You’d think a single disease would hit the whole world equally—we’re all human, after all. But some cultures have very specific disorders associated with them, with symptoms and consequences generally not extending outside of their particular country or ethnicity.

10 Retired Husband Syndrome

Japan is famous for its work ethic, with many spending long hours at the office and devoting all their waking hours to their careers. Couples neglect their marriages in favor of business, and once the man retires, all sorts of problems follow.

Once couples have no careers to focus on, forcing them to spend more time together, spouses find they don’t really know each other. Arguments pile up—especially after trips to celebrate retirement. In the last 10 years, the divorce rate in Japan has risen 27 percent, and it’s expected to keep climbing as more approach retirement age.

Many men, unable to transition from the work world to home life, treat their wives like coworkers or servants. Most husbands’ social groups are tied to their workplace and vanish once they retire. Many women can’t cope with the disruption—the husband is suddenly home 24/7 and tries to take charge of her life. These women suffer from stress and health problems like ulcers, rashes, difficulty sleeping, and even slurred speech patterns.

Adding to the issue, households no longer follow their traditional setup. Earlier, many retired couples would live with their children. Now, many of the younger generation stay unmarried longer, keeping them from helping their parents adjust to the transition with the help of children and grandchildren. It’s such a problem now that therapists and psychologists specialize in treating affected women, and thousands of support groups assist men with relationships post-retirement.

9 New World Syndrome

The industrialized world, particularly the United States, enjoys sedentary pastimes like watching TV and playing video games. Food, meanwhile, is high in fat and calories. While there’s more than that to the American lifestyle, that’s the stuff that gets exported, that’s the stuff that’s popular, and that’s the stuff that’s causing a weird, culture-bound disorder called New World Syndrome.

Places like Micronesia and other islands throughout the South Pacific were long ignorant of American delights like Spam and Oreos. Originally, the native people ate a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and freshly caught fish. When pirates discovered the islands in the early 20th century, they brought with them alcohol and infectious diseases. Then when a prosperous mining industry sprang up in the decades that followed, the islands suddenly imported fatty foods and were exposed to Western life.

The result was a massive spike in diabetes and heart disease. Some islanders suffer their first heart attacks in their twenties. By the time they’re in their late fifties, most consider themselves old. Around 85 percent of the population is classified as obese.

Interestingly, New World Syndrome has also introduced the idea that it’s very possible—and common—for people to be both obese and malnourished. The World Health Organization estimates the number who suffer from both at 1.1 billion.

8 Latah

Latah is a rare disorder from Malaysia. Meaning “nervous,” latah is characterized by an exaggerated reaction to sudden noises or other startling stimuli. Case studies describe individuals with uncontrollable movements ranging from gestures to cursing, singing, and dancing.

Sufferers also become unable to resist doing what they’re told. One case study tells of a woman who would hit other people on command, eat normally inedible objects, and react to dangers that were clearly not in the room. Another patient tried breast-feeding a hat when told that it was her hungry baby. Once the episode passes, the afflicted return to their natural personalities and are unable to explain their previous actions.

Just what causes latah hasn’t been confirmed. It may be genetic, but this is difficult to determine because many sufferers lack family records. Superstition says latah is caused by witchcraft or tickling a child too much when they’re young. The most commonly afflicted are post-menopausal women, although younger women and men can also develop latah. There is no outward manifestation of the disease, and those who develop it are physically normal.

7 Fire Sickness

Hwabyung (“fire sickness”) is unique to Korea and is characterized by burning, heavy sensations in a person’s chest. Other symptoms include insomnia, muscle pains, heart palpitations, weight loss, and blurred vision. It can ultimately turn into severe depression.

The disease happens most commonly in middle-aged women, occurring when they find themselves angry often but can’t express that anger. They focus anger inward instead of dealing with it, and when situations don’t change, that anger manifests itself in physical and mental ways.

Psychologists blame a combination of cultural and historical factors. Traditionally, Koreans have suffered massive unrest and political upheaval. For many, all that’s left is for them to bear it. Korean citizens who emigrate are also commonly afflicted with hwabyung, often finding a new life in another country as stressful as the situations they have left behind.

According to Korean folk beliefs, anger is fire. Keeping that fire inside means that it builds up in the body, disrupting the natural state of balance and causing an endless cycle of helplessness and depression.

6 Dhat Syndrome

Dhat syndrome hits young men living in the Indian subcontinent, most commonly Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. The syndrome describes a psychological concern that the body is losing semen, through urine or other unusual discharges. Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty concentrating, exhaustion, loss of appetite—and sexual dysfunction.

Those suffering from Dhat syndrome believe that they are losing a vital part of themselves. The concern comes from the philosophy of Ayurveda, which lists substances in the body as crucial to maintaining balance and well-being. These substances are blood, fat, flesh, bone marrow, chyle, and semen, with semen being the most important. All other fluids and substances in the body are thought to go through stages in which they transform, and at the end, they become semen, the key to a long, healthy life. Losing semen means something is very wrong.

Sufferers believe it a physical condition, but those treating it refer patients to psychiatrists. Without proper treatment, depression sets in.

5 Pa-Leng And Pa-Feng

Pa-leng and pa-feng strike Chinese individuals and immigrants who practice ideas connected with yin and yang. Classified as anxiety disorders, pa-leng is an extreme fear of the cold, while pa-feng is an overwhelming fear of the wind.

Both disorders are rooted in the idea that for the body to maintain balance, it needs a balance of temperature. Wind and cold both take valuable heat from the body, disrupting that natural balance. Wind is believed to bring with it disease; if a person feels fine in the morning and suddenly comes down with an illness, people often link it to the presence of wind.

Cold and wind are both associated with the yin, and individuals suffering from this disorder will go to great measures to preserve body heat, or yang. They may overdress in heavy clothing, avoid drafts, or even eat only hot foods. The person will also begin to suffer the consequences of an imbalance in their yin and yang, such as headaches, dizziness, stomach pains, and coughing.

4 Scrupulosity

Scrupulosity hurts the most devoutly religious, and it’s often associated with Catholicism (although sufferers can come from all faiths). People suffering from scrupulosity believe that they are in a constant state of sin. No matter what they do, they anger God.

Usually, individuals agonize over a single idea, such as following a biblical verse to the letter, avoiding any sort of blasphemous thoughts, or remaining pure—all while ignoring major ideas like the Commandments. More than just viewing themselves as sinners, they suffer from the debilitating idea that they are unworthy, to the point where they cannot come to peace with anything that they do.

Scrupulosity is classified as an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it can result in self-chastisement or self-sacrifice to cleanse oneself of sin. Sufferers damage their social relationships by constantly seeking reinforcement from friends and family. Doctors treat it in much the same way as other obsessive-compulsive disorders—with behavioral therapy and sometimes medication—along with assistance from religious leaders.

3 Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome

Sudden unexpected death syndrome is prevalent throughout Southeast Asia, and it’s terrifyingly exactly what its name suggests. Healthy men—most not yet approaching middle age—go to sleep at night and never wake up. Most are found dead after crying out in the middle of the night.

According to folklore, these mysterious deaths are caused by a visiting spirit that kills men in their sleep. In Thailand, the spirit is said to be that of a widowed woman, stealing the souls of living men. In Japan, it’s known as pok-kuri. In Vietnam and Laos, it’s called tsob tsuang. In the Philippines, it’s bangungot or batibat.

References to the mysterious deaths date back at least to the turn of the 20th century, but only recently have scientists been able to associate the phenomenon with spikes in electrocardiograms. The ECG irregularity is shaped like a shark’s fin and is known as the “Brugada Sign” after cardiologists Pedro and Josep Brugada. Those who die from SUDS have no other health problems, save this weird spike in heartbeat.

A review of unexplained deaths in Manila between 1948 and 1982 revealed that most victims were about 33 years old, most died at around 3:00 AM, and the majority of deaths occurred in December and January. The factors combine to create a pattern weirdly different from other deaths in the same region.

2 Tabanka

Tabanka is the name given to an extreme form of heartbreak suffered by men in Trinidad. Historically, tabanka struck those who lost their significant other to a rival, but more recently, the definition has been extended to cover unrequited love. In most cases, someone suffering from tabanka loses interest in the world, goes without eating, and suffers from stomach pains and insomnia.

While that might just sound like normal heartbreak, sufferers from tabanka often move down a very dark path. Many drink heavily to forget their pain, which can lead to worsening depression and ultimately suicide.

Part of the problem with tabanka is that sufferers hide the condition, fearing mockery from peers. The general consensus is that those suffering from it should just move on. Men and women deride tabanka equally. Women suffer from it far more rarely than men, however, partially because they start out by accepting the high likelihood of losing a partner to another woman.

1 Zar Possession

According to the belief system of Ethiopian Jews, Adam and Eve had 30 children. Worried that the most beautiful of her children would attract the envy of God, Eve hid 15 of them in the Garden of Eden. God, of course, saw this, and as punishment, He made all 15 children invisible. The other 15 became the ancestors of the human race, while the 15 invisible children became the zar, spirits that haunt and hunt their worldly siblings.

Individuals diagnosed as possessed by the zar (but actually suffering from any of several conditions) first begin to suffer from headaches and fatigue. This spirit possession often happens alongside a traumatic or stressful life event, particularly a shift in relationship status, struggles with infertility, or major changes in a social circle.

If attempts at exorcising the zar aren’t successful, the individual might call on a cult healer. The healer puts them into a trance, during which time they talk to the spirit. Rather than fighting, the host and spirit form an understanding relationship. In exchange for a life free from the ill effects of spirit possession, the patient makes a promise to the spirit. This can be anything from eating particular foods to associating with certain people or dressing a certain way.

Shipwrecks, sacrificial slaughter, burial rites, accidents, and flooding create watery graves. Under the proper conditions, these remains can lay undisturbed for thousands of years. The remarkable state of some submerged specimens has allowed genetic testing and analysis never previously thought possible. Watery graves provide insight into the past and pose new mysteries for the present. There may be more secrets waiting to be discovered under placid waters than we ever imagined.

