Islands, in general, are breathtakingly beautiful places located in oceans worldwide. They are the stuff exotic vacation dreams are made of. This, however, does not mean that they are immune to strange incidents or unsolved mysteries. On this list are 10 islands with puzzling mysteries that remain to this day.

Top 10 Islands With Fascinating Stories And Artifacts

10 Metal objects in potatoes—Prince Edward Island

In 2016 police were called in to investigate a case of potato tampering in Prince Edward Island after a family discovered a sewing needle in a dish of potatoes they had peeled and cooked.

This came after a spate of potato tampering incidents in 2014 during which several metal objects, including needles, were discovered in potatoes originating from the island. At the time the federal government pledged $1.5 million to invest in metal detection equipment and the provincial government added $500,000 to train extra staff to assess and inspect potatoes for foreign objects.

Farms affected by the strange incidents reported losses of more than $1 million. To date, no one has been implicated in the potato crime and the mystery of who would stick metal objects in spuds, continues.^[1]

9 Robbery in former leper colony – Spinalonga

Spinalonga is an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Elounda. It is known for being one of Europe’s last active leper colonies after the last inhabitant left in 1962. Today it is a popular tourist attraction because of its ancient fortress and shallow water beaches.

The only way to get to the island is by boat, which is exactly what unidentified robbers did in 2018. They arrived on the island, reportedly at night, and stole around 50,000 euros from the safe located in the guards’ room. Investigation revealed that power tools were used to break into the safe. The island has no electricity therefore no alarm system exists, and as there are no accommodation options the security guards leave at 6:30 every day.

To date, the thieves have not been identified.^[2]

8 The abandoned Ghost Palace Hotel – Bali

The PI Bedugul Taman Rekreasi Hotel and Resort, better known these days as The Ghost Palace Hotel, was built in the nineties and then abandoned. This apparently before it ever opened. It now sits dark and lonely alongside a mountain ridge while theories zip around about what may have happened there.

Some residents tell a tale of a real estate developer so overcome with greed that he became involved in corrupt business practices and eventually ran out of money. He then declared bankruptcy after his hotel became cursed as consequence for his evil deeds. Another, creepier, theory has it that the hotel was functional and had paid workers and paying guests but that every last one of them disappeared without a trace one night, leaving only their restless ghosts to wander the place for eternity. It is believed that the ghostly visitors could also be attributed to laborers who were forced to work on building the hotel until they dropped dead.

Whatever the true reason is for the resort being abandoned, has yet to be revealed. ^[3]

7 Time travel or just a creepy story? Tenerife

On the island of Tenerife lies Barranco de Badajoz; a ravine where several Guanche mummies have been found, making it an important site for archaeological research purposes. Overshadowing its historic significance, however, are the numerous reports of strange and paranormal activity. Some visitors to the ravine have claimed that at certain points, time seems to stand still when night falls and watches stop working. Others have reported seeing unexplained lights flitting over and through the ravine while some claimed to have seen tall angelic beings dressed in white.

One of the most repeated tales is the one about the girl who visited the ravine in search of fruit and then simply disappeared, seemingly into thin air. Search parties found nothing to reveal her fate and the searches were eventually called off. Twenty years later the girl simply reappeared, looking as though she had not aged a day since her mysterious disappearance two decades earlier. She told locals she had only been gone for a few hours and was shocked to learn that twenty years had passed.

These stories have made their way around the world to the extent that Barranco de Badajoz is now considered on par, in terms of creep-factor, with the Bridgewater Triangle in Massachusetts.

Do people really see into other realms while visiting the ravine? Or are these all just scary stories designed to entertain?^[4]

6 Lost Nessie – Magnetic Island

In 2013, beachgoers on Magnetic Island were astonished to see a monster-like object appear in the ocean off Picnic Bay. Local resident, David Herron, snapped a photo of the object and decided it looked a lot like the famous Loch Ness monster. He also decided that he would call it ‘Lost Nessie.’

