When large amounts of money are involved, companies have proven to do whatever it takes to protect their profits, even if It’s unethical and illegal. The pharmaceutical industry is no stranger to illegal practices and scandals involving shady businesses, leading to more money. Some of the largest drug companies have faced backlash for price hikes, lying to the public and FDA, unsavory business practices, and misleading data. Here are ten of the largest pharmaceutical scandals.

Related: 10 Business Scandals So Big They Shook the Economy

10 Pfizer Celebrex Scandal

In 2012, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer was cherry-picking safety data for Celebrex. A lawsuit against the company revealed that research executives falsely represented data to fool the medical community about how effective the anti-arthritis drug was. The one-year study showed that Celebrex was no safer than other anti-inflammatory drugs. Still, the six-month data from the same study showed that the drug was safer on the stomach. Researchers promoted the six-month data to claim that the drug was superior to others, such as ibuprofen.

Documents revealed emails between researchers and executives that prove Pfizer officials used strategic decisions to make the data appear better. Celebrex was one of the most profitable drugs from Pfizer, but the company was forced to pay out more than $164 million to settle an investor class action lawsuit. The company still denied any wrongdoing.^[1]

9 EpiPen Scandal

The EpiPen has literally been a lifesaver for many people suffering from a deadly allergic reaction. The product only cost Mylan about $1 to manufacture an EpiPen two-pack, but the company took advantage of the vital product. They decided to raise the price from $100 to more than $600 for consumers.

In their first five years of owning EpiPen, Mylan spent almost $8 million in lobbying to make their product mandatory in schools, and soon it was permitted or required in most states. Then, they lobbied to make a law that gave financial incentives to states requiring EpiPen. Once the government was on the hook, Mylan continued to raise the price until it toppled $600.

An investigation was launched into the large price hike, but Mylan defended the increase due to improvements made to the product. Mylan agreed to pay $465 million to resolve claims that the company avoided paying rebates owed primarily to Medicaid by misclassifying EpiPen as a generic drug.^[2]

8 Merck Vioxx Scandal

Vioxx was a popular drug used to reduce pain and inflammation, and Merck, its manufacturer, had hoped to prove that the anti-inflammatory drug would reign superior over other similar drugs. The drug appeared to be doing its intended job, but studies revealed it was linked to an increase in strokes and heart attacks. The studies eventually led to a voluntary recall of the drug.

The FDA approved the drug in 1999 after data showed a low risk of cardiovascular illness. Studies then began showing the risks that Vioxx was having on patients, but Merck continued to claim that the studies were flawed. The FDA failed to act after seeing proof of the dangers the drug was causing, leading to rumors that Merck and the FDA were covering up potential health concerns. The disaster eventually led to fines and lawsuits.^[3]

7 Rochester Drug Cooperatives Opioid Scandal

The opioid epidemic centers on the rapid increase in abuse and overdose deaths attributed to drugs classified as opioids. Opioids are highly effective for treating pain, but they pose a risk of being addictive and could lead to overdose deaths. More than 600,000 Americans died from opioid use from 1999 to 2021. Pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors were blamed by the government for their role in fueling the epidemic, and soon, they would pay for their roles.

Rochester Drug Cooperative (RDC), a pharmaceutical wholesale distributor, was the first to be accused of drug trafficking as part of the opioid crisis. They were accused of shipping massive amounts of highly addictive drugs to pharmacies that they knew were illegally dispensing them. RDC admitted to drug trafficking and was soon shut down and declared bankruptcy.

Laurence Doud, CEO of RDC, was later sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in the crisis. The U.S. attorney claimed that Doud cared more about his paycheck than preventing opioids from making their way to people struggling with addiction.^[4]

6 Valeant Scandal

Valeant rightfully received anger from everyone over the dramatic drug price hikes at its firms, and this led to a federal prosecutor’s investigation into the way the company priced and distributed its drugs. The price of drugs such as Isuprel, Isoprenaline, and Nitropress was rising before Valeant purchased them, but they then boosted Isuprel by six-fold and Nitropress four-fold after acquiring them.

In 2016, former executives Gary Tanner and Andrew Davenport were charged with running kickback schemes, and they were accused of conspiring to set up Philidor as a place to distribute their drugs. Former CEO Michael Pearson was investigated for possible fraud earlier in the year. Valeant has always conducted business in a shady manner, and price gauging their customers was only a piece of the pie.^[5]

5 Questcor Price Hike Scandal

Questcor Pharmaceuticals is responsible for one of the largest drug price hikes in American history. Two whistleblowers from the company claimed that Questcor bribed doctors to increase sales of its drugs. The strategy was to help boost the sales of H.P. Acthar Gel, a drug that is known for treating a rare infant seizure disorder. The $40 vial of the medication in 2000 rose to around $39,000 in less than 10 years, almost a 97,000% increase.

The whistleblowers revealed that the company did everything from lying to the Food and Drug Administration to offering bribes if it led to more sales. The price increase led to more than $1 billion in annual sales for Questcor. About 25% of Acthar sales went through Medicare, and revenue from Medicare went from about $50 million in 2011 to $725 million by 2018. Not only were they hiking the price for individuals, but they were also robbing the government.^[6]

4 Merck MMR Scandal

The MMR vaccine protects against Measles, Mumps, and Rubella and is usually administered in two doses to infants and young children in America. The MMR vaccine by Merck has also quietly been part of a scandal for the past 25 years. Merck faced a potential product recall of the vaccine in 1999 because the product might have been defective. The problem arose when the FDA found a potency issue with the vaccine. The live virus in the vaccine that makes the shot work was dying off due to the vaccine sitting on shelves for too long.