10 Skeleton Lake

Roopkund Lake sits 5,000 meters (16,000 ft) above sea level in the Himalayas in India. For one month during the summer, the frozen lake’s surface melts away, revealing hundreds of human skeletons. First reported in the 19th century, the watery grave was found again by a game reserve ranger in 1942. There are so many human remains in this body of water that it has been dubbed “Skeleton Lake.”

In 1942, the remains were initially believed to be Japanese soldiers, but it soon became clear that the bones were much older. Radiocarbon testing dated the remains back to AD 850. Some have suggested that they died in an avalanche. Others proposed ritual suicide or a brutal enemy attack. A 2013 examination of the remains determined it was likely that they had died in a hailstorm. Each individual suffered blows to the upper body—but nothing below the shoulders, ruling out an avalanche or warfare.

9 Tomb Of The Sunken Skulls

In 2009, archaeologists excavating a prehistoric lake bed in Sweden unearthed the Tomb of the Sunken Skulls. Located on the eastern shore of Lake Vattern, the tomb contains a collection of 8,000-year-old skulls mounted on stakes. Researchers discovered skulls and cranial fragments from 11 individuals, including men, women, and children. Two were impaled on spikes, and others showed evidence that they once were. The grave was built on the bottom of a shallow lake. Archaeologists also discovered scattered human bones, animal remains, and tools of antler, stone, and bone.

Various theories have emerged about the mysterious tomb. Some suggest the mounted heads were trophies of enemies killed in battle. Others believe the lake was a secondary burial site. The remains would have been allowed to decompose before they were dug up and deposited in the lake. The skulls would have been used in ritual display, a process reflected in other ancient Swedish sites.

8 Black Hole

Divers discovered the oldest complete Native American remains in an underwater cave in Mexico known as Hoyo Negro, or “Black Hole.” The 12,000-year-old remains belong to a young woman whom scientists have dubbed “Naia.” She fell 30 meters (100 ft) to her death in search of water in the ancient cave, which would have been mostly dry at the time. Water levels rose between 10,000 and 4,000 years ago, flooding the Black Hole and helping to preserve her remains.

Anthropologists have long noted that early inhabitants of the Americas resembled Africans, native Australians, and indigenous people of the South Pacific more than modern Native Americans. With a narrow face, wide-set eyes, prominent forehead, flat nose, and protruding teeth, Naia is an example of this ancient morphology. Nevertheless, a genetic test revealed that Naia has maternal DNA matching modern Native Americans. This is the first genetic testing done on ancient-looking Americans.

7 Bog Massacre

Archaeologists excavating Denmark’s Alken Enge wetlands found a mass grave of over 1,000 warriors killed in battle 2,000 years ago. They were between the ages of 13 and 45, and their bones show axe and sword impacts. They may have been killed far from the burial site; bite marks on the bones suggest that they were left exposed for a long period. It’s likely that they were left to rot on the battlefield.

So far, only 90 square meters (970 ft²) of the 3,600-square-meter (39,000 ft²) site has been excavated. Archaeologists have already unearthed the remains of 240 men. During the 19th and 20th centuries, peat cutters would routinely find bones in the surrounding area. Most theorize that the remains represent a defeated army that was sacrificed to an unknown god. The bones were deposited in what was once part of Lake Mosso. The slain warriors’ origins remain unknown.

6 Sunken Sickness

In 2008, marine archaeologists exploring the sunken ruins of Neolithic Atlit Yam discovered the remains of the earliest known victims of tuberculosis. The skeletons belonged to a woman and her infant. The baby’s bone deformity suggests the mother passed the disease on shortly after birth. A DNA analysis conclusively determined the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Located 8 to 12 meters (26–39 ft) below the Mediterranean off the coast of Haifa, Israel, Atlit Yam remains a mystery. Dating to the seventh millennium BC, the settlement contains walls, paved areas, and a semicircular structure of seven monoliths arranged around what was once a freshwater spring. No one is sure what caused the settlement to sink into the sea. A volcanic collapse of Mt. Etna 8,500 years ago could have triggered a 40-meter (130 ft) tsunami capable of devouring coastal cities in hours. However, the megaliths are still standing, which suggests slower-rising sea levels.

5 Ganges Bodies

In 2015, Indian authorities announced that 80 bodies had surfaced in Ganges River in less than a week. Villagers in Pariyar, Uttar Pradesh, discovered the bodies after noticing unusual dog and vulture activity in the area. Investigation determined that there was no foul play. These bodies, many of which were children, were consigned to the Ganges in traditional water burials and resurfaced when waters levels receded. The bodies were badly decomposed, suggesting that they had been in the water for an extended period. Sanitation workers refused to handle the grisly remains.

Water burials are illegal in India, but Hindu tradition often wins out. Unwed girls cannot be cremated; a water burial guarantees that the maiden will be reborn into the same family. The Ganges is also an attractive burial site for poor families who cannot afford cremation. It is India’s holiest river but also one of its most polluted—and water burials do not help.

4 Secrets Of Sac Uayum

Sac Uayum sinkhole in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula has long been considered haunted, and villagers refuse to go near. Legend states that a demon guards it and snatches children who get too close. It turns out that locals might have good reason to fear Sac Uayum: It is filled with human skeletons. Reaching a depth of 35 meters (115 ft), the sinkhole contains fascinating remains like a woman with an artificially elongated cranium, countless other skulls, cattle bones, and floors strewn with layers of bones from various periods.

Mayans were traditionally buried near—or even under—their houses. Sac Uayum’s bones do not exhibit any evidence of violent death, which suggests that they were not sacrificial victims. Some postulate that Sac Uayum’s bodies might be plague victims. Depositing the diseased here would keep them away from the populace and drinking water. This taboo might have lingered in the collective psyche, resulting in the avoidance of the sinkhole.

3 Submerged Slave Graves

In 2011, a record drought in Texas revealed 25 mysterious graves beneath Richland Chambers Reservoir. The burials were originally submerged in 1980, when Tarrant County Water Improvement District No. 1 flooded the area to create the man-made lake. This small cemetery had no gravestones and went unnoticed. Many believe the remains belong to former slaves who worked as sharecroppers. In 2009, boaters discovered a cranium and jawbone. Experts believed the bones were 100 to 120 years old and most likely belonged to an African American.

The more recently discovered graves belonged to children. An examination of the square-cut nails used in the coffins indicates they are from before 1890. The children were found in small wooden caskets. So far, only loose adult bones have been discovered, without caskets. No one is certain why the children were buried separately.

2 Lake Okeechobee’s Mysterious Skeletons

Florida’s Lake Okeechobee is filled with myths, legends, and skeletons. Settlers in the early 1900s routinely discovered human bones around the lake. Fisherman were used to hauling in human skulls with their nets. One early account indicated that there were so many skulls that at low water, the lake resembled a pumpkin patch. During an excavation at Grassy Island, a surveyor discovered 50 human skeletons. A massive drought hit in 1918, exposing hundreds of human remains along Ritta and Kreamer Islands.

Many speculate that the bones belong to hurricane victims. In 1928, a massive storm hit, killing as many as 2,000 people. However, this does not explain the earlier skeletal discoveries. Others have suggested warfare. However, the Battle of Okeechobee during the Second Seminole War left only 30 dead. Some historians believe the bones may be as old as 1,000 years. How they met their fate remains a mystery.

1 Antikythera’s Secret Skeleton

In 1900, sponge divers discovered a 2,000-year-old shipwreck off the coast of the Greek Island of Antikythera. However, they missed something. In 2016, marine explorers discovered human remains in the wreck. Several feet of pottery shards and sand concealed the skeleton. The subsurface conditions allowed for excellent preservation, allowing geneticists to extract DNA from the remains. Most ancient genetic samples come from Northern Europe, so the forthcoming results may prove groundbreaking.

Shipwreck victims are typically eaten by fish or swept away. Preservation only occurs if they are rapidly buried in sediment. The only other ancient shipwreck remains ever discovered were a skull found inside a Roman soldier’s helmet and a skeleton from inside a sunken sarcophagus, which disappeared before it could be examined. The Antikythera wreck has been heavily explored; imagine what ancient human remains lay hidden in less-explored wrecks.

Abraham Rinquist is the executive director of the Winooski, Vermont, branch of the Helen Hartness Flanders Folklore Society. He is the coauthor of Codex Exotica and Song-Catcher: The Adventures of Blackwater Jukebox.

Maps reflect our worldview—literally. Far from purely scientific instruments, they are almost always bound with history, mythology, and religion. A study of ancient maps reveals the shifting attitudes human have had toward themselves and their place in the universe.

10Home Sweet Home

Archaeologists at Spain’s Moli del Salt site discovered what may be a 13,800-year-old map. The schist slab features seven semi-circular etchings, which experts believed to be huts. The shape coincides with modern hunter-gatherer dwellings of the Kalahari Bushmen and Aboriginals of the Australian Outback. The number seven reflects a typical population size. If true, this would be the earliest image of a human habitation ever discovered.

Anthropologists are thrilled by the idea that these huts are a spatial representation of social structure. All of the lines were carved with the same tool at the same time—suggesting one individual captured what was in front of him at one moment.

9Forma Urbis Romae

The world’s oldest and largest unsolved jigsaw puzzle is a 2,200-year-old map of Rome. Carved during the reign of SeptimIus Severus between 203 and 211, the Forma Urbis Romae originally hung of a wall in the Temple of Piece. It contained every building, temple, shop, bath, and staircase in ancient Rome. It is composed of 150 marble tiles built to a scale of 1 to 240. The Forma Urbis Romae was ripped down—most likely to be used to make lime cement.

Today, only 10 percent of the original map remains. The first pieces were rediscovered in 1562. A section recently discovered in Palazzo Maffei Marescotti allowed researchers to connect three chunks of the ancient puzzle. The newfound piece has shed new light on the present-day ghetto, an area which once dominated by the Circus Flaminius.

