Would you believe it if a random person told you that Samsung manufactured machine guns? Or that Volkswagen makes sausages, Toyota sells prefabricated homes and Apple once sold clothes? We did not make any of that up. They are all true.

See Also: Top 10 Famous Companies With Unexpected Origins

You see, while we often associate established brands with certain products, like Lamborghini with sports cars and Sony with electronics, these conglomerates often have other businesses they do. Oftentimes, they just veered off into some other market that is totally unrelated to their core business. At other times, they just happened to be part of a larger multinational that is into things we would not expect.

10 Volkswagen—Ketchup And Sausage

Volkswagen has been making and selling sausages for over 43 years. The sausages are so popular and successful that Volkswagen calls them its “most popular product without wheels”. We think Volkswagen should have actually called it cars its “most popular product ‘with’ wheels” since it actually sells more sausages than cars. In 2015, it sold 5.8 million cars and 7.2 million sausages.

That got us thinking. Does that make Volkswagen a carmaker that sells sausages by the side or a sausage company that sells cars by the side?

The sausage, which the company calls currywurst and brands with the German phrase “Volkswagen Originalteil” (“Volkswagen original parts” in English), is made at the company’s main factory in Wolfburg, Germany. Cars are also made at the facility in case you are wondering. The sausages are made of pork and offered in two different lengths. There is also a vegetarian version.

Volkswagen entered the ketchup business in 1997. Its ketchup is thicker than regular ketchup and flavored with spice and curry. The sausages and ketchup are wildly popular and sold at Volkswagen factories and partner supermarkets in Germany. German dealerships also present a pack to customers who buy new Volkswagens from them.^[1]

9 Apple—Clothes

Apple is renowned for its computers, phones, iPods and lately, financial services. However, if things had gone according to plan, we would have added clothes to the previous sentence. Yes, Apple sold clothes and even launched a clothing line way back in 1986.

What do you think they called it? iShirt? Maccap? No, they called it The Apple Collection. The Apple Collection included t-shirts, sweatshirts, caps and hats. The merchandise either had the former colorful Apple logo or the word “Apple” imprinted on them in some funny looking, old school font.
The clothing line was not Steve Jobs idea. He had left Apple a year earlier. John Sculley was the CEO of Apple at the time. So, we think he came up with the idea. Apple stores did not exist at the time, so Apple sold the clothes exclusively through mail order. The clothing line was later discontinued due to what we think was poor sales.^[2]

8 Samsung—Machine Guns

When we think Samsung, we think televisions, home appliances, semiconductors, anti-Apple lawsuits and maybe exploding phones. Machine guns are one thing we definitely do not think of. This is even though Samsung actually manufactures machinegun systems for the South Korean military.

While most people do not realize, Samsung is actually an international conglomerate with interest in construction, vehicle manufacturing, theme parks, helicopter engines, hospitals, real estate, luxury hotels, textiles, chemicals, weapons and lots more. These machineguns are not your regular human-operated machineguns but artificial intelligence powered weapons capable of independently engaging enemies without a human operator.

The aptly named Samsung SGR-A1 sentry gun is the product of a joint venture between Samsung Techwin (one of Samsung’s sister companies) and Korea University. It is equipped with cameras, rangefinders, illuminators, voice recognition and a machine gun and multiple grenade launcher that allows it to automatically track, identify and engage enemies.

However, Samsung denies that the weapon will engage targets on its own. Rather, it passes information about any intruder to an operator, who determines whether it should fire or not. The weapon is currently deployed at the 250-kilometers-long Korean Demilitarized zone, which despite its name, is one of the most militarized regions of the world. There are no reports that the weapon has killed anyone yet.^[3]

7 Porsche—Honey

Porsche is renowned for its sports cars, luxury sport utility vehicles, sedans and honey. You probably did not see that last part coming. Porsche keeps bees and sells their honey. Porsche entered the beekeeping business in May 2017 when it set up a bee farm in Saxony, Germany. The farm launched with 1.5 million bees split into 25 colonies.

Those bees produced 400 kilograms of pure honey by December. Porsche put the honey in jars, slammed the name Turbienchen on them and sold them at its customer care shop in Leipzig, Germany. The honey sold out within days, prompting Porsche to add another 1.5 million bees as it attempted to double its output the following year.

Porsche did not go into the beekeeping business for money but for preservation purposes. Bees are crucial to German agriculture and are protected by law. Despite this, Germany still loses massive amounts of bees to disease and pesticide every year. In fact, Germany currently has a shortage of bees. Porsche’s is only trying to increase Germany’s bee population.^[4]

6 Cosmopolitan Magazine—Yogurt

Cosmopolitan is famed for its colorful fashion, entertainment and lifestyle magazine. However, at the turn of the century, it got famous for selling yogurt, cheese, clothes, watches, sunglasses and cafés, which it called lifestyle centers. The so-called lifestyle centers helped women keep fit and offered advice on their emotional issues.

