Every choice we make comes with the rare possibility of suffering from an unlucky complication of that decision. Many lists have been written on individual anecdotes about freak accidents, but fewer have been written on the specific activities. This list compiles ten extremely rare complications or diseases that can come from the everyday decisions we make or from situations that occur.

This list isn’t meant to generate unnecessary fear or anxiety about any of these topics because the odds of any of these happening to you are extremely low. Rather, it is meant to bring awareness to the complications that some extremely unlucky people have faced after entering some extremely common scenarios. If you suffer from any form of hypochondriasis or illness anxiety, you probably shouldn’t keep reading.

10 Hot Tea

Our body is made up of various types of tissue, depending on the normal stresses that it goes through. It’s fascinating how the tissues in our body have the ability to adapt based on the different environment pressures that are put on it. For example, our lungs are normally made up of more glandular tissues, but in the event of prolonged smoking, the tissues can turn into more “wear and tear” type tissues known a squamous cells, which can lead squamous cell carcinoma.

One of the extremely interesting and rare cancers that can occur based on human choice is esophageal cancer in habitual hot tea drinkers who also smoke and drink alcohol. Researchers have noticed that esophageal cancer risk in places where many drink hot tea daily (again, combined with smoking and drinking alcohol) is five times higher.^[1]

It makes sense that as the cells try to regenerate and change following continuous trauma from piping hot tea, cigarette smoke, and alcohol, there is a higher likelihood that one of these cells may mutate and become out of control, leading to cancer. While habitual drinking of hot tea does not in any way guarantee that you’ll get esophageal cancer, it may be something to think about next time you’re enjoying your favorite afternoon beverage.

9 Nosebleeds

Nosebleeds are common occurrence, with 60 percent of people reporting a nosebleed at least once in their life. Most nosebleeds are self-limiting and just require a head tilt and a tissue for a few minutes until the bleeding stops. Other nosebleeds can be much more severe and require a trip to the emergency room for more advanced packing.

Most people have heard of the dreaded toxic shock syndrome (TSS) as a tampon-related illness. What many don’t know is that TSS is not limited to females and tampons. TSS can be caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which normally hangs out around our noses. Because of this, there has been a report of a girl developing TSS from her nasal packing following nasal surgery.

Such an occurrence led many doctors to wonder if they should be giving their patients antibiotics for prolonged nosebleed packing to prevent possible TSS. The studies that have been run on this showed that antibiotics did not change any infection outcomes vs. patients who did not receive antibiotics following a nasal packing.^[2] TSS following nasal packing is an extremely rare complication, and the only known cases are following surgeries. While it is theoretically possible for patients to develop TSS following a nosebleed packing, the packing should not be left in long enough for this to ever occur.

8 Strep Throat

While you may have never heard of the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes, many of us have been affected by it. This is the germ that commonly causes strep throat as well as impetigo. It’s not an extremely common complication, but three weeks after the initial infection, some children can go into sudden kidney failure in a disorder known as acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN).

This occurs as the body builds up a defense against the strep infection through antibodies and complement proteins. For some strange reason, instead of continuing to attack the bacteria, the antibodies and complement proteins begin to deposit near the small blood vessels in the kidneys, causing widespread inflammation. Clinically, this can cause fever, swelling, high blood pressure, and cola-colored urine in the patient as the kidneys are acutely injured.

Treatment for this rare complication is mainly supportive, consisting of controlling the child’s blood pressure if it gets too high and controlling their potassium. Typically, this disorder resolves on its own, but it does have the potential to be deadly. In 2013 alone, poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis accounted for about 19,000 deaths. In the past two to three decades, the incidence of APSGN has been decreasing, and this disease more commonly affects those with compromised immune systems. Still, the estimated incidence of APSGN worldwide is about 427,000 cases per year.^[3]

7 Surfing

Leptospira is a genus of bacteria known as a spirochete, which is a spiral-shaped bacteria. It can be passed to humans in the urine of wild or domestic animals and can sometimes end up in places that we would not expect. This infected animal urine can get washed into the coastal or recreational waters that we use, causing widespread infection. The pathogen enters our body when the animal urine comes into contact with an open wound or through your eyes, nose, or mouth.

A group of people who are particularly affected by leptospirosis are those who partake in water sports, such as surfers, whitewater paddlers, or rowers.^[4] If not treated correctly, leptospirosis can progress to an extremely serious condition known as Weil’s disease. This involves kidney failure and bleeding, which can eventually lead to severe lung hemorrhage and death. In fact, Olympic rowing champion Andy Holmes died in 2010 after contracting leptospirosis, which developed into Weil’s disease, through some open blisters.