Merck started “overfilling” by putting more of the virus into the vaccine to hope it would last longer, but the virus was still dying off too fast. The FDA hit Merck with two warnings for failing to report vaccine doses that might not meet potency requirements.

Lab workers for the company said they were told to change the date for it to look better. They ultimately filed a whistleblower lawsuit for taxpayer fraud. The case dragged on for years but was later dismissed before trial. Merck has denied any wrongdoing, but questions have been raised about whether the vaccine’s potency has led to outbreaks among vaccinated people.^[7]

3 Roche Fraud Scandal

Roche Pharmaceutical Group failed to properly report thousands of potential side effects that led to illnesses and death. The European Commission investigated allegations that the drug company failed to provide accurate details on the side effects of 19 medications. The initial reports showed that Roche could have been fined around $685 million for failure to report.

After years of inspections, the European Commission closed the case after Roche worked diligently to remediate the deficiencies quickly and enhance their medical compliance. Even though the outcome was expected to be worse for the company, thousands of deaths may still be linked to the company for hiding their side effects.^[8]

2 Abilify Scandal

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company were collaborative partners in the development and commercialization of Abilify, an antipsychotic medication used to treat conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. An investigation by 43 states was launched to look into the marketing of Abilify for off-label uses. They alleged that Bristol-Myers Squibb promoted the drug for unapproved uses, especially for elderly patients with dementia.

A medication guide from Otsuka stated that the medication could produce an increased risk of death in elderly people with dementia. Bristol-Myers Squibb denied any wrongdoing, but they did agree to marketing restraints. The company also paid $19.5 million to settle the allegations that they promoted Abilify for unapproved uses and misled doctors about the potential dangers of the antipsychotic medication.^[9]

1 Pharma Bro Scandal

One of the most well-known pharmaceutical scandals involves the infamous and hated “Pharma Bro.” Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, was given the nickname after he was to blame for jacking up the price of medication. Daraprim was a medication that treated a rare parasitic disease that attacked cancer patients, AIDS patients, and pregnant women. The price of Daraprim rose from $13.50 a pill to about $750.

Shkreli said his decision to jack up the price was capitalism at work. Still, his choice sparked outrage all around America. In 2015, he was arrested on securities fraud charges related to hedge funds he was involved with, and the next day, he resigned as CEO of the company. He was convicted of the crime and was given a seven-year prison sentence. Shkreli was also ordered to return $64.6 million in profits that his former company gained by raising the price of Daraprim.^[10]

The samurai of Japan have an almost mythic reputation. The idea of a class of katana-wielding warriors held to a noble code is incredibly romantic, and it’s fueled some of our most fantastic films and legends.

Scattered throughout the history of the real samurai, though, are a few weird little details that we tend not to talk about because if we did, it would ruin the fantasy played out on the silver screen.

10They Wore Inflatable Capes

Samurai would wear massive, 6-foot-long capes called “horo.” They were stuffed full of light materials and designed to catch the wind and blow up. The horo was supposed to stop incoming arrows, to protect a samurai from attacks from behind or the side.

In practice, it was mostly a status symbol. The horo was a big inflated sign that let everyone know you were nobility. It let the enemy know that they weren’t allowed to desecrate your corpse, because the past was a horrible time when everyone did awful things.

“The enemy will understand, as they recognize the horo, that the dead was not a common person,” the samurai were told, “and so your corpse will be well treated.”

9Early Samurai Swords Broke When They Hit Armor

In the 13th century, when Japan was invaded by Mongols, they were forced to face an invading, armored horde for the first time, and their swords didn’t really hold up.

The thin Japanese weapons kept getting stuck in the Mongolian’s leather armor. Sometimes, they would even break in two. Those thin samurai swords snapped so often that they had to give up on them, and they started making bigger, heavier swords like everyone else to fight off the Mongolian invasion.

8Samurai Believed Sleeping With Women Made You Effeminate

In feudal Japan, nothing made a man more of a sissy than spending a whole night sleeping with beautiful women.

Sex with women, the samurai believed, had a feminizing effect that weakened a man’s mind and body. The samurai married because they needed to further the family line, but they didn’t want to get carried away with it. If a samurai was caught kissing his wife in public, he was called a sissy.

That didn’t mean the samurai were celibate. Sex with women was a little fruity, but sex with men was incredibly macho. Homosexual sex, the samurai believed, just made you tougher than ever.

7Apprentices Serviced Their Masters

When a boy was learning the art of the samurai, he would often pair up with an older man. The elder would teach him martial arts, etiquette, the code of honor, and, in exchange, would use him for sex.

This was called shudo, meaning “the way of the adolescent boys.” When a boy turned 13, it was common for him to swear loyalty to an older man and stick with him until for the next six years. This was completely normal. In fact, one Japanese poet wrote, “A young man without a pledged, elder he-lover is likened to a young girl without a fiance.”

It really was treated like a marriage. In the Hakagure, a book written in 1716 on the way of the samurai, boys are instructed to be faithful to their shudo partners. If another man makes a pass at them, they are told, they should threaten them, and, “if pressed further, cut him down by your sword in rage.”

6Samurai Could Kill People For Being Rude

If a samurai was disrespected by someone from a lower class, he could kill that person where he stood. There were a few rules. He had to do it immediately and he had to have a witness, but as long as he had that covered, he could kill anyone who bumped into him.

