Some of the following experiments are horrifying because of how doctors use fellow human beings as guinea pigs. Some of them are horrifying because of what they say about us as a species. In fact, a few of these experiments were even used as a justification by the Nazi doctors during their trials at Nuremburg.

10Measuring A Dying Man’s Fear

John Deering was a convicted criminal, having killed someone during a robbery, and he was sentenced to face the firing squad in 1932. Approached by doctors just before his death, he agreed to take part in a novel experiment. Electrodes would be hooked up to him, and researchers would determine exactly when his heart stopped.

The heart stopped 15.6 seconds after he was shot. He wasn’t pronounced dead until 150 seconds later.

However, the experiment also investigated something else. In addition to detecting when the heart stopped, the electrocardiogram measured the rate at which it beat, and the researchers used this data to extrapolate how scared Deering felt as he died. Immediately before the execution, the heart pounded at a very high 120 beats per minute. When the sheriff called “fire,” the pulse shot up to 180 beats per minute.

Deering had kept a calm exterior during the execution, but newspapers gleefully reported on the experiment by declaring: “You can’t be brave facing death!”

9Vanderbilt University’s Radioactive Iron

In 1945, researchers at Vanderbilt University set up a study to find out the rate of iron absorption in pregnant woman. Their preferred method of measurement was radioactive iron.

Researchers gave pills to 829 anemic women without telling them they were consuming something radioactive. Thanks to the pills, the women received radiation levels 30 times higher than normal exposure.

The study had a secondary objective: to observe the long-term effects of radiation on children. The experiment likely caused the deaths of three children: an 11-year-old girl and two boys, ages 11 and 5.

Vanderbilt ended up the subject of a lawsuit at the behest of the mothers of the dead children, a lawsuit that they settled for over $10 million.

8The Boston Project

In 1953, Dr. William Sweet, in conjunction with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, conducted several radioactive injection experiments on terminally ill cancer patients. As with the Vanderbilt experiment, the purpose of the uranium injections was twofold: to study the effects of ingested uranium on the human body and to see if the radioactive material would have any effect on the patients’ tumors. As part of a deal with the government, Sweet agreed to turn over the patients’ corpses to the government for further research on radioactivity.

None of the patients showed any signs of recovery. Many died quickly. In addition, it appears that no patients consented to the experiment.

7Bacteria Testing In San Francisco

In 1950, fears of biological warfare with the Soviets inspired American officials to test the viability of an offshore attack. The experiment consisted of a single vessel located a few miles away from San Francisco, loaded up with a bacteria known as Serratia marcescens. The bacteria produced bright red colonies on soil or water samples, making it ideal for tracking purposes.

The researchers believed that the bacteria was completely safe for humans. In reality, it caused various respiratory and urinary tract infections. Doctors in the area observed such an increase in pneumonia and UTI cases that Stanford wrote an article about it for a medical journal. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were exposed to potentially deadly bacteria.

The worst part is that the experiment was completely unnecessary. Similar tests could have been done in a deserted area and in smaller quantities. The only thing the experiment proved was that San Francisco was indeed vulnerable to biological attack.

6 Puppy Obedience Experiments

In Stanley Milgram’s infamous experiments, participants were told to deliver electric shocks to victims, and actors pretended that they really were receiving shocks. Charles Sheridan and Richard King’s variation added a twist: The victim was not faking the cries of pain. Also, the victim was a puppy.

The two men felt that perhaps Milgram’s subjects realized that their victims were faking reactions, which would explain why the subjects so readily delivered shocks when asked to. Determined to remove that possibility, Sheridan and King recreated the experiment with a puppy who actually received electric shocks.

The volunteers were told that the puppies were conditioned to pose a certain way when prompted by a light. If they stood incorrectly, the volunteers were to throw a switch, giving the puppy an increasingly strong electric shock.

Over half of male participants, though distraught, obeyed to the fullest extent. Even more surprising, every single woman fully obeyed, some of them crying the entire time.

5The Broken Toy Experiment

Researchers at the University of Iowa gave toddlers toys, instructing them not to break them. The researchers had secretly rigged the toys to break in a matter of seconds, subjecting the children to an immediate flood of guilt.

As soon as the toy shattered, the researchers gave a brief “oh, my” to express their disappointment. They then carefully watched the toddlers for reactions, verbal or non-verbal.

Once a minute passed, the researchers left the room with the broken toy and returned shortly with an identical non-broken toy, assuring the child that they were faultless in the toy’s breaking. However, like any study involving children, this raises a number of issues about informed consent. (Various parents whose children participated in the study claim that there have been no adverse effects.)

4Chester M. Southam’s Cancer Experiments

Chester M. Southam was a well-known cancer researcher in the 1960s, working diligently to study the immune system’s effect on tumors. He wanted to study whether a person already weakened by a different disease would be able to fight off cancer cells. To test this theory, he needed people on which to experiment, and he found them at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in New York City. Convincing the medical director of the potential benefits, Southam was allowed to inject 22 people with foreign, live cancer cells to study the effects.

This was nontherapeutic experimentation performed on elderly, terminal patients, so Southam didn’t even get consent. He convinced the medical director that it was common practice not to. (Some were informed that they were to be part of an experiment but were not told the details.) In addition, some of the patients’ doctors told Southam that they didn’t want their patients to be a part of Southam’s experiment, but he used them anyway.

In the end, Southam was censured and put on a year’s probation. The experiment also brought the idea of informed consent back to the forefront of the American medical discussion.

