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42 Urban Myths And Mysterious Events That Conspiracy Theorists Might Enjoy
A 2025 YouGov survey found that 28% of Americans believe Bigfoot exists. The same survey also revealed that 23% believe in the existence of the Yeti, 22% in the Loch Ness monster, and 16% in the Chupacabra.
While they may seem like a small share of the population, these stats show that a chunk of people subscribe to urban myths. It’s why there are dedicated subreddits like this one, where people share their fanaticism for all things cryptid-related.
Here are some of the posts we collected from the community, which include many other pieces of folklore that you likely haven’t heard of.
Click here & follow us for more lists, facts, and stories.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Edgar Allan Poe Predicted The Future. His Only Novel Is About 4 Shipwrecked Men Who Run Out Of Food And Eat The Cabin Boy, Richard Parker. 46 Years After It Published, A Yacht Sank In Real Life And 3 Of The 4 Survivors Also Decided To Eat The Cabin Boy... Named Richard Parker
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#2
In 2003, Two Men Stole A Parked Boeing 727 From Luanda International Airport And Flew Away Into The Sunset. They've Never Been Found
#3
Houska Castle, Located In Czech Republic, Is A Castle That Was Built Over A Hole So Deep, That Nobody Could See The Bottom. It Was Supposedly Built To “Keep The Demons And Monsters From H**l” From Ever Reaching The World
Given people's fascination with urban legends, an important question arises: what drives this interest? According to New York Times bestselling author Vincent Ralph, it all goes back to our inherent morbid curiosities.
#4
John Bentinck, 5th Duke Of Portland - Was Most Remembered For His Eccentric Behavior. Only One Servant Saw Him For Two Decades. He Built 15 Miles Of Tunnels Under His Estate Including A Giant Ballroom That Never Had Dances. Every Room In His Mansion And Everywhere Underground Was Painted Pink
#5
In 1925 Percy Fawcett Vanished In The Amazon Jungle, In His 3rd Attempt To Find "Z", A Lost Ancient City Deep In The Jungle, Commonly Believed To Be A Myth. Recent Technological Advances Have Made It Possible To Digitally Deforest Part Of The Amazon, Revealing An Extensive Urban Settlement
#6
The Real Christine, A 1964 Dodge 330 With A Confirmed Total Of 14 Owners, Each Owner Passing Away Before The Next
“The best urban legends are both unnerving and, somehow, safe. They are horrifying situations twice removed,” Ralph wrote. “We’ve all heard of the friend-of-a-friend who repeated a cursed mantra in front of the mirror or took a wrong turn in the woods, but few can verify their fate.”
#7
This Picture From Over 200 Years Ago Depicts A UFO On A Beach In Eastern Japan. It States That An Attractive Woman, Aged 18 To 20, Was Aboard And Greeted Those On The Beach While Holding A Strange Box In Her Hand
#8
In 1912, A 4 Year Old Boy Named Bobby Dunbar Went Missing While On A Family Trip. 8 Months Later, Bobby Was Found & Reunited Him With His Family. Almost 100 Years Later, DNA Evidence Proved That Child Who They Found Wasn’t Actually Bobby. No One Knows What Happened To The Real Bobby Dunbar
#9
Erdstall Tunnels - Around 2,000 Medieval Era Tunnels Can Be Found Throughout Europe. No One Knows Who Built Them, Or Why
Ralph explained that FOMO also has a lot to do with fanaticism about urban legends. He even described it as “the beating heart” of those who love their folklore.
But at the same time, Ralph says the what-ifs regarding their authenticity are what make urban myths a hit among those who subscribe to them.
#10
In 1976, Four Men Witnessed A UFO While Visiting The Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Their Stories Were The Exact Same For 40+ Years And They Showed Real Signs Of PTSD. They Also All Passed A Lie Detector. The Men Were Certain That What They Were Abducted By Unknown Beings During That Camping Trip
#11
The Human Skin Manuscript Of Kazakhstan - An Ancient Latin Manuscript, With A Cover Made Of Human Skin And Only 10 Out Of 330 Pages Deciphered And Is Shrouded In Mystery. Hiding Secrets No One Has Fully Uncovered
#12
In 1978, Steven Kubacki Disappeared Without A Trace On A Frozen Lake While Cross Country Skiing. Fifteen Months Later, He Claimed He Woke Up In A Field Disoriented, In Unfamiliar Clothes, With No Idea Where He’d Been And No Memory Of What Had Happened
Medical journalist Naveed Saleh also pointed to how urban legends “prey on listener fear” while enjoying “long shelf lives” because of the internet. As he explained, these stories resurface in various iterations, especially through social media.