It wasn’t even really a choice. It was considered embarrassing not to do it. One samurai, after bumping into a peasant, demanded the peasant apologize. When he didn’t, the samurai handed him his short sword and told him to defend himself. It was a mistake. The peasant ran for his life, understandably figuring he had a better chance outrunning a samurai than outfighting him.

The samurai told his family what happened, but they took it as personal humiliation. They disowned him. They told him the only way they’d treat him like family again was if he hunted the peasant down and murdered his whole family.

5Bathroom Trips Were Planned To Be Ready For Assassins

The samurai got paranoid about their bathroom breaks when the 16th-century warrior Uyesugi Kenshin was assassinated on the toilet. His killer, according to rumors, snuck in and stabbed him with a spear, catching off guard and with his pants down.

After, Uyesugi’s rival, Takeda Shingen, became worried that someone would do the same to him. He moved his toilet into a walled outhouse in a corner so that he could make sure nobody snuck up on him.

The details of how this evolved are lost. Lowry claims, though, that by the time he was in Japan, martial artists were trained out of habit to go to the toilet with the right pant leg pulled completely off. That way, if someone snuck in, they’d be ready to fight, as long as they could multi-task.

4Samurai Tried To Leave Sweet-Smelling Corpses

A legendary samurai named Kimura Shigenari made his last stand in 1615, defending the Osaka castle against an invading army. He boldly marched his troops to the fields of war to face their attackers, leaving the safety of the castle walls—but not before dolling up his head like he was getting ready for a first date.

Before battle, Kimura carefully trimmed his hair and burned some incense inside his helmet. He didn’t expect to survive, and, ever considerate to his future killer, he wanted to leave a fragrant corpse. He knew his head would become someone’s trophy, and he wanted it to be a nice one.

It worked. When he died, several enemy soldiers tried to take credit for it, and ended up bickering over who got his head. One of them finally brought his head to their leader, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was so impressed that he encouraged all of his men to start putting incense in their helmets, too.

3Samurai Had Armor For Their Dogs

We have at least one remaining set of samurai armor custom-fit for a dog.

The armor, built in the early 19th century, comes complete with a doggie helmet, a rawhide skirt, and a handy pouch. We don’t know a lot of the details about how it was used, but it’s believed that it probably wasn’t to send dogs into battle. Instead, the armor was probably just used during parades, or possibly just commissioned for fun.

We’ve only ever found one set of doggie armor, so it wasn’t that common. Still, for one beautiful moment in history, a samurai marched down the streets of Japan with a dog dressed in full military armor.

2Samurai Spies Clubbed People With Flutes

One of the strangest samurai weapons is the shakuhachi, a bamboo flute. Originally, these were nothing but musical instruments, played by Buddhist monks as a substitute for chanting. The flute evolved, though, when a group of Buddhists called the komuso started walking around with baskets on their heads, playing the flute and preaching. The samurai realized that these people walking around with baskets on their heads were wearing the perfect disguise, and they started to copy it.

Samurai spies sent to quell rebellions would pretend to monks in the komuso. They would walk around with flutes in their hands and baskets on their heads, eavesdropping on national threats. There was just one difference: The samurai’s flutes had spikes. If they got caught, they wanted to be ready to bash someone’s head in with their flutes.

1They Regularly Betrayed Their Masters

The samurai code didn’t really exist until the 1600s, and before that, samurais would betray their masters left and right. Even after that, the samurai valued loyalty on paper, but it wasn’t always practical in real life. If a samurai’s master didn’t reward and take care of the warrior who defended him, that samurai usually took the first chance he could to backstab him and team up with someone who would.

When Western missionaries first came to Japan, they were shocked at how much backstabbing they saw. “Treachery was rampant,” a 16th-century missionary wrote about his visit to Japan, “and nobody trusted his neighbor.”

“They rebel whenever they have a chance,” another wrote. “Then they about-turn and declare themselves friends again, only to rebel once more when the opportunity presents itself.”

The Earth’s surface holds many wonders great and small, natural and man-made. A different, though no less mesmerizing, world exists below. Human beings, while certainly not optimized for these environments, enter them regularly. Tourists visit caves, commuters shoot through subway tunnels, and miners across the world work underground as a matter of course. By and large, such forays into the ground do not last, and spelunkers, miners, and commuters emerge into the light and fresh air of the world above.

Sometimes, however, that’s not so easy. Sometimes, calamity leaves one or more unfortunate souls trapped underground, unable to reach the surface without help. In these dire situations, the entombed are left with few options but to hope for rescue. Some get it; others die in absolute darkness, feeling only their own fear and the indifferent, immutable rock around them.

10 Sago Mine Disaster

January 2, 2006, was supposed to be an unremarkable morning for the workers at Sago Mine, nestled in the heart of West Virginia. New Year’s was over, and it was time for work. Ultimately, the reluctant return to the daily grind was to be anything but.

At around 6:30 AM, an explosion rocked the mine as workers were entering. A resultant cave-in trapped 13 miners inside. Those lucky enough to have found themselves on the other side of the cave-in immediately attempted to dig their coworkers out, but too much carbon monoxide had seeped into the air for them to do so. The trapped miners were equipped with emergency oxygen packs, but to add to their misfortune, not all of them worked.

The miners remained trapped as rescuers attempted to reach them. Try as they might, there was no escaping the fumes. There was little else for them to do but pray and write letters to their loved ones. One by one, they lost consciousness.^[1]

In a pattern that will be repeated on this list, the rescue operation above attracted a media circus. Over 40 hours after the explosion, the miners were found. All but one had died. The lone survivor, Randal McCloy, was in critical condition and would not regain consciousness for days. In a cruel twist of fate, miscommunication initially led to reports that 12 miners had survived. Within a few hours, that egregious error had been corrected.