3The Visual Cliff Experiment

The visual cliff experiment was thought up by two Cornell University researchers, Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk. A strong glass pane was placed on a table, with one end extending some distance off the tabletop. A checkered tablecloth covered the table, but below the rest of the glass, the distant floor was visible.

Gibson and Walk used this setup to discover whether depth perception was innate in various animals. If an animal avoided walking on glass beyond the table, it could perceive depth visually. They experimented on rats raised in complete darkness and found that the rodents could indeed perceive depth. So they next moved on to human babies.

The babies were made to crawl over the glass. The researchers placed the mothers at the end of the glass, having them call out to their offspring. To get to their mothers, the babies had to crawl across the glass, apparently over a sheer drop. Some babies did seem hesitant to move, implying that they were able to perceive depth—and implying that the experimenters had successfully inspired fear in them.

2Stateville Penitentiary Malaria Study

One of several human experiments undertaken to further the US effort in World War II, the Stateville Penitentiary Malaria study was designed to test experimental malaria drugs. To find subjects, the government turned to prisons and contracted hundreds of prisoners to become guinea pigs. Even though the men were all sane, mentally capable, and told of the specifics of the experiment, whether or not prisoners can actively consent remains debatable.

No one died due to the experiment, and many prisoners who took part in the study received generous compensation. Most also received reduced sentences for their patriotic service. However, nearly every man who was bitten by an infected mosquito contracted the disease

1Robert Heath’s Electric Sex Stimulation

In 1970, Tulane University ‘s Dr. Robert Heath turned to deep brain stimulation to treat something that he saw as a problem: homosexuality.

A 24-year-old gay man (“B-19”) suffering from paranoia and depression was chosen as the candidate. Stimulation of the brain’s septal region is associated with pleasure. So Dr. Heath inserted electrodes under the man’s skull and shocked his brain. The man did indeed report extreme pleasure. Offered next the ability to shock himself, the man—a suicidal addict—did so thousands of times, in sessions that lasted hours.

Shortly after, Heath monitored the man’s brain activity while B-19 masturbated to heterosexual pornography. The subject successfully orgasmed.

The final part of the experiment consisted of the patient having sex with a female prostitute that Heath had hired. The doctor continually shocked his brain during this process. B-19 didn’t seem interested in the woman, sitting still for over an hour, until she approached him and initiated intercourse.

In a follow-up interview a year later, the patient stated that he had been regularly having sex with both men and women. Deeming the experiment partially successful, Heath moved on to other fields of research, never again attempting to cure homosexuality.

Monsters have always been with us. The oldest stories hint at tales stretching back before the invention of writing. One myth common across Indo-European cultures features a monstrous dragon—and its slaying by a brave hero.

More modern monsters often do not offer us the comfort of showing us how to defeat them. They can also be uncomfortably close to us—even in the United States. Here are 10 contemporary beasts and where to find them.

10 Mothman

In 1966 in West Virginia, people began to report sightings of a terrifying human figure with wings. Soon dubbed “the Mothman,” this creature appeared to gravediggers, couples out walking, and other groups of people. Even eerier than a flying man was the pair of huge glowing red eyes with which he stared at witnesses. For months, more and more people reported sightings of the Mothman. But they all stopped in December 1967.

On the 15th of that month at Point Pleasant, the Silver Bridge catastrophically failed. A single cracked beam suddenly fractured and sent dozens of cars plummeting into the river below. When the bridge fell, it was full of rush hour traffic and 46 people lost their lives. People immediately connected the appearances of the Mothman to the disaster and saw him as a herald of doom.

Since the Silver Bridge disaster, Mothman has rarely been seen. But there are those who claim to have glimpsed him just before other tragedies. So was Mothman a spectral creature trying to warn people of disaster or, as some researchers think, just a large owl?^[1]

9 Slender Man

Slender Man may be one of the most horrific things to come from the Internet, and that is up against some stiff competition. Originally birthed from a Photoshop competition in 2009 when users were challenged to create paranormal images, the Slender Man has spread throughout popular culture and even, tragically, into the real world.

A tall, thin, and besuited character, Slender Man appeared in the background of many photos. Soon, a whole backstory and legend became attached to him. He targeted children or drove adults insane. One alleged power of Slender Man is that he can take control of people and force them to do things against their will.

In 2014, two 12-year-old friends held down and stabbed another 12-year-old 19 times. The aggressors told police that this was what they had to do to become proxies of the Slender Man or else he would kill their families.^[2]

The two girls told each other that they could see “Slendy” and created a world in their minds where he was real. The girl they attacked survived the ordeal, and the two assailants were sentenced to long periods in mental hospitals.

8 Black-Eyed Children

Children can be scary things to some people at the best of times. But when they stare at you with ghostly black eyes, fear is probably an appropriate response. Black-eyed children have been popping up all over the world.

In 1996, a Texas journalist made what is considered one of the earliest sightings. Stopping his car late at night, the reporter was approached by two children who tapped on his window. As soon as he looked at them, he was gripped with terror.^[3]

The two asked for a lift to the cinema and became agitated when he would not let them in. When he broke eye contact with them, the children’s eyes turned pure black. Understandably, the journalist drove off rather quickly.

Now black-eyed children have been spotted in many countries. In the UK, they have been seen several times in Cannock Chase. Recently, they have been making an appearance on the London Underground. Perhaps this explains why Londoners are so reluctant to make eye contact with anyone on the morning commute.

7 Bunny Man

Venture into the woods near Colchester Overpass in Virginia, and you might be in for a big surprise. According to local legend, a former inmate of an insane asylum has made this location his home. But this is not any old madman—he always wears a giant bunny costume.