The sighting is still unexplained in 2020, but most believe that the most reasonable explanation for the monster-resembling object could be the remains of a dragon boat that had sunk the week before during a race. Nevertheless, at the time, people with any explanation for the sighting were urged to come forward. And in the absence of any explanation other than the above-mentioned sunken dragon boat, some cling to the belief that Nessie had come to visit warmer waters after finding things a bit too chilly in Scotland.^[5]

Top 10 Nonexistent Islands That Appeared On Maps

5 Death of a recluse – Great Barrier Island

On 30 June 1999, the decomposing body of 51-year-old Colin Michael Goode was found in his home near Claris on Great Barrier Island. Goode’s right hand was missing, and the remains of his dog were found beside him. Prior to the discovery, Goode had been seen for the last time in April 1999. He was a known cannabis grower and had been assaulted and robbed of money and cannabis in 1991.

Two rifles were found in the bedroom where the grisly discovery was made but it was quickly determined that Goode had not died of gunshot wounds. In fact, no cause of death could be established even after extensive and comprehensive post-mortem examinations. The case grew cold over time and remains that way today, with no suspects ever identified or apprehended.^[6]

4 Disappearance from paradise – Hawaii

There are a lot of eerie tales surrounding the idyllic paradise that is Hawaii, including the creepy Night Marchers, the ghost of the woman in the red dress and the Choking Ghost of Waikiki. However, it is the real-life unsolved mysteries that truly sends a chill down one’s spine. In this case, it is the tragic story of Diane Suzuki.

19-year-old Diane Suzuki was a dance instructor who lived in Halawa, worked at the Rosalie Woodson Dance Academy and dated Lester Gantan. Diane was planning a trip to the North Shore of Oahu after work on Saturday 6 July 1985. Her last class ended at 15:00 and at 15:15 a friend arrived at the academy to pick her up. Diane was nowhere to be found. Her car was still where she had parked it that morning and her keys and purse were inside.

After her parents were notified of their daughter’s disappearance, they camped outside the academy in their car hoping she would show up. During that time, they witnessed a man named Dewey Hamasaki, as well as his father and sister carrying a trunk and stowing it in a vehicle. Dewey was known to have had a crush on Diane and worked as a photographer at the academy. He was present when she gave her last lesson. Dewey was questioned and the marsh around his house searched. A lack of evidence led to him never being arrested or charged.

Five and a half years later, clothes resembling that which Diane was wearing the day she disappeared, were found on a pig farm owned by Dewey’s father. Frustratingly, after this discovery, the suspects (Dewey, his father and sister) as well as around 100 witnesses were brought before a grand jury but still the court declined to press charges.
Diane Suzuki’s remains have never been found. Her mother died in 1997 without ever finding out the truth about her daughter’s disappearance.^[7]

3 Sea pants – Baffin Island

In 2017, a photo of a massive rock formation in Canada’s Arctic drew all sorts of attention as it resembles a giant pair of pants. The rock was photographed by a hunter, Max Kalluk, around 90 kilometres south of the Arctic Bay community. It is only reachable by boat during the summer and is estimated to be over 50 metres tall.

The formation, or sea arch, stands overlooking the water of Arctic Bay and the local Nunavut community have named it Qarlinngua, which means ‘like pants’ in Inuktitut. The arch looks so unreal that most people who saw the photograph of it believed it to be Photoshopped. Four Canadian geologists have examined the photo of the sea arch and agree that they had never seen such a formation in the Arctic before.

But after an information counsellor with the Unikkaarvik Visitor Centre reached out to her sources, she was able to verify that the arch does exist. Some believe it to be a sacred monument and several tourism companies were excited to promote it to their clients.

It remains baffling, however, just how this structure remained hidden from the world for so long, considering that one tourism company afterwards stated they had taken groups of tourists to the arch for the past three years.^[8]

2 The Hobbits—Flores Island

In 2003 fossils of Homo floresiensis were discovered on Flores Island. The fossils were so small, that they were dubbed ‘the hobbits’ of Flores Island. The discovery immediately ignited controversy and debate over whether the fossils were the remains of an unknown branch of early humans or rather modern humans ravaged by disease.