On its own, symptoms of leptospirosis can range from asymptomatic to fevers, eye redness, myalgia, and headaches. Ninety percent of leptospirosis cases are mild and do not develop into Weil’s disease. Thankfully, if it is caught, it can be treated with an antibiotic such as doxycycline.

6 Popping A Zit

If you have ever tried popping a zit on your face, someone may have warned you about the possible rare and dangerous complication of this. An area that stretches from the corners of your mouth to the bridge of your nose is commonly known as the “triangle of death.” The area received its name because of the rare possibility that any infections here can move up and into your brain.

There is an area in your brain known as the cavernous sinus, which contains some veins, arteries, and nerves. This sinus is an extremely important area for venous drainage of the brain. One vein that drains into this sinus is known as the facial vein. The facial vein is connected to the ophthalmic vein, which drains the triangle of death.

An infection in the cavernous sinus can cause the blood in the sinus to coagulate, creating a clot that can push against the various nerves and arteries that also flow through the sinus. This can lead to various palsies of the face based on what is compressed, ranging from blindness to muscle paralysis.^[5]

While this all sounds terrifying and theoretically possible, it has only ever occurred in very rare circumstances. It is very uncommon to get a cavernous sinus thrombosis from the death triangle in general and almost impossible to get it from a simple zit. It would instead require a zit to become extremely infected and cause cellulitis or turn into a furuncle or abscess. Once the infection develops, it would only have a short distance to travel to reach the brain. However, we are living in the age of antibiotics, so it is likely that the infection would get treated long before it ever got large enough to cause a cavernous sinus thrombosis.

5 Rear-End Collisions

A car accident can result in many types of injuries, depending on various factors of the crash. With so much bumper-to-bumper traffic nowadays, it’s not hard to imagine that rear-end collisions are by far the most common type of motor vehicle accident. Many of us reading right now have probably been directly or indirectly involved in a rear-end collision. While the vast majority of people are extremely familiar with the injuries that can result from a rear-end collision, one of most rare and terrifying possibilities is that of central cord syndrome.

Central cord syndrome results when the middle portion of the spinal cord is injured. While you may think that this area should be the most protected part of your spinal cord, it can be surprisingly easy to injure it in any type of trauma that involves forced hyperextension of your neck, such as a rear-end collision. The results of this injury can be debilitating. Victims suffer paralysis or burning pain in their upper extremities, while their lower extremities can be spared. In addition to the paralysis, victims can have varying amounts of sensory loss as well as possible urinary retention, also known as neurogenic bladder.

Treatment for this injury can be very expensive, including an extended hospital stay, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and surgery.^[6] On top of all of this, there is a strong chance that the victim may never fully recover. So next time you think about tailgating the car in front of you, you may want to think again.

4 Liposuction

Liposuction is becoming a pretty common cosmetic procedure for many people hoping to decrease their body fat percentage. One extremely rare and dangerous complication of liposuction is what is known as a fat embolism. Our bones and tissues are all filled with a certain amount of fat, which can be released into our body during the liposuction procedure. This phenomenon is also fairly common in patients who sustain multiple long bone fractures in trauma. Similarly to liposuction, when people suffer from multiple fractures, this fat can be released into the body and go to places that it shouldn’t.^[7]

One to three days following the trauma or procedure, patients who suffer fat embolism syndrome may develop fever, racing heart, rash, and full-blown respiratory failure. These symptoms occur as the fat emboli move throughout the body and lodge themselves in places such as the lungs. Rarely, these fat emboli can even move up to the brain, resulting in a sudden and unexpected coma.

While this complication is almost nonexistent in patients with minor injuries and a majority of liposuction procedures, it can occur in up to 90 percent of major trauma patients. Fat embolism syndrome is mainly a clinical diagnosis, which means that doctors won’t know that you have this until you start experiencing symptoms. Fat embolism syndrome can be extremely deadly if it is not recognized and treated early and aggressively. If it is caught early, mortality drops to only ten percent.

While a fat embolism may seem terrifying, it is extremely, extremely rare for it to happen to a patient undergoing liposuction, and only a few case studies exist, despite the thousands of people who have undergone the procedure. It is more common in major trauma with multiple long bone fractures.