The first pack of the aptly named Cosmopolitan yogurt (or Cosmo yogurt for short) appeared in supermarkets in 1999. Like the magazine, the yogurt and cheese were targeted at women between the ages of 15 and 44. It was low-fat and was made in partnership with MD Foods. However, the yogurt barely survived for two years before it was discontinued over poor sales.^[5]

5 Lamborghini—Off Road Vehicles

Lamborghini is world famous for its powerful and aesthetically pleasing sports cars. But did you know that Lamborghini originally made tractors? Lamborghini only started building sports cars after its founder, Ferruccio Lamborghini, got into a spat with Enzo Ferrari, the founder of Lamborghini’s major competitor, Ferrari.

While Lamborghini still makes tractors, they are not the weirdest thing to have rolled out of their factories. That title should go to the odd-looking off-road vehicle called the Lamborghini LM 002. Lamborghini actually made three off-road vehicles. The first two were the Cheetah and the LM 001. Both were prototype vehicles and never made it to the market.

However, the plans of the Cheetah and the LM 001 were merged to create the LM 002, which was exhibited at the Geneva Auto Show in 1982. The LM 002 went into production four years later. In terms of power, the LM 002 was the sort of thing you would expect from Lamborghini. It was an all-wheel drive with a powerful V12 engine that went from zero to 100 km/h in just 7.8 seconds.

However, we wish we could say the same thing about the design. For one, the car looks very odd. Some standard Lamborghini features like leather seats and air conditioning were also optional. Did we also mention that it had a cargo bed?^[6]

4 Virgin Group—Virgin Cola

Sir Richard Branson has many businesses operating under his multinational conglomerate, Virgin Group. His businesses are as diverse as you can imagine. He has airlines, gyms and hotels amongst others. He also offers communications, healthcare, financial services and so on. But Sir Branson has also ventured into more unexpected terrains in the past. Like when he launched Virgin Cola in 1994.

Curiously, Virgin Cola was almost successful—until Coca-Cola ran it out of business. To be fair to Coca-Cola, Sir Branson fired the first shots when he drove an armored tank over cans of Coke to advertise his new drink. Coca-Cola executives got the message. Sir Branson wanted to displace them to become the dominant cola brand in the market.

Coca-Cola retaliated by offering mouthwatering deals to stores that stocked on Virgin Cola. In exchange, the stores stopped buying Virgin Cola and bought Coke instead. Virgin Cola sales declined everywhere except in Bangladesh where it remained popular. However, the Bangladeshi cola market was not profitable enough for Sir Branson who promptly discontinued the drink.^[7]

3Toyota—Prefabricated Homes

Toyota has been making prefabricated homes since 1975. It manufactured the homes under its Toyota Motor Corporation brand until 2004 when it was spun off to create the Toyota Housing Corporation. Like its cars, Toyota homes are very sturdy and can even withstand earthquakes. However, it is unlikely we will ever live in one since they are exclusive to Japan.

The homes do not come cheap though. They cost between $200,000 and $800,000 depending on what the buyer is getting. This made Toyota Housing Corporation set up a side business offering loans and other financial services to people interested in buying its homes. There are speculations that Toyota has sold over 250,000 homes since it got into the business.^[8]

2 Peugeot—Peppermill

Peugeot is one carmaker that has always managed to escape our attention. The French automaker rarely makes the news. When they do, it is always about their cars and never about their peppermills. That is even though Peugeot has been making peppermills long before it started building cars.

The original Peugeot was a flourmill until 1810 when it divested into the manufacture of tools, clock parts, sewing machines and other steel products. The coffee mill and peppermill followed in the 1840s. The first car came much later.

Peugeot still makes peppermills today. Its peppermills are considered one of the best in the world and are said to last for a lifetime. Interestingly, many buyers do not realize their peppermill is the product of the Peugeot motor company. This is despite the fact that the peppermills and cars share the same name and logo.^[9]

1 Sony—Insurance

Despite what you think, Sony is not an electronics company. Sony is an insurance company that makes electronics by the side. Ok! In truth, Sony is a conglomerate with interests in several businesses including music, entertainment, insurance, banking and advertising. However, Sony makes most of its profits from insurance. 63% of its profits the last time we checked.

Sony’s electronics division, which is what made Sony a household name here in the west, is currently unprofitable. Yet, the multinational would rather lose hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars yearly than sell or shut down its electronics division. As its former CEO Kazuo Hirai once said “Electronics has a future. And it is in Sony’s DNA”. Sony electronics division hopes to make a comeback someday.^[10]

There is just something about an unsolved mystery, isn’t there? Sure, it’s great when you eventually find out why something happened the way it did. Still, man, the idea of an event taking place without an immediate plausible explanation just sends those debating skills into overdrive and makes the conspiracy theories pile up. Below are just some examples of mysteries that will probably be debated for a long time to come.