In life these beings stood at less than 4 feet tall and their brains were one third the size of modern humans. Despite this however, they ate meat, travelled thousands of miles across the ocean to make the island their home and worked with home-made stone tools. It is believed that they may have encountered our own species if they existed as recently as 50,000 years ago, considering Homo sapiens are thought to have reached Australia around 65,000 years ago.

The origin of the ‘hobbits’ remain unknown however, as does their fate. It is yet to be determined where exactly they fit into the evolutionary family tree and what caused them to disappear.^[9]

1 Mystery box – Santa Cruz Island

Dr Carey Q. Stanton never married and eventually left NYC behind to live on his family’s ranch on Santa Cruz Island in 1957. He was somewhat eccentric and on the rare occasions he had visitors over to the ranch he would follow a rigid schedule and expect his guests to adhere to it as well. Dinner would be served at 7:30pm, coffee and cookies at 8:30pm and he would promptly retire to bed at 9pm.

Stanton died on 8 December 1987 and was buried in the island’s private cemetery. His will stated that the ranch be left to the Nature Conservancy who would oversee activities on the island.

In April 1990, a metal box was discovered in a shed on the ranch. Inside it were severely decomposed human remains that was basically just a heap of ashes. Alongside the remains were sets of false teeth dating back to the 50s, a clothing fastener dating back to the 40s and a diamond-studded ring dating back to before the Second World War. Tests were done on the fragments of bone found, and it was established the remains belonged to an elderly female who most likely died soon after the war.

While Stanton was never believed to have been responsible for the woman’s death, it remains unclear why her remains were in a metal box on the ranch. She has also never been identified.^[10]

10 Terrifying Tales From Mysterious Islands

Despite centuries of study, the universe remains largely mysterious, as does the planet we call home. The unknown inspires both wonder and curiosity, which, in turn, often prompt questions. Seeking answers, we gather facts, form hypotheses, and conduct observations or experiments. Sometimes, we remain puzzled. The causes of unlikely phenomena, of seemingly impossible developments, and of strange occurrences continue to mystify us.

At other times, however, we discover, we learn, and our knowledge expands. Nevertheless, new mysteries await. There are always more puzzles to solve. Each time we manage to unravel one of the mysteries of the universe, though, we are inspired again to seek more answers. We are a species with a need to know that can’t be satisfied, even when, through science, we manage to solve puzzling mysteries like the ten on this list.

10 Bizarre Unsolved Mysteries Of The World

10 Titan’s Waves

 

In many ways, Titan’s landscape looks like that of the Earth. Saturn’s moon has several “lakes . . . seas . . . [and] river channels.” However, these apparent bodies of water don’t contain water at all, nor were they carved by the running of water over eons of time. With surface temperatures as low as 290 degrees Fahrenheit below zero, Titan is much too cold—freezing, in fact—for water. Instead, scientists believe, a mix of liquid methane, ethane, and other freeze-resistant hydrocarbons are responsible for the apparent bodies of water.

Planetary scientists agree that the moon is a “wet world,” but they are mystified as to the reason that the lakes, seas, and river channels lack waves. After all, in addition to the moon’s low gravity, there is wind, as the moon’s plentiful sand dunes prove; therefore, there should be waves. Maybe the lakes are frozen. Maybe they’re “covered with a tar-like substance that damps wave motion.” These theories would account for the absence of waves, but new data suggest that these explanations are wrong.