3 Neti Pots

The so-called “brain-eating amoeba” has gotten a lot of press attention lately as lakes begin to heat up more than ever before. The real name of the amoeba is Naegleria fowleri. Most are familiar with the amoeba’s typical environment of warm freshwater lakes, rivers, or poorly chlorinated pools. What is less known is that N. fowleri can get into products that hit much closer to home.

A neti pot is a product that can be used to clean out your sinuses. It involves filling a teapot-looking apparatus with warm saline and essentially dumping it through one nostril and out the other. Cases of those who have passed away from Naegleria after neti pot use were because they used tap water, rather than sterile water. The amoeba can then usually be found colonizing the victim’s water heater or faucet.^[8] Horrifyingly, this is the perfect route for Naegleria to access the victim’s brain. The amoeba is known to enter the victim’s nostrils and travel up through what is known as the cribriform plate, which features little holes in the skull, gaining access to the brain and meninges.

Death occurs in 99 percent of Naegleria cases and happens quickly, within a span of about five days. Despite these dismal survival statistics, it is extremely rare to contract, with only 32 reported infections between 2002 and 2011, despite the millions and millions of people exposed to multiple different places where Naegleria could live.

2 Dental Procedures

As medical students study for their board exams, they practice a lot of questions that involve patients in clinical vignettes. One of the most knee-jerk vignettes that they receive is a patient who just underwent a routine dental procedure and now has an infection in his heart.^[9]

As far-fetched as it may sound, it is possible. You may have wondered why dentists prescribe prophylactic antibiotics to certain patients before they receive dental procedures, and this is one reason why. Our mouths are extremely full of nasty bacteria. In fact, human bites are bacteriologically one of the dirtiest bites that someone can get. In a dental procedure, while extremely rare, it is possible for some of this bacteria to get dislodged and enter our bloodstream.

Once in our vessels, this bacteria can latch onto our heart valves if they are already damaged or prosthetic. The damaged or prosthetic valve makes the perfect net to catch some of this bacteria and allow it to grow and flourish. This can result in a disorder known as endocarditis, or inflammation of the inner lining of the heart. The most common bacteria from our mouth to do this is from the viridans streptococci group.

Clinically, many do not initially know that they have this infection, as it is subacute and develops gradually. Soon, the patient may develop fatigue, sweating, fever, painful nodules on their body, or splinter hemorrhages under their nails. While this rare occurrence may sound scary, it can be treated with antibiotics if it is caught. People with normal, healthy heart valves have nothing to worry about, as the bacteria cannot latch on. Thankfully, there are also guidelines for when and who to give antibiotics prior to any dental procedures, so this complication can be avoided.

1 Sneezing

Sneezing can be a dangerous activity. Whether you let it go or stifle it, there are extremely rare complications that can occur either way that can leave you deaf, dizzy, or even dead. A sneeze is a reflex that we have developed to get rid of irritants in our noses by forcefully expelling them. Now, this begs the question of what is less dangerous: to let it out or to hold it in? According to Dr. Wild, an ENT at the St. Louis University School of Medicine, just let it out.

Plugging your nose to stop a sneeze can lead to several pretty bad outcomes. These include injuring your diaphragm, breaking a vessel in your eye, rupturing your eardrum and causing deafness or vertigo, rupturing a vessel in your brain, rupturing an aneurysm, or even rupturing your throat.

On the flip side, aggressive sneezes aren’t very fun, either. If you swing too much the other way, an aggressive sneeze can lead to a headache or stroke if you’ve had previous sinus surgery, the development or rupture of a brain aneurysm, momentary incontinence, or our old friend central cord syndrome from hyperextension of your neck.^[10]

While the event of an aneurysm after a sneeze is extremely rare to begin with, it usually occurs in a person with previously weakened vessels. Most of the complications of sneezing come from only anecdotal cases, as they are so rare. Regardless, next time you feel the urge to sneeze, it’s probably better to just follow through.

+ High-Voltage Electric Shock

While thankfully not a common enough occurrence to make it to the main body of the list, a high-voltage electrical shock can have numerous negative effects on the body. Many are aware of the more common outcomes of such a shock, such as a burns, heart arrhythmia, and death, but its effects on our muscles are much less widely known.

Our bodies as a whole rely heavily on the electrical currents flowing through them. All of the ions that shift from our cells create electricity that helps power the functions that our body needs to survive.