10 The Mummy That Wasn’t

Back in 2000, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan battled for ownership of what they believed to be the mummified remains of a 2,600-year-old Persian princess. Police found the mummy during a raid of a Baluchistan chieftain home in Kharan, Pakistan and was to be sold on the black market for millions. When she was discovered, the mummy’s head was adorned with a golden crown, and there were gold ornaments in her coffin, which truly made it seem that an archaeological wonder had been found. However, not everyone was convinced that the mummy was the real deal. Professor Ahmad Dani, director of the Institute of Asian Civilizations in Islamabad, claimed to have known from the beginning that the mummy was not all it was cracked up to be.^[1]

He was not wrong. After a detailed study of the remains, it was soon discovered that the body was not 2,600 years old and not a Persian princess. It was revealed that the coffin she rested in was not as old as her remains were believed to be and that the mat she was laid on was possibly a mere five years old. The Persian mummy was now believed to be the body of a 21-year-old female murder victim—her neck, jaw, and back broken. Finally, it was confirmed, with the help of radiocarbon testing, that the victim had died in 1996. The “mummy” was buried in 2005 without the victim ever being identified.

9 Dutch Students’ Deaths

On 1 April 2014, two Dutch students, Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers, waved goodbye to the family hosting them during their long-planned trip to Panama and walked off with the family dog for a hike along the Baru volcano. They posted on Facebook that they were going to walk around Boquete before tackling the hiking trail.

That evening, the host family noticed the dog traipsing back into the house, but there was no sign of the two young women. Assuming they may have decided to stay overnight on the trail, the family waited until morning. However, when they discovered that Kris and Lisanne never showed up for their private walking tour of Boquete, the family immediately contacted the police. Kris and Lisanne’s parents arrived in Panama five days later and waited anxiously for news of their children as police and detectives scoured the forest for ten days.^[2]

It took 10 weeks for a break in the case. A local woman turned up at the police station with a blue backpack she had found on a riverbank in the Boco del Toros region. Inside the backpack were Lisanne’s passport, sunglasses, two pairs of bras, a water bottle, and some cash. Police also found a camera and both girls’ cell phones in the backpack. When they scrolled through the phones, they found that there had been 77 attempts to call the police and emergency services in both Panama and the Netherlands. Due to the lack of signal in the area, these calls did not go through. On one of the phones, they found several photos of the trail and surrounding forest. There were also photos taken on 8 April of the girls’ belongings scattered over some rocks and a disturbing photo of the back of Kris’ head showing blood streaming from her temple.

Two months later, bones were found in the forest. DNA tests confirmed that the bones belonged to the two missing girls. Later in 2014, they were publicly declared dead of a hiking accident. Police never found out how they died or if someone was responsible for their deaths.

8 Leatherman

Historian Dan DeLuca spent most of his life researching a deceased homeless man’s life. Ever since he stumbled upon his grave in the Sparta Cemetery in Ossining, New York, DeLuca had been fascinated with the man known as Leatherman. He learned that the inscription on Leatherman’s gravestone incorrectly referred to the deceased as Jules Bourglay of Lyons, France. He also knew that Leatherman had been a source of mystery for people in Westchester County and western Connecticut since the 1850s.^[3]

Leatherman was said to have had a strange ritual that contributed to much of the speculation surrounding him. Once a month, he would walk 360 miles between the Hudson and Connecticut rivers. Being homeless, he was dressed very modestly in patchwork garments and wooden shoes and very rarely spoke to anyone. He slept in the forest and sometimes in caves, but he would never stay inside a building for more than a couple of minutes. He often asked for food as he passed by a farmhouse, and the occupants were amazed at his appetite. He could eat a staggering amount while remaining standing at the front door.

The press began following Leatherman’s movements and chronicled his travels for over 30 years. In modern times the research into this mysterious man continues. Pearl Jam got caught up in the mystery and wrote a song about him. Leatherman’s real name and age at that time remain unknown, as does his place of birth and where he grew up.

7 Nina Craigmiles’s Blood-Stained Crypt

Nina Craigmiles was born to Myra Adelia Thompson Craigmiles and John Henderson Craigmiles on August 5, 1864. As she grew, Nina learned to love riding in a horse-drawn buggy. During one such outing with her grandfather on St. Luke’s Day in 1871, the buggy they were riding in was hit full-on by an oncoming train as they were crossing the railroad tracks. Seven-year-old Nina was killed on impact.

While her family grieved, Nina’s father changed his will to include a clause that stated he wished to be buried inside the mausoleum where Nina’s ashes rested. John Craigmiles also ensured that an Episcopal church was built in Nina’s memory, which included the marble mausoleum in the churchyard to keep Nina’s ashes in. The church was named St. Luke’s Memorial Episcopal Church and was consecrated in 1872.^[4]

John died in 1899 and was buried, as requested, inside Nina’s mausoleum. Sometime later, red stains started appearing on the outside of the mausoleum. Efforts to clean the stains failed, and when the marble blocks were replaced, the stains simply reappeared. In modern times, sightings have been reported of a little ghost girl in 1800s clothing, playing outside the mausoleum. The red stains, whom many believe to be blood, are still visible on the Craigmiles Mausoleum in Cleveland and tourists love relating the story. However, the cause of the stains remains a mystery.

6 The Circleville Letters

In 1976, several Circleville, Ohio residents began receiving strange letters detailing personal information about their lives. The letters contained threats of violence and personal information that, in some cases, only the recipient was aware of. Many of these letters were hatefully written with vulgarisms and lewd artwork. None of the Circleville letters had any return address, and all appeared to come from somewhere within Columbus. Every single letter was written in the same distinct style—block letters—and might have been an attempt to cover up the author’s personal handwriting.