8Danish Map Stones

Archaeologists unearthed a set of what they believe are 5,000-year-old maps in Denmark. Covered with etchings of squares and lines, these 10 broken stones may be some of the oldest maps ever discovered. Researchers theorize that these symbolic representations of the terrain were used in Stone Age farmers’ fertility rituals. These “map stones” were discovered in an earthen wall enclosure on the Danish island of Bornholm.

Experts have connected these “solar stones” with the Neolithic sun-worshiping religion. These newfound map stones are different. Their squares and lines evoke geographic elements—both man-made and natural. Many believe that these are “stylized maps” rather than navigational charts in the current sense.

7Turin Papyrus

A 3,000-year-old papyrus contains a map to vast mineral wealth in Egypt’s desolate eastern desert. The Turin Papyus contains such detail of Wadi Hammamat valley that it is considered the world’s first geological map. Fragments of the work were discovered and slowly pieced together between 1814 and 1821. Initially believed to be three separate scrolls, the ancient map was found in a tomb in Deir-el-Medina. The most modern reconstruction of the map comes from the 1990s.

Experts date the scroll to the mid-12th century BC, around the reign of Ramsesses IV. Earlier maps have been discovered, but they are crude compared to the Turin Papyrus. The map contains no set scale but does contain text that acts like a modern map legend. It contains bekhen-stone quarries and gold mines The papyrus is so accurate that modern mineral hunters, like Aton Resources Inc. have relied on it to find fortune

6Star Map From A Distant Land

A star map carved into Japan’s Kitora Tomb may be the world’s oldest astronomic chart. 68 constellations with gold leaf stars cloaks the ceiling. Three circles track the movement of celestial bodies—including the Sun. The pole star dominates the center. The detailed map depicts the horizon, equator, and star courses. This is not the first depiction of the night sky. Lascaux Cave contains a 17,300-year-old image of the subject. However, it lacks astronomical observations.

Researchers noted that the sky depicted would have been observed hundreds of years before Kitora Tomb’s construction. However, estimates of the exact date vary between 120 BC and AD 520. Some believe that the knowledge came from Korea, despite depicting China.

5Earliest Map Of New York

The first map of New York was drawn on goatskin and is now worth $10 million. Created by a Genoese cartographer Vesconte Maggiolo in 1531, the map is one of the first to show the eastern coast of America. It depicts New York harbor, which Henry Hudson would not explore beyond until 80 years later. The ancient chart even follows Magellan’s circumnavigation, making it a true world map.

6.7 feet wide and 3 feet tall, the map is made of nearly indestructible goatskin. For most of its existence, the chart remained rolled. As a result, the hues are still vivid. The only discoloration is that silver has become black. The map is filled with fantastic beasts like dragons and unicorns and is often very inaccurate.

4Buache Map

The Buache Map is a mysterious 18th-century chart that depicts Antarctica without ice. Many have used this as proof of ancient knowledge from a civilization that mapped Antarctica before it was cloaked with glaciers. Drawn by French cartographer Phillippe Buache de la Neuville in 1739, the work’s original title was “Map of Southern Lands Contained Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Antarctic Pole.”

Bauche popularized theoretical geography. This technique of deducing geography from explorers’ journals, astronomical observation, and scholarly research was considered defective in many instances. However, one assumption that proved correct was the existence of the Bering Strait. Another observation that was patently wrong was the existence of a sea in the middle of Antarctica. Some insist that the accuracy of the topography of Antarctica is proof of ancient, divine, or even alien mapping technology. Unfortunately, no one knows what the topography of sub-glacial Antarctica looks like.

3Columbus’s Cheat Sheet

Christopher Columbus may have consulted a mysterious map from 1491 before setting sail across the Atlantic Ocean one year later. Made by Florence-based cartographer Henricus Martellus, the map synthesizes Claudius Ptolemy’s observations about the circumference of the world with Marco Polo’s observations and Portuguese Africa explorations. The map does not show the Americas. When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Bahamas he believed he had reached Japan, which is where Martellus’s map had him located.

Analysis revealed hidden messages on the map. The secret notes contain place names and 60 written passages. The 6-by-4-foot map was photographed under 12 light frequencies—including several beyond human visibility. Latin descriptions reveal facts about far-flung peoples like the “Balor” of Northern Asia who live without wine or wheat and subsist on deer meat. The detail of southern Africa is extremely accurate, suggesting it was derived from native sources rather than Europeans.

2Ancient Babylonian Conservative Map

Archaeologists discovered the oldest undisputed map on the bottom of an unbaked clay tablet from the sixth century BC. Dated to the Neo-Babylonian period, the chart contains an inscription revealing that it is a copy of an even earlier work. The map was uncovered in 1899, at the site of Sippar located 30 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Much more sophisticated and accurate maps were available in Greece centuries after this chart. The construction reflects an intentionally conservative blend of geography, cosmology, and mythology.

The map depicts the world as a disc surrounded by water. Seven mythical islands lie beyond and connect the earth to the heavens. Cuneiform text explains the mysterious beasts and heroes that inhabit these islands. Seven dots represent seven cities of the ancient world. A “Great Wall” symbolizes winter. The back of the tablet describes mythic beasts that inhabit the heavenly ocean. Experts believe these are constellations.

1Hereford Mappa Mundi

The Hereford Mappa Mundi lay hidden under a church floor for centuries. Dated to 1285, this is the largest medieval map. This grand chart of the world on calfskin is filled with observations of religion, history, and mythology. Because of its Christian origin, Jerusalem sits at the center of the circular map. In an archaic style, the east is oriented toward the top. The map contains a total of 420 cities and settlements, along with large bodies of water and important landmarks.

The map contains a supernatural world filled with bestiaries brimming with mythic monsters and curious cultures. The work was not intended for navigation but rather to serve as a compendium for knowledge. The map contains over 500 drawings of exotic animals and plants, biblical scenes, and classic myths. While the Mappa Mundi was made locally in Hereford, a copy has recently been brought to an international space station.

Abraham Rinquist is the executive director of the Winooski, Vermont, branch of the Helen Hartness Flanders Folklore Society. He is the coauthor of Codex Exotica and Song-Catcher: The Adventures of Blackwater Jukebox.

Space is unbelievably large and mysterious. It is unlikely that we will completely explore it before the end of humanity. Every once in a while, we discover some mysterious celestial body or observe some unexplainable anomalies.

We rarely have answers to these mysteries. All we do is brainstorm over what they could or could not be. Nevertheless, some are so weird that we have considered them as evidence of the existence of some intelligent life out there.

10 Oumuamua

In October 2017, astronomers detected a mysterious object floating through our solar system. They named it Oumuamua. It flew close to the Sun—reaching one-fourth the distance between the Sun and the Earth—before suddenly accelerating and escaping from our solar system.

Astronomers do not know what Oumuamua is or the cause of its sudden acceleration. Some astronomers have suggested that it is an abnormal comet. Others think it is an asteroid, a less than fully formed planet, a solar sail, or a large body of ice that broke off from a destroyed planet.

Shmuel Bialy and Avi Loeb of Harvard University suspect that Oumuamua is a solar sail, which is a solar-powered spacecraft. Bialy and Loeb think that the sail was built by aliens to explore our solar system.

However, other astronomers disagree. Zdenek Sekanina of NASA believes that Oumuamua is an icy comet without a tail. He suggested that Oumuamua lost the water and gases that would have formed its tail when it strayed too close to the Sun.

Gregory Laughlin and his team at Yale University agree that Oumuamua is made of ice even though they do not think it is a comet. They believe that it used to be part of an icy planet that was destroyed after straying close to a larger planet.^[1]

Amaya Moro-Martin of the Space Telescope Science Institute thinks that Oumuamua is the remnant of a partly formed planet. He and his team suspect that the planet was still forming at the time it was flung out of its star system. If this is true, Oumuamua is the first less than fully formed planet we have found.

9 Tabby’s Star

In 2011, scientists studying data captured by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft discovered that a star named KIC 8462852 frequently dimmed before brightening up again. The star is also known as Boyajian’s star or Tabby’s star.

Scientists proposed several causes for this bizarre behavior. Some suggested that the dimming was caused by a group of comets orbiting the star or some other unconfirmed materials in our solar system. Others think that it is caused by the dust around a black hole between Tabby’s star and Earth.

One group of astronomers believed that this effect was generated by a megastructure built by some intelligent life. They think that the star dimmed when the orbiting megastructure passed between the star and the Kepler space telescope. This suggestion generated the most curiosity, causing other scientists to try to determine the real cause of the dimming event.

Dozens of telescopes observed the star when it dimmed again in May 2017. Scientists soon discovered that this was not caused by a megastructure because such an object would block all colors of the star’s light from reaching the telescopes rather than simply dimming it. Scientists concluded that the dimming effect happened due to space dust orbiting the star.

However, they could not decide on the origin of the dust or confirm whether it is really dust. It also seems like the dust is being blown away from the star. This is why some scientists think that an undiscovered celestial body is creating more dust to orbit the star.

In 2016, Brian Metzger of Columbia University suggested that the dust was released from a planet or moon destroyed after straying too close to Tabby’s star.^[2]

8 FRB 121102

Fast radio bursts (FRB) are strong radio signals we sparingly receive from space. Although scientists cannot confirm the origin of these signals, researchers think that they are emitted by exploding stars or neutron stars getting consumed by black holes. FRBs often disappear as soon as they appear. However, not FRB 121102.

Scientists have received over 150 signals from FRB 121102 since they received the first signal on November 2, 2012. Scientists have traced these FRBs to a distant galaxy three billion light-years away even though they cannot confirm the specific source.^[3]

According to one theory, the signals are from a neutron star. However, another theory says that the FRBs could be emitted by technology used by aliens to power their spacecraft. Scientists do not believe that aliens deliberately sent these signals to contact us because they were released three billion years ago. Humans didn’t exist at the time, and Earth was filled with single-celled organisms.