Stories of superhuman strength from people doing drugs like PCP showcase the potential of our muscles, whether or not we know how to harness it. In a high-voltage electrical shock, some people actually suffer from bilateral posterior shoulder dislocations as their muscles experience such massive contractions that the humerus, or arm bone, is actually ripped out of its socket.^[11] Not only can injuries like this happen in high-voltage electrical shock, but they have also been reported following seizure activity.

Whether it’s ghost hunters communicating with trapped spirits, or shadowy figures spotted in desolate gravesites, everyone loves to hear about supernatural occurrences caught on camera. The internet is filled with real paranormal stories backed up by scary images and videos that make you want to leave the lights on at night.

Footage from around the world showcases scenes from eyewitnesses that have captured a strange phenomenon, and thankfully, they weren’t too shaken to share it. Authenticating supernatural occurrences can be challenging, but it usually refers to paranormal activity that’s beyond the scope of modern science. Some remain skeptical, but ‘ghost hunting pictures’ or ‘caught on camera videos’ have become part of mainstream entertainment.

Supernatural experts now believe the word or paranormal is misleading, as these occurrences are now seemingly ‘normal’ since they are happening more often. Before you get your spine chilled by investigators looking to uncover unexplainable goings-on, keep in mind that the best supernatural footage happens unexpectedly. Here are the 10 best supernatural occurrences caught on camera: credible, unbelievable to see, and fascinating to hear about.

10 Rolling Inside the Plattsmouth Museum of Shadows

In Plattsmouth, Nebraska, the Museum of Shadows lived up to its name with occurrences that had the whole town talking. Although the institution has seen its fair share of paranormal happenings, the scene that staff discovered from security video footage is nothing but chilling.

According to museum owner Nate Raterman, it happened on Friday the 2, February 2018, in the wee hours of the morning. You’ll see a ball being thrown around and rolled on the floor, but nobody in this video.

The ball is picked up by an invisible hand, which throws it across the room, then it rolls to the center of the floor. Nate said the ball is what paranormal buffs call a trigger object, a plaything for the supernatural, and he believes the mystery ghost could be a child. The Museum of Shadows is no doubt a haunted building, seeing as it was built in 1881.

Once a saloon, it had an upstairs brothel where many people are said to have died or been murdered. Raterman reflects that if the house itself isn’t attracting malevolent spirits, then the items that are part of his more than 2,000 artifact collection possibly are.

9 Odd Creature Captured by Security Camera Confounds Viewers

This clip that surfaced on Facebook is puzzling, if not alarming. The footage posted by Vivian Gomez has gone viral. When you watch the images captured on her security camera, you’ll be saying ‘what the heck’ right along with Vivian.

You can see a short joyful figure; a bony frame carried on wobbly legs gallivanting along with no qualms whatsoever. The image shows a cross between a rabbit, an elephant, and an alien creature, almost a dead-ringer for ‘Dobby’ from the Harry Potter series.

On Sunday morning, Gomez woke up and looked into her black and white monitor for any activity from the night before. At first, she recalls a shadow that fell across her front door where the camera that captured the wraith is located. Moments later, the figure appears, casually skipping along on the driveway, appearing to do what many viewers related as the ‘chicken dance.’ The dancing phantom disappears and is curiously not captured by two other cameras on the property, but Gomez swears that the video hasn’t been doctored.

8 Mystery Ghost Seen Lurking at a School Where Six People Died

Ghost Hunters worldwide have had their imagination captured by the happenings in a Pocatello high school in Idaho. CCTV footage shows a spine chilling poltergeist roaming the empty corridors at night during the Christmas holidays.

The school was once gutted by fire, and six people lost their lives on its grounds, including a young boy that drowned in the pool, and paranormal occurrences have long plagued it. Students and staff have reported strange noises, fleeting whispers, and there’s an ever-present dark shadow looming on the ceiling of the auditorium. In the eerie clip, there’s flickering as lights turn themselves off and on again, right before a mysterious figure casually strolls into the corridor and enters one of the classrooms.

7 Ghost Opens Transport Van Doors at Bloody Civil War Battle Site

On the night of Tuesday, September 25^th, 2018, at the Putnam County Aging Agency in St. Albans, West Virginia, security cameras capturedcurious paranormal footage. At around quarter past 1 am, a transport van parked on the grounds had its doors slid ajar. But nobody was in or outside the vehicle.

According to Jenni Sutherland, the programs executive director, the van was found with doors open the next morning. Staff assumed there had been a burglary or a trespasser came by at night and checked camera footage for the entire property.