Bus driver Mary Gillispie was accused of a supposedly non-existent affair with the superintendent of schools. The writer told Mary that they had been observing her house and knew she had children. It was postmarked in Columbus, Ohio, but had no return address. Within eight days, Mary received a similar letter. She kept the letters to herself, until her husband, Ron, received one as well. The letter stated that if Ron did not stop his wife’s affair, his life would be in danger. The couple believed that the letter writer was Ron’s brother-in-law, Paul Freshour, and the letters stopped after they sent accusatory letters to Freshour—at least for a time.

Ron Gillispie died a few weeks later in a suspicious car accident as the letters continued, now being sent to more residents ordering a more thorough investigation into the crash. After a botched attempt on Mary Gillispie’’s life six years later, police arrested Freshour for attempted murder. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison as his gun was used in the boob-trap device meant to kill Mary. While in prison, the letters continued, still postmarked from Columbus, even though Freshour was nowhere near there, nor were any letters sent from the prison. The writer of the letters is still unknown, although there have not been any letters received since 1994.

While Unsolved Mysteries was filming this story, they received a postcard, apparently from the letter writer. It read “Forget Circleville Ohio: Do Nothing to Hurt Sheriff Radcliff: If You Come to Ohio You El Sickos Will Pay: The Circleville Writer.”^[5]

5 Mysterious Vatican Disappearance

When 15-year-old Emanuela Orlandi finished her second year of high school in Rome in 1983, she chose to continue with flute lessons at the Tommaso Ludovico da Victoria School. On 22 June 1983, Emanuela asked her brother, Pietro, to accompany her on the bus to the music school, but he had prior commitments. She arrived late to class that day and later telephoned her sister to inform her that she had been given a job opportunity to become a representative of Avon Cosmetics. The rep who had presented her with the opportunity spoke to her before her music lesson, causing Emanuela to run late. Later that day, Emanuela told a friend of hers about the job, before getting into a BMW and riding off.^[6] Emanuela Orlandi was never seen again.

Many false leads materialized over the years, as did an abundance of theories on what may have happened to the young girl. Some believe that a Bulgarian neo-fascist youth group abducted her. Others claim that she is living in a Muslim community in Paris. Even more outrageous theories include that her kidnapping was part of a plot to kill St. John Paul II or could even be linked to the seedy underbelly of Rome.

In 2017, an Italian journalist claimed to have stolen a document from the Vatican which suggested that the Holy See arranged Emanuela’s disappearance. The Vatican immediately claimed, “fake news.”

In July 2019, the Vatican excavated the tombs of two 19th century German princesses in the Pontifical Teutonic College cemetery after an anonymous tip was received that Emanuela’s remains were buried inside them. Instead, they found completely empty tombs, meaning the remains of the princesses are in question as well. During these excavations, two sets of bones were found under a stone slab and were inspected and determined to be too old to be the remains of Emanuela Orlandi. The Vatican closed its investigation, but the mystery still remains—what happened to Emanuela?

4 Kathy Hobbs Premonition

When Katherine Marie Hobbs was eight years old, her parents divorced. As if this wasn’t bad enough for the young girl, her best friend died while they were both in middle school. Soon after, Katherine or Kathy as her family called her, started having disturbing premonitions that she would not live past 16 years of age.^[7]

Kathy and her sister Theresa moved to a Las Vegas suburb with their mother where Kathy made new friends and eventually woke up on her sixteenth birthday on 20 April 1987 feeling greatly relieved that nothing terrible had happened to her. As the days passed after her birthday, Kathy grew confident that her premonitions were nothing more than a figment of her imagination.

On July 23, 1987, Kathy left her house to buy a novel at the local supermarket a block and a half away. Her mom kissed her goodbye in case she fell asleep before Kathy returned.

The next morning, Kathy’s mom knocked on her bedroom door only to discover it was empty. Kathy never made it back home. Her mother filed a missing person’s report immediately. Nine days later, a hiker found Kathy’s body near Lake Mead. When police were called, they discovered rocks at the murder scene with Kathy’s blood on them, indicating that the teenager had been hit in the head repeatedly. The news devastated Kathy’s mother and sister. Later, while cleaning out her bedroom, they found letters written by Kathy to each family member. The letters were dated a month before Kathy’s sixteenth birthday. In them, she wrote that she loved them dearly and that they shouldn’t be upset or dwell over her death.

Kathy Hobbs’ murder remains unsolved, even though a serial killer named Michael Lee Lockhart was a prime suspect and eventually executed for another murder.

3 Titanic Poisoning

On the last day of filming the movie, Titanic, in Nova Scotia, James Cameron suddenly felt inexplicably ill and disoriented. When he started vomiting, he realized something was very wrong. Once he got back to the set, he found he wasn’t the only one feeling strange as some of the cast and crew were vomiting or crying and some even laughing.

At Dartmouth General Hospital, things took an even weirder turn when a crew member stabbed Cameron in the face with a pen. At the same time, others started stealing unoccupied wheelchairs and wheeling themselves up and down the hospital corridors. Cameron, who was bleeding from the pen stab wound, couldn’t stop laughing.