7 The Dark Flow

Astronomers have identified a group of distant galaxies traveling at a speed of over 1.6 million kilometers per hour (1 million mph). They do not know how or why the galaxies are moving that fast or where they are heading. Nevertheless, they have decided to call the mysterious motion “the dark flow.”^[4]

Astronomers suspect that the dark flow is caused by some massive but undiscovered celestial body pulling the group of galaxies toward itself. The galaxies are moving away from Earth for now, but scientists do not rule out the possibility of this phenomenon reversing direction and moving toward Earth in the future.

6 The Cow

In June 2018, a bright flash suddenly appeared somewhere in the Hercules constellation 200 million light-years away. The flash was so bright that it was equivalent to the light emitted by 10–100 supernovae. Scientists called it AT2018cow or “The Cow.” It remained bright for two weeks before it started to fade.^[5]

Scientists analyzed X-ray and ultraviolet waves emitted by the flash and concluded that it was caused by a black hole consuming a white dwarf. (A white dwarf is what is left when a small star dies.) However, others think that The Cow was actually caused by a black hole or neutron star formed after the death of a star.

5 A Mysterious Signal From A Sunlike Star

On May 15, 2015, astronomers operating the Russian telescope RATAN–600 detected a strange radio signal from a Sunlike star 94 light-years away. The star is called HD 164595 and is almost like our Sun. Both stars have similar chemical properties and temperatures. However, HD 164595 is 1 percent lighter and 100 million years younger.

Some astronomers suspect that the mysterious signal was released by aliens because the star system containing HD 164595 also has a Neptune-like planet called HD 164595 b. Scientists think the star system could contain other undiscovered planets, including an Earth look-alike.

However, other experts doubt that the signals are from aliens. First, the astronomers who detected the signals did not inform anyone for a whole year. Also, the mode of construction of the RATAN–600 telescope makes it difficult for it to pinpoint the exact location of a signal. So, the HD 164595 star system might not even be the source of the signal.

Besides, the aliens would have needed at least 50 trillion watts of energy to direct the signal to Earth. This is more than what the whole of humanity uses at any time, and it is unlikely that aliens would have rallied such massive energy just to direct a signal at us.^[6]

4 A Mysterious Supervoid That Is One Of The Largest Objects In Space

Space is filled with empty areas called voids. Some voids are so large that they are called supervoids. The average supervoid could contain 10,000 galaxies. However, they do not because they are usually not dense enough.

One of these supervoids is the one of the largest discovered objects in space. Located three billion light-years away, the supervoid is so large that objects will take hundreds of millions of years to travel through it—even if the object is traveling at the speed of light. Scientists required three-dimensional maps to locate and study this supervoid.

Curiously, scientists have discovered that the supervoid could also drain energy from lights traveling through it. It will also continue to get bigger as the universe expands.^[7]

3 Mysterious Radio Signals From The M82 Galaxy

In May 2009, British astronomers detected strange radio signals while monitoring an exploding star in the M82 galaxy. Radio signals from space often become stronger over several weeks before they begin to weaken. However, the signals from the M82 galaxy remained the same even though the source of the emission was moving incredibly fast.

Some scientists believe that the radio signals were released by a supermassive black hole in the M82 galaxy. This is plausible because most galaxies have supermassive black holes that emit radio waves right in their centers. However, the signals did not originate from the middle of the M82 galaxy.

Other scientists have suggested that the radio waves were actually emitted by a microquasar, a black hole that is formed when a huge star explodes. Microquasars are much smaller than the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies, although they still have masses between 10 and 20 times the mass of our Sun.^[8]

Some scientists believe that the mysterious waves, which do not contain X-rays, could not be emitted by microquasars, which send out both radio waves and X-rays. However, there are suggestions that the microquasar could be located in an unusual environment that eliminates the X-ray.

2 CMB Cold Spots

Our universe is filled with leftover energy from the big bang which is called cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). It covers every part of the universe except some areas called CMB cold spots. Scientists do not know how or why CMB cold spots exist. Some experts even think that the cold spots are actually one of the supervoids we mentioned earlier.

However, two astronomers from Durham University in England disagree. Tom Shanks and Ruari Mackenzie suggest that a CMB cold spot is the point of collision between our universe and an alternate universe. Shanks and Mackenzie made the claims after analyzing light emitted from thousands of galaxies in our universe.

They discovered that CMB cold spots were surrounded by several small voids instead of one huge supervoid. The small voids themselves were surrounded by small galaxies. While Shanks and Mackenzie agree that these could be caused by something explainable with physics, they believe that another plausible reason may be a collision between our universe and an alternate universe.^[9]

1 The Zombie Star

A supernova is the massive explosion that occurs when a star runs out of fuel. It often denotes the beginning of the end of a star’s life. However, scientists have discovered that this is not always so.

In 1954, astronomers observed the massive iPTF14hls star, which is 500 million light-years away, explode into a bright supernova. In 2014, they observed the same iPTF14hls star explode into a supernova again. Initially, astronomer Iair Arcavi thought that the 2014 supernova was caused by a different star that had somehow managed to travel to the location of the star that exploded in 1954.

However, he was surprised when he realized that it was the same star. Later, iPTF14hls was nicknamed the “zombie star” because it seemed to have returned from death. While iPTF14hls remains the only star to have ever been observed exploding twice, scientists believe that multiple explosions are common in stars with masses of at least 100 Suns.

Nevertheless, astronomers believe that iPTF14hls is dead for good this time. They could be wrong, though. Supernovae shine very brightly for three months before gradually becoming black. iPTF14hls shone brightly for over two years. We may need to wait a few decades before it explodes again.^[10]

When people in the ancient world found gigantic ruins, they often described them as Cyclopean—as if only mythical Cyclops could have built such things. We tend not to go in for such legendary explanations today, but plenty of mysterious buildings from the past are still provoking debate. We may not know who built them, or even why.

10Nan Madol

Nan Madol in Micronesia is an ancient city built on a hundred tiny islets in the sea. This watery location has led to Nan Madol being called the Venice of the Pacific. The buildings and walls of the city are constructed of huge blocks of basalt columns and coral. How the city came to be built is the subject of myth among locals.

Two brother wizards, Olisihpa and Olosohpa, arrived from over the sea in a giant canoe. They sought to set up a place to worship the god of the sea and the god of good harvest. Their first two attempts to bring stones to the bay failed. It was only when they used the magic of a dragon to levitate the blocks that they managed to build the city. Descendants of the wizards ruled the city until it was abandoned.

Nan Madol is still being explored to work out how it was constructed. To build the city, the inhabitants, who lacked pulleys and metal tools, would have had to move almost 2,000 tons of stone a year, each year, for 400 years.

9Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan is home to some of the largest Pre-Columbian structures in the Americas. At one time, it had a population of over 100,000, making it one of the largest cities in the world. Despite this pre-eminence we have almost no idea of who founded the city.

It seems to have been founded around 200 BC, about a 1,000 years before the Aztec period. The city is dominated by pyramids. The largest, the Pyramid of the Sun, is the third-largest in the world.

As mysterious as the city’s founding is its abandonment. Different theories have been given as to why the inhabitants left the large city. Was it revolt by the lower classes? External invasion? No evidence of either has been discovered, so it is still an open question.

8Puma Punku

Puma Punku in Bolivia has attracted great attention ever since its discovery. Blocks of stone cut with precise lines and holes dot the temple complex. One weighs over 130 tons. So strange and carefully carved are the stones that they have been claimed by believers in Ancient Aliens as proof of extraterrestrial visitation. Quite why aliens would wish to build a temple in Bolivia is yet another mystery.

Puma Punku was built without mortar to hold the stones together. To hold the walls up each stone was cut to interlock exactly with its neighbors. This would be skilled work even today. Further, the stones used to build the site were quarried about 50 miles away. Puma Punku has been much damaged by time and looting. At one time, it may have been richly decorated, and so its role and purpose might have been easier to discern. Carbon dating of deposits show that it must have been built at some time after AD 530.

7Derinkuyu Underground City

Imagine building a city for 20,000 people without the aid of modern technology. Now try to imagine building it entirely underground.

Turkey boasts several underground cities, but the largest is in Derinkuyu. The city was expanded and inhabited and used as a place to flee for protection until at least 1923. But the whole place was forgotten about until accidently rediscovered when a tunnel was broken into during a housing refurbishment in the 1960s.

The structure of the local rock makes the construction of underground cities remarkably easy. It is soft enough to hew away but sufficiently strong to resist collapse. The tactical advantages of living underground are clear to see, but the cramped living conditions can hardly have been healthy ones.

6Ggantija

Ggantija is a megalithic temple complex on the island of Malta. Ggantija means “Giantess’s Tower,” and local legend has it that Ggantija was built by a giantess called Sasuna. She carried the enormous stones used at the site on her head. Some of these stones are over 5 meters in length.

Ggantija is three temples built in the same area and surrounded by a wall. Begun around 3600 BC, these temples predate metal tools and the wheel on Malta. No wonder later generations thought only a giant could have built it. Small stone spheres have been found which may provide a clue as to how the blocks were moved—they were perhaps ball bearings placed beneath the stones.

5Great Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city forming the largest collection of ruins in Africa south of the Sahara. Local legend has it that it was here that the biblical Queen of Sheba had her capital. This is unlikely as the site was only built and occupied from the 11th to the 15th century.

There is some debate as to who built Great Zimbabwe. In the past, this has been a politically fraught question, with the white government of Rhodesia unwilling to accept that the advanced city had been built by the native peoples. Now, there is general agreement that it was constructed by the ancestors of the Shona, though with some dissenters.

At its height, around 18,000 people lived at Great Zimbabwe. The 5-meter-high walls that protect the site were made without the aid of mortar.

4Baalbek

Baalbek in Lebanon reached its peak under the Roman Empire but had been a major city long before that. At the heart of the Roman city were a triad of temples raised in honor of Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus. While they were magnificent in the way all Classical temples were, at the base of the temple of Jupiter is a mysterious feature—three gigantic stones. These three stones, weighing 800 tons each, are the largest stones ever used in construction.