Only the van seems to have been affected, with the clip showing doors being pushed open by an invisible force. The van slightly shudders as a latch that secures the door inside the vehicle is flipped undone in the video. This isn’t the first supernatural occurrence to spook this business’s staff, as the property has a dark past. The aging program agency is located at the civil war Battle of Scary site, where 19 soldiers died.

6 Mischievous Ghost Causes Havoc in Old High School

In October 2015, a Cork, Ireland secondary school with a history of supernatural occurrences managed to obtain video evidence of their resident ghost. In a seemingly deserted corridor, spooky CCTV footage shows the handiwork of a mischievous or angry spirit leaving students and staff mystified. Deerpark CBS was founded in 1821, the oldest school in Cork. And spiritual remnants of someone or something have been intent on making a mess when no one is around.

The eerie clip, which follows what happens after motion sensors were triggered, is straight out of a Ghostbusters remake. Lights start flashing from behind a closed door, flickering as though someone was arc welding at 3 am. A thunderous crash is then heard, and then right on camera, a set of heavy lockers start to rock violently back and forth.

One of the locker doors is swung open with mustered force, papers and books spewing across the corridor floor. As the video ends, a ‘Wet Floor’ sign that’s been left near the wall is aggressively knocked over, sliding to the side as though someone kicked it.

While wondering if it could be an elaborate prank, the school Principal Aaron Wolfe said that the corridor where it happened was outside the religion room. He also added that the particular section of the 200-year-old building had been having a strange chill, an extreme coldness felt more often by the female staff members.

5 Man Flees Home after Terrifying Face Appears in Photo

After capturing what he believes is a ghost in his kitchen, a man ran from his house, an eerie image that he later shared on the Reddit blog. He was home alone at the time when he heard what can only be described as feet shuffling or the clothes ruffling through the slightly ajar kitchen door.

On taking a photo of the door, he looked closer to see a blurry white face with two dark eyes staring straight at him. The picture horrified the man so much that he’s now looking for another place to live. And we don’t blame him.

4 Ghostly Figure Haunts an Abandoned Mental Asylum

A paranormal investigator struck ghostly gold when a video she’d taken at a derelict Welsh mental health facility revealed an outline of what appears to be a human. Kayleigh Love encountered the spectral momentarily as she aimed her camera at an empty corridor, but on trying to get a second shot, the figure had disappeared.

Thinking nothing of it, Love went home, and on reviewing the video, her stomach turned. She later edited the footage, slowing it down so that the shadowy apparition with a female opulence was more noticeable. Love said that the image made her feel uneasy and on edge, despite her experience conducting investigations on supernatural occurrences.

She didn’t name the mental hospital where the spirit was seen, but her description matched a Mid-Wales Hospital psychiatric facility. This institute for the insane, located in Powys, Talgarth, opened in 1903 and was shut down in 1999. Love thinks the mysterious onlooker is the ghost of a former patient there, one that met their demise in a room on that corridor.

3 Strange Footage from Iowa Restaurant Hints at Supernatural Activity

While this footage has been dismissed as a bug running across a CCTV camera lens, others believe that Chuck & Edna’s Maid-Rite restaurant has potential paranormal residents. Pat Orr, the eatery’s manager, claims that staff members have reported unexplained incidents since the business was established.

First to be caught on camera was a ghostly shadow in the restaurant’s kitchen moving slowly towards the sink before dissipating. Barely a week later, another clip captured a worker being hit by cups that were sliding off a shelf. As if wanting to discredit the bug theory, another stack of cups can be seen falling sideways—all by themselves.

2 The Wailing Ghost of La Llorona Terrifies Residents in Colombia

In the video clip, which has since gone viral on social media, a wailing ghostly figure is captured in treetops during broad daylight. Some are calling it the scariest thing they’ve ever seen, while one resident of Monitors, Cordoba, Colombia, has admitted to being so petrified they had to sleep with their mother.

According to legend, La Llorona was a mother who took her sons to the river and drowned them, afterward killing herself. Being that her soul was now cursed, she was barred from entering heaven until she could find the souls of her kids. The myth goes that when the ghost appears, she wails loudly, abducting children to drown in the river in the hope that her own son’s souls will find rest.

1 Pensacola Paranormal Investigators Get What They Bargained For

The A-Team is a bunch of supernatural investigators who carry out ghost hunts in central Florida and South Carolina. Of these locations in Pensacola, FL, they’ve admitted that this one has the most active spiritual presence. This is likely due to its age and the events that happened there. According to Jill Miller, founder of the team, spirits will linger in the air anywhere where there’s a traumatic emotional activity.