Once the hospital staff ruled out food poisoning, they realized that chowder consumed by more than 60 people on set had been laced with PCP.^[8]

Theories abounded, one of which had it that a dismissed crew member tried to take revenge by poisoning the food. Officially the mystery remains long after the case was closed in 1999 due to a lack of suspects.

2 Miniature Coffins

In 1836 a group of boys set off for Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland to hunt rabbits. Intrigued by a concealed cave, the boys decided to peek inside. After pulling away the stones covering the entrance, they stumbled upon 17 miniature coffins, each with a wooden doll inside. The dolls had big eyes and were dressed in cotton clothing.^[9]

When the discovery was reported in the Scotsman newspaper, the article mentioned that the coffins were decorated with funeral trappings. It seemed that they had been placed inside the cave recently.

As is always the case with unexplained discoveries, multiple theories were presented to try and explain the coffins. Some people thought it might be children playing a trick, while others mused that witches might have used the coffins for rituals. Yet another theory said that the coffins may have been part of an ancient custom to give sailors who died at sea a Christian burial. A dark theory suggested that the coffins may have been set up in tribute of killers William Burke and William Hare who murdered 17 people.

The true purpose of the coffins and who placed them in the cave remains a mystery.

1 The Handless Monk

In 2017, archaeologists made the startling discovery of a medieval dolphin skeleton on an islet off the coast of Guernsey. The following year, they made an even more baffling discovery: that of a male skeleton with no hands. Following an investigation, it was found that the skeleton of the man, believed to be a monk, was buried at a much later time than the dolphin, and the two incidents were not related.^[10]

Archaeologists initially believed the islet, Chapelle Dom Hue, used to be much larger and home to a few Christian monks during the Middle Ages. One of the theories surrounding the mystery of the skeleton has it that the monk may have suffered from leprosy and had his hands cut off because of it. However, some experts feel this is unlikely and don’t believe that the man was a monk. The details on the skeleton’s clothing indicate the body may have been buried in the 17th century, long after monks would have inhabited the islet.

The skeleton discovery remains shrouded in mystery for the time being, as experts are still in the process of examining the remains and investigating a different theory which states that the man may have been a sailor who died at sea and was thrown overboard before washing up on the islet.

Area 51 is probably one of the most mysterious man-made places in the world. Depending on which part of the Internet you’re in, conspiracies around the highly secretive military base can range from ‘they conduct human experiments there’ to ‘we’re living in a simulation run out of Area 51`. There’s no dearth of information (or what conspiracy theorists believe is ‘information’) available on the region, though because of its popularity and conspiracy value, most of it is sensationalized and probably not accurate.

SEE ALSO: 10 Secret Cities Kept Hidden From The Public

That’s, of course, if you dig in a bit deeper and realize that there are many relatively-unknown facts around Area 51 that have been hidden in the back pages of search results. If we take our eyes off all the aliens and weather modification stuff for a minute, we’d realize that those facts are every bit as interesting as the most far-fetched conspiracy theories around it.

10 It’s Still Growing

It’s been a long time since the general public got to know about Area 51, even if the C.I.A. didn’t acknowledge its existence till 2013. What was originally an unspectacular military base to deal with the Cold War turned into the biggest military mystery in America, largely due to highly-publicized claims by former employees.

Since then, public interest in the base has only grown, and so has the base itself. Most of us assume that it’s just one cordoned-off place that has stayed the same since it was built. In reality, though, Area 51 is still expanding, along with – assumingly – the scope of whatever research is going on in there. The expansion has garnered quite a bit of controversy, too, as a significant part of the land that now makes Area 51 was forcefully taken by its owners without an adequate explanation. Now we’re not saying that it definitely means that they’ve found more aliens to experiment on in the years since the base was built. All we’re saying is that it’s a possibility.^[1]

9 No One Knows Why It’s Called Area 51

Most of us don’t realize that the name of the base wasn’t always Area 51, even if the government has used ‘Area 51’ to refer to it multiple times in the recent past. It’s also not its original name, as the base is called Homey Airport or Groom Lake in Cold War era documents. Regardless, the base is now referred to as Area 51 for all intents and purposes, even in modern official records.

It certainly begs the question; why that name? Area 51 implies the existence of areas 1 – 50, though if they exist, no one has ever been able to find them. The answer? We simply have no idea. We know that government diagrams from the 60s called it that, and that the CIA officially confirmed it in 2013. Though beyond that, we just don’t know.

Some people say that it’s simply because of the grid naming system by the Atomic Energy Commission that did the planning for that region. Others claim that Areas 1 – 50 were originally built but eventually destroyed due to things getting out of hands with those pesky aliens. As far as we know, any of the explanations could be true.^[2]

8 When The Navy Confirmed UFO Videos Are Real

While there are definitely a lot of conspiracy theories around Area 51 (and we do mean ‘a lot’; just search online), almost all of them could be discredited by reason and logic. We’re sure that some of them have a shred of truth to them – as the military does need bases to test out secretive technology for national security – though some of the theories are too far-fetched to be true.