In the ancient world, the site was called the Trilithion (“Three stones”). But no one knows why such huge stones were used as a foundation. In a nearby quarry lie more squared-off monoliths, larger than the others, that were never completed or used.

3Menorcan Taulas

On the island of Menorca can be found huge T-shaped rock formations. Made from one stone resting on another, these Taulas are surrounded by walls with a single entrance. All but one of the Taulas are directed toward the south.

We know that they were built by the Talaiotic Culture that existed on the island until the Roman conquest. Most seem to have been set up around 1000 BC.

Clearly they have some ritual use, but no evidence has come down to us of their exact significance. One archaeologist has seen in the flat stone on top the horns of a bull and so suggested Taulas are sites of worship of a bull god.

2Longyou Caves

In Longyou, there was a belief that the local ponds were bottomless. No one settled the matter until 1992, when a villager drained one. The pond was a flooded man-made cavern. Other ponds were soon drained, and 27 such grottoes have been discovered.

Clearly artificial, the grottoes were all carved by hand. None interconnect, but some are separated by only thin rock walls. The purpose of these caves is as unknown as the people who made them. It is thought that the water that once filled the caverns may have helped to stop them collapsing.

1Tomb Of China’s First Emperor

Most people know of the Terracotta Warriors. These thousands of individual statues were placed around tomb of the Emperor to guard him in death. Records suggest that the Emperor is entombed in a palace built for him underneath a hill. We can see the hill, and there is evidence of empty spaces within. But the Chinese government will not allow excavation of the central tomb.

This may seem perverse, but there is good reason to take our time. The scientific processes available to us are improving all the time. When the first terracotta warriors were unearthed, the pigments on them flaked away within seconds of exposure to air. Who knows what damage opening the tomb may cause?

One thing we may find inside are vast pools of mercury. A Chinese historian said the tomb contained lakes and rivers of the liquid metal, and analysis of the soils at the site do contain mercury concentrations much higher than the surrounding area.

For most people, Stonehenge stands as a symbol for the most ancient of civilizations, the work of humans who had barely emerged from their hunter-gatherer origins. Those people might well be surprised to know just how many mysterious buildings survive, in one form or another, from much earlier epochs—and in places few would even dare to look.

10White Temple Of Uruk
3200 BC

A long way from the quiet shires that house Stonehenge stands a building that is yet more ancient. Perched at the top of the oldest existing ziggurat, in what is modern-day Warka, Iraq, is the weather-worn White Temple. Less known than the complexes on the ziggurat at Ur, the White Temple is only 20 meters (60 ft) in length. The name, added in modern times, comes from its whitewashed, mud-brick walls, whose sides still stand sentinel over the sands of the long-gone Sumerian empire. What the original name for the temple was, no one knows, as the early history of the site is achingly difficult to piece together. Could this building have buried within it secrets relating to a truly ancient organized religion?

What makes the White Temple especially intriguing is its connections to Anu, the oldest god of the Sumerian pantheon (and one of the stars of the Epic of Gilgamesh). It is also fascinating for the treasures it may well have housed, including the Warka Vase. This 5,000-year-old artifact was once housed in the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, before being looted in April 2003. It was later returned in a dozen pieces, months later, a sad reflection of the fragile state of Iraq’s present and its ancient past.

9Tarxien Temples
3250 BC

The Tarxien Temples are set amid the built-up neighborhood of Paola, just half an hour from Valletta, the capital of Malta. Less well-known than the Ggantija Temples and nearby underground Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni, these aboveground buildings are the most complex of all the ancient temple sites in Malta.

There are three temples at Tarxien, all different ages, with the oldest dating to 3250 BC. The mystery lies in the beliefs of the people who constructed them. Were they simply artistic structures, suggested by the intricate and beautiful animal carvings that can be seen there, or did they serve a Sun god? Perhaps they were a homage to an obese fertility goddess, whose corpulent figure crops up so often at the site.

The Tarxien temples were discovered accidentally by a farmer in 1913 and have since been carefully restored, though they are still open to the elements. A tent and flood protection have been proposed for the temples, but for the moment, they remain within view of the azure sky and the ever-staring Sun.

8Sechin Bajo Plaza
3500 BC

Everyone has heard of the legendary Inca Empire and their Machu Picchu citadel, but fewer know about the remains of Peruvian civilizations that are older—much older. Five thousand years before the Incas reached their peak in the 15th century, ancient groups in the New World were constructing Sechin Bajo. The site consists of a circular plaza 14 meters (45 ft) in diameter, 370 kilometers (230 mi) north of modern-day Lima.

Adobe friezes show a warrior holding a knife in one hand and what could be a head or a shield in the other. There are disputes over the age of the site, but carbon-dating techniques conducted by a German and Peruvian archaeological team in 2008 date the plaza to 3500 BC, making it the oldest building complex in the Western hemisphere.

Things get even more mysterious with the mention by the team of older plazas that might be buried beneath the main site. That mystery will have to be for another day, however, as the archaeologists await further grants to delve deeper. In the meantime, scientists are filling in the site with dirt to preserve it and protect it from tomb raiders.

7West Kennet Long Barrow
3650 BC

Seven hundred years before Stonehenge was being prepared, West Kennet Long Barrow was already built, just 25 kilometers (15 mi) from the famous stone circle. A barrow is a place to hold the dead, traditionally the social elite, and this barrow is one of the best preserved in Britain. It dominates the nearby area, at over 100 meters (330 ft) long and 12–24 meters (40–80 ft) wide, and it is tall enough inside to let a person stand upright. Dating from 3650 BC, it was in use for almost 1,000 years, holding the bones of 50 people.

Speculation abounds as to why the barrow was abandoned. Was it simple neglect or something more cryptic? Did a change in belief lead to a change in burial practice and a blocking up of the old barrows? Could it be something to do with the arrival of the Avebury stone circle, built around the time of the Long Barrow’s demise, just 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) away?

6Knap Of Howar
3700 BC

The two stone structures that form the Knap of Howar may at first appear insignificant, but they are in fact 5,700 years old and are the oldest known stone houses in northern Europe. The walls of these houses still stand over 1.6 meters tall but were only uncovered in the 1930s, after severe sea erosion and gales blew their cover.

The houses can be found at the northern tip of Scotland’s Orkney Islands, an archipelago of over 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. Together with the more famous sites of Orkney, such as Skara Brae and the Ring of Brogar, the Knap is part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney UNESCO World Heritage Site. The name of the site comes from Old Norse and means “mound of mounds.”

Several curious questions linger over these prehistoric houses. What is the significance of the pottery shards and stone and flint tools found throughout the houses? Was the Knap a workshop, whose tools were traded far beyond the islands? The houses had spacious living quarters, and there are indications of yet older structures beneath. Just how ancient and advanced was the civilization that made such homes this far north?

5Monte D’Accoddi
4000 BC

If most people were asked where they could find a truly ancient pyramid, few would mention the northwestern coast of Sardinia, in the Mediterranean. But it is here that you would find Monte d’Accoddi, a 6,000-year-old building whose true purpose is still the subject of debate. With its earliest foundations going back to 4000–3650 BC, this site not only predates Stonehenge but is also more ancient than the oldest pyramids of Egypt, which arrive on the scene over 1,000 years later.

Scholars translate the name as “Stone Mount,” and the building consists of a ramp over 40 meters (130 ft) long, leading to a step-pyramid that would have been 8 meters (25 ft) tall. Uniquely, the nearby area also houses both a 4.44-meter (14.6 ft) upright menhir and a limestone sphere with a circumference of almost 5 meters (15 ft). Lonely Planet describes the site as “unlike anything else in the Mediterranean,” and for such a phenomenal place, surprisingly few tourists venture here.

Monte d’Accoddi has been defined alternatively as an altar, a ziggurat, a temple, and a pyramid. Only adding to the mystery is the “red room” at the center of the site, whose walls are smeared with red ochre. Despite repeated studies, there is no clear answer as to just what happened on this mysterious mount.

4Tumulus Of Bougon
4700 BC

The Tumulus of Bougon ranks as one of the world’s few remaining structures that would have been regarded as ancient even back in the time of Stonehenge. A tumulus is an artificial mound, usually one built over a grave site. The site at Bougon, in the Deux-Sevres department of France near the Atlantic coast, consists of no fewer than six tumuli.

The biggest is 72 meters (240 ft) long, and the tumuli vary in size and shape; some are circular, others rectangular or trapezoidal. Were these shape choices simply based on aesthetic tastes, or is there a deeper significance, perhaps related to the builders’ beliefs in the afterlife?

Other mysteries surround these 7,000-year-old buildings. A skull of a man was found inside, and it bears truly ancient evidence of trepanning. To trepan a skull meant to perforate a hole in it, with the presumed aim of curing mental disorders. Did the man survive his affliction, or was he hastily buried at Bougon? We might now regard those who carried out this procedure as mad, but we can now see just how timeworn a cure it was.

3Cairn Of Barnenez
4800 BC

A faceless portrait—repeated and mysterious U shapes—frantic zig-zags. All of these symbols etched out on stone slabs, inside vaults that have stood for over 68 centuries. These are some of the secrets that are sepulchered inside the Cairn of Barnenez, in northern Finistere, in the Brittany region of France.

The Cairn of Barnenez is not the grave site of one man but houses 11 different tombs, added one by one over centuries, starting in 4800 BC. This is such an ancient monument that as big a chasm of years separates the builders of this cairn from the writers of the Old Testament as separates those biblical authors from the 21st century.

This is no small site either. The cairn is 75 meters (250 ft) long and 25 meters (80 ft) across at its widest. The estimated weight of the stones that make up the site is 12,000 tons, making the cairn the biggest megalithic mausoleum in Europe.

2Tower Of Jericho
9000 BC

The Tower of Jericho marries mystery with biblical fame, beauty with fear, grandeur with power. The origins of the 8.5-meter (28 ft) stone tower, a staggering 11,000 years old, justify the tower being described as the world’s oldest skyscraper.

