers to betraying your Irishness or your beliefs.
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Luther von Wolfen 4 years ago
Another factor was mono-cropping - the Irish were pretty much compelled by the English market to grow potatoes, so when the potato crop failed, they didn't have anything else. If they had been farming multiple vegetables, the potato blight would have caused an inconvenience, not a famine.
Easily Excitable Panda 4 years ago
The reason for the famine itself wasn't just the potato blight: Ireland continued to be a net exporter of food. Better to let the poor starve than lose profits. Thanks, England.
#30
The Ourang Medan Ghostship Is A Myth
Far from every story that you hear is true. In 1952 the United States Coast Guard published a story that referred to a Dutch-Indonesian newspaper that reported of a two American ships receiving a radio distress call from the SS Ourang Medan ship that read in Morse code: "We float. All officers including the captain, dead in chartroom and on the bridge. Probably whole of crew dead * * *."
One of those American ships, the Silver Star reportedly found the Ourang Medan and saw its crew dead, with mouths gaping in fear and eyes staring into the sky. That's when a fire broke out and the Ourang Medan sank. However, there was a catch: the Ourang Medan never existed in the first place. There are no records of this ship even existing. No registration records for a ship by the name of Ourang Medan could be located in any country. What's more the ship logs for the Silver Star show no record of any such rescue attempt.
Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
Just simply reading Wikipedia, there's more of an explanation: The lack of records is probably because the ship, in the Indonesian newspaper, was reportedly carrying "oil of vitriol," a highly poisonous sulfuric-acid concoction used by the Japanese in WW2 for making illegal chemical warfare agents. Ourang Medan means "man from Medan (Indonesia)" so it's possible it wasn't the name of the ship at all. The Indonesian article made no mention of the name of the Silver Star.
F. H. 4 years ago
Possible, but it's rather clear that the story was made up and by whom.
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Scott 4 years ago
Also, setting aside the semantics of the "renaming," all that the term UFO means is that there's something flying and we don't know what it is. It could turn out to be a bird, an experimental aircraft, a non-experimental aircraft, an alien air/space craft, a Norse god whirling a hammer. All that it means is we don't know, not that it's extraterrestrial.
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M O'Connell 4 years ago
It's also possible that a prankster inserted a fictitious report into the Coast Guard chain of command at such a level that it was published without additional verification being made.
#31
The Nazca Lines Of Peru
The Nazca Lines are massive white geoglyphs made from shallow lines dug into the ground. They were first discovered back in the '30s, and the whole area covers about 190 square miles. They are thought to have religious significance to Nazca culture. But the biggest mystery is how Nazcans could have made them if there were no airplanes around 500 B.C.E. and 500 C.E.?
Author Jim Woodman ran the same experiment with a basic hot air balloon and it worked, but the problem was that nobody knew if Nazca people were aware of it. Today, researchers suspect that Nazca people drew long ropes to make the lines, after they found wooden stakes at the site that carbon date back to the original period. Dr. Joe Nickell successfully ran an experiment to see if the method worked, and it only took his team 2 hours to make a giant bird.
Monday 4 years ago
Theoretically you wouldn't even need to see what you were doing if you planned everything out ahead of time and got your measurements right. As long as every person working on your pattern follows the directions precisely you'd get the right result.
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
Question: As they couldn't view them from any other angle but from above, why create them in the first place?
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Beacuse they weren't all done at the same time. Some are believed to be religious ----- and you don't need to see from the air, just from a hill, and they have 'em ---- and others look like pathways to watersources. Also, some are wildly mis-identified by white people. That's not a spider, it's an ant. It's not an alien, it's a cactus in one case, a person in another. These symbols aren't always on flat gournd, but on hillsides, and can be seen for som edistance. it's fascinating stuff.
Load More Replies... Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
Yes, but WHY did the Nazca build such characters which would make no sense from the ground?