There are waves, recent studies indicate. They just haven’t been visible because, during winter, the atmosphere is dense with “cold heavy air,” and the moon’s winds are too weak to move it—or to make waves. As the moon warms with the approach of summer, winds should strengthen and move fast enough to make waves detectable to radar. If so, Titan’s waves will help scientists to evaluate the climate conditions on Saturn’s moon and could indicate the “viscosity of the [waves’] underlying fluid” and its chemical make-up and help to determine “the speed of the overlying winds, providing an independent check of Titan climate models.” Mystery solved!^[1]

9 Greenland’s “Dark Zone”

 

Until summer, Greenland’s ice sheet, as viewed from the air, looks like an immense, bright white expanse. Then, as temperatures increase, the western edge of the field becomes dark, as algae grow there. This so-called dark zone has become increasingly larger in recent years. Scientists wanted to know why. What was causing the increase in algae?

The ice sheet covers much of the world’s largest island—1.71 million square kilometers (656,00 square miles), to be exact, which is three times the size of the state of Texas, and the sheet’s a mile thick! It may not be that size much longer, though. It’s in “permanent retreat . . . losing 500 gigatons (500 billion tons) of ice every year.” The increase in the size of the dark zone has a lot to do with the decrease in the ice sheet’s dimensions, scientists have found.

The mystery behind the surge in the growth of the algae that comprise the dark zone has now been solved. It’s caused by the layer of carbon and phosphorus-rich dust that covers the area. This layer of particulates reduces the amount of sunlight the ice sheet reflects into space, causing the ice to warm, and, in the spring, the ice melts, and the dormant algae “migrate to the surface,” where they benefit from “24-hour sunlight,” which enables the plants to photosynthesize and grow, as their green colors darken to protect the algae from the “constant sunlight.” The plants’ growth is further facilitated by the phosphorus-rich dust that’s locally supplied “from hydroxylapatite—a phosphate mineral that also contains calcium, oxygen, and hydrogen—that gets blown across the ice as dust from exposed rocky outcrops.”

The solution to the mystery of the dark zone’s growth should help scientists track the rate at which Greenland’s ice sheet melts, since the warmer atmosphere promotes greater deposits of phosphorus from local rocks, which, drier, expose more phosphorous, which, in turn, provides more nutrients to the algae, which then increasingly warms the ice, creating a continuing cycle.^[2]

8 Antarctica’s Blood Falls

 

An eerie red river runs across Taylor Glacier in east Antarctica. At the mouth of the glacier, the river tumbles over a cliff, into Lake Bonney, looking exactly like its name, Blood Falls. What caused the strange appearance of this mysterious blood-red river? This question has mystified scientists since its discovery in 1911. Originally, algae were considered the culprits, but this hypothesis was never verified.

What has been discovered by scientists associated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks is that “oxidized iron in brine water” gives Blood Falls its unusual color as the iron in the saltwater, making contact with oxygen in the air, oxidizes—in effect, rusts—and “dyes” the water red. The saltwater makes its way to the edge of the glacier from an underground lake, as pressure forces the water through the glacier’s “fissures and channels,” in a journey that takes 1.5 million years.

The water wouldn’t flow at all, of course, if it were frozen, but it avoids freezing because “latent heat associated with water freezing,” the water’s super-saturation in salt, and “the high pressures at the base of the glacier” maintain the saltwater at temperatures above freezing.^[3]

7 Parasaurolophus Skull

 

Paleontology is far from an exact science, as the myriad of qualifications that readers of texts concerning this field of research encounter clearly suggests. Debates are plentiful and, often, long-term. Such was the case with regard to how the skulls of the Parasaurolophus ever managed to grow on the heads of the rare species of dinosaur; disputations and arguments lasted decades.

The unusual skull includes an “exaggerated tube crest” that grows along the center of the front of the animal’s face and houses the dinosaur’s nasal passage, including its nostrils. “Imagine your nose growing up your face, three feet behind your head, then turning around to attach above your eyes,” paleontologist Terry Gates says, noting “Parasaurolophus breathed through eight feet of pipe before oxygen ever reached its head.”