The cause of the January 2 explosion has been a subject of contention. International Coal Group, which owned Sago Mine, as well as two West Virginia state agencies declared that a lightning strike probably ignited methane in the mine. Meanwhile, the United Mine Workers attributed the disaster to friction between rocks and/or metal supports. Sparks from equipment being restarted due to work resuming after the holidays have also been blamed. Sago Mine was reopened a few months later but was eventually sealed by International Coal Group.

9 Alpazat Caverns Rescue

In March 2004, six British soldiers, members of the Combined Services Caving Association, were inside Alpazat caverns, located in the Mexican state of Puebla. Their expedition was intended to last 36 hours but became a good deal longer when flash flooding prevented them from leaving the cave. The men found themselves trapped on a 4.6-meter (15 ft) ledge above a raging underground river.^[2]

Luckily, the cavers were prepared for such a contingency. They had enough food to last for days, plenty of light sources, dry clothing, and the river for “hygienic needs.” Six more members of their party were outside the cave and able to contact rescuers. Eight days later, the men were led out, one by one, by cave divers, a process which took six hours. They emerged into the midst of a war of words between Mexico and the UK.

What was the problem? Well, suspicions arose when it came to light that the men had entered Mexico with only tourist visas and hadn’t notified Mexican authorities of the caving expedition. The cavers also refused help from Mexico and elected to wait for two British cave diving experts to arrive at Alpazat caverns, which was seen as a slight. (In the end, those two divers still worked with five local cavers and about 40 Mexican soldiers to rescue the trapped men.) Rumors flew about the group’s activities, including that they were prospecting for uranium. One of the cavers outside, awaiting the rescue of his teammates, said of the trip: “It’s an official military expedition to support adventurous training.” The whole awkward affair was described as a “diplomatic dog’s breakfast.” The rescued men were fine.

8 Julen Rosello

Tragedy struck on January 13, 2019, in Totalan, a village near Malaga in Southern Spain. That day, two-year-old Julen Rosello (also named as “Julen Rosello Garcia” and “Julen Rosello Jimenez” in various reports) was with his parents out in the countryside when he fell into an unmarked borehole. Julen’s father saw him nearing the hole and ran to stop him, but it was too late. Though the well’s opening was reportedly covered by rocks, tiny Julen fell in. His father could hear Julen’s cries only when he first reached the mouth of the 110-meter-deep (361 ft) shaft and no more afterward.

Rescue efforts began immediately. Complicating matters was the fact that the borehole was only 25 centimeters (10 in) wide. Around 300 people were involved in the process of digging a parallel shaft to reach Julen, a task which occasionally necessitated explosives. The operation was described as months’ worth of excavation being carried out in only days. Sadly, it was all for naught. During the early morning hours of January 26, 13 days after he fell in, Julen’s body was found 71 meters (233 ft) down, lying upon compacted earth. It is believed that he fell feet-first and died on impact.^[3]

Strangely, there had also been plugs of compacted earth above Julen, something which hindered rescuers. It was surmised that his fall may have dislodged chunks from the side of the failed well, which subsequently covered Julen. The businessman who had dug the hole claimed to have sealed it afterward but said that it must have come open again somehow.

7 Yorkshire Rescue Attempt

On June 1, 2019, Harry Hesketh, age 74, was exploring a cave on Fountains Fell, a mountain in Yorkshire. At around 11:30 AM, the experienced caver fell down at 6-meter (20 ft) drop and broke his leg. His two friends immediately went to summon help. A total of 94 people worked tirelessly both above and below the surface to save Mr. Hesketh.^[4]

As is so often the case in these situations, that was easier said than done. The passages were narrow and unmapped. Nevertheless, rescuers managed to reach Harry with medical supplies and began to monitor his condition and keep him warm. It was clear that Harry would have to be immobilized to be taken out of the cave.

Workers tried to widen the passage as quickly as they good in order to save the trapped caver, but time was not on his (or their) side. Around 12 hours after his fall, Harry Hesketh died. It took roughly five and a half more hours to remove his body from the cave.

6 Quecreek Mine Rescue

On the evening of July 24, 2002, 18 miners were working second shift at the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Work was being performed near the old Saxman Mine, which was no longer in use. It was believed that about 90 meters (300 ft) of rock still separated the miners from the disused mine. This was not the case.

At around 9:00 PM, the miners broke through into Saxman, which had filled with groundwater. Millions of gallons of water rushed into Quecreek Mine as the workers ran for their lives. Nine men could not escape. They found themselves stuck 73 meters (240 ft) below the surface in a chamber which was a mere 1.2 meters (4 ft) high.^[5]

A rescue operation soon began. By midnight, calls had gone out for a drill capable of boring a hole large enough to retrieve the trapped miners. One was found in Clarksburg, West Virginia. In the meantime, rescuers spent the early morning hours of July 25 drilling a 15-centimeter-wide (6 in) hole down to where the miners were trapped. After the drill broke through, they heard tapping, indicating that the men were alive. Warm compressed air was pumped through the narrow shaft to keep the miners warm and hopefully keep the water at bay.

That afternoon, the so-called “super drill” arrived under police escort. The drilling of a rescue shaft 76 centimeters (30 in) wide began that evening and was initially expected to take 18 hours. However, mere hours into July 26, the drill’s bit broke roughly 30 meters (100 ft) down. A replacement bit was rushed to the site via helicopter, with a backup shaft being drilled nearby in the meantime. By 8:00 PM on July 26, drilling of the primary shaft had resumed. Nevertheless, worry had settled in among the rescue crew, who hadn’t heard any tapping from the miners since around noon the previous day.