The tale goes that a 12-year-old boy named Douglas Griffon murdered his parents with an axe at Easter. Locked up for his crimes, all was well until he escaped during a prison transfer. When the police searched for him, all they discovered were mutilated rabbit corpses.

When three teenagers were later killed in the area, a hunt uncovered the axe-wielding Griffon dressed up in a homemade bunny outfit. Before they could capture him, he stepped in front of a train. That should be the end of the story. But rumors persist that Griffon’s spirit—still dressed in his costume—haunts the area.

In fact, people who have looked at the legend of the Bunny Man have concluded that the story above is false. Interestingly, there was a recorded event when a couple was menaced by a man with an axe. He wore a white suit and bunny ears.^[4]

6 Dog Boy Of Arkansas

In the Arkansas town of Quitman, many of the houses are supposed to be home to ghosts. Gerald Floyd Bettis was born in one such haunted house in 1954. Apparently, the boy was sufficiently spooky for his home. He developed a mean streak along with unusual habits such as collecting cats and dogs.

This is how he gained the name “Dog Boy.” Gerald was not caring for the animals he found but torturing them instead. Neighbors could hear their screams.

As Gerald grew up, he tormented his parents, forcing them to live only in the upstairs rooms and feeding them only when he decided they needed feeding. He threw his elderly father out a window and beat up his mother. Eventually, Gerald was arrested for his crimes and died of a drug overdose. But Dog Boy was not done with his home.^[5]

The new owners of the house have reported coins floating down hallways, lights turning on of their own accord, and spectral apparitions. Due to these “darned spirits,” the house has been difficult to sell.

5 Skunk Ape

The Skunk Ape is a creature said to stamp through the swamps of several states. Also known as the “swamp ape” or “swamp cabbage man,” this large humanoid beast carries with it a pungent and repulsive odor—as you might if you spent your life in the swamp. As it is supposed to look somewhat like Bigfoot, many people are searching to capture the Skunk Ape to find out just what it is.

Sightings of the creature tend to occur when hunters spot something moving in the dense plants. Suddenly, a tall and bipedal hairy monster looms up and runs away, leaving nothing but an awful stench in the air.

Given the eyewitness testimony and lack of any physical evidence, most researchers think that the Skunk Ape, if it exists at all, is just a black bear that has rolled around in something nasty.^[6]

On the other hand, Dave Shealy is so sure that the Skunk Ape is out there that he has set up a Skunk Ape Research Headquarters in the Florida Everglades.

4 Charlie No-Face

Charlie No-Face may be the saddest case of a modern monster. At night, people would drive down the back roads of Pennsylvania to catch a glimpse of a monster they called the “Green Man,” or “Charlie No-Face.”

In the glare of their headlights, they might see a solitary figure slowly walking up and down the streets with a disfigured face. Shrieking, they would drive off and tell the story of how they came face to no-face with a legendary creature.

The real monsters, though, were the ones in the cars. Charlie No-Face was a man whose real name was Ray. He had suffered a terrible accident as a child when he climbed a pole to reach a bird’s nest. The pole carried a high-current electric wire, and Ray was burned so badly that he lost his nose, eyes, and right arm.^[7]

Due to his appearance, Ray preferred to stay inside during the day with his family. But he liked to go for walks at night so that he would not frighten people. Despite the sometimes cruel attention he received from those who came to see Charlie No-Face, Ray refused to let them put him off his nightly strolls.

3 Goatman

Few things would be scarier than meeting a creature that had the head and legs of a goat but the body of a human. However, the Goatman of Maryland is even more terrifying because he also carries an axe.^[8]

According to legend, the monster was created by a scientist who was doing research into . . . whatever mad scientists do with goats. The experiment went wrong, and the researcher was transformed into a half-man, half-goat. Apparently a little distressed by this change, he took out his rage on cars with an axe.

The Goatman legend took off in 1971 when a local dog was found decapitated. Now the Goatman is said to enjoy bleating at people out of the darkness in the woods. He has a particular fondness for haunting places where lovers in cars like to park.

The legend of the Goatman was kept alive by local teens who would use the excuse of “Goatman hunting” to organize drunken parties. Imagine meeting the Goatman when you’re drunk, though.

2 The Three-Legged Lady Of Nash Road

The Three-Legged Lady of Mississippi is a ghost that locals claim will chase you down Nash Road. And racing against a three-legged lady doesn’t sound very fair.

Sources vary, but legend has it that a young girl was kidnapped and murdered in the area. The killers cut up her body and tossed it into the woods. When the girl’s mother went searching for her daughter, all she found was a single leg. Unable to stop searching, she now wanders Nash Road with the decaying leg of her daughter stitched crudely to her body.

Should you want (for some reason) to meet the three-legged lady, you must drive to Nash Road at night, turn off your headlights, and honk your horn three times. The three-legged lady will then tap on the roof of your car. As you drive off, presumably in horror, she will race you along the road, bumping into you all the way. It’s not recorded what happens if you lose the race.^[9]

1 Melon Heads

In Michigan, Ohio, and Connecticut, people have reported sightings and attacks by small humanoids with grotesquely swollen heads. The Melon Heads, as they are known, are often associated with legends of people locked up in asylums.

In Ohio, the Melon Heads are said to be cannibals who stalk rural places. With shriveled bodies but massive heads, these pale creatures surprise the unwary and attack them with their pointed teeth. Local tales describe how the Melon Heads were taken in as children by a demented scientist called Dr. Crow.