That is, of course, until you consider that the U.S. Navy has gone on record confirming the presence of one of the UFOs captured on video in the region. The video shows navy aircraft engaging with some weird flying objects, and was considered to be doctored until then. While that doesn’t mean that the navy confirmed the presence of aliens, they did admit that some unexplained flying phenomenon has been happening in and around Area 51.^[3]

7 One Of Those UFOs Matches Lazar’s Description

While many people from the general populace may have forgotten how Area 51 gained its popularity, the conspiracy theorist community remembers that it was thanks to Bob Lazar. Originally an employee at Area 51, Lazar was the first person to claim that he had seen the government conducting alien experiments there.

If you don’t believe in conspiracies, you’d think that none of his predictions could be true, and may dismiss him as someone just out for fame. That would be our assumption, too, at least until his description of one of the alien UFOs matched one of the three whose presence was confirmed by the navy. He claimed that he worked on a spacecraft that flies with its bottom in the front and described its shape in detail. If you look at the above-mentioned video, you’d see that one of those objects perfectly coincides with his claims.^[4]

6 The Original Purpose Of Area 51

Among all the chatter around aliens and conspiracy theories, it’s difficult to find the actual purpose of Area 51. Many theorists believe that to be undeniable proof of the accuracy of their theories, as if it wasn’t built for any other purpose, it must have been to house captured aliens. While that may as well be true – as a lot of people unrelated to each other have claimed to see weird things around the base – Area 51 had a legit reason to exist.

You see, when the Cold War started, the entire Eastern Block was suddenly covered in what we know as the Iron Curtain. Because of that, USA had to come up with an effective way to gather intelligence. Area 51 was originally meant to carry out research on America’s secret, high-altitude U – 2 recon planes. The secrecy around the base could also explained by the simple fact that the U.S. military didn’t want Soviet Russia to know about it, as that would defeat the whole point.^[5]

5 There’s No Actual Fence Around Area 51

For a facility so heavily guarded by the U.S. military, you’d think that Area 51 would have some kind of physical boundary to keep the citizens out. After all, if you can just breach its guarded perimeter by the simple act of walking, it’s not a very safe military facility, is it?

Actually, that’s exactly how it is. Area 51 doesn’t have a fence at all, and we do mean ‘at all’. While some of its inner installations are guarded by perimeters, the whole base has no physical boundary. That doesn’t mean it’s advisable to just walk into it—as it does have magnetic sensors at many places, along with guard towers who would definitely shoot at you if you try to do that.^[6]

4 The Secret Daily Commute To Work

Many of you may have wondered about the work life of the people working inside Area 51. It’s not like they’d build residential facilities for all the employees, as that would literally be the best military job in the world. Who wouldn’t want to work for the biggest army in the world with free accommodation and zero risk of combat?

While we’d guess that some of the personnel working in Area 51 have their own quarters (as we don’t know any better), the majority of them don’t. They make their way to office in possibly one of the most peculiar and secretive daily commutes to work in the world – by air. There’s a whole hangar dedicated to employees of Area 51 inside the facility, with a restricted terminal on the other side at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. More interestingly, the planes use a secret call sign called Janet, which may as well be the most secretive airline in the world. It’s not really a company registered by that name, either, but just a name given to those flights when they’re in civilian airspace.^[7]

3 You Can See It On Google Maps

Even if the general public may not have any idea about what’s inside Area 51, one company knows the entire layout of it, at least from satellite distance. Google Maps is possibly one of the few private companies to be allowed to map the facility, and you could even see it in high resolution right now. It even released a high-res time-lapse of the growth of the facility over the years, something we’re quite surprised the government even allowed it to do.

Google also has an Easter egg for Area 51 if you type in its coordinates in Maps. Just go to 37.24804, -115.800155, and you’d find that the little Google Street pointer guy has turned into a tiny spaceship.^[8]

2 U.S. Military’s Most Heavily-Guarded Secret

Other than conspiracy theorists and people dedicated to dismiss conspiracies, you’d think that Area 51 would just be another secretive U.S. military facility. After all, conspiracy theories exist around all sizeable secret military bases in the world. All the conspiracies around Area 51 seem to branch out of that initial claim by Bob Lazar, and it’s safe to assume that it would just be another military facility if that wouldn’t have happened.

In reality, though, it’s not just conspiracy theorists who find Area 51 to be of interest. When some astronauts at the Skylab space facility accidentally photographed the facility, CIA sent them a special memorandum stating that it was the only coordinate on the planet with explicit instructions to not do that. In other words, the government also recognizes Area 51 as the single most-heavily-guarded secret of the U.S. military. What does that mean? Well, your guess is as good at ours.^[9]

1 The Real Conspiracy At Area 51

We’ve been exposed to so many conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51 that we inadvertently ignore real controversies happening in there. It’s pretty hard to keep up with, say, cases of sexual harassment at the workplace inside Area 51 when we’re consistently told about things like exoskeletons made out of alien skin.