Finally, after 10:00 PM on July 27, the super drill made it to the miners’ chamber. Food and a telephone were soon sent underground. Not long after that, rescue workers began to smile and give thumbs-ups. The men were alive, all of them. The crew leader, who had begun to experience chest pains, was brought up first. Then the rest came over the next few hours. The rescue was a much-needed happy ending for a community living a stone’s throw away from the crash site of Flight 93, 9/11 having happened less than a year earlier.

5 Floyd Collins

Floyd Collins stands as the most famous casualty of the Cave Wars, a period during the early 20th century in Kentucky when owners of various caves fiercely competed for tourist dollars. One such cave was Crystal Cave, owned by the Collins family. Unfortunately, its remote location meant that few tourists came to it. Floyd Collins sought to claim a cave in a better spot. He knew of one, called Sand Cave, which was conveniently located close to a road. This cave hadn’t been explored, and Collins made a deal with its owner to share half the profits if the cave turned out to be a worthy tourist attraction.

On January 30, 1925, Floyd entered Sand Cave, carrying only a kerosene lamp for light. The cave soon proved to be challenging, with Collins worming his way through a narrow, winding passage, inching ever deeper into the ground. Finally, the passage began to widen, but it was at this point that Floyd’s lamp began to flicker, leaving him with no choice but to return to the surface. As he made his way up, he dislodged a 12-kilogram (27 lb) rock that pinned his left foot. Floyd was completely unable to free himself, his arms stuck at his sides. All he could do was yell for help.^[6]

He was finally found a day later by his brother, Homer. However, there was no extracting Floyd from above. Days passed, and the scene became a carnival, with thousands of gawkers showing up. During the chaos, a young reporter named William Burke “Skeets” Miller, a rather small man, repeatedly crawled down into Sand Cave to interview Floyd as well as bring him food and an electric light bulb for warmth. Miller’s interviews later won him a Pulitzer Prize.

After a cave-in blocked access to Floyd, workers began to dig a shaft to get him out. Finally, 18 days after he became trapped, they reached Floyd, but it was far too late. He had been dead for several days. The crowds dispersed, and a funeral was held outside the cave. This, however, was not the end for poor Floyd.

Homer, with the help of friends, dug his own shaft and managed to finally recover Floyd’s body on April 23. Floyd was buried on the family farm. In 1927, Floyd’s father sold the family’s property, including Crystal Cave, and the new owner displayed Floyd’s remains in a glass-topped coffin in the cave. Then, in March 1929, Floyd’s body was stolen. It is said that the body was found missing the left leg which had been pinned four years before. After this, Floyd’s remains were still kept in Crystal Cave, albeit now in a chained coffin in a remote part of the cavern. In 1961, the National Park Service bought and closed Crystal Cave. Finally, in 1989, Floyd’s remains were removed from the cave and interred in a cemetery.

4 69 Days Underground

On August 5, 2010, a cave-in occurred at the San Jose copper and gold mine near Copiapo, Chile. As a result, 33 workers found themselves trapped 700 meters (2,300 ft) below the surface. Matters were further complicated on August 7, when another collapse cut off access to ventilation shafts. Rescuers topside began drilling listening holes in an attempt to discern the workers’ status. These efforts were hampered by outdated maps of the mine.

Down below, the miners were in a bad situation. They were stuck in hot, humid air at a temperature of 35 degrees Celsius (95 °F), which led some to develop fungal infections as well as respiratory and eye problems. They only had enough food to last two days, so they took one meal (two spoonfuls of tuna, half a glass of milk, and half a cookie) every other day. They were able to obtain water from radiators and a spring. They had to subsist this way for 17 days.^[7]

On August 22, rescue workers up above finally detected tapping on one of their probes. When they pulled it up, there was a note indicating that everyone was alive. From this point forward, it was possible to send the men food, water, and supplies through the borehole. Additionally, movies and music were sent down, and a cable allowed the trapped workers to directly communicate with those above, including their families. Actual rescue, however, was still far off.

The 33 men developed a routine over the subsequent days. They formed three teams which worked, played, or slept in eight-hour intervals. Work involved helping the rescuers in any way they could as well as checking on the well-being of the other miners. Play entailed watching movies or playing cards, dominoes, or dice games. The men also exercised by simply running up and down the tunnels.

Meanwhile, three separate drilling rigs had been brought to the site, and three shafts were being dug. On October 9, one of the three broke through into a chamber the miners had access to. Then came the task of lining the rescue shaft with metal in preparation for the extractions. Finally, just after midnight on October 13, the first rescued miner saw the sky for the first time in months. By the end of the day, the last man had been pulled out. All 33 had survived a total of 69 days underground.

3 Baby Jessica

On the morning of October 14, 1987, 18-month old Jessica McClure, soon to be known to the world as Baby Jessica, was playing among other children in the backyard of the Midland, Texas, daycare run by her aunt. Jessica’s mother, Cissy, was watching the children but briefly stepped inside to answer the phone. During that time, Jessica fell into a 20-centimeter-wide (8 in) well and became trapped 6.7 meters (22 ft) below. As with the case of Julen Rosello above, the well had been supposedly covered with a rock to prevent exactly this sort of calamity, but it nevertheless happened.