Through his experiments on them, they became twisted. When they escaped or were let loose, they thrived and waited in lonely places to capture their victims.^[10]

In Michigan, the Melon Heads were children suffering from hydrocephalus, a real condition that can cause the head to swell immensely. After being abused, they escaped from the hospital where they were being held and became feral in the wild. Of course, there is no evidence for the Melon Heads’ existence. But there never is any evidence—until there is.

UFO sightings happen all the time all over the world. Depending on who you ask, stories of UFO encounters can be interesting, frighting, bizarre, or just plain nuts. Incidents that have taken place over the many Air Force bases in the United States, however, are some of the most intriguing on record.

Notably, unidentified and presumably intelligently controlled craft that can buzz military bases with impunity could certainly represent a direct risk to national security. Here are just ten of the best and most interesting UFO incidents to have taken place over various Air Force facilities around the US.

10 18 Silver Discs Hover Over Nellis AFB
October 1951

In October 1951, at a closed part of the Nevada desert reserved for nuclear testing named Yucca Flat, several military personnel witnessed 18 “silvery, rotating discs” hovering over the area for 15 minutes.^[1] As the incident was not reported or spoken about until 13 years later in 1964, some of the details are a little hazy.

For example, the date was somewhere between October 22 and October 30, with the time of the sighting being somewhere between 6:00 and 7:00 AM. A scheduled nuclear test was due to take place later than morning. However, approximately a quarter of an hour before the test was to begin, the triangular formation of the glittering objects appeared overhead.

Furthermore, one of the main witnesses, a 19-year-old known only as “Mr. M,” would also claim to have witnessed several “strange creatures” in the area at the same time as the sighting, which disappeared just as quickly. The hovering objects would remain in a tight formation throughout the incident, not making a sound of any kind before disappearing in a matter of seconds.

Nellis Air Force Base would have several other sightings over the years, with some taking place more recently. However, one of these stands out from the others and would unfold a little over a decade after the Yucca Flat incident.

9 UFO Crashes In Nellis AFB
April 1962

According to newspaper reports at the time and subsequent investigations by UFO organizations since, an otherworldly craft came crashing to the ground on the evening of April 18, 1962, within the grounds of Nellis Air Force Base, no less.^[2] It would come to light years later, when investigators pieced together several “different” UFO sightings that were, in fact, the same apparent object that would eventually crash-land.

It was spotted and monitored by various Air Force radars as it went over New York from the Atlantic before making its way west, with confirmed sightings over Kansas, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona before its flight finally came to an abrupt end. The Las Vegas Sun would report on the incident, using many local residents’ witness statements of a “weird unidentified object” that resulted in a “brilliant red explosion.”

When UFO investigators began examining such reports and declassified files, perhaps in particular the Project Blue Book reports, they discovered hints of a cover-up of the incident. For example, there was a record of an unidentified radar report which was then changed to being a case with “insufficient data.” What’s more, there was no reason stated for the change (as there should have been). Even more alarming was the fact that the records claimed there were “no visual” sightings, which, again, was clearly not the case.

By the time allegations of the Air Force scrambling jets in order to intercept and engage the strange craft surfaced, the incident took on a air of mystique that makes it one of the most intriguing apparent encounters in UFO history.

8UFO Deactivates Nukes At Malmstrom AFB
March 1967

What is perhaps most alarming about the Malmstrom UFO incident is the realization, at last in theory, that the power and intelligence behind the strange craft sighted apparently had the ability to disarm the United States military of its most potent weapons—arguably rendering it defenseless against such an intelligence should it prove hostile. And while that might seem outlandish to many of us today, that was not the case for many American citizens at the time, sandwiched between the ever-constant threat of the Cold War and these apparent visitors from another world.

On the morning of March 16, 1967, Captain Robert Salas received reports of a strange, glowing, red saucer-shaped object simply hovering above the Montana base. It would remain there for several minutes, with multiple military personnel viewing it. Then, as Salas watched helplessly, the ten nuclear missiles he was overseeing would go offline one by one.^[3] The object then vanished. The missiles, however, would remain offline for several hours before returning back to normal.

Many UFO researchers have suggested that this action was a display of superiority regarding the military’s nuclear weapons and their apparent ineffectiveness against such advanced intelligence. The incident remains unexplained.

7 Glowing Object Hovers Over Loring AFB
October 1975

A similar incident would take place on the evening of October 27, 1975, over the weapons storage facility at Loring Air Force Base in Maine.^[4] It was around 7:45 PM on the night in question when the glowing object was first observed by on-duty personnel. What is perhaps interesting about this is that the units were disguised and covered over. That the aerial anomaly “knew” weapons were there is perhaps a telling detail concerning its technical capability.

One of the witnesses, Danny Lewis, would later recall how it had a single red light and a separate white strobe light on its underside. The object circled the base several times before settling in over the weapons unit. In total, it remained visible over the base for around 40 minutes before eventually taking off and vanishing into the night sky.

The following evening, however, the strange object returned at almost the exact same time as the previous night. Once more, it would circle the base, as if surveying it, before settling into a hovering position over the weapons storage unit.

The base would remain on alert for several weeks following the incident, with several other sightings taking place as well. Then, they simply stopped as quickly as they had begun.

6 ‘Cat And Mouse’ UFO Chase Over Cannon AFB
January 1976

The incident over Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico on January 21, 1976, would not only stretch to a second night but was also witnessed by pure chance by a student journalist known only as “Bruce.”^[5]

On the evening in question, Bruce was working for a local radio station, performing tests on their transmitters. It was while he was at such a transmitter overlooking Cannon Air Force Base that he witnessed the bizarre scene. First, he noticed lights which he later described as looking like “light bulbs on a string.”