In a home on Pensacola’s East Hill, the ghost hunters come across a malevolent spirit, captured on the group’s thermal infrared SLS or Strained Layer Super-Lattice camera. The dark shadowy figure can be seen walking across the right-hand corner of the video, and it can be slowed down to show the outline clearly above Miller’s left shoulder.

Do You See It Too?

It’s true, some images and videos are cooked-up with fake editing or camera tricks. But if you look closely at a recording of real paranormal occurrences, you’ll spot something you just can’t explain.

Whether or not you believe in the supernatural doesn’t stop that creepy rush of uneasiness from washing over you when you’re staring at paranormal activity caught on camera. Many clips and pictures ring with truth, depicting happenings that can only be described as out of this world.

With the rise of internet sleuths, true crime podcasts and videos, and discussion forums, it’s safe to say that many people love speculating about real-life mysteries. Social media has allowed people from around the world to connect and share ideas on bizarre occurrences that have puzzled investigators. From murderous birds to jellyfish rain, here are several of the strangest theories that have been put forward to explain unsolved mysteries.

Top 10 Creepy Mysteries From The American South

10Kathleen Peterson Was Killed By An Owl

 

On December 9th, 2001, novelist Michael Peterson made an emergency call to report that he had found his wife, Kathleen, unconscious at the bottom of a staircase in their mansion around 2:40 a.m. Kathleen was dead when authorities arrived and an autopsy would later show that she had died from blood loss about two hours after her fall. There were also injuries on the back of her head consistent with blunt force, and the coroner stated that he believed she had not died from a fall, but may have been beaten. Alcohol was also found in her system. Police turned suspicion onto her husband, who they believed may have attacked her with a fireplace poker.

But there was another possible murderer considered: an owl. Several microscopic owl feathers were found in Kathleen’s hair. In court, three experts backed the possibility that an owl had attacked her and caused a deadly fall down the stairs. They also stated that the cuts on her scalp may have been caused by the owl’s talons. Pine needles and clumps of her own hair were found in Kathleen’s hands, which also point to a potential entanglement. If the owl did do it, then he got away with it, as Michael Peterson served eight years in prison for his wife’s death.

9The Dyatlov Pass Incident Was Caused By A Soviet Weapons Test

 

In January of 1959, ten college students decided to go on a hiking trip in the Ural Mountains of the Soviet Union. One member named Yuri Yudin turned back early because of joint pain. The team was supposed to come back by February 12th, and a search party of their classmates and teachers were sent out to look for them on the 20th. Six days later, the search party found the campsite with nine sets of footprints and two bodies nearby under a pine tree. They continued on and found three more bodies in the snow. It took until May to find the last four hikers at the bottom of a ravine. The evidence at the scene was strange from the beginning. Three bodies had head and chest injuries consistent with intense force similar to that of a car crash. One was missing a tongue. The tent was sliced open from the inside. Several hikers were only in their underwear.

Soviet authorities investigated and decided that six died from hypothermia and three from trauma. They maintain to this day that all the hikers died in an avalanche, but their quick sealing of the case has raised eyebrows and led to alternate theories. Yuri Yudin stated that he believed there was an explosion, possibly from a weapons test, and cover-up by the Soviet military. Strange orange orbs were sighted by other nearby hikers around the time of the incident that some believe could have been a type of bomb. Trace levels of radiation were discovered in the campsite and a scrap of cloth from a military jacket was also found at the scene. The parents of the trip leader Igor Dyatlov also agreed that the military was involved in hiding the students’ deaths.

8Rey Rivera Was Thrown From A Helicopter

 

On May 24th, 2006, 32-year-old financial writer Rey Rivera was found dead in the conference room of the Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. He was last seen eight days earlier when a houseguest watched Rivera take a phone call and run frantically from his house. The crime scene quickly puzzled authorities. The roof above Rivera’s body had a small hole that suggested he had smashed through at an almost vertical angle, but there was no clear area he could have jumped from. Despite the extensive injuries to his body, Rivera’s glasses and cellphone were found next to him undamaged. A search of his house turned up a bizarre note taped to the back of his computer, which contained quotes from Freemason texts, lists of movie titles, and names of Hollywood figures.

