Mystery doesn’t always mean murder. From strange creatures to mysterious visitors and tales of reincarnation; there is something out there for everyone. On this list are 10 such mysteries to boggle the mind and ignite the imagination.
See Also: 10 Mysteries Unlikely To Ever Be Solved
10 The Presence
On 20 May 1916, three weary figures stumbled up to a whaling station on the north coast of South Georgia. Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean had walked for one and a half days non-stop to find help to rescue their crew who were stuck on the other side of the island as well as Elephant Island. The journey was treacherous, as they had to cross mountainous regions with only a rope and axe as aid. Their bravery was rewarded when they eventually found help at Stromness and all the stranded men were rescued.
Only several weeks after the incident, did the three men realise they all had the same weird experience in common. All of them had felt a strange ‘presence’ during their journey; almost as though another person had joined their rescue effort. All three men recounted how they felt this presence ‘walking’ alongside them right up until they reached Stromness, whereafter it disappeared. Shackleton, in particular, was very rattled by the experience and did not like speaking of it.
Many theories have been presented for what the three men encountered, such as a shared hallucination, neurological disorders and side effects of high doses of prescribed medicine. However, just what happened while they were on their trip and who or what accompanied them on it, remains a mystery.[1]
9Druid of Colchester
In 1996, researchers discovered a unique grave near Colchester, Essex. It was estimated that the man inside the grave would have most likely died during the Roman invasion or between 40 – 60AD. The burial chamber was constructed entirely out of wood, and contained a cloak hung with medical tools including scalpels, needles and retractors.
In addition to this, metal poles, a jet bead and herbs including Mugwort were found. There was even a chess board alongside the remains. It is unknown, however, who the man may have been, although experts believe he could have either been an ancient Druid, or a doctor. There is only one Roman account on the Druids of Britain, provided by Tacitus and it remains very difficult to correctly identify Druid artefacts and remains here. Therefore, the true identity of the man in the burial chamber will most likely never be known.[2]
8Skull helmets
Archaeologists excavating burials at Salango in Ecuador between 2014 and 2016 made a puzzling discovery that they have yet to find an explanation for. Among the burials were the remains of two infants sporting ‘helmets’ made from children’s skulls.
It was found that the skulls were likely placed over the infants’ heads while there was still flesh on them; with one of them having their face pointing through the cranial vault. There was also a small bone lodged between the infant’s head and the skull covering it.
The archaeologists have no explanation for the skulls covering the heads of the infants although one theory suggests it may have been for protection according to ancient ritual. While is it also not known what led to the deaths of the infants and children, their bones reflected malnourishment. This is thought to have been caused by a volcanic eruption in the area that may have led to a shortage of food. These findings have only very recently been published and more evidence is needed for any of the theories to be proven as correct.[3]
7 Wailing house
Alan and Christine Tait loved their Ammanford house in Wales right up until June 2018. Christine was making coffee late one night, when she became aware of strange noises emanating from the house. She called her husband and they both tried to establish where the noises were coming from. They heard flushing noises, running machines, a motorcycle and disembodied screams.
Eventually they realised the sounds were coming from the basement located underneath the kitchen. Alan dug into the walls and inserted recorders to try and find out what could be causing the noises. The equipment recorded police sirens, a female screaming, barking dogs and a car horn.
Christine is of the belief that there are people living down in the basement and that the sounds may be linked to human trafficking or even a drug lab. However, police have not found any evidence of this. In the meantime, Christine and Alan are too scared to return to their home and are travelling the UK trying to find someone who can help them solve the mystery.[4]
6 Van Meter Visitor
U.G. Griffith was on his way to his house in Van Meter, Iowa on 29 September 1903 when he noticed a spotlight on top of a building which he had never seen before. Walking towards the building, the light jumped to another roof, before disappearing into the darkness. Telling the story the next day, people were all ears because Griffith had been a respected citizen of Van Meter.
On 30 September the town’s doctor, Dr Alcott, woke up to a beam of light shining into his face in the early hours of the morning. Running outside with his firearm, thinking there were intruders on his property, Dr Alcott froze to the spot when he saw in front of him a large humanoid creature with massive wings and a horn on its head. The horn was beaming a stream of bright light into his house. Dr Alcott shot the creature 5 times, but the monster didn’t even blink. The doctor then ran back inside and when he looked back, the creature had disappeared.
On 1 October, also in the early hours, bank manager Clarence Dunn walked to the bank where he worked with the uneasy feeling that the recent ‘monster’ sightings may have been robbers trying to distract the townsfolk while planning the rob the place. He locked himself inside the building, clutching a shotgun for protection. Just after midnight, Dunn heard a strange gasping noise. Then a bright light shone into the bank and Dunn could see a figure outside. He fired the shotgun at the figure, and it fled. Later, he would find footprints with only 3 toe prints outside the bank.
More people witnessed the creature, including J.L. Platt Jr. who encountered it at the entrance to an abandoned coal mine. He also saw a smaller similar-looking creature standing next to the large one. Shooting at them once again had no effect. The community then decided to board up the entrance to the mine and the creatures were never seen again.