The tower marks a milestone in the history of human progress, standing tall before most human tribes had settled down into sedentary communities. Constructing the tower marked one of the first achievements of what could be called the urban human, who for tens of thousands of years previously had roamed the land without a fixed home.

The mystery lies in the tower’s purpose. Almost every year that has passed since it was discovered 65 years ago has provided a new theory for its function. The ideas span everything from the tower being a time-keeping device to constituting a flood-defense, from being a symbol of wealth to being a defensive territorial marker. Even how it was constructed remains to be deciphered. As a part of the biblical city of Jericho, whose walls were so famously to fall, the tower’s future as a monumental marker in human history is assured.

1Tell Abu Hureyra
11,000 BC

The rectangular walls of the houses of Tell Abu Hureyra truly have an epic story to tell—one with a final twist.

The story begins at the dawn of human agriculture, a remarkable chapter in the tale of Homo sapiens. Some of the earliest cultivated cereals are found among the jaw-droppingly old remains of Tell Abu Hureyra, in what is now northern Syria. The village has been radiocarbon-dated as being a mind-blowing 13,000 years old.

This may have been the first foray into full-blown farming, according to research led by Professor Hillman of University College London. “As the wild grasses and seeds that the people relied on for food died out,” said Hillman, “they were forced to start cultivating the most easily grown of them to survive.” We will never know for sure what inspired these earliest farmers to be the first to launch the human race into its latest epoch.

But what of the final twist? These ancient structures were deliberately flooded and now keep their secrets deep beneath the waters of Lake Assad.

Philip tutors in an inner-city London school and is set to have a viral educational video channel on YouTube, if only he can get round to posting more videos.

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]

Most of history comes from what gets written down. But what we know of our past is only a sliver of everything that happened. A great deal of where we came from was never etched into a stone and, today, has been lost.

We don’t know what’s missing from the patchwork of history. But every now and then, archaeologists find things that don’t quite fit with what’s been written down. We find relics from a society left in a place that should have been a world away from its owners.

Nobody knows for sure how these things got there, but they suggest some incredible events that might never have been recorded. Some of the greatest adventures may have happened to people who never made it home to tell the tale—and they might completely change the history of our world.

10 A Roman Sword In Canada

On Oak Island, Nova Scotia, a TV crew accidentally stumbled upon the last thing they ever expected to find: an ancient Roman sword that seems to have been there since AD 200.

The sword alone is shocking—it suggests that a Roman might have made it to North America 800 years before the Vikings. But it’s not even the only thing they found. Other people have stumbled upon other strange things that shouldn’t be in Canada: a crossbow bolt wedged into a tree, a Roman-style burial mound, Carthaginian coins, and even a stone with what appears to be Roman writing on it—all made about 1,800 years ago.

It’s theorized that a group of Roman and Carthaginian explorers might have traveled out West about 1,800 years ago. They may never have made it home and may have buried their dead on the island—explaining why there are Roman graves in Canada and no record of their trip in Rome.

None of this has been proven yet—and the fact that the sword was found by a TV crew instead of archaeologists makes it easy to be a little suspicious. Still, it’s a lot of evidence. If expert testing backs it up, it could change the history of the first Europeans to visit the Americas.

NOTE: According to this source (thanks Fuzzybunny), the sword is a fake.

9 Chinese Oracle Bone Writing In The United States

According to John Ruskamp, another group made it to the Americas thousands of years before the Vikings: the Chinese.

Ruskamp found strange symbols etched into old stones in 82 places around the southern United States. Every etching follows the same style, and none of them match anything made by the local cultures. Ruskamp, however, is convinced that they’re not just random squiggles. He believes that they are messages written in Chinese oracle bone script.

Oracle bone is one of the oldest forms of Chinese writing, which nearly faded out of use entirely around 1046 BC. If Ruskamp’s theory is right, this would mean that these Chinese settlers reached North America about 3,000 years ago.

The etchings match up to oracle bone eerily well. One in Arizona appears to read: “Set apart (for) 10 years together; declaring (to) return, (the) journey completed, (to the) house of the Sun; (the) journey completed together.” It seems to be a message left behind by explorers in a new world.

8 Ancient Ape Bones In Ireland

At the Hill of Tara in Ireland, a body has been carefully laid to rest. Its bones were given a full royal treatment, but they don’t look like the bones of a normal king. Instead, the bones look an awful lot like those of an ape.

It’s not even the only set of ape bones found in Ireland. Another ape skull has been found in County Armagh that appears to have been there for about 2,300 years. Nobody knows how these apes got there. Someone in the ancient world, for some reason, was taking apes up to Ireland and burying them there.

The apes might have been traded along early routes, but there’s a fringe theory that takes it in a very different direction. An ancient Irish legend claims that a group of strangers with magical powers came to Ireland on a massive ship and ruled the people from the Hill of Tara. Some think that legend was based on a real event and that the people they thought were magic were really a group of Egyptians with advanced technology.

That’s a big leap to make just because of some ape bones—but there’s more evidence than just that. DNA testing on ancient Irish bodies suggests that they have an ancestor from the Middle East. And, not too far from the Hill of Tara, the 3,800-year-old remains of a boy have been found, wearing what appears to be an Egyptian necklace.

7 Native American Legends Of White Giants

In 1857, a Native American of the Comanche tribe stood in front of a crowd and told them a story. “Innumerable moons ago, a race of white men, [305 centimeters (10′) high], and far more rich and powerful than any white people now living here, inhabited a large range of country,” he said. “They drove the Indians from their homes, putting them to the sword, and occupying the valleys in which their fathers had dwelt.”

It seemed like a parable of what was happening now. But all that changed when what appeared to be a Greek medallion and two coins was found in Oklahoma. After that, genealogist Donald Yates started piecing together the evidence and realized that this wasn’t an isolated story.

The Choctaws also had a story about “a race of giants” with white skin who lived in what is now the state of Tennessee—and other tribes had some stories that were oddly similar. The Greek writer Strabo wrote about a “Western Continent,” suggesting that he might have had some knowledge of the Americas.

Yates believes that these native stories might not be entirely made up. Greek explorers may have actually made it to the Americas and fought with the people there, leaving behind a legacy that grew bigger every time the story was told.

6 Mayan Murals Showing White-Skinned Warriors

Inside the Temple of the Warriors in Chichen Itza, there are murals depicting a scene that doesn’t seem to fit the Maya’s surroundings. The murals show brutal battles fought between a very diverse group of people for pre-Columbian Mexico. Some have pale white skin, some are pitch-black, and others are brown.

On its own, that could just be an artistic choice. But other evidence supports the theory that different races of people might have fought around modern Mexico. For one, when Hernan Cortes reached Mexico, he claimed that the people there hailed him as a returning “white lord”—suggesting that another white person had been there before.

And the Maya left behind a story called the “Dance of the Giants.” In it, a white giant pairs up with the Maya and helps them fight off a black giant who’s harassing them. According to one controversial theory, all this really happened. The black-skinned giants, it’s believed, were Aztecs moving in from the North. And the white-skinned giants might be Vikings.

As early as 1789, there was speculation about Viking explorers reaching modern Mexico. One in particular, Ari Marson, was sent off course by a storm while trying to make it to Greenland. According to the theory, Marson may have ended up in Mayan territory a little after the Aztecs and he might have left his mark on their history.

5 A Temple To An Egyptian Goddess In India

On the western coast of India, there are the ruins of a temple to the goddess Pattini. It’s not a particularly strange thing to find in India—except that there’s a secret chamber underneath that’s rumored to hold an underground shrine to the Egyptian goddess Isis.

The ruins are now owned by a Hindu temple, so nobody’s been able to actually check what’s underneath them. But according to writer Chris Morgan, the idea that it was a secret shrine to an Egyptian goddess fits. He believes that an Egyptian traveler may have come to India and started a cult dedicated to his own goddess.

Morgan believes that the idea of the goddess Pattini came from this cult. He points out some major similarities in the two legends, both of which are about women defined by the brutal murder and dismemberment of their husbands. He thinks that Pattini might be an Indian evolution of the concept of Isis spread through that shrine—a little in the way that Egyptian culture influenced Hinduism.

4 The Giant Village Of Peru

When the Spanish first came to Peru, conquistador Pedro Cieza de Leon recorded everything he could in a book called The Chronicles of Peru. It’s full of incredibly detailed and accurate descriptions of the cultures of the natives, the conquests by the Spanish, the details of the environment—and strangely, a village built by giants.

Cieza de Leon recorded a native legend about giants who arrived “in boats made of reeds, as big as large ships.” He said, “From the knee downward, their height was as great as the entire height of an ordinary man.” According to the legend, the giants built wells that were beyond the native technology as well as massive villages to accommodate their size. Later, a great fire came down and consumed the giants.

Oddly, though, Cieza de Leon claimed to have seen the village and the well built by the giants. He said that they were big enough to fit the story. He even claimed to have seen a giant’s skull and a femur and attested that other Spaniards saw teeth that must have weighed 0.2 kilograms (0.5 lb).

We don’t have these artifacts anymore, so we can’t confirm it. But it’s hard to understand why Cieza de Leon would make up lies to support a native legend.

It’s not clear what he saw. Was he deceived? Did he make it up? Or did the Spanish conquistadors really find something in Peru that suggested they weren’t the first foreign visitors to arrive?

3 The Marcahuasi Ruins

In the Andes Mountains, there are strange rocks known as the Marcahuasi Ruins. They appear to be rocks carved by human beings, sculpted to be shaped like human heads. One, in particular, looks almost exactly like a crude copy of the Egyptian Sphinx.

It’s possible that these rocks took their shape by pure, random erosion. But there are some people who don’t think it’s possible. The theory that the rocks were deliberately sculpted by an unknown people is out there—although it’s mostly supported by some pretty off-the-wall theories, including stories about aliens and mystical healing powers.

One of the more popular theories comes from an archaeologist who claims that the site was built by a biblical civilization called the Masma, who traveled to Peru and carved crude imitations of the wonders they’d seen in Egypt. His theory, though, comes from having seen it in a dream, which is a slightly less-than-scientific approach to history.