Nevits Yibble 4 years ago
Quite a few cultures (past and present) believe gods or spirits live in the sky and look down from above. So probably a message back to the gods. Read that somewhere... can't remember where
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Tsubasa no Mura 4 years ago
Hey, guys, listen: The Nazca area is not flat and the lines can and are perfectly able to be seen from slopes around. The more you know.
Signe Manat Hansen 4 years ago
They were making them for the gods, they didn't have to see it from above.
Marylen 4 years ago
The point is that if there are plausible theories (more so if there are 50) that would have worked at that time, no need to have a supernatural one.
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#32
The Blood Rain Of Kerala
In the summer of 2001, the Indian state of Kerala saw red-colored rain over a period of two months. This is far from the first time that this has happened, the first documented cases going back to 1818. Naturally, the mysterious rain captured many people's imaginations. However, the real cause for the color was quite mundane: it was caused by the airborne spores from the local green algae.
#33
The Lost Army Of Cambyses II
In 524 B.C., the army of Persian King Cambyses II made their march to fight against the Ethiopians. More than 50,000 soldiers went to conquer the oases, but all of them vanished without a trace, leaving only a legend behind. It was recently recently discovered by scientists Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni that the legendary army that, during their 13 years of hard work, the entire army didn’t just disappear but were killed in a deadly sandstorm.
Samuel Ou 4 years ago (edited)
when the Persians invaded Egypt, they threw cats over the walls of great cities, since cats were sacred then, the Egyptians wouldn't risk killing the cats in the crossfire, leading them to surrender to the Persians
Load More Replies... ° 𝔏𝔬𝔯𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰 ° 4 years ago (edited)
On #42 that means that this was lying. edit: I think
#34
'The Bloop,' An Underwater Noise That Sounded Like A Deep-Sea Monster, Was The Sound Of An Icequake
In 1997, researchers at the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who were using underwater hydrophones to detect volcanic activity, recorded a mysterious sound in the southern Pacific Ocean they described as a "bloop." The odd sound appeared to be made by an animal, similar to a whale's mating call. Some even speculated it may have been caused by a sea monster.
After investigating the sound, the NOAA determined it wasn't an animal at all. When researchers compared the bloop's acoustics with other sound recordings taken in Antarctica, they recognized it had the same characteristics as the sound of "ice calving," AKA an "icequake." Turns out it was the phenomenon of an iceberg breaking away from a glacier as it melts.
#35
Corpse Candles Were In Fact Luminescent Barn Owls That Had Fungus Growing On Them, Or, More Likely, Methane Gas
The name is a bit gross to begin with. Rather like spontaneous human combustion, but more manufactured.
It’s not how it sounds, though.
Back in the day, when you were transporting your dead loved one to the cemetery across the gloomy marshes, a flame or ball of light would float just above the Earth, seeming to travel with you to and from the burial ground. This was aptly named the corpse candle, following you in your time of deepest grief.
Mystery and folklore surrounded this strange occurrence – many associated the corpse candle with pesky spirits of the dead, or other supernatural wanderers like stillborn and unbaptised babies that were in limbo between heaven and hell. How depressing.
Science has determined that the creepy corpse candles were in fact luminescent barn owls that had fungus growing on them, or, more likely, methane gas made by rotting organic material, which is usually found in swamps and marshes. The gas can produce a low-temperature ‘flame’ through chemiluminescence.
So instead of seeing an attentive spirit, you’d be witnessing the Earth doing a glow-in-the-dark fart. You’re welcome.
M O'Connell 4 years ago
I believe they mean the owls had luminescent fungus on them, not that they were luminescent owls that had become moldy.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
They may have gotten the fungus on their feathers while hunting. There are bioluminescent fungi in the woods and swamps.... And yes, it's weird to see them. :-)
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#36
The Mystery Of The Ancient Egyptian Helicopter
The hieroglyphs of the ancient Egyptians are some of the world's biggest wonders and mysteries, captivating the imagination of generations. One of the hieroglyphs was commonly believed to be evidence that ancient Egyptians had or predicted the invention of the helicopter.