As is the case with most governments, the real conspiracies around Area 51 have more to do with corporate misconduct (Lockheed Martin built the U-2 plane) and employer neglect of working conditions than aliens. There have been quite a few lawsuits alleging that Area 51 employees were exposed to hazardous chemicals that weren’t dumped properly, and at least two people may have died because of it. Complicating matters even further is the government’s refusal to disclose exactly what they were exposed to, as everything inside the facility is a heavily-guarded government secret.^[10]

About The Author: You can check out Himanshu’s stuff at Cracked (www.cracked.com/members/RudeRidingRomeo/) and Screen Rant (https://screenrant.com/author/hshar/), or get in touch with him for writing gigs ([email protected]).

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]

With 2019 drawing to a close, this year’s Egyptology harvest proved excellent once again. Sometimes, the finds were new. At other times, fresh facts gave more meaning to old finds and knotted mysteries a little tighter. Other artifacts had not been seen in decades. Whichever way they present themselves, the haul makes for a fascinating read. From bizarre hieroglyphics, the real taste of Egyptian bread to temples underwater, you can now enjoy the best of Egyptology’s latest season.

Recommended: Unlock the awe-inspiring scent of Ancient Egypt on Top 10 Incredible Smells.

10The Teenager And The Pyramid

In the region of Beni Suef stands a pyramid. This odd duck is called the Meidum pyramid. It was originally a step monument but the sides were later smoothed to turn the structure into a real pyramid. Nobody knows why Meidum was altered in this way. In 2019, a grave added to the site’s reputation to head-scratch for answers.

Dug next to the 4,600-year-old pyramid, the tomb held a teenage girl. When she died from unknown causes, she was about 13 years old. The time of her death is less certain but the teen was definitely an ancient Egyptian. Her body was arranged in a squatting position and there was a glaring lack of grave goods. The investigation did uncover signs of a cemetery and a pair of bovine skulls. They were likely a funerary offering but the heads could not be linked to any specific burial, including the anonymous girl’s.

The expedition also found traces of a brick wall, which may or may not have circled the cemetery. Overall, a teen buried without ceremony next to an altered pyramid surrounded by a wall is a combination that will likely keep archaeologists guessing for a while.^[1]

9 A Schoolboy’s Lesson

In 2019, the British Library took an artifact out of storage. The public last saw the tablet in the 1970s and visitors viewing the exhibition (which highlighted the history of writing), it looked downright modern. Along several lines, a child’s scrawl copied phrases written by an adult hand. Only it was not modern. The tablet was 1,800 years old.

The Egyptian student was required to copy two pearls of wisdom in Greek. Not only did he learn his letters but it was also an exercise of the mind. Instead of copying only characters, the adult’s writing warned him of bad friends and that wisdom should be sought from wise men only. The child was likely male since education among Egyptians was reserved for the boys of high-status families. This also explained why an Egyptian kid carved Greek into a tablet. Rome ruled his country during this time and all educated people in the Roman world were expected to know Greek and Latin.^[2]

8 A Worthy Woman And Her Pet

Another announcement in 2019 described the tomb of a woman. Archaeologists shoveled around the productive site of Saqqara when they unearthed a catacomb. It dated back 2,000 years ago when the Romans controlled Egypt. Indeed, the woman buried there was not an Egyptian.

Her name was Demetria. Greek inscriptions gave her closest relatives’ names and called her “worthy.” A carving inside the tomb depicted her in a beautiful dress while holding grapes. An animal, which was a pet but not clearly defined as any known animal, gazed up at Demetria with its paws on her dress. Several cat-like statues could also not be clearly identified as a particular species.

Images of Egyptian gods added to the magnificence of the underground chamber. An inscription below the deities gave the name of one Menelaos and described him as their servant. The Greek title given to describe his servitude was “Therapeutes,” something which is exceptionally rare in any Egyptian context. The term is not unknown but experts cannot agree on what a Therapeutes did for his masters or how these servants lived.^[3]

7 The Mystery of The Bird Mummies

Egyptians loved to give mummies as offerings. Everyday citizens went to their local dealer, usually a priest of some sort, and bought a small animal or bird. Indeed, birds were so popular that Egyptologists have gathered millions of preserved avians. Some even had their own tiny coffins.

However, the sheer number of bandaged birds prompted the question of supply. The most commonly used species was the African sacred ibis but where did the Egyptians get them all? Conventional thought supported the idea that Egypt had ibis farms in the way that we have chicken farms. In 2019, geneticists drew samples from 40 ibis mummies and came to a very different conclusion.

Domesticated birds of the same species show similar DNA. The petrified ibises, however, showed enough variation to suggest that they were born wild. In other words, the Egyptians seemingly corralled wild birds to wrap them up as offerings. There is a problem with this, as critics quickly pointed out. Catching millions of ibises alone would have been close to impossible and also unsustainable. The Egyptians had a steady supply but seemingly not farmed. The feathery mystery continues.^[4]

6 What Egyptian Bread Tastes Like

Seamus Blackley is known as one of the creators of Xbox. Few people know that he is also a hardcore amateur Egyptologist and baker. These two hobbies recently merged to rediscover an extinct taste. Blackley wanted to munch Egyptian bread and he set out to make some. The only problem was that he needed the yeast used during ancient times.