Still, even if they weren’t built by aliens or by biblical tribes, it’s not out of the question that someone carved these rocks—making them an incredible work of art still without a name for its creator.

2 The Three Handbags Of Heaven

There’s a strange design that keeps popping up all around the world. It shows something that looks like a little handbag, usually drawn in groups of three and usually up in the sky. And nobody really knows what they mean.

The oldest one in Turkey shows three handbags floating over all of creation. It’s far from the only one, though. The same handbags have been seen in art from all around the world, including India, Egypt, and even Central America. It seems to be something that’s been passed on from an ancient Middle Eastern culture—which might make it a way to trace where groups of people came from.

That’s why it’s interesting that the Maori of New Zealand used the three handbags, too. They have a myth about a hero named Tane who went up to Heaven to get three baskets of knowledge—an image that seems strangely similar to the one carved in a rock in Turkey.

It could just be a coincidence. But this might be a strong sign that the Maori have ancestors who once lived in the Middle East, long before they moved to New Zealand.

1 The Redheaded Giants Of Lovelock Cave

In 1911, miners working in Nevada’s Lovelock Cave were digging through piles of guano when they stumbled upon a massive wealth of ancient Indian relics. The miners started searching through the relics and found something even more incredible—the mummified remains of a 198-centimeter (6’6″) man with red hair.

The cave soon turned into an archaeological dig site, and some incredibly strange things were found. Inside, there were 38-centimeter (15 in) sandals, which appeared to have been used by a very large person, and a giant handprint that was twice the size of that of a normal man.

Some believed that this backed up the Paiute legend about redheaded, “freckle-faced” cannibals called the Si-Te-Cahs coming onto their land. The giants, they said, came by boats and preyed on them until the Paiute managed to chase the giants into a cave and set it on fire.

The original redheaded mummy has been destroyed, making the story impossible to prove, and some alternative explanations have been created. Several people, though, insist that they saw it firsthand. If they’re telling the truth, it might just mean that the Si-Te-Cahs were a real group of violent European explorers—people who tormented the Native Americans and met their end in Nevada.

Viruses challenge our definition of life. Neither dead nor alive, they are simply functional or not. Viruses do not possess the machinery to replicate themselves. Yet you can even argue that they are more evolved than us. With each discovery about viruses, we realize there is so much more to learn.

10Black Widow Virus

Scientists have recently discovered a virus containing the gene for black widow poison.

The WO virus specifically targets Wolbachia bacteria in arthropods. Latrotoxin kills by poking holes in cell membranes. It is believed that the venom genes allow the WO virus to break through cells and evade the host’s immune system. This is the first time animal genes have been seen in bacteriophages—bacteria-targeting viruses.

Experts hypothesize that the virus picked up the genetic material after breaking out of a Wolbachia bacterium into a black widow cell. However, it is possible the spider stole the gene from the WO virus.

9Infertility Virus

A mysterious viral infection may be the cause of half of unexplained cases of infertility. In one-quarter of infertility cases—roughly one in 70 women under the age of 44—doctors cannot find a cause. An Italian research team discovered that a virus in the herpes family is to blame. It causes immune reactions that make the womb inhospitable for an embryo. Customized anti-viral treatment could offer help.

The team studied 30 mothers and 30 women with unexplained infertility. 13 of the infertile women were infected with HHV-6A. None of the mothers had it. This herpes variety was discovered over 30 years ago but remains a mystery. HHV-6A infection releases estradiol hormone, which triggers ovulation and prepares a womb for fertilization.

8Survivor Virus

Scientists have recently unlocked the secrets to a virus that can survive boiling acid.

The SIRV2 virus infects a microbe called Sulfolobus islandicus, which lives in acidic hot springs where temperatures top 80 degrees Celsius (175 °F). Using a Titan Krios electron microscope to examine the specimens in previously unimaginable detail, scientists have unlocked the basic mechanism of resistance to heat, desiccation, and ultra-violet radiation.

SIRV2 forces genetic material into a protective structural state called A-formation to survive extreme conditions. The mechanism is remarkably similar to the spores bacteria form to survive such environments. These spores are known to cause hard to combat diseases like anthrax. Scientists plan on using these survival mechanisms to design a DNA package for gene therapy.

7Multicomponent Virus

Normal viruses have all their genes in one viral particle. This viral ball attaches to a cell, opens, and injects its genetic material inside. The host cell begins replicating the virus. Once enough copies are made, they kill the cell, break free, and infect more.

The Guaico Culex virus is different. To become infected, a cell needs to be exposed to four varieties of packages. A fifth appears optional.

Named after the region in Trinidad it originated, Guaico Culex was discovered during a comprehensive study by the US Army Medical Team to isolate mosquito-borne viruses around the globe. While researchers do not believe Guaico Culex virus can infect mammals, they recently discovered a closely related variety in Uganda’s red colobus monkeys.

6Human Endogenous Retrovirus

Roughly 8 percent of the human genome comes from ancient viruses. Retroviruses reproduce by inserting their genetic material into a host and hijacking its replication machinery. Occasionally, these viruses infect sperm and egg cells. If these cells survive, they go on to create an organism containing the virus’s DNA in every cell. These are referred to as endogenous retroviruses—in humans, HERVs. The vast majority are considered non-functional “fossils.” However, a small portion are still intact and can make infectious particles.

Despite being millions of years old, the HERV-K group of viruses appears capable of replicating. Researchers recently discovered a variant that contains no mutations that would downgrade its function. It is believed that this HERV-K remained “alive” within humans until recently. Scientists are unsure whether the dormant virus could reemerge. There is speculation that HERV-K might have been selected for a survival advantage it offered.

5Bourbon Virus

A Kansas farmer recently died from a mysterious tick-borne viral infection. The man’s symptoms began with nausea, weakness, and diarrhea. Lung and kidney failure followed. Doctors treated him with antibiotics, the standard course of action for tick-borne illness. Nothing worked. After 10 days in the hospital, he was dead.

With only one confirmed case, doctors are clueless about the disease’s full spectrum. It might be a killer. Or this might be a rare case in which a mild disease became deadly. The best defense is to avoid tick contact by wearing long pants, using insect repellent, and performing frequent tick-checks.

4Siberian Giant Virus

A French research team recently unearthed a 30,000-year-old giant virus from the Siberian permafrost—and it’s still infectious. The virus was discovered in a soil sample from 98 feet beneath the ground. It is wider than other giant viruses, and large enough to be seen through a standard microscope.

The team fished for viruses using amoebas, their target hosts, as bait. The amoeba starting dying, and researchers discovered they were laden with these ancient giants. Unlike most viruses, which attack the nucleus, sibericum sets up replication factories in the host’s cytoplasm. Although sibericum only targeted amoeba, another giant virus dubbed Marseillesvirus recent infected an 11-year-old boy in France. It is possible that dangerous viruses also lurk deep underground. More than any other factor, human activities like drilling and mining are likely to unearth these slumbering monsters.

3Deep-Sea Virus

Researchers now believe there is more biomass inside earth’s dark, nutrient-deprived depths than anywhere else. In the ocean depths off California, they recently made a remarkable discovery into that mysterious biomass: a virus that infects methane-eating archaea, small bacteria-like organisms, on the ocean floor. Samples were collected from a deep methane seep by pushing tubes into the ocean sediment. Back in the lab, the sediments were fed methane, which triggered archaea growth—along with their viral parasites.

The virus selectively targets one of its own genes for mutation. So do the archaea. The target of the mutations are the tips of the virus, which come into contact with their host. It is a countermeasure against tarchaea’s own selective mutation defenses. This has led to a deep-sea arms race. Partial genetic matches between the California deep-sea viruses and ones discovered around Norway suggest global distribution.

2Mysterious Paralysis

In 2015, a wave of American children suffered from acute flaccid paralysis. The outbreak coincided with the flaring up of another respiratory disease caused by the enterovirus EV-D68, a relative of poliovirus. Many suspected a correlation. However, EV-D68 is not known for causing systemic problems like paralysis, and it was only found in 20 percent of the cases. A case from Virginia led some to believe that the cause might be from another virus called C105.

Before the Virginia case, C105 had only been identified in Peru and the Republic of Congo. The disease is associated with respiratory problems. However, a few African cases were linked with paralysis. The C105 theory could explain why 80 percent of the patients tested negative for EV-D68. Yet none of the patients were found to have enterovirus in their spinal fluid, which would account for the neurological symptoms. The cause of the outbreak remains a mystery.

1Undiagnosed Hemorrhagic Fever Syndrome

South Sudan is plagued by violence, hunger, and now a mysterious viral outbreak. So far, 10 people have died from Ebola-like symptoms of bleeding, fever, and vomiting. However, Ebola is not the culprit. Doctors have dubbed the disease “undiagnosed hemorrhagic fever syndrome.” Last year, Darfur in Sudan had 129 fatalities from an unidentified illness. It is not yet known whether they are the same disease.

Blood samples for infected patients have revealed a host of viruses: onyong-nyong, chikungunya, and dengue fever. However, none explain the 10 deaths, and none contained Ebola. Most believe this is a virus spread by ticks or mosquitoes, but some are not ruling out the possibility of a bacteria or parasitic origin. So far, there is no evidence of person-to-person transmission, and 75 percent of the victims are under 20. Violent civil war and underdevelopment in the region prevent effective research into the disease’s origins.

Abraham Rinquist is the Executive Director of the Winooski, Vermont, branch of the Helen Hartness Flanders Folklore Society. He is the coauthor of Codex Exotica and Song-Catcher: The Adventures of Blackwater Jukebox.

In our current age of social media, people willingly reveal all facets of their lives. It almost seems odd if you don’t know something about someone. So, whenever we hear of a person who went the extra mile to hide something or simply lived through an unexplained event, we cannot help but crave answers.

Through fact or fiction, cinema has been fantastic at tackling these real-life mysteries and filling in the blanks with clever storytelling to provide some sort of closure. In that spirit, let’s take a look at 10 mysterious people whose stories would make incredible movies.