When he observed them through binoculars, however, the light bulbs were decidedly “saucer-shaped,” with a red glow emanating from their undersides. While one of the craft remained in position, the other two would suddenly swoop downward toward the ground. The objects then moved out over a nearby town. Bruce would note how, from his perspective overlooking the area, he could see the streetlights dimming in turn as the UFOs passed overhead.

The following evening, Bruce would purposely return to the area, only this time, he and several fellow journalists would position themselves on buildings with a view of the military base, the scene of the bizarre happenings the night before. Just before 1:00 AM, the glowing objects returned, and this time, there four of them. What’s more, within minutes, several military jets also arrived, immediately giving chase to the aerial anomalies. However, the intruders would always manage to evade the oncoming jets. This would continue for approximately 45 minutes before each of the objects simply disappeared vertically in a matter of seconds.

Interestingly, Freedom of Information Act requests would show that several F-111s were scrambled from Cannon AFB on the night in question. Perhaps more worrying, at least according to Bruce, is that he would receive some extremely disturbing warnings following his decision to speak publicly of the incident.

5 Red Object Over Ellsworth AFB
August 1953

On the evening of August 5, 1953, several residents in the town of Blackhawk, South Dakota, would witness and report a glowing red craft overhead, seemingly heading toward Ellsworth Air Force Base.^[6] What’s more, due to the environment of the Cold War, many of the witnesses were trained observers with the Ground Observer Corps.

The first account, for example, would come from such a volunteer observer, Mrs. Kellian, who would make a report directly to radar operators at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Not only did they have the object on their screens, but they sent several personnel outside to obtain visual confirmation (which they duly did).

A military aircraft already performing patrol duties was redirected to the area on an intercept mission. However, like many other similar cases, as soon as he began to get close to the UFO, it would move rapidly out of the way. After giving chase for several minutes, the jet returned to base. A second jet would scramble from the runway in an attempt to intercept but would ultimately prove unsuccessful.

The official conclusion of the United States Air Force was that the object was “unknown,” although no further (official) investigation took place. The case remains unexplained.

4 Alien Battle Over McChord AFB
October 1972

The alleged incidents that took place near Tacoma, Washington, in the skies around McChord Air Force Base remained largely buried away for almost three decades before a one-time government agent, Robert Collins, would finally reveal the account in 2001.

According to Collins’s account, on the afternoon of October 14, 1972, two US airmen, Steven Briggs and Dennis Hillsgeck, were at the Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) facility, which came under the care of the nearby McChord AFB. While performing their duties, they suddenly heard a high-pitched whining sound coming from outside the building. Upon stepping outside, they were confronted by a “saucer-shaped object” hovering overhead. Seconds later, the futuristic, shining craft began to descend to the ground.^[7]

The next thing the two men knew, two humanoid creatures had exited the craft and were seemingly headed for the building. They would urgently request backup, claiming that “intruders” were attempting to enter the facility. It would be a little over a quarter of an hour before another unit would arrive at the site. They would discover the two airmen confused and in a mild state of shock.

Not long after that, a security police officer, Sergeant Darren Alexander, was searching the area with a dog. He would not only witness the saucer-shaped craft but one of the apparent humanoid occupants on the ground as well. He would draw his revolver, and after seeing a strange device in the creature’s hand, he fired all six shots at almost point-blank range. In the chaos of the moment, the creature seemingly disappeared, leaving Sergeant Alexander quite confused.

The account is one that certainly divides opinion within the UFO community, with many perhaps understandably skeptical of the claims.

3 Abductee Crash-Lands At Edwards AFB
Summer 1971

If claims of alien abduction are just too unbelievable for some people to take seriously, then an abduction that results in a UFO crash at a military installation is perhaps even more unbelievable. However, one summer’s evening in 1971, or so the story goes, that is exactly what happened to a young woman eventually named as Lorraine Dvorak Cordini.^[8]

According to witnesses, the calm California night was suddenly disturbed by a sudden unearthly roar that ended in an equally frightening crashing sound. As people rushed out of their homes, a large cloud and evidence of flames was visible a short distance away, near Edwards Air Force Base. Even more bizarre, several people would claim to see “three grey humanoids” as well as a human female, herself wearing a strange, tight-fitting pink suit, among the ruins of a crashed vehicle of some sort.

Before anyone realized what was taking place, however, a legion of military trucks and other vehicles arrived and quickly sealed off the area. Furthermore, they would remove the wreckage and any sign of it, as well as taking the humanoids and the woman with them. Residents assumed they were taken to Edwards AFB.

The military would eventually claim that the downed craft was a military vehicle that had crash-landed. However, UFO researcher Albert Rosales would track down the mystery female, eventually revealing her identity as Lorraine (as mentioned above). What’s more, she would agree to undergo hypnotic regression in order to unlock the events of the night in question.

Lorraine claimed that after being abducted from her home and given the pink clothing to wear, she was taken to a larger ship in Earth’s orbit, where an examination took place. She was then placed in a smaller craft—the one that crashed—and sent back to Earth with several of the strange creatures. She would awaken in a military hangar. Even more bizarre, at least according to the hypnosis sessions, is that while here, she saw military personnel and strange large-headed creatures, different from the ones that had taken her from her room.

Needless to say, there are many who remain skeptical of the incident.

2 UFO Sighting Over Larson AFB
December 1952

While driving back toward Larson Air Force Base in Washington state on the evening of December 22, 1952, an off-duty technician witnessed a bizarre, vaguely hat-shaped object hovering over the base.^[9] He reported the object to his superiors and then continued on toward the base. However, shortly after, with the object now clearly visible through his windshield, he decided to pull the vehicle to the side of the road and exit it so that he could get a clearer, steadier view of the strange craft.