Was the strange protuberance, which forms “much like other related duck-billed dinosaurs,” a “snorkel”? A “super sniffer”? These explanations were put forward once, but, now, scientists have solved the mystery of the tube crests. They were “sound resonators and visual displays used to communicate within their own species” at a time, 75 million-years ago, when, as the Denver Museum of Nature and Science explains, “a narrow sea” separated the North American continent.^[4]

6 Train Millipede Swarms

Although, officially, they are known as Parafontaria laminata armigera, the poisonous arthropods indigenous to Japan are colloquially called “train millipedes” because they swarm in such numbers that they stop trains in—or on—their tracks. First observed in 1920, the millipedes would teem across railroad tracks in Japan’s “forested mountains” in numbers so thick that trains would have to halt. Then, they wouldn’t be seen again for eight years, when they’d return, once again bringing trains to a standstill. The phenomenon remained a mystery until Keiko Niijima, a researcher at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, figured it out. The millipedes weren’t somehow attracted to train tracks. They were just traveling to new “feeding grounds” that happened to lie on the other side of the tracks.

Their life cycle is eight years long, during which the whole population of the poisonous millipedes experience “the phases of life at the same time.” They are the only “non-insect” arthropod to have evolved this eight-year, synchronous life cycle. Adults and seventh nymphs (those on the stage of the life cycle that is just before that of adulthood) are so numerous that they consume everything they can and have to relocate to find more of the “dead or decaying leaves” on which their diet depends. The millipedes are unusual because of their defensive capability as well; should a predator attack, the millipedes release a powerful poison—cyanide.^[5]

Top 10 Puzzling Island Mysteries

5 Rogue Orca Attacks

 

Boats afloat off the coast of Spain have come under attack by rogue orcas. Some of the assaults are fierce. On September 22, 2020, a yacht lost its rudder when it came under attack by three orcas. The owner of the 45-foot vessel, Graeme Walker, recalled, “The boat would . . . spin through 90 degrees when the animals came in. . . . When they actually bit on the rudder and started shaking [it] the wheel was spinning from side to side. You could not have touched it. You would have broken your arms.” The same day that the whales battered Walker’s yacht, Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda announced a protective measure. Boats under fifty feet long were banned from sailing between Cabo Prioriño Grande and Punta de Estaca de Bares, the location of the whales’ attacks.

The reason for the whale’s aggression remained a mystery until researchers analyzed footage of the attacks of a few of the killer whales, all of which were young. Two appeared to have been “seriously injured.” Although it was unclear whether their injuries were sustained before or during the attacks, the researchers believe that, in either case, the animals felt threatened, which probably explains their hostility.^[6]

4 Cell Bones

Cells don’t really have bones, of course, but they do have structures that perform functions similar to such connective tissue. In both plants and animals, actin filaments, “thin, flexible protein strands,” support cells and cellular functions, growing, shrinking, bonding “with other things,” and branching off as cells move. How actin filaments form chains by linking together, a process known as polymerization, was a mystery to scientists—a mystery that simulations using supercomputers helped to solve.

Researchers discovered that an actin filament lengthens much more rapidly at one end of a strand than it does at the other. The end that lengthens less quickly acts as a “binding site,” making a quick connection that allows the polymerization reaction to continue. This ability enables cells to perform a variety of tasks. For example, Gregory Voth, the Haig P. Papazian Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, says that “when a cell wants to move forward, . . . it will polymerize actin in a particular direction. Those actin filaments then push on the cell membrane, which allow[s] the cell to move in a particular direction.” The improved knowledge of how actin filaments act has important and “wide-ranging” therapeutic medical applications.^[7]

3 Flower Power

 

Charles Darwin couldn’t figure out how flowering plants first evolved, and he feared this “abominable mystery” might “undermine his theories of evolution.” Specifically, in an 1879 letter to his friend, Dr. Joseph Hooker, a botanist, Darwin admitted, “The rapid development as far as we can judge of all the higher plants within recent geological times is an abominable mystery.” How could flowering plants evolve so rapidly, when it had taken other living things, including mammals, a much longer time to do so? “Why isn’t there a gradual evolution of the angiosperms?” Darwin asked. “Why can’t we see intermediate forms between the gymnosperms—things like conifers—and the flowering plants? And why, when they appear, are they already so diverse?”