He managed to get his baker’s mitts on 4,500-year-old yeast. The dormant stuff was scraped from cooking pots used during the Old Kingdom. He was assisted by scientists to reawaken the yeast in their laboratories and he was allowed to carry some home. Blackley cultivated the sample for a week, nourishing it with olive oil, hand-milled barley and early wheat called einkorn. Eventually, he had a starter, which is similar to what is used to make sourdough loaves.

The next step was to mix the starter with authentic ingredients. Modern wheat was out since it was invented long after the yeast went into hibernation. Blackley used ancient grains like einkorn, barley, and kamut. While it baked, he noticed that the scent was sweeter than other bread he previously made from the same grains and modern yeast. He described the finished look as “light and airy,” and that the “aroma and flavor are incredible.”^[5]

5 The Priest Cachette

In 2019, Egyptian authorities invited journalists to a conference. At the meeting, they revealed a spectacular find – 30 pristine coffins. The caskets were crafted and painted 3,000 years ago. Despite this dusty fact, the overall condition was remarkable. The decorations were clear and kept their patterns and colors.

The corpses came from a necropolis called El-Assasif, near Luxor. The quality of the wooden coffins and clues about their identity suggested that some were priests. For this reason, the discovery soon became known as the “cachette of the priests.” Upon discovery, the group was arranged in two layers with 12 caskets stacked on top of the rest below. They were sealed and untampered with.

Perhaps for dramatic effect, two coffins were opened during the conference. The mummies appeared well-preserved with bandages intact. All told, the cachette contained 2 children, 5 women, and 23 men. Their unlooted state could help researchers find out who exactly they were and why they were buried together.^[6]

4 Pieces Of A Missing Temple

Divers have been exploring Heracleion for about two decades. This ancient Egyptian city was a busy port but for some reason, disappeared under the water. The ruins were rediscovered 45 meters (148 feet) under the Mediterranean Sea. Several artifacts and buildings were cataloged but in 2019, an international team made the most significant find thus far – massive stone columns.

The monumental chunks probably belonged to the city’s main temple, called Amun Garp. Scanning equipment made the discovery possible, beaming images back to scientists without the need to shovel through tons of silt and fish. As a bonus, the scans also found a smaller Greek temple and shipwrecks stuffed with jewelry and coins. The dive also recovered another piece of a ceremonial boat found on another occasion.

The sunken city, sometimes called “Egypt’s Atlantis,” was built sometime during the eighth century. It had already produced magnificent architecture, treasures and colossal statues. Since about 95 percent of Heracleion remains unexplored, the city is bound to deliver more surprises.^[7]

3 Seven Women With Tattoos

Around 3,000 years ago, artists lived near the Valley of the Kings necropolis. Their job was to make the royal tombs pretty with murals. When they were done for the day, the men and women returned to the village of Deir el-Medina. Their spare-time creative endeavors would not come to light until 2014.

A female mummy from Deir el-Medina sported several tattoos. Due to their abundant numbers and sacred theme, she was tagged as a probable priestess. As time went by, six more women – very much preserved and decorated with tats – were unearthed at Deir el-Dina. In 2019, researchers released their findings and it changed what we knew about ancient Egyptian tattoos.

In the past, scholarly minds had no reason to think that Egyptian tattoos were anything but a rare mark denoting a high station. But the Deir el-Medina women showed that inking was more common among the people than previously believed. While they did play a religious role, the tattoos had a modern purpose – to add to their personal and public identity in a permanent way.^[8]

2 Rare Lion Mummies

The ancient Egyptians had a quirk. The lion was among their most powerful symbols and yet, only one mummified lion had ever been found. The big cats are not a part of Egypt today, but back then, several prides lounged around the Nile. The royals even kept them as pets. So where were the bodies?

After digging through centuries and millions of mummies, the mystery endured. There had to be more than just the single lion since classical writers described the Egyptians mummifying the big cats. A break came in 2019. An excavation in Saqqara revealed a slew of domestic cat statues, cobras and crocodile mummies. Then the catacomb produced five feline-shaped mummies. To the team’s delight, they turned out to be lion cubs.

The ancient cubs died when they were eight months old. Their discovery could clarify why so few lions were embalmed despite being elite symbols. For this reason, one cannot help but wonder why the Egyptians deemed it important to put five lion mummies in the same place.^[9]

1 Hieroglyphs That Make No Sense

Egyptian tombs can get a bit old. Not just in the literal sense, either. In all honesty, most run a familiar pattern. First lost to time and then rediscovered. Elite individuals are identified and they come buried with a ton of stuff. Inscriptions and murals make a movie of their lives. Yawn. In 2019, officials announced a tomb that bucked the trend.

A year earlier, archaeologists found burials at Saqqara from 2,000 years ago. One of the modest coffins was badly decayed but curious details survived. At the level of the person’s neck, the coffin’s lid was decorated with a painted necklace. Lower down, hieroglyphs normally provided the deceased’s name.

But when experts tried to read the inscription, it made no sense. There was nothing wrong with their reading skills – the hieroglyphics were an imitation of the real thing and translated into utter nonsense. It is plausible that the artist was illiterate because none of the signs had the correct shape. The person also enigmatically painted a blue Anubis on the coffin. Normally, this jackal-headed god is depicted in black. What could this mean? Your guess is as good as ours!^[10]