However, Egyptologists determined that the famous helicopter images have nothing to do with air traveling and that they were altered by time and deterioration to look like it. The original carving translates to "He who repulses the nine [enemies of Egypt]."
Arthur Waite 4 years ago
Well then, what about the tank and spaceship right beside the not-helicopter?
Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
I'll give you a hint: they're heading for a stargate.
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V 2000 4 years ago
Wasnt it the mixture of the names Seti and Rameses II? Egyptian pharaos used to carve their names over the ones that came before them seti-rames...ba7147.jpg 
Bender Bending Rodríguez 4 years ago
That's clearly an Apache Helicopter. May be Egyptians used helicopters to transport those stones for pyramids.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
No, they used them to rain hell onto the sea people.
Load More Replies... Steve Barnett 4 years ago (edited)
Okay, but there is a yacht and a plane on the right of it!. ;O)
#37
Ancient Civilizations Didn’t Carve Crystal Skulls; They’re All Relatively Recent
Crystal skulls are hunks of quartz carved into the shape of a human skull that allegedly originated from ancient civilizations like the Aztecs. Around the 19th century, crystal skulls became a sought-after collector's item. Some even believed the skulls had healing properties or gave their owners psychic abilities. Even though some crystal skulls remained in museums around the world, modern scientists believe they were fake.
In reality, no crystal skull has ever been found in situ at an authentic Mesoamerican archaeological site, meaning there's no way to prove they actually are of ancient origin. By using electron microscopes, archaeologists determined that the techniques used to make the skulls could only have been made with 19th-century metal equipment. Most of all, the quartz used to create the skulls comes from either Brazil or Madagascar, neither of which are home to any of those four Mesoamerican civilizations. It's likely the skulls were created to capitalize on the trend of the late 19th century when the West became obsessed with Mesoamerican cultures.
Easily Excitable Panda 4 years ago
It's extraordinary, isn't it? People are happy to believe that the Egyptians couldn't have built the pyramids, or the Peruvians drawn the Nazca lines without alien help, but they're happy to believe that the Aztec created mysterious, healing crystal skulls. Gotta love colonialism!
Hotdogking 4 years ago
don't be silly. everyone knows it's a skull that can be attached to an alien which would cause a spaceship to burst out of a mountain
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
DISCLAIMER: Please don't glue crystal skulls, or any other bogus artefact, to extra-terrestrial beings. They will at worst, not want to go out with you. And then tear your face off.
Load More Replies... #38
Raining Frogs And Fish
There's a rational explanation for rumors of raining frogs and and fish. For hundreds of years, both scholars and bystanders have written of hordes of frogs and fish falling out of the sky. Incidents date even as far back as the first century CE, when Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder documented storms of frogs and fish raining down from the sky. These haven't gone away in modern times. An incident was recorded in January 2016 in Ethiopia.
Explanations for the animal rains traditionally involved waterspouts picking up the creatures from oceans or lakes and dumping them inland. Despite a number of scientific factors that make such a rain improbable, this was the accepted explanation. However, recent investigations has attributed the frogs on the ground to seasonal migrations that came out after a hard rainstorm (the same way worms do), and the fish have been determined to be any number of walking fish, of which there are dozens. Add in a splash of exaggeration and a dollop of confirmation bias, and you've got yourself a mystery.
#39
Painting The Terra-Cotta Army
Researchers in China believe they’ve solved the 2,200-year-old mystery behind the polychrome paint of the famous Terra-Cotta Army. Discovered back in 1974, the Terra-Cotta Army is a vast collection of almost 9,000 statues representing soldiers, chariots, and horses buried with the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, to guard him in the afterlife. When they were found, some of the sculptures still contained patches of colorful pigment and minute remnants of binding material, which is incredibly rare for statues buried underground in water.
To find how the Terra-Cotta was painted, Chinese scientists used a matrix technique which is an assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The complex study showed that ancient Qin dynasty artists first coated the sculptures in one or two layers of lacquer obtained from a Toxicodendron tree, commonly known as the Chinese lacquer tree. Afterward, they either applied polychrome layers directly or used binding media made out of animal glue.