10 Mysterious People Who Inspired The Work Of Great Writers

10 Ray Gricar

Imagine that a district attorney mysteriously goes missing under shady circumstances right after making a final phone call to his live-in girlfriend to specifically let her know of his whereabouts. The next day, his car and cell phone are found abandoned in the parking lot of an antiques mall in a nearby town.^[1]

A few months later, his laptop and hard drive are found in a river. The girlfriend discovers that his last activity on their home computer consisted of searches on how to destroy hard drives. No leads, no clues, the man is just gone. Does that sound like a movie you would watch?

On April 15, 2005, Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar suddenly vanished exactly as described. Fifteen years later, nobody seems to be able to explain what happened to him.

Some say he staged his disappearance to start a new life. Others say he committed suicide, a theory vigorously denied by Gricar’s former live-in girlfriend. Gricar was declared legally dead in July 2011, but the case is still unsolved. We will probably never know what truly happened to Ray Gricar.

9 Lori Erica Ruff

Imagine that a 42-year-old woman named Lori Erica Ruff commits suicide by shooting herself in her in-laws’ driveway on Christmas Eve 2010 after months of strange behavior that led her husband to leave her. After her funeral, her husband opens a lockbox in their old family home and is faced with a shocking revelation: Before she was Lori Erica Ruff, his wife was apparently named Becky Sue Turner.^[2]

Naturally, the police immediately begin to look into her past. They discover that Becky Turner (whose birth certificate was held by Lori) had died in a house fire at age two. So, who was this woman? And where did she come from?

Although the case of Lori Erica Ruff’s true identity was eventually solved six years after her suicide, her past is still shrouded in mystery. To this day, most of her life before she assumed the identity of Becky Turner in 1988 is composed of giant question marks. We actually know very little about this mysterious woman.

8 The Westfield Watcher

Imagine that a married couple acquires their dream house in Westfield, New Jersey. The house needs a bit of work, but they plan on moving in with their three young children after the renovations. Seems perfect, right?

Well, things quickly take a dark turn. A few days before the move, the husband finds a strange letter in the mail. First, the letter welcomes the family to the neighborhood. Then it warns them that the house is being watched, that it has been surveilled for generations, and that the family has no idea what lies within the walls of their new home.

The letter is signed by “The Watcher,” and it is only the beginning of an incredibly creepy story.^[3]

The Westfield Watcher terrorized the owners of the house starting in 2014. He sent a number of letters that threatened men, women, and mostly children, referring to them as “young blood.” The Watcher also described the ominous fates which might befall anyone living in the house.

Chaos and dread plagued the neighborhood. Investigations, accusations, and even lawsuits flew around in a continuous effort to find The Watcher. The owners of the house never moved in and finally sold it at a loss in 2019.

To this day, The Watcher’s identity has never been discovered. That said, this story is a detective flick begging to be made.

In 2016, the horror film The Watcher followed a similar story line. A mysterious person called “The Raven” also wrote letters to terrorize the fictional owners of a new house. Then, in late 2018, Netflix acquired film adaptation rights to a New York Magazine article about the real story.

7 Bobby Dunbar

Imagine that it’s 1912. Four-year-old Bobby Dunbar suddenly goes missing while on a family trip to Swayze Lake in Louisiana. Panic ensues, and a search begins to find the child. Nothing comes of it. However, eight months later, Bobby is miraculously discovered in Mississippi under the care of one William Walters.

The boy returns home, and life continues. But here comes the twist: No one is certain that the boy is actually Bobby Dunbar. Yet the parents keep him and claim with confidence that their son has returned.

A lot of strange details surround the case of Bobby Dunbar. Conflicting reports from newspapers make the facts foggy, rendering it impossible to know for sure how the events went down.

Thanks to the son of the rescued “Bobby Dunbar,” it was proven through DNA tests in 2004 that the rescued boy was not really Bobby Dunbar. Instead, he was Bruce Anderson, the son of a strange woman who had claimed the boy was hers after he was taken from William Walters.^[4]

This raises the question: If the rescued “Bobby Dunbar” was really Bruce Anderson, what happened to the real Bobby Dunbar?

6 The Eight-Day Bride

Imagine that a young Canadian couple gets married and decides to go on a honeymoon . . . with the husband’s best friend. Unusual, admittedly. Although the first part of the trip goes well, things turn very strange when they head to a cottage for the next few days.

On the eighth day of the honeymoon, the best friend comes back from a sunbathing escapade to find the cottage burning and the husband with a bad head injury. Later that night, the wife is found dead 240 kilometers (150 mi) away from the cottage. Floating in 23 centimeters (9 in) of river water, her body mysteriously shows no burns or signs of violence.^[5]

Doesn’t this sound like the beginning of a juicy episode of CSI?

Nobody has ever been able to fully explain what happened to Christina Mocon on May 20, 1947. How did the fire start? Who hit her husband, Jack, on the head? Why did her behavior suddenly change? Why did Ronald, Jack’s best friend, join them on the honeymoon? How did Christina appear 240 kilometers (150 mi) away from the cottage? And, most of all, how did she die?

The details of the case are so vague that even Jack and Ronald’s statements were eventually ruled out. We will never truly know what went down. But let’s be honest: We would all watch that movie . . . right?

10 Mysterious Stories Involving Unidentified People

5 Timmothy Pitzen

Imagine that a six-year-old boy gets picked up by his mom at an Aurora, Illinois, school only 30 minutes after starting class in the morning. They leave the building together—and vanish. Three days later, the boy’s mother is found alone in a hotel room. She is dead from an apparent suicide.

The only thing she left behind is an eerie suicide note: “Timmothy is okay. He is with people who will care for him. You will never find him.” There is no indication to whom the note is addressed or what it means.^[6]

Timmothy Pitzen was never found. He has been missing since the day he left the school with his mother, Amy, in May 2011. Many theories about what happened to Amy were suggested, but no conclusive answers have been found. Why did she kill herself? Who was she hiding Timmothy from? Where is Timmothy? And who is taking care of him?

4 The Pollock Twins

Imagine that two sisters, 11-year-old Joanna and six-year-old Jacqueline, tragically die in a car accident in May 1957. This disaster plunges their parents into dark times. But the girls’ mother, Florence, miraculously gets pregnant early the following year and gives birth to twin girls, Gillian and Jennifer.

Everything seems perfect until a few years later when Florence and her husband quickly start to notice strange things. Out of nowhere, the girls begin to ask for toys that once belonged to their late sisters. The twins had never seen these toys and didn’t even know they existed.^[7]

Gillian and Jennifer also begin to remember places they have never visited but their deceased sisters knew. And, to put icing on the cake, the twins start to act nervous (even scared) around moving cars.

It didn’t take long for John and Florence Pollock to consider that their twin girls could be their first daughters reincarnated. After a few years, the strange occurrences stopped happening. The twins went on to live perfectly ordinary lives.

Even today, however, their story is a source of fascination for people around the world. Countless books have been written about them. A movie about the Pollock twins would be a thrilling ride, and we hope it happens sooner rather than later.

3 The Man From Taured

Imagine that a seemingly ordinary, middle-aged man arrives at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on what he claims is a typical business trip. Nothing strange at first glance. Then things get weird.

When questioned by airport personnel, the man casually mentions that he is from Taured, a country between France and Spain. His passport, visa stamps, and other personal identification confirm this information.

The problem?

Customs officials quickly determine that the country of Taured does not exist and never has. Neither does the company where the man claims to work. Furthermore, the hotel where he claims to have a reservation and the Tokyo company where he was supposed to do business have never heard of him.

This story took place in July 1954. The mysterious man was eventually detained and placed in a hotel room under surveillance by immigration officials. His personal belongings were kept in the airport’s security facility. By the next morning, the man and his items had vanished, and he was never heard from again.^[8]

To this day, nobody knows who he was. In recent years, a book and a film were made about the mysterious traveler and his adventure that day in 1954. But it is hard to deny that the possibilities for a blockbuster feature film are endless.

2 The Isdal Woman

Imagine that the remains of a woman are discovered in Norway by a hiker and his daughters. The body of the unidentified woman is mostly burned, and strangely enough, her personal belongings are placed right next to her. The labels of her clothes have been removed.

Later, the autopsy reveals 50–70 sleeping pills in her body and soot in her lungs, meaning that she was burned alive. The police eventually get their hands on a suitcase that belonged to the woman.^[9]

They discover that she had multiple identities and eight different passports. She also had a number of wigs, a pair of nonprescription glasses, and a list of handwritten codes that turned out to be dates and abbreviations for her destinations. Intrigued yet?

The Isdal Woman was never identified after her body was discovered in November 1970. Although the case is still open as of this writing, it seems like more questions are being raised as time goes on. What happened to her? Was she murdered? Did she commit suicide? Who was she? Was she a spy? And why does it seem like the police were pushed to cover up the case?

In detail, this story might be too much for a single movie. However, Variety reported in June 2019 that a TV series based on the Isdal Woman is currently in development and set to start shooting in fall 2020.

1 Elisa Lam

Imagine that a naked corpse is found in the water tank of a hotel in Los Angeles. It is quickly identified as Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old student from Vancouver who was reported missing a couple of weeks earlier.

The last images of Elisa are in a bizarre video from a surveillance camera in the hotel’s elevator. She appears to be hiding from something and utterly terrified. Unsuccessfully, she tries to close the elevator’s doors before she finally gives up and leaves. Nobody knows how she ended up in the water tank.^[10]

Would you watch that movie?

The Cecil Hotel, where Elisa was found on February 19, 2013, is notorious for its abundance of creepy shenanigans. But the case of Elisa Lam is by far the strangest. The viral video of her last moments in the elevator is haunting, mostly because we never get to see from whom or what she is hiding,

Although a documentary about Elisa Lam is currently being crowdfunded, the possibility of a feature-length thriller depicting the events leading up to that day in the elevator is quite exciting.

10 Mysterious Human Populations

About The Author: Lucas writes about music and cinema.