Was this just a scary story that had the whole town on edge or did Van Meter’s residents see something supernatural more than 100 years ago?[5]
5 Krishna’s Butter Ball
On a 45-degree slope (base less than 4 feet) in Mahabalipuram, India, rests a huge boulder (over 250 tons) named Krishna’s Butter Ball. The way the boulder is perched makes it look as though it rolled down the hill and somehow stopped right before plunging all the way down. Gravity has not been able to move it; neither has the shoves of tourists who try to get it to roll further down.
It is thought that the boulder is a glacier erratic, but it is unknown why it stopped where it did. According to Hindu mythology however, the great god Krishna was extremely fond of eating butter when he was just an infant and because the boulder has an orangey tint, it is believed by some that it is in fact a dollop of butter dropped by Krishna. Hence the name: Krishna’s Butter Ball.[6]
4 Shrieks of Forest Grove
In 2016, a shrill shrieking sound in Forest Grove started keeping people up at night and causing dogs to bark incessantly. Residents described the sound as car brakes screeching, a siren going off and even a banshee howling into the wind.
Some recorded the sounds to replay later and try figure out what the cause may be. Theories ranged from a leak in a pipeline, a fire alarm, or a train screeching to a halt. None of these theories panned out. The noise continued and was heard at several locations in Forest Grove. A physics professor at the local university tried to track down the source of the sound by pinning all the locations on a Google Map of the area. There was no pattern however, and the mystery remained.
Residents started getting freaked out and theories started including ghosts, Bigfoot, aliens and more. The story circulated on news channels and the sound continued. Then, one night the sound was noticeably absent and never returned. It remains unknown what caused the high-pitched noise and why it ceased just as abruptly as it started.[7]
3 Hanan Monsour / Suzanne Ghanem
Hanan Monsour was born in the 30s in Lebanon. She married Farouk Monsour when she was only 20 years old and went on to have two daughters, Leila and Galareh. Soon after the birth of her second child, Hanan was diagnosed with heart disease and was warned to not have any more children. Despite this, she had a son in 1962. Her brother died in 1963 and soon after, Hanan started getting ill. She spoke a lot of dying and told her husband she would come back after death.
Hanan was 36 when she died after having heart surgery. She tried unsuccessfully to telephone her daughter, Leila, before the operation.
Suzanne Ghanem was born ten days after Hanan’s death. Her mother claimed to have had a dream, before Suzanne was born, in which a woman told her she was going ‘to come to her’. Much later, Suzanne’s mother saw a picture of Hanan Monsour and claimed it looked like the woman from her dream.
Suzanne was only 16 months old when she started tugging at the landline phone in her parent’s home and repeating the words: ‘Hello, Leila?” Her family was astonished by this as they did not know anyone called Leila. As Suzanne grew older, she told her parents that Leila was one of her children from a past life. At the age of two, she mentioned all three of Hanan’s children’s names as well as Farouk, her parents and brothers.
Upon hearing this, the Monsours set off to visit Suzanne. While they were together, Suzanne identified all Hanan’s relatives and told Farouk that she remembered giving jewels to her brother Hercule before she had had her surgery. No one other than the Monsour family had known about this.
By the time she was five, Suzanne called Farouk multiple times a day. This continued until she was twenty-five years old. Farouk accepted that Suzanne was the reincarnation of Hanan and believed the physical resemblance between the two women was further proof.
Naturally, most believe this to be merely a coincidence or a hoax. But what truly transpired remains shrouded in mystery.[8]
2 Nunavut ping
A strange pinging sound emanating from the ocean in Nunavut, have caused serious headaches for hunters in the area as it seems to be scaring away the sea mammals they usually hunt for food. In 2017 it became apparent that the Fury and Hecla Strait was near empty when it should have been teeming with seals and whales.
Naturally, theories abound on what could be causing the mysterious pinging, including a Greenpeace effort to save seals from being hunted and sonar surveys, but none of them have been conclusively proven. A military plane has even been sent to fly over the area, but it picked up nothing other than whales and walruses. Canadian Forces at the time were going to send acoustic specialists to converse with residents of nearby Igloolik, to try and gather more information about the ping.
To date however, the source of the ping remains unknown.[9]
1 What happened to Cecil Grace?
Cecil Grace was an aviator who decided to enter a flying competition in 1910; the prize being £2,000 to the first Englishman who could successfully fly over the English Channel and the furthest into Europe. On 22 December 1910, the competition was on and Cecil flew from Swingate Downs to Calais in France. Unfortunately, this was not far enough to win, so he turned back to England to start over. It should have taken around 40 minutes. However, by mid-afternoon, Cecil’s plane was nowhere to be seen.
Cecil never returned. On 6 January 1911, a pair of aviator goggles and a cap washed up on a Belgium beach. A couple of weeks later, a body washed up as well. The body was never identified due to its advanced state of decomposition, but Cecil’s friends had serious doubts whether it was the aviator’s remains. Even after Cecil was officially declared dead, his closest friends refused to believe that the remains were those of their fellow pilot’s.
Considering that the last sighting of Cecil’s plane was near Kent, they believed it was too far from the Belgium beach for the remains to have been Cecil’s. To date, Cecil’s plane has never been found. What exactly happened to the pilot, remains a mystery.[10]