Scottish botanist William Carruthers used the “abominable mystery” to cast doubt on the theory of evolution, making claims about the “fossil record” that defenders of evolution were hard-pressed to address. Darwin, it seems, had good reason to fret about the quick appearance of angiosperms. According to Professor Richard Buggs, the “abominable mystery” remains unsolved to this day. What isn’t as puzzling, however, are the doubts that Darwin had about his own views on the evolution of life, even months before his death, and his fears that flowering plants might be the basis for challenging the very idea that life had developed as a series of adaptations to the environment over millions of years. The mystery of Darwin’s own thoughts about flower power and its possible effects on his own life’s work are now a mystery solved!^[8]

2 Geometric Droppings

 

The droppings of the bare-nosed wombat resemble charcoal briquettes. The nocturnal marsupial excretes as many as a hundred cubes of feces every day. How the wombat accomplishes this astonishing feat was a mystery. Now that scientists have unraveled the puzzle, they find the solution just as amazing. Sunghwan Jung, a biophysicist at Cornell University, wasn’t a member of the research team who found the answer, but the findings leave no doubt, he says, that the wombat’s intestines “are very special.”

The marsupials live in Australia’s “grassy plains and eucalyptus forests,” passing their days in tunnels and eating plants by night. To mark their territory, the animals leave their scat behind. Roadkill in the form of a wombat revealed part the answer concerning how the animals are able to produce cubes of dung. The wombat’s intestines contained “two grooves where the guts are more elastic.” The dissection of two additional wombats shed more light on the problem. A two-dimensional mathematical model of the animals’ guts indicated that the wombats’ “intestinal sections contract over several days, squeezing the [feces] as the gut [extracts] nutrients and water” from the excrement. “Stiffer portions” of the gut contract more rapidly, the soft areas more slowly, the latter molding “the final corners of the cube.”^[9]

1 White Smudge

 

Located beside the figure’s right arm, on the lower rail of the fence behind him, a mysterious white stain is discernible in one version of Edvard Munch’s famous painting, The Scream. Although the artist created four variants of the portrait of modern angst, one of which fetched £91 million (nearly 125 million U.S. dollars) in 2012, the most acclaimed one is displayed in the Norwegian National Museum. Unlike the other iterations of the work, this one includes several white splatters on its canvas.

Since Munch often painted outdoors, some believed the stain was the result of a bird perched or flying overhead. The white smudge, in other words, was avian excrement; a bird had defecated on the painting. Others believed the white smears to be chalk or paint that had somehow been deposited on the canvas as Munch was at work on the painting. When Professor Tine Frøysaker of the University of Oslo hired a team to determine the materials and techniques the artist had used in painting his subject, the Macro C-ray fluorescence scanner they used to test a sample of the mysterious white stain solved the mystery: the blemish was “molten wax,” the culprit “a candle in Munch’s studio,” graduate student Frederik Vanmeert, who analyzed the sample of the painting, reported.^[10]

10 Reasons Why Ninja Will Always Be A Mystery

About The Author: An English instructor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Gary L. Pullman lives south of Area 51, which, according to his family and friends, explains “a lot.” His four-book series, An Adventure of the Old West, is available on Amazon.

Just as ancient travelers once ventured to the far reaches of the Earth in search of adventure and knowledge, astronauts on lunar and planetary missions have now ventured to the far reaches of our solar system to uncover the mysteries of the cosmos. But just as the stories of foreign tribes and lands grew wilder with each retelling in antiquity, so too have the stories of these space missions become shrouded in mystery and speculation.

So today, we delve into the strange and unexplained events during some of the most famous space missions and the theories that have been put forward to explain them.