Alerted by the screams of the other children, a frantic Cissy called the police. The narrowness of the well and the hardness of the earth around it made rescue a challenge, to say the least. Rescuers brought in a machine normally used to dig holes for telephone poles and used it to excavate a 76-centimeter (30 in) hole (29 ft) into the ground. Then came the task of drilling horizontally to reach Jessica.

As this was happening, oxygen was pumped into the well, and workers did their best to keep communicating with Jessica. Fortunately, she was more than willing to talk, speaking to rescuers or making some sort of sound for most of the operation, though she was not a fan of the noise generated by the jackhammers. A detective working at the scene recalled her singing “Winnie the Pooh.”

During the evening of October 16, Jessica was finally lifted out of the well. She had been stuck underground for 58 hours. The whole rescue had been covered lived by CNN, something relatively uncommon at that time. An iconic photograph of a paramedic carrying Jessica earned the photographer, Scott Shaw, a Pulitzer. Jessica required 15 surgeries over the next few years due to the aftereffects of her time in the well, but she ultimately recovered and has little memory of the event.^[8]

2 Chasnala Disaster

Catastrophe struck on December 27, 1975, at the Chasnala colliery, a coal mine in India. The mine was situated next to an abandoned one, which, predictably, was flooded. Only a barrier of rock and coal protected the operational coal mine from the reservoir of the old one.^[9]

At around 1:30 PM, an explosion damaged that barrier, sending torrents of water and debris into the mine. The initial response was chaotic, with officials reportedly fleeing and the first water pumps that were used being inadequate for the task at hand. Better pumps had to be brought in from the US, Poland, and Russia.

Twenty-six days after the explosion, the first body was finally retrieved. Others were eventually recovered, and many could only be identified by the numbers on their helmets. Plenty were never found. Depending on the source you consult, between 372 and 380 people were in the mine. No one survived. There are rumors that the death toll is actually higher, as there were also 130 contract laborers working that day.

After the tragedy, it was reported that there had been prior warnings that exactly this sort of flood could occur. These warnings were ignored. Today, a memorial known as the Shaheed Smarak stands for the victims.

1 Tham Luang Cave Rescue

On June 23, 2018, 12 members of a local youth soccer team, the Wild Boars, in Thailand’s Chiang Rai Province had just completed practice. The boys, along with their assistant coach, decided to do something they’d done plenty of times before: venture into the nearby Tham Luang cave for to write the names of new team members on a wall, something of a Boars tradition. They bicycled across rain-soaked fields and into the hills, parking their bikes by the cave’s entrance and entering with flashlights for a quick trip.

What they did not consider is that the Tham Luang cave system should only be entered between November and April. During the monsoon season, which typically starts in July, it is an extremely dangerous place. Indeed, the team found themselves facing a flash flood which blocked their exit and forced them deeper underground. They ended up trapped 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) from the cave entrance.

When the boys failed to turn up that evening, it didn’t take long for their parents to figure out where they might have gone. Rescue efforts were promptly underway, involving the police, various rescue teams, volunteers, and the Thai Navy Seals. Even with such a group assembled, finding and saving the team would not be easy. The Navy divers, despite their training, largely had little cave diving experience. On top of that, rain was still a frequent occurrence. Rescue workers did what they could to pump water out of the cave. Others drilled into the mountainside, hoping to find other passages into the cave system. Thermal sensors and drones were also employed to locate the trapped boys. Team members who hadn’t gone into the cave on June 23 were asked about where the boys would usually go. Word of the incident spread around the world, and rescue workers and cave divers from a multitude of countries began to arrive on June 28.

While the world watched above, the 12 boys and their coach remained on their ledge with no food, though potable water dripped from the walls. They used rocks to dig a 5-meter cave of their own, which they would huddle in for warmth. The assistant coach, a former monk, taught them meditation techniques and instructed them to remain still to conserve strength. Time began to lose all meaning for the trapped soccer team.

On July 2, two British cave divers found the team. Elated to see that everyone was alive, the divers left lights and returned to the surface to deliver the good news. A medic and other divers joined the Wild Boars and would stay with them for the remainder of their time in the cave. Despite the team members’ strong desire for some solid food, a doctor mandated that they be kept on a diet of liquid food and vitamin-infused mineral water. Next came the challenge of guiding the 13 through a stretch of submerged cave that would be a challenge for experienced divers. One of the team couldn’t swim. The danger was underscored only a few days later, when Saman Gunan, a former Thai Navy Seal who had volunteered to help, died while returning from delivering air tanks to the boys.

On July 7, the rain let up, but it was decided that the team had to be rescued by July 10, when it was predicted that the cave would be completely flooded. The children were given full face masks and air tanks. They were clipped to divers and also had handles attached to their backs. It has been reported that the boys were heavily sedated so they wouldn’t panic during their trip to the surface. For transportation over a part along the way that wasn’t flooded, the boys were placed in stretchers. Pulleys were used to get them up a steep slope.

One by one, the team members were extracted from the cave over the next three days. By July 10, water levels were indeed rising again. Not long after the last Wild Boar made it to the surface, the three men who had stayed with them underground emerged. Right after that, a pump failed, sending more water into the cave and workers scrambling. Nevertheless, the team was safe.^[10]

To many, radiation is a modern specter of death, an invisible killer that withers once-healthy victims down to nothing. This technological boogeyman has taken lives and rendered places uninhabitable for generations. Of course, we’re exposed to various forms of radiation every day, but, as is true of many things, too much of it is lethal, exacting a devastating toll on the body.