It would perform bizarre and breathtaking maneuvers, seemingly glowing brighter the faster it moved through the air. On occasion, the witness claimed to see the object “roll” in the air, apparently exposing an underside that had a red glow to it.

After several moments of these strange but impressive aerial movements, the UFO came to a stop and would hover for approximately a quarter of an hour. At that point, eager to get back to base and satisfied that nothing more of consequence would take place, the witness returned to his vehicle and set off once more.

1 UFO Incident Over Minot AFB
October 1968

Unusual UFO activity is particularly persistent over Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. However, the incident that perhaps sticks out the most took place a little after 2:00 AM on October 24, 1968. While acting as “aboveground security” for an operation taking place underground, a small military unit spotted a “large glowing object” hovering in the sky. A short while later, reports would come in from several locations around the base. And what’s more, they would continue to do so right through the night until the early hours of dawn.

At around 3:30 AM, a B-52 bomber witnessed the UFO from above.^[10] In later declassified documents, the operators of the B-52 described the craft as being like a “miniature sun placed on the ground.”

Although Project Blue Book would investigate the incident, by this stage in the program’s existence, any pretense of genuine investigation was largely gone. Needless to say, it remains unexplained and, for the most part, unacknowledged.

Incidentally, two years earlier, a very similar incident took place over Minot Air Force Base, at least according to an apparent whistle-blower named David Schindele. Like the aforementioned incident over Malmstrom in March 1967, all of the base’s nuclear weapons were deactivated. While the Air Force denied such an incident, newspaper reports at the time regularly reported UFO sightings in and around the base.

Both the Union and the Confederacy enlisted child soldiers during the bloody US Civil War that lasted from April 12, 1861, to May 9, 1865. Many of the children served with distinction and returned home. Others were not so lucky and paid with their lives.

10 Edwin Francis Jemison

The portrait of Confederate Private Edwin Francis Jemison is one of the most famous photographs of the Civil War. He was born on December 4, 1844, and enlisted in the Confederate 2nd Louisiana Infantry in May 1861 when he was 16. The photograph for which he is remembered was taken soon after his enlistment.

Edwin’s first encounter with the Union Army was in April 1862 when his unit faced enemy troops in the Battle of Dam No. 1 in Virginia. His second encounter was in the July 1, 1862, Battle of Malvern Hill, which remained the deadliest battle of the Civil War until it was superseded by the Battle of Antietam.

The Confederates lost about 5,500 soldiers during the battle while the Union lost half of that number. Jemison became part of the Confederate casualty list when he was hit by a cannonball while charging toward Union lines.^[1] He was five months to clocking 18.

9 John Lincoln Clem

John Lincoln Clem was born John Joseph Klem, but he swapped “Joseph” for “Lincoln” in reverence for President Abraham Lincoln. In 1861, at age 10, John fled from home to join the Union 3rd Ohio as a drummer.

The 3rd Ohio turned him down for being underage, and he left to join the 22nd Michigan, which turned him down for the same reason. Undeterred, he tagged along with the 22nd Michigan, which later adopted him as a mascot and drummer, although he was only allowed to enlist in 1862.^[2]

John Clem swapped his drum for a musket during the September 1863 Battle of Chickamauga, where three bullets pierced holes in his hat. He strayed from his unit during the battle and was spotted running back to his lines by a Confederate colonel who chased after him and demanded his surrender.

Rather than surrendering, he shot and killed the colonel, who had referred to Clem as a “Yankee Devil.” The incident earned him a promotion and the nickname “The Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.” He was discharged from the army in 1864. But he rejoined as a second lieutenant in 1871 and retired as a brigadier general in 1915.

8 Elisha Stockwell

Elisha Stockwell first enlisted in the Union Army during a recruitment drive in Jackson County, Wisconsin, when he was 15. His father disapproved of his enlistment, which caused the recruiters to remove Elisha’s name.

Undeterred, he fled with a Union soldier who was a friend of his father and had come home on leave. Before taking off, Elisha visited his sister and told her he was going downtown. She told him to return early for dinner.

Elisha did, two years later.

During his second enlistment, he told the recruiter that he could not remember his age although he thought he was 18. The recruiter knew Elisha was younger than 18. Still, the man listed Elisha’s age as 18 and his height as 165 centimeters (5’5″)—a height he only reached two years later.

Elisha saw a dead man for the first time in the 1862 Battle of Shiloh when he stumbled on a dead, disemboweled soldier with his back to a tree. According to Elisha, the encounter made him “deadly sick.”

He also saw his first action in that battle when he joined a downhill charge toward Confederate lines. When the charge was called off, half the men in his unit were either dead or wounded.

For the first time, Elisha realized that his decision to run away from home was foolish because warfare was no joke. He returned home after the war to learn that only three (including him) of the 32 men and boys from his hometown who had left for the war had lived.^[3]

7 William Johnston

William Johnston is the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was born in July 1850 and enlisted in the Union 3rd Vermont Infantry as a drummer in May 1862.

He participated in the “Seven Days” battle that lasted from June 25 to July 1, 1862, in which his unit was forced to retreat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s forces. Confederate troops followed and fired at William’s unit as it retreated, forcing many soldiers to dump their weapons and drums.

Only William had his drum when the entire division, which included the 3rd Vermont Infantry, was mustered for an Independence Day parade on July 4. So he played for the entire division.