At the time he died, Rivera seemed to be happily married and pursuing his dream of becoming a screenwriter. One of the most interesting theories is that Rivera was dropped through the roof of the hotel by a helicopter, possibly because of his work cleaning up the public image of his childhood friend Porter Stansberry. Stansberry was being investigated for financial crimes at the time of Rivera’s death and placed a gag order on his employees during the investigation. Authorities have disputed the helicopter idea because there was no noise reported at the time, the location was too low to allow helicopters in the airspace, and the nearby harbor would have been a better location to dispose of a body. However, a former hotel employee endorsed the theory and said that helicopters were known to fly low over the hotel, despite the airspace rules.

7The Oakville Blobs Were Vaporized Jellyfish

 

In 1997, residents of Oakville, Washington were shocked by a strange gelatinous material falling from the sky. Known as the “Oakville blobs”, this transparent jelly fell in tiny droplets half the size of rice grains over a period of three weeks and reportedly sickened local people and animals with a flu-like illness. An investigation by local scientists found human white blood cells in the material, leading to the idea that the blobs were at least once a living material. Residents speculated that it could be human waste dumped from passing planes, which could explain why it made people sick, but airlines quickly disputed this because plane waste is dyed blue. Others were concerned it could be a strange science experiment that had been released on the town.

But the most interesting theory is also the most cartoonish. Some people have pointed out the similarities of the blobs to jellyfish, and have brought up the idea that the blobs could be somehow related to the creatures. Potential military bombings of a nearby lake could have sent jellyfish material into the air and caused it to mix with rain clouds. The town reportedly jumped on this theory, selling a vodka gelatin “jellyfish” drink at the local bar.

6The Sodder Children Were Kidnapped By Fascists

 

On Christmas Eve, 1945, a fire quickly overtook the home of the Sodder family. George and Jeannie Sodder were Italian immigrants who lived with their ten children in Fayetteville, West Virginia, an area with many other Italian families. At 12:30 a.m. Jeannnie answered a phone call from a woman who claimed to have a wrong number. At 1:00 a.m., she heard an object hit the roof and roll but she went back to sleep. Half an hour later, she woke up to smoke filling the house. Jeannie, George, and four of the children escaped. Multiple calls to the fire department did not get through. George’s ladder was missing. He tried to pull his truck around to climb to the second floor, but it would not start. It took the fire department hours to respond and by then the house had burned completely to ash. The fire was ruled an electrical accident.

George and Jeannie believed that their five missing children did not die in the fire, as noo bones or other remains were found. The Sodders put up a billboard with their children’s pictures and continued searching for them for the rest of their lives. There were multiple reports from locals that they had spotted the Sodder children in the years following the fire and a letter came to the family in 1968 claiming to be from a surviving son. It contained a photo with a strong resemblance to him, but the lead went nowhere. Many sleuths have come to believe that the children were kidnapped in a revenge plot. George Sodder was known for openly expressing his hatred for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, which upset some of his neighbors. Two months before the fire, a traveling salesman had argued with George and told him that his “house would go up in smoke” and his “children would be destroyed” because of George’s anti-Mussolini statements. A private investigator discovered that the threatening salesman had been on the jury that decided the fire was an accident, further adding to suspicion that the case was more than an accident. If the children were kidnapped, they may not have come forward to protect the rest of their family from harm.

5 Elisa Lam Was Playing A Deadly Game

Canadian college student Elisa Lam checked into the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles on January 28th, 2013. She initially shared a room with strangers, but was moved soon after when the other girls complained about her strange behavior. The hotel itself has had a spooky reputation for decades as the site of several suicides and connections to several murders. But Lam’s case is one of the most bizarre. Lam’s family asked the police to look for her after she failed to contact them during her trip. Police released strange footage of Elisa ducking in and out of an elevator at the hotel shortly before her disappearance. Lam appeared to be hiding from someone in the hallway or potentially suffering a mental crisis of some kind. It was later discovered that she was being treated for bipolar disorder, but had it under control for several years.

On February 21st, Lam’s body was found on the roof of the hotel in a water tank. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning. Questions were immediately raised over how she made it to the locked rooftop and how she replaced the heavy lid from inside. The most commonly discussed explanation for the death is that Lam suffered a mental health crisis. However, a shopkeeper saw her the day of her disappearance and reported that she seemed happy and calm, picking up souvenirs for her family. But the strangest theory is a supernatural idea. Lam’s strange behavior in the elevator has led some to believe that Lam was playing a Korean elevator game. This urban legend, similar to the Bloody Mary mirror game, involves pressing elevator buttons in a certain order to travel to a different dimension. The truth behind Lam’s death, however, remains a mystery.