SEE ALSO: 10 Of The World’s Deadliest Tourist Destinations

With the fearful associations of radiation in mind, it may seem counterintuitive that some locations which have seen a greater-than-average amount of the stuff draw tourists. Nevertheless, that is precisely the case in a number of spots around the world. For various reasons, nuclear test sites, radioactive mines, disaster zones, and more receive visitors regularly. Here are five distinct examples.

5 Stunning Blue Water

Australia’s Mary Kathleen uranium mine opened in the northwestern part of Queensland during the 1950s. Situated 3.7 miles (6 km) away was the eponymous mining town. At one time, its population numbered roughly 1,000, and the community featured a school, post office, movie theater, bank, and more. The mine operated until 1963, supplying the UK Atomic Energy Authority until Mary Kathleen Uranium Limited’s contract with the former was fulfilled. The mine reopened in 1974 and supplied several foreign power companies until 1982, when the mine ran dry.

It was subsequently closed, and the town’s buildings were removed. All that was left were foundations, a sign in the former town square, and a pit flooded with dank, green water. Somewhere along the line, due to various chemicals being released from the rock, that water turned a brilliant, vibrant blue. As a result, Mary Kathleen has a new population of sorts: Instagram users. Much like a similarly colorful site near Novosibirsk in Russia, the picturesque water in Mary Kathleen’s pit is motivating tourists to trek out to the site in order to obtain images that will be the envy of their friends on social media.

Is it safe to do so? According to Dr. Gavin Mudd of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, radiation levels at the site are higher than typical background levels, but four-wheeling out there for a few eye-wateringly azure selfies won’t cause any real radiological harm. All the same, he advises trying to minimize the time spent at the pit, and certainly don’t swim in the water or drink any of it. The water’s slight radioactivity aside, that blue color is due to a soup of chemicals that aren’t recommended for ingestion.^[1]

4 Hike Up A Sarcophagus Of Nuclear Waste

Standing in stark contrast to the green landscape around it is a barren, gray mound of rock near Weldon Spring, Missouri. The mound and surrounding lands have a storied history. During World War II, explosives were produced here. During the Cold War, uranium for nuclear weapons was enriched at the Weldon Spring Site. This went on until the late 1960s. After the fact, piles of uranium, radium, TNT, asbestos, and more were left behind. Ultimately, the solution was to encase the radioactive and chemical waste in a large, man-made hill. Today, it’s a tourist attraction.

The hill is officially called the Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project Disposal Cell, though it is also referred to as the “Nuclear Waste Adventure Trail.” Visitors can walk a set of stairs to the top of the mound, which offers a good view of the surrounding areas, given the flat terrain around the hill. The top is also popular with amateur astronomers at night and birdwatchers during the day. Nearby is a small museum with information about the mound and surrounding site. You might be relieved to know that more went into the disposal cell’s construction than simply covering a pile of nuclear waste with rocks.

According to two former security guards at the Weldon Spring Site, some visitors are afraid to climb the hill, given what’s encased below. The fact that absolutely nothing grows on the mound probably doesn’t inspire confidence, either. (The lack of vegetation was very much intended by the hill’s builders.) On the other hand, one of the guards noted that he worked there for 11 years and suffered no ill effects.^[2]

3 Tour A Nuclear Test Site

From 1956 to 1963, the British government conducted nuclear bomb tests at Maralinga, a site in South Australia. Seven devices were detonated, the largest of which was 27 kilotons. The late 1960s saw an early attempt at cleanup in the form of turning over the surface layers of soil, thus mixing them with the uncontaminated soil below. Twenty-two pits were filled with leftover bits of nuclear firings and capped with concrete. It is estimated that these pits contain a total of 8.8 pounds (4 kg) of plutonium. During the late 1990s, a much more thorough cleanup involved the removal and burial of hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of radioactive soil. The vehicles used for this operation were also buried.

The land was eventually returned to the Maralinga Tjarutja people. Having no desire to live full-time on land which was ground zero for several nuclear blasts, they instead made it a place for tourism. Today, you can take a bus tour of the Maralinga site. Highlights include the abandoned military village and airfield and, of course, markers denoting the locations of several nuclear detonations. Bits of sand fused into glass remain strewn about the desert terrain. Tourists can also visit the pits where the vehicles from the final cleanup were buried. (They’ve been capped with 16 feet [5 m] of clean soil.)

Maralinga saw far fewer nuclear explosions than other test sites around the world, so most of it is considered safe. One zone remains off-limits and is expected to be so for 25,000 years, but the tour buses do not come near this area. Visitors to the unrestricted areas are advised not to dig into the dirt, however. Those who abide by this rule should receive less than 1 millisievert of radiation during their visit.^[3]

2 A Healthy Dose Of Radon?

Radon is widely considered to a harmful gas. It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and radioactive. The US Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization regard it as a carcinogen. Despite this, some people swear that radon is a viable treatment for certain conditions, such as arthritis. As such, a number of caves and mines which people deliberately enter in order to be exposed to high concentrations of the gas exist around the world. One such location is the Free Enterprise Radon Health Mine in Boulder, Montana.

The facility began as a uranium mine in 1949 but switched to offering radon therapy three years later. Visitors can descend 85 feet (26 m) below the ground to relax in the mine, inhaling radon-rich air. The temperature averages 56 degrees Fahrenheit (13 °C), so warm clothing is a good idea. Heat lamps are also available. If one is claustrophobic, an aboveground “inhalatorium” can be accessed, into which radon from 105 feet (32 m) below the surface is pumped.