Joseph Paul 4 years ago
Shared this to few UFO Groups in WhatsApp University. This is one of the best articles I've read here.
Suzanne Haigh 4 years ago
Wonder if they will try and replicate the painting on one or two the the soldiers?
#40
The True Cause Behind The Hindenburg Explosion Is That A Thunderstorm Had Created A Charge Of Static Electricity In The Hindenburg
This shot represents one of the most tragic photos of the 20th century. It captures the Hindenburg blimp exploding into flames. Initially, the airship promised luxurious and quick travel across the Atlantic, but in May 1937, the hydrogen-filled airship burst into flames, leaving 35 of its 100 passengers dead.
In 2013, aeronautical engineers determined that a thunderstorm had created a charge of static electricity in the Hindenburg. Experiments revealed that a static electricity spark perfectly mimicked the Hindenburg's burn pattern.
Elwood Schwartz 4 years ago
Not that this wasn't unfortunate, but there were photo subjects that were way more tragic than this.
Donkey boi 4 years ago
I never really looked into the Hindenburg, but I remember seeing the video footage years ago. I'm surprised to hear that anyone survived, let alone 65 passengers!
Mike Crow 4 years ago
The predecessor to the Hindenburg was the Graf Zeppelin (127), which flew for nearly ten years including flying around the world and going to the poll. It also was struck by lightning a couple times I believe.
Easily Excitable Panda 4 years ago
The big difference was that the Graf Zeppelin used helium, which was too expensive by the time in the Hindenburg flew; it used the much more flammable hydrogen.
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Daniel Atkins 4 years ago
PBS American Public television did a pretty good investigation on this not to long ago and it had to do with static build up that was discharged by the wet tie rope grounding it causing a spark igniting the leak.
#41
Gravity-Defying 'Mystery Spot' Attractions Are Usually Built On A Slant, Messing With Peoples’ Perceptions Of The Horizon
If you go inside one of these mystery spot attractions, you'll notice strange phenomena like people standing on an incline perfectly upright, without leaning. It looks like they should fall over, but they don't. Since the 1930s, more than a dozen such spots opened around the US, baffling thousands of visitors every year.
Turns out, "Flying Dutchman" or Fata Morgana mystery spots are plain optical illusion. In 1998, Berkeley psychologists concluded that such mystery spots play on our brain’s expectations when viewing objects. The brain helps us orient ourselves horizontally and vertically in space by using the horizon as a reference point. When humans can't see the horizon, our brains use our immediate surroundings.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
There's a super fun one in Wanaka, near Queenstown NZ. Balls slide up the pool table, swings hang halfway out, you slide up a slide, its crazy fun :)
#42
The Bosham Head Mystery Was Identified As A Head Belonging To Roman Empire Trajan
The 350-pound Bosham head remained a mystery for nearly two centuries after being discovered because this part of the statue was in such poor condition. However, as advances in tech were made, the mystery was solved: a computer scan identified the head as belonging to Roman Emperor Trajan.
The statue likely welcomed travelers into Chichester harbor during the Roman Empire's occupation of modern-day Britain.
Linus Nilsson 4 years ago
Can you actually claim that the roman empire "occupied" brittain? It was part of the empire for almost 400 years, widely adapted the roman culture, and was an integral part of it.
Bob Knob 4 years ago
Pretty sure the then natives thought it was "occupied" just because their offspring got Stockholm syndrome doesn't mean it was welcome.
Load More Replies... #43
The Reason Behind The Tunguska Blast Of 1908 Was A Meteor
What Was The Reason Behind The Tunguska Blast Of 1908?