10 NASA Astronauts Reveals Encounter with Aliens

NASA astronaut Leland Melvin had quite the out-of-this-world experience. During one of his space missions, Melvin and another astronaut spotted something “organic/alien-like” floating outside the payload bay. NASA tried to brush it off as just some ice that had broken off from a Freon hose, but Melvin described the object as “translucent, curved, and organic-looking.”

In an attempt to share his experience, Melvin took to Twitter and shared it with Scott Waring, founder of the popular blog UFO Sightings Daily. And let’s say one little alien-head emoji at the end of his tweet sent the internet into a frenzy.

This incident sparked renewed interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the potential for encounters during space missions. Despite NASA’s explanation, Melvin’s first-hand account of the event left many wondering if there was more to the story than officially disclosed. The incident once again raised the question of whether or not we are alone in the universe.

Melvin’s encounter added to the ongoing debate about the existence of alien life and the potential of alien encounters during space missions. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll have all the answers, but for now, we’ll have to live with the thrill of the unknown.^[1]

9 Retired Astronaut Chris Hadfield Describes a Tense Moment during a Trip

Retired astronaut Chris Hadfield had a moment of tension during a trip to the Russian space station MIR that would make even the bravest of us sweat. As the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space, Hadfield experienced a high-stakes situation that required quick thinking and precise maneuvers. A slight miscalculation during the docking process could have destroyed the space station and caused the death of the crew.

As the crew approached the station, conflicting reports were received from the sensors on the approaching spacecraft. It was like trying to land a plane in a blizzard. Hadfield stated that it was a critical moment and that a tiny mistake could have meant disaster for the entire mission and the lives of the crew on board the station. But Chris and his team were not the people to back down from a challenge.

Despite the uncertainty, the team made a quick decision with no outside assistance and successfully docked safely at the correct speed, avoiding any potential catastrophe. It was a testament to their skills, quick thinking, and bravery. You could say they docked like a boss! And with that, they avoided becoming a space statistic and lived to tell the tale.^[2]

8 Mysterious Knocking in Space

China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, had a captivating experience while in space. He revealed that he heard a mysterious knocking aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. He described the sound as coming from outside the spaceship, like someone knocking on the door, but it was not something that was part of the standard operating sounds of the ship. Despite being puzzled by the noise, Liwei said it did not impact the mission.

Liwei humorously joked about the experience, suggesting that it could have been an attempt at communication from an alien life form, but unfortunately, he did not speak their language. The cause of the knocking sound remains a mystery, but it certainly added an element of excitement to Liwei’s trip to space. The incident left him with many questions and a good story to tell.^[3]

7 Jerry Linenger’s Dinner Interrupted by Fire

As Jerry Linenger sat down for a peaceful dinner on board the Mir space station, he never could have imagined the nightmare about to unfold. A tank of combustible chemicals caught fire and turned into a raging inferno, engulfing the station in flames. Linenger and his team quickly fought the fire and worked tirelessly to prevent it from spreading. They were determined to stay calm and focused, knowing that one mistake could mean the difference between life and death.

As the three astronauts battled the fire, the other three crew members prepared for an emergency escape. However, the situation was dire as one of the two Soyuz ships was blocked by the fire, leaving only three of the six crew members with a chance of escape. But Linenger and his team were not about to give up. They fought the fire with all their might, and after 14 minutes, they finally managed to contain it. Their bravery and determination in the face of such a crisis are truly admirable.^[4]

6 Kelly’s Cryptic Message about Aliens

Scott Kelly’s recent 340-day stint on the International Space Station (ISS) sparked excitement among UFO enthusiasts as they believed the astronaut may have discreetly tried to tell the world about his encounter with aliens. A video shared online suggested that Kelly let it slip out subtly because of an alleged cover-up by NASA and the U.S. Government. In an interview, Kelly commented that adjusting to space is more manageable than changing to Earth and that maybe aliens have it a lot easier than humans. This comment led some to believe that he may have encountered extraterrestrial life.