#13
The Brazilian Tribe Members Had Never Heard Of "Aliens" Before, They Did Not Understand, But When They Were Shown A Picture Of An Alien Grey They Recognized It Immediately And Said: "That Is Mankunawabu" They Live Underground
#14
The Patomskiy Crater - Local Indigenous People Call It "The Fire Eagle Nest", And Consider It "An Evil Place Where Animals Will Not Go, And Where People Feel Unwell And Can Even Disappear. The Large Scar On The Landscape Of Siberia Has Puzzled Scientists Since Its Discovery In 1949
#15
Granger Taylor Left A Note Saying He Was Boarding An Alien Spaceship For An Interstellar Journey. He Was Never Seen Again
“Although (these stories) change during the course of retelling, with urban legends, these changes are often cosmetic in nature,” Saleh wrote. “The setting or time of urban legends changes while the message is retained, which gives urban legends staying power—especially in the age of the internet.”
#16
A Bible Believed To Be 1,500 Years Old Challenges The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ, Proposing That It Was Judas Who Was Crucified By Roman Soldiers. This Ancient Text, Known As The Gospel Of Barnabas, Recently Surfaced In Turkey's Ethnography Museum Of Ankara, Causing Significant Controversy
#18
The "Shamir Worm" Is Said To Have Been A Tool Used To Cut Through Stones And Rocks In Ancient Times, Could Only Be Kept In Lead Boxes And Was Given By The "Sea Lord" To King Solomon For Him To Build The First Israelite Temple Without Using Axes, Chisels And Hammers
#19
Kenny Veach Was A 47-Year-Old Hiker And Youtuber Who Vanished In 2014 After Exploring A Strange Cave Near Area 51, The Secretive Military Base In Nevada. Veach’s Disappearance Sparked Many Theories And Speculations Among His Followers And Other Online Communities
#20
Thousands Of People Around The World Have Reported Seeing A Shadowy Figure In A Hat Standing In Their Room While They're Sleeping. Recreational Benadryl Users Report Being Able To Consistently Summon The Entity/Hallucination If They Take Enough Of It
#21
Since 1944, The Graffiti "Who Put Bella In The Witch Elm" Has Appeared, With The Last Case Being In 1999. The Graffiti, Which Is Related To An Unsolved [end], Has Slightly Different Spelling When It Appears, But The Message Is Always The Same
![Since 1944, The Graffiti "Who Put Bella In The Witch Elm" Has Appeared, With The Last Case Being In 1999. The Graffiti, Which Is Related To An Unsolved [end], Has Slightly Different Spelling When It Appears, But The Message Is Always The Same](https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/69df2f7d28379_rkfoadtlqybg1-png__700.jpg "Since 1944, The Graffiti \"Who Put Bella In The Witch Elm\" Has Appeared, With The Last Case Being In 1999. The Graffiti, Which Is Related To An Unsolved [end], Has Slightly Different Spelling When It Appears, But The Message Is Always The Same")
#22
Ghost Ships - Ships Found Abandoned With No Sign Of The Crew, Still Occur Even With Modern Methods Of Rescue, Safety And Communication. The Last Recorded Ship To Be Found With No Sign Of Life Was In January 2021
#23
In 1993, Six Hikers Were Trekking Near Lake Baikal In Siberia When They Were Suddenly Overcome With Horrific Symptoms. Blood Streamed From Their Eyes And Noses, They Clutched At Their Throats And Bashed Their Heads Against Rock. Why This Happened Is Still Unknown
#24
In Norse Mythology A Cursed Ring Called Andvaranaut Brought Doom To Its Owners Long Before Tolkien Wrote The Lord Of The Rings
#25
A Pictograph At Barrier Canyon In The Central Utah Desert, Depicting An Anthropomorph With Bug Eyes And Antennae. 2000 Bce-500 Ce, United States Of America
#26