President Abraham Lincoln was so impressed with William’s resolve to hold onto his drum when the older soldiers dumped their weapons and drums that Lincoln awarded William the Medal of Honor. At age 13, William is the youngest recipient to date.^[4]

6 John Cook

John Cook enlisted in the Union 4th United States Artillery as a bugler when he was 15. He participated in the deadly Battle of Antietam where his battery was attacked by Confederate infantry.

His battery suffered about 17 wounded or dead during the first wave of the assault. The wounded included the commander, Captain Campbell, whose horse was killed. Injured survivors were targeted by enemy fire as they attempted to retreat to the rear, but John managed to drag the captain back there before returning to commandeer a cannon.

He was joined by the division’s commander, Brigadier General Gibbon, who loaded and fired the cannon like a regular soldier. Meanwhile, the Confederates made three unsuccessful attempts to capture the cannons.

The third attempt was the most dramatic as they got within 3–5 meters (10–15 ft) of the cannons. At the end of the fight, the battery had 44 men and 40 horses dead or wounded.^[5] John Cook was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts, making him the youngest artillery soldier to ever earn such a distinction.

5 Robert Henry Hendershot

Robert Henry Hendershot was 10 when he joined the Union’s 9th Michigan Infantry as a volunteer drummer in 1861. He took the drumming craft with unusual seriousness for an ill-mannered rascal who regularly fought with his mother and skipped school to pelt train passengers with fruits.

However, he was only allowed to enlist in the unit in March 1862. It was from this moment that his accounts of the war became divided between truths, exaggerated truths, and outright lies.

He reportedly killed a Confederate colonel during a siege in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he was captured and freed during a prisoner exchange. He reenlisted in the 8th Michigan as Robert Henry Henderson on August 19, 1862, but found his way into the 7th Michigan instead. There, he claimed to have taken the surrender of a Confederate soldier in the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Trouble started in August 1891 when veterans of the 7th Michigan denied that Robert was ever in Fredericksburg. They stripped him of the title “The Drummer Boy of the Rappahannock” and claimed that the real drummer boy was either John T. Spillaine or Thomas Robinson.^[6]

Meanwhile, the 8th Michigan claimed that it was Charles Gardner. Robert only got his title back after several notable people, including President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant, intervened.

4 Charles Edwin King

Charles Edwin King holds the record of being the youngest fatality of the Civil War. He was born on April 4, 1849, and enlisted as a drummer in the Union’s 49th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers on September 12, 1861. He was 12 years old. His father opposed his enlistment but gave in on the assurance of Captain Benjamin Sweeney, who promised to keep Charlie away from the front lines.

Charlie first saw action in the Battle of Williamsburg, where the Union Army was routed from the Virginia Peninsula by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s troops. Charlie saw combat again in the September 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam, which remains the deadliest battle of the Civil War.^[7]

Estimates vary, but the casualty rate is believed to be at least 22,720 troops: 12,400 from the Confederate side and 10,320 from the Union. This doesn’t include civilians who died of disease after the battle and the 6,300 soldiers who died in a prelude to the battle three days earlier.

The battle would also be Charlie’s last as he was seriously wounded when shrapnel from a Confederate shell exploded close to him at the rear lines. The shrapnel passed through his body, causing extensive injuries that turned fatal three days later. He died on September 20, 1862, at age 13.

3 Frederick Grant

At age 12, Frederick Grant, the son of Union General Ulysses S. Grant, followed his father to war. Frederick camped in his father’s tent and was allocated his own horse and uniform. General Grant barred the boy from visiting the front lines, but he still did, at least until a Confederate soldier shot him in the leg.

Frederick’s low point of the war was the Battle of Port Gibson, where the Union suffered 131 dead and 719 wounded. Frederick visited the battlefield after the fighting and helped to gather the dead. This horrendous task made him sick, and he quickly left to join other soldiers bringing the wounded to a makeshift hospital. The sight at the hospital was worse, and the horrified boy left to sit by a tree.^[8]

A report by someone else who also visited this hospital after the battle stated that its yard was filled with a heap of amputated arms and legs. According to the person, seeing that was worse than seeing dead people, as it evoked in him very deep feelings he had never felt before.

2 Edward Black

Edward Black enlisted in the Union 21st Indiana Infantry as a drummer at age eight, making him the youngest person to ever serve in the United States Armed Forces. Like other drummers, Edward was always at the front, where he played his drums to lead and direct the troops. This made him and other drummers perfect targets for enemy soldiers willing to disorganize the unit.

Edward was captured during the Battle of Baton Rouge and imprisoned on an island in the Gulf of Mexico. But he regained his freedom when Union forces captured the island and nearby New Orleans.

After President Lincoln banned the use of child soldiers in 1862, Edward was discharged and returned to his Indianapolis home with his drum. However, the trauma and injuries he sustained during the war haunted him so badly that it probably contributed to his death at age 18. His drum currently sits at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis where it remains one of the museum’s most prized artifacts.^[9]

1 Abel Sheeks

Abel Sheeks fled his Alabama home to join the ranks of the Confederate Army when he was 16. With the Confederates short on uniforms, Abel had to wear his blue shirt and trousers (which resembled the Union’s uniform) into battle. That continued until a colleague asked if he wanted to be mistaken for a Union soldier.

After each engagement, Abel scoured the battlefield to scavenge uniforms from dead Confederate soldiers of his size. According to him, he hated doing it but was left with no choice. In a few weeks, he had a full Confederate uniform.