In 1908, the skies over Siberia lit up as a great ball of light streaked through the night sky. An enormous explosion then decimated 770 square miles of remote forest. The explosion is believed to have released energy that was 1,000 times greater than the atomic bomb. Researchers didn't reach the remote site to survey it until 1927, and were immediately perplexed at the inability to find remnants of a meteor or clear-cut impact crater. One hundred years later the site still is barren, and it wasn't until 2007 that scientists finally discovered the cause of the great blast. Researchers using acoustic imaging were able to identify the crater as a lake that was around 5 miles north of the area originally identified by scientists. A team of Italian researchers used acoustic imaging to identify the crater, which turned out to be in a lake five miles north of the spot originally identified by scientists. The explosion itself was indeed caused by a meteor.
Taibhse Sealgair 4 years ago
Shouldn't this be "The Reason Behind The Tunguska Blast Of 1908 Was A Meteorite"
Lorraine R 4 years ago
Yes. But now there are scientists who think the cause was an asteroid traveling so fast that it 'skipped' on the outer layer of the atmosphere, but still passed close enough to cause a massive pressure wave that caused the devastation of the site without leaving a crater.
Load More Replies... #44
The Lost Army Of Persian King Cambyses II
How does an army of 50,000 soldiers just vanish without a trace? That's a question that historians have pondered for centuries regarding the army of Persian King Cambyses II. In 524 BC, Cambyses moved his army to destroy the Oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis. An army of 50,000 men entered Egypt’s western desert near Luxor, and according to Greek mythology, they were swept away by a mighty sandstorm. Historians mostly refused to believe this was possible. However, in 2009, bronze weapons and hundreds of human bones were discovered in the wilderness of the Sahara desert, lending some weight to the ancient story. "We have found the first archaeological evidence of a story reported by the Greek historian Herodotus," Dario Del Bufalo, a member of the expedition from the University of Lecce, said.
Lorraine R 4 years ago
Don't desert sand burials usually produce desiccated mummies rather than bare bones?
Bob Knob 4 years ago
How? The boy was lying, Herodotus was like, dang this sandstorm blew them all away and everyone else was like, whatever, Hero, go find your mom.
Load More Replies... #45
An Ancient Whale Graveyard In Chile Was The Cause Of Toxins From Harmful Algal Blooms Likely Caused The Sudden Death Of All The Marine Organisms
In 2011, a large graveyard of ancient whales was discovered in the deserts of Chile. Scientists immediately got to work trying to figure out how the animals that were the size of a school bus wound up in the Atacama Desert. Scientists knew that around 2 million years ago, the area was covered by the Pacific Ocean, but what would cause the scores of whales to all die in a similar spot? Perhaps they had become disoriented and beached themselves, or became trapped in a lagoon after some sort of landslide? Various theories were floated, but nothing panned out. The mystery eventually revealed itself once scientists learned that the fossils were from different periods in time. "The best explanation we have is toxins from harmful algal blooms likely caused the sudden death of all the marine organisms that we see at this site," paleobiologist Nick Pyenson said. "And they were buried on a tidal flat that then became Cerro Ballena."
Otter 4 years ago
On the west, the Atacama Desert is bordered by the Cordillera de Sal, or Salt Mountains, which seem to be seafloor that's been lifted about 10,000 feet above sea level. The mountains are made of soft mudlike rock that would probably dissolve if it ever rained there, and are encrusted with white mineral crystals, which sure look like sea salt percolating out of the soft rock. Probably a good place to look for marine fossils!
Seabeast 4 years ago
I've seen marine fossils in the Rockies west of Calgary. It's mind bending to try to grasp the time spans involved. First these marine creatures died, then they were fossilized over millions of years, then millions of years after that the former sea bed is pushed up into mountains, then millions of years after that, a human walks by and spots them in the rock.