4The Havana Noises Were A Sonic Weapon

 

In 2016, diplomatic staff in Cuba began to experience a strange illness. Dozens of Americans and Canadians reported hearing an odd sound for twenty seconds to a minute at a time. Some experienced a pressure sensation in their ears along with the noise. Over a period of two years, various staff reported hearing loss, nausea, and memory loss connected to these sounds. In September of 2017, the U.S. government pulled all of their non-essential personnel and discouraged all travel to Cuba. In 2018, the Canadian government found evidence of brain damage in their diplomats and pulled them from the country as well.

The American government stated that they believed Cuba was responsible for the events. Experts have speculated that Cuba or a third party could have been testing a sonic weapon. Acoustic or sonic weapons have been in development since at least the 1990s and certain types have been used around the world to disperse crowds and protesters. The long-term effects of these kinds of devices remain unknown. Thousands of Cuban scientists and officials investigated the case at the time and the country denied any involvement with a potential attack, but many people remain unconvinced.

3Gloria Ramirez Accidentally Created A Deadly Chemical

 

In February of 1994, 31-year-old Gloria Ramirez was rushed to Riverside General Hospital with a racing heartbeat and abnormal breathing. She was sedated and then defibrillated by doctors, who noticed that her body was covered in an oily sheen. Medical staff also noticed a strange fruity garlic scent on her breath and manila-colored particles floating in Ramirez’s blood. The nurse who drew the blood quickly fainted, and soon two other people in the room passed out. Twenty-three people eventually reported symptoms. The hospital was evacuated except for a few people staying to help Ramirez, but she died forty-five minutes after she arrived at the hospital from complications of cancer.

An initial investigation from the California Department of Health and Human Services concluded that the mysterious symptoms of the hospital staff were a case of mass hysteria, which the affected professionals heavily disputed. The most severe case required two weeks of hospitalization. A second investigation from Livermore National Laboratory came to a different conclusion. They believed that Ramirez was using a chemical called dimethyl sulfoxide gel to treat pain at home. The material has a garlic smell and oily sheen. When oxygen was added, it could have become dimethyl sulfone, forming the crystals in Ramirez’s blood. Then with an electrical shock from the defibrillator, it could have become dimethyl sulfate, a toxic chemical that could have poisoned the staff.

2The Overtoun Bridge Has A Strange Scent

 

A relatively unassuming bridge in Scotland holds a dark secret that has haunted the city of Glasgow, Scotland for years. Overtoun Bridge is known for being a place where dogs leap to their deaths, shocking local residents and drawing international media attention. Up to 600 dogs may have died this way, prompting theories that a supernatural presence may be at play. In 1994, a man threw his own son from the bridge under the belief that the child was the devil, further adding to Overtoun’s dark reputation.

Investigations by scientists, however, have resulted in another theory. The strong scent of mink musk may be too tempting for the pets to resist. This hunting desire could combine with the layout of the bridge and the surrounding plant life to give the appearance of solid ground, confusing the animals into thinking there is no drop off. Nests of small animals including minks have also been found near the bridge, adding to this theory. Whatever the true reason, Overtoun Bridge now has signs installed warning owners to keep their pets on leashes during their walks.

1Rodney Marks Was Murdered By A Crewmate

 

If there’s one place where you don’t want to have a medical emergency, it’s the remote tundra of the South Pole. Rodney Marks was a 32-year-old astrophysicist doing research for the University of Chicago. He and his fiancée were both spending the winter at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station with forty-eight other crewmates. On May 11th, 2000, Marks visited the station’s doctor three times feeling ill and they attempted to ask for medical advice by satellite, but Marks died the next day. It took six months before the body could be removed and autopsied, when it was determined that Marks had died of menthol poisoning.

There was immediate speculation that Marks drank menthol intentionally, perhaps driven by depression over the desolate polar environment. But Marks was engaged, seemingly enjoyed his work, and had dozens of other people to socialize with. He also sought medical attention immediately, which made a suicide attempt even more unlikely. Some people believed he may have poisoned himself accidentally by attempting to home-brew alcohol, but this theory was quickly disproved by the fact that the station had a well-stocked bar available. The only remaining theory for many people is murder, and unlike most murders, this one has a very specific number of suspects. However, the unique environment also means that the United States, New Zealand, and Australia all share jurisdiction, which prevented significant investigation from taking place. The world’s only Antarctic murder mystery remains unsolved.

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