Hoia Baciu Forest In Romania Is One Of The Most Haunted Places In The World. Hundreds Of People Who Visited Have Said They Left With Burns, Rashes, Nausea, Physical Damage And Many Other Horrific Symptoms. There Have Been Strange Disappearances, UFO Sightings, And Local Legends And Mysteries
#27
H**l’s Gate Bridge In Alabama - Many People Believe That When You Stop On The Bridge And Glance Over Your Shoulder, The Road Behind You Resembles The Fiery Gates Of H**l
#28
On June 14th, 1969, 6-Year-Old Dennis Martin Vanished While On A Camping Trip With His Family In The Great Smoky Mountains. No Trace Was Ever Found, Sparking Theories Of Wild Men, Feral People, And Cryptids
#29
Dolores Barrios - She Said She Was An Alien Who Came From Venus And Mysteriously Disappeared One Day Without A Trace
#30
In 1982, Soviet Navy Divers Participating In A Training Exercise In Lake Baikal Reported Encountering Tall, Humanoid Beings Clad In Silvery Suits, And A Strange, Unidentified Submerged Object. The Divers Described The Beings As Being Roughly Three Meters Tall And Lacking Any Visible Oxygen Tanks
#31
Eilean Mor Lighthouse Mystery - All Three Lighthouse Keepers On A Remote Island Vanished. The Logs Found Reference A Brutal Storm That Lasted Days, Even Though A Neighboring Island That Had View Of The Lighthouse Reported Calm Weather
#32
Thia Same Symbol Is Found In 3 Different Countries - These Petroglyphs Discovered In Japan, Utah, And Azerbaijan Prompt Intriguing Inquiries Into The Connections Between Ancient Cultures. These Carvings, Located In Fugoppe Cave In Japan, Nine Mile Canyon In Utah, And Gobustan In Azerbaijan
#33
Bell Witch Attacks From 1817-1821, The Bell Family Was Tormented By A Mostly Invisible Entity That Was Able To Speak, Affect The Physical Environment, And Shapeshift. Some Accounts Record The Spirit Also To Have Been Clairvoyant And Capable Of Crossing Long Distances With Superhuman Speed
#34
In Loveland, Ohio In 1972 Two Policeman Reported Seeing A 4ft Tall Frog-Like Creature Walking On Two Legs. Over The Last Few Decades Several Other Sightings Of The Loveland Frog Have Been Reported
#35
NASA Astronaut Franklin Story Musgrave Claimed To Have Seen Snake-Shaped Ufos During Two Missions In Space
#36
In 1928, The Third Richest Man In The World Disappeared From His Private Airplane Midflight. He Went To The Bathroom And Simply Vanished. To This Day, Nobody Knows For Sure What Happened On That Flight
#37
Lost Colony Of Roanoke - The First Attempt At British Settlement Of North America. The Leader Of The Colony Left For England For Supplies And Returned To Find All 120 Colonists And Their Buildings Had Vanished. The Only Clue Was The Word ‘Croatoan’ Carved Into A Tree
#38
Robert The Doll - One Of The Most Haunted Objects In America. He’s In A Museum In Key West And Visitors Are Given A Very Specific Warning. You Have To Ask Robert For Permission Before Taking His Photo. If Not, You May Experience An Accident Or Bad Luck Like Your Camera Breaking Or Something Worse
#39
MT. Luminaries In Brazil - Named That Way In The 16th Century After A Persistent Phenomenon Of Fast Moving Orbs Of Light That Would Plague The Skies From Time To Time. They Were Reported To From The Hills And Caves. Natives Used To Worship The Area Because The "Light Beings" Came From There
#40
Some Of The World's Oldest Known Rock Art, Up To 40,000 Years Old, From Australia Depicts Stylized Humanoid Figures
#41
In October 1964, A Young Man Was Driving To A Dance In Hamburg, Pennsylvania, When His Radio Began To Pick Up A Strange Frequency. At First He Thought It Was Just Tuning In To A Local Channel, But Then Voices Came Through Discussing Some Kind Of Nuclear War – And Issuing Bomb Reports
#42
Time Traveler At A Mike Tyson Fight - This Shot Was Taken In 1995 There Are Other Images Available Go Check Them Out. Seems To Be A Smart Phone Of Sorts Being Used To Record The Fight
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