Load More Replies... Jon S. 4 years ago
@Boredpanda This title needs fixing. Have a suggestion: "An Ancient Whale Graveyard In Chile Was Likely Due To Toxins From Harmful Algal Blooms Which Caused The Sudden Death Of All Marine Organisms" or "Whale Graveyard in desert caused by ancient algae" if you want the short version
#46
Spontaneous Human Combustion Can't Happen
Spontaneous human combustion allegedly involves someone burning to death from flames that do not have an obvious external source. This phenomenon was first described in the 1600s and generally results in the head and torso being reduced to ash. Investigations into these claims have shown that many of them are massively blown out of proportion. As the body is mostly water, it seems very unlikely that it would burst into flames. If it were possible, it would likely happen much more often. Instead, the most likely explanation is that the clothing of these victims were set on fire from a small source, like a candle or cigarette. Unable to move and put out the flame due to age or physical condition, the clothing acts like a wick. As the skin is broken, the body fat burns to fuel the fire.
Pink Floydian Panda 4 years ago
How dare you?! Tell that to brave drummers of Spinal Tap and the globules they left behind!
Samantha PandaNotBored 4 years ago
I googled “spinal Tap “ …. I thought there was this thing that I never knew about , and of course you were talking about the band . I am leaving now , you’ll find me in the pub .
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Emma London 4 years ago
There was this Reader's Digest "paranormal mysteries" or whatnot book that I used to read as a child. The scariest story was about human combuston, with a picture of only a human foot left of a burned victim. Nighmare fuel for years to come!
Jon S. 4 years ago
Oh man, I had that same book! It literally gave me sleepless nights as a child
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Jon S. 4 years ago
Or a long medium heat over time. That is the essence of the wick effect. You slowly melt the body fats which leak into the clothes and smoulder over several hours. An accelerant like alcohol, perfume or lighter fluid is normally involved in getting the clothes going in the first place.
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Monday 4 years ago
It doesn't contradict itself at all. The argument is the body can't "burst into flames" not that it can't burn. Nobody is arguing that human combustion isn't real, we're arguing that spontaneous human combustion isn't real. The body WILL burn, but it needs to be set on fire from by a different source first.
Load More Replies... #47
The Meaning Behind The Puzzling Notes In The Odyssey
One of the oldest copies of Homer's Oddyssey is over 500-years-old and within its pages are strange handwritten notes in an unwritten language. The strange notes eluded historians for over 200 years until Italian historians Daniele Metilli and Giulia Accetta were able to determine that the notes were a kind of French shorthand invented by Jean Coulon de Thévénot in the 1700s. A 500-year-old copy of Homer’s Odyssey featured strange handwritten notes in an unknown language. Italian computer engineers Daniele Metilli and Giulia Accetta determined that the notes were a peculiar type of shorthand invented by Jean Coulon de Thévénot. The notes are mostly translations of various parts of Greek text. The shorthand took such a long time to finally translate because each "consonant and vowel has a starting shape and they combine together to form new shapes representing syllables," said Metilli.
First Name Last Name 4 years ago
"handwritten notes in an unwritten language" Some of the crap that this site poots out is embarrassing to the species.
Elwood Schwartz 4 years ago
Lol! They clearly meant unknown, not unwritten, but this gave me the biggest laugh today.
Load More Replies... lara 4 years ago
OK. And moving right along, "Oh look a ufo, grab the worst camera we have and take a picture."
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
"Hey, actual aliens!" "Yo." "Get the sliding wooden box."
Load More Replies... #48
What Really Crashed In Roswell? A High-Altitude Balloon To Monitor Russian Atomic Tests
People have claimed to have seen unidentified flying objects for millennia - the Roman historian Livy recorded reports of them, and so did the Puritans - but in the 20th century, reports of an extraterrestrial crash near Area 51 kicked UFO speculation into high gear. It all started in 1947, when W.W. "Mac" Brazel and his son Vernon claimed they discovered the remnants of an alien spacecraft 80 miles north of Roswell, NM. Brazel collected the wreckage, which included metallic-looking fabric, and drove it to Roswell's Army Air Field for an explanation. Eventually, one Air Force intelligence officer told a local newspaper that the remnants were, in fact, an unidentified flying object. The story went national, and days later people across the country reported seeing more UFOs. The US government fielded over 300 reports that year.