Moreover, Kelly also talked about a virtual reality game the astronauts played on the ISS, which simulated an alien attack on the space station. Some UFO enthusiasts believed that this was a sign that NASA was aware of aliens and was preparing for a possible alien encounter. While it was unclear whether Kelly was joking, his comments reignited the debate about the existence of extraterrestrial life and the possibility of alien encounters during space missions. It was yet to be seen if Kelly’s cryptic message held any truth, but it certainly captivated the imagination of many.^[5]

5 Bob Curbeam Covered in Poisonous Ammonia

Bob Curbeam’s spacewalk on the shuttle Discovery’s mission to the ISS was supposed to be a routine rewiring of the station’s electrical system. However, things turned terrifying when a cooling line leaked ammonia, a toxic chemical used in the station’s cooling systems, all over Curbeam’s spacesuit. As he struggled to shut off the flow, the ammonia coated his suit, creating a cloud of toxic mist in the vacuum of space.

Curbeam, a seasoned astronaut with years of training and experience, knew the dire situation. He had to act quickly to shut off the ammonia flow and prevent further damage to the space station. With the clock ticking, he strained against the locking device, finally using all his strength to shut off the flow. Despite the danger, Curbeam remained calm and composed, never panicking.

The incident was a stark reminder that space is a harsh and unforgiving environment and that even the most experienced and well-trained astronauts are not immune to the dangers of the unknown. Bob Curbeam’s story of extraordinary competence and quick reaction under pressure is a testament to the strength and skill of the men and women who risk their lives to explore the final frontier.^[6]

4 NASA Astronaut Abandoned on Mars

Randy Cramer claims to have spent 17 years on Mars as part of a top-secret military program. He and other soldiers were sent to establish a human colony and defend it against hostile extraterrestrial threats. He describes the Martian landscape as rugged and beautiful, with towering red mountains and vast deserts.

Cramer also states to have encountered various alien species, both friendly and hostile, and talks about secret underground facilities, advanced technology, and even time travel. Cramer’s account is highly controversial, but it continues to capture the public imagination. ^[7]

3 Scott Parazynski on Risking Electrocution

Scott Parazynski faced a dangerous spacewalk with saving the ISS from a jammed solar panel. The journey was nerve-wracking due to the distance and the potential risk to himself. If there was any metal-to-metal connection with the solar panel or arcing, it could have electrocuted him or caused ignition of the 100% oxygen in his spacesuit.

Parazynski had to work with specially insulated tools and wrap the metal parts of his spacesuit in special tape to avoid any risks.^[8]

2 The Tense Return of Soyeon Yi

Soyeon Yi, the first Korean astronaut, had a journey out of this world, literally! As she returned to Earth from the ISS, the spacecraft began its descent, and the crew soon realized they were off course and had no idea where they were. Yi described the landing as a struggle, as the force of gravity made it difficult for the crew to disembark.

But the real adventure began after they landed. The crew found themselves stranded in a remote area of Kazakhstan, with nothing but a GPS and a satellite phone on the spacecraft to make contact with the Russian Space Agency. It was like a scene straight out of a survival movie, but with fewer bear attacks and more space suits.

Luckily for them, a helicopter eventually arrived on the scene, and they could return home safely. Although it was a nerve-wracking journey, it’s a story that will be told for generations to come. Who knows, maybe one-day Soyeon Yi’s great-grandchildren will look back and laugh at their ancestor’s space mishaps.^[9]

1 Astronauts Heard Weird Music

The Apollo 10 astronauts were on a mission to pave the way for the historic Apollo 11 moon landing, but they stumbled upon something they never expected—alien music! As they orbited the moon in 1969, the astronauts heard strange whistling sounds that they described as “outer-space-type music.” They were convinced that it was an extraterrestrial symphony and couldn’t believe their luck for being the first human beings to discover it. But alas, it was not meant to be.

The whistling sound was just interference between the VHF radios on the two vehicles. The astronauts were disappointed, but at least they had a good story to tell their grandkids. They might not have discovered aliens, but they did find the sweet sound of radio interference in space.^[10]