As far as most are concerned, you should ideally be exposed to no radon, though if the level in the air is below 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) action doesn’t necessarily need to be taken. Inside the Free Enterprise Radon Health Mine, you’ll be exposed to 1,700 pCi/L on average. A typical run of radon therapy entails between 30 and 60 hours in the mine across ten days.^[4]

1 Visit Chernobyl’s Control Room

If you’re a regular reader of, you probably know that tourists can visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (LV LINK 2) and take tours. The popularity of the HBO miniseries Chernobyl has only increased travelers’ interest in the Exclusion Zone. And now, tourists can even enter the control room of Reactor 4, the site of decisions that led to the worst nuclear disaster in history. Beforehand, access was limited to cleanup workers and the occasional researcher or journalist.

This isn’t exactly the same thing as taking a walk around Pripyat. Radiation levels in the control room are reportedly as much as 40,000 times higher than normal. Visitors to the control room will have to wear hazmat suits and industrial boots. They can only stay for five minutes and must undergo two radiation screenings afterward.

This new excursion option comes on the heels of Ukraine declaring Chernobyl an official tourist attraction in July. While tours certainly occurred before that, they hadn’t been officially authorized. Around 85,000 people were believed to have visited the Exclusion Zone for the year as of October 2019. Day tours of the zone typically cost around $100. It’s not clear what a visit to Reactor 4’s control room will cost.^[5]

All of us love mysteries, be it a sudden disappearance, some ghostly tale, or a whodunit. Though usually, we get our share of mystery from the latest crime and thriller novels and movies there are so many strange tales in the world that are still waiting to be unearthed. Human history is full of astounding tales and mysteries that are so strange that if they were not lifted from real life directly you would never believe them to be true. If you are already excited enough then continue reading and learn about the top 10 astounding things, places, and facts, which can leave anyone baffled.

10. The Mayan Empire

The Mayan civilization in South America, during the height of its reign, was the most advanced civilizations in the world. Beautiful architectural feats, complex communication systems, and intricate ceremonies were all different and unseen. However, the civilization disappeared all of a sudden, which was very, very strange. Though there were a few clues to be found, people to date do not clearly know what happened. Watch here.

9. The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript is a medieval manuscript that was discovered in the early 20th century and is full of pages with strange symbols and unknown plants. Researchers have suggested many theories relating to the origin of the script over these years, and though it is said that it has its roots in the creation story or alchemy, historians are still not able to understand what the writings in it mean, and thus the script still remains an unsolved mystery. Watch here.

8. The Siberian Sinkholes

Siberia is one of the most deserted places in the world and has the most isolated landscapes. When suddenly many large sinkholes were seen in the northern part of the country, scientists were left confused with how they were created. Many theories for the existence of these holes have been suggested from secret government fracking to presence of some alien life, and though researchers are trying to solve the case, the fact is, it is yet unsolved. Watch here.

7. The Beale Ciphers

The strange Beale Ciphers, created of three large ciphertexts are said to reveal where some American treasure has been buried. Researchers, since many years, have tried very hard to crack the code found on the ciphers and though they have managed to figure out the first text they are still far away from solving the entire code. Treasure hunters are sure that the treasure is present in the Bedford County, Virginia, but it is yet to be found.

6. Rongorongo

Easter Islands, situated in the center of the Pacific Ocean, is a place known for its ancient traditions and mysterious customs. Though it is desolate for many years, many strange stone engravings have been found in this island that is covered in glyphs that are undecipherable. These symbols still remain a mystery and though theorists think the stones could say something about how the ancient civilization collapsed suddenly, it will only remain a mystery. Watch here.

5. The Georgia Guidestones

The Georgia Guidestones are somewhat different to the other similar monuments. They have messages written in eight different languages, and the messages have been clearly decoded, and are known to offer many commandments. However, there are very few people who understand the real reason why the stones were created, and this has lead to so many speculations. Calling for various controversial new laws, many a time orders have been passed to destroy this stone to avoid any global destruction that they might suggest.

4. The Kryptos Code

The CIA headquarters anyway holds so many secrets and thus the fact that it also has the most mysterious sculptures in the world comes as no surprise. The Kryptos Code, created in the 90s, by an artist, has four sections with encrypted messages. Three of these messages have successfully been solved, however, the theorists are finding it very difficult to decipher the fourth and the final message. They have tried really hard, but the fourth cipher remains a mystery till date.

3. The Shugborough Inscription

The Shugborough Inscription, which was found 250 years ago, has many speculations surrounding it. This stone monument, located in the English countryside, has a lot of undecipherable letters written on it, which is believed to make no sense. However, theorists suggest that the strange sequence in this monument could have some hidden meaning that may reveal the location of the Knights Templar or the Holy Grail.

2. The Taos Hum

If you ever get to visit the small town of Taos, New Mexico, you are most likely to be met with a strange surprise. For many years, locals and visitors have complained about hearing a low-frequency strange sound which you can hear throughout the whole town. Though it has been said that this strange hum could be a result of UFOs or control signals, such theories have not been able to solve this mystery completely.

1. Birds Committing Suicide on Moonless Nights

Just imagine you are traveling in Assam (India) on a moonless night and suddenly you see many birds dropping down from the sky, and all of them are dead. Yes, this really does happen in Assam in September and October. People have seen such a scene on moonless nights between 6:30 pm and 9:00 pm. No one is able to say why exactly this is happening as the dead bodies of the birds offer no clues. Some people just say this to be ‘the haunting nights’ when spiritual creatures move from one place to another.

These are some enigmas, some astounding happenings in the world that some people are aware of but no one knows how to solve them, and until they are solved, they are going to remain mysteries and astound generations the way they do today.