Some conspiracies pop up on their own when there's no explanation for a phenomenon. But others are actively promoted because an organization wants to keep the truth hidden. This is one of the latter examples. In 1947, the Cold War was just beginning, but the United States and the Soviet Union were already competing to develop superior nuclear WMDs. At the time, activities at the Roswell Army Air Field were highly classified. We now know it was the site of Project Mogul, a top-secret research project to develop large high-altitude weather balloons that could be used to monitor Soviet nuclear tests.
The "UFO wreckage" Brazel discovered was really just one of those balloons. As for the hundreds of subsequent sightings, most likely people were spotting more weather balloons, which were silver-colored and large enough to look like aircraft. Some reports of "unidentified flying objects" were probably spy plane prototypes, like the U-2 - which was also tested at Area 51. Alternatively, some sightings were probably visual hallucinations. As for the intelligence officer who claimed the Brazels found an alien spacecraft - the UFO explanation was the perfect cover to keep Project Mogul secret.
Ross Keim 4 years ago
LoL literally proving the point of every article here, everything is a mystery to idiots
Load More Replies... What do you think ?
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Thanks BP for an interesting topic unlike the normal IATA and tiktok nonsense.
Corey Smith 4 years ago
Don't forget the regular posts about Americans being weird/uncultured/stupid.
Load More Replies... Roger Haywood 4 years ago
I see the Voynich manuscript has yet to be explained. It probably never will.
Monday 4 years ago
I like that mystery. I wish they'd make more documentaries on it.
Load More Replies... Nevits Yibble 4 years ago
One interesting takeaway to all this: you can totally fake something, then admit you faked it.... yet millions will continue believing it. In fact, they'll vehemently, ANGRILY insist it's still true. And call you stupid or blind sheep or whatever
mph seti 4 years ago
Another one: trump lost the election because more people voted for Biden.
Jogger Gig 4 years ago
My remaining child imagination has decided to reject all of these posts. I'm going to find the Yeti and Big Foot, and then track down the aliens that rust proofed that pole. Who's with me?
Memere 4 years ago
I'm in, but only if we also go look for the Nessie, at Loch Ness - I've always wanted to go to Scotland!
Load More Replies... Lotus Flower 4 years ago
So basically Occams Razor is the answer to all of these mysteries. That is actually quite comforting.
Gabby M 4 years ago
If you don't have the final image to look at, puzzles can be considered mysteries.
Load More Replies...
John Baker 4 years ago
"That science can't explain" and "and no one knows why." The two most common clickbait lines on the internet. BTW, the majority of these aren't mysteries.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Thanks BP for an interesting topic unlike the normal IATA and tiktok nonsense.
Corey Smith 4 years ago
Don't forget the regular posts about Americans being weird/uncultured/stupid.
Load More Replies... Roger Haywood 4 years ago
I see the Voynich manuscript has yet to be explained. It probably never will.
Monday 4 years ago
I like that mystery. I wish they'd make more documentaries on it.
Load More Replies... Nevits Yibble 4 years ago
One interesting takeaway to all this: you can totally fake something, then admit you faked it.... yet millions will continue believing it. In fact, they'll vehemently, ANGRILY insist it's still true. And call you stupid or blind sheep or whatever
mph seti 4 years ago
Another one: trump lost the election because more people voted for Biden.
Jogger Gig 4 years ago
My remaining child imagination has decided to reject all of these posts. I'm going to find the Yeti and Big Foot, and then track down the aliens that rust proofed that pole. Who's with me?
Memere 4 years ago
I'm in, but only if we also go look for the Nessie, at Loch Ness - I've always wanted to go to Scotland!
Load More Replies... Lotus Flower 4 years ago
So basically Occams Razor is the answer to all of these mysteries. That is actually quite comforting.
Gabby M 4 years ago
If you don't have the final image to look at, puzzles can be considered mysteries.
Load More Replies... John Baker 4 years ago
"That science can't explain" and "and no one knows why." The two most common clickbait lines on the internet. BTW, the majority of these aren't mysteries.
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