Training for military life was hell for the boys at the Confederate camps. Drills were the centerpiece, and shooting practice was almost nonexistent because guns and ammunition were in short supply. This meant that many Confederate soldiers received their shooting lessons right on the battlefield.^[10]

Drills at the Union camps were no better. One Union boy who had endured enough of the boring, repetitive actions during his first drill told the drill sergeant, “Let’s stop this fooling and go over to the grocery.” The drill sergeant did not take kindly to his suggestion and ordered a corporal to “drill him like hell.”

Oliver Taylor is a freelance writer and bathroom musician. You can reach him at [email protected].

Before we go any further, we need to state right now that the following claims are ones that reside mainly on the fringes of the fringes of the conspiracy world. And as such are dismissed as outrageous nonsense by many, if not most. They revolve around the claim that the United States of America remains under the control of the British. Or more to the point, The Crown. And it remains so, through a group formed in the 17th century named The Virginia Company.

You have to make of these claims what you will, as they are most likely wide of the mark of accurate reality. The thought-process, however, and ways the dots have been connected are intriguing in their own right.

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8 The “Secret” 1604 Meeting In Greenwich, London

The best place to begin exploring these claims is to look at the Virginia Company. And more specifically an apparent meeting that took place in Greenwich, London in England in 1604. On the agenda were the potential opportunities of the new world that we know today as the United States of America. Or, perhaps more accurately, how they could benefit the many “elites” of the United Kingdom. This was also the case with other parts of Europe. As well as many of the secret societies that were essentially forerunners of the Freemasons.

According to the claims, one of those at this secret meeting was no less than King James I. And James, incidentally, had the largest share in the new venture. This investment would see the influence of the king grow considerably. It would do so as they seized land to exploit materials in the new world. And what’s more, the ultimate objective was to increase the overall wealth and influence of The Crown. This, however, opposed to popular belief, is not a reference to the Royal Family (we will come back to this in our next entry).

If we believe the claims, the meeting would result in the creation of The Virginia Company. This group would then set out on two separate missions to the promising lands of the new world. One would land in what is now Jamestown in 1607, named after King James I. The other would arrive at Cape Cod in 1620. Both would immediately claim rights to the land they had “discovered”.^[1]

7 The Crown – What Is It?

When most people think of The Crown, they very likely imagine a connection to the British Royal family. However, in this instance, it is a reference to The Crown at Temple Bar which resides in the City of London. This area is where the many lawmakers and bankers operate from. Indeed, those who subscribe to a world-wide conspiracy of elite overlords controlling everything state that The Crown is one of the central operating locations.

In the early-1600s, one of the main concerns of The Crown was the rapidly increasing influence from the conquests of the Spanish. Many of the territories in the south Americas, for example, were already under Spanish control. Because of this, the spread of the Spanish language was increasing. And perhaps of most concern to the elites of England at the time, so was the spread of Catholicism. A decision was made to beat them to the northern territories. Lest they challenge the influence of The Crown and the subsequent profits they could make.^[2]

6 The City Of London – A Law Unto Itself?

Much like the District of Columbia, which we will move on to in a moment, the City of London is a law unto itself. It resides right in the heart of London on grounds of only one square mile. And upon the conquest of William The Conquer would negotiate its own laws and freedoms. As a result, since 1067, it has acted as its own sovereign state. This remains fully in place today and was arrived at through “debt-financing”. Incidentally, this is perhaps one of the first examples of the start of the modern banking world.

Much is the same for the District of Columbia where the heart of the American banking system resides. This is known as the Federal Reserve and also operates under its own laws. And like the City of London, is a separate entity from the rest of the country.

What’s more, the twists and turns of America’s early years begin to become even more intriguing. For example, not only were a large portion of the Founding Fathers Freemasons, but many were also lawyers for The Crown. And their presence in the soon-to-be United States was for one reason only. To ensure that all decisions in relation to land, materials, and taxes were all tipped in their favour.^[3]

5 The Act of 1871 – Central To The Entire Conspiracy

One of the most intriguing parts of the Virginia Company and British control of United States revolves around the Act of 1871. According to the claims, the real purpose of the Act of 1871 was to create two separate entities. One, a country (the United States of America), and the other, a corporation (the United States). The corporation was based in the District of Columbia, which is a law unto itself with its own government. This is the Federal Government and is different from that of the United States.

Official history suggests that the grip of The Virginia Company ceased following the War of Independence. This would break the country from British rule and also force the group into bankruptcy. However, following the Act of 1871, bankers and private companies were able to operate out of the District of Columbia. They would ultimately profit from the debt of the United States government. This is largely because the United States was forced to borrow money from the reserve, much as they do today.

Over time, some began to question this set up. Many researchers even question whether the Federal Reserve is nothing more than The Virginia Company renamed. If this is the case, then that would mean that the United States of America was essentially still under British control. If only because of the vast amount of financial debt it remains in to the Federal Reserve.^[4]

4 The Maritime Law Claims

Perhaps one of the most bizarre claims connected to the Virginia Company are those of Maritime Law in America. And, if we accept them to be accurate for one moment, the reality of the United States courts looks entirely different.

Officially the United States court system operate under common law (or the Law of the Land). As the District of Columbia is home to the (private) Federal Government, though, it operates under Maritime Law. This is sometimes called Admiralty Law, which is essentially the Law of the Sea.

This means, if you subscribe to the theories, the court systems in federal cases are also operating under Maritime Law. And ultimately are operating under laws outside of the American legal system. Instead, some people claim that such cases are operating under the same systems as when under British rule.

Of course, we should remind ourselves once more that many, many people reject such claims. Indeed, most see them as nothing but twisted truths on one level and outright nonsense on the other.^[5]

3 Ties To Ancient Bloodlines And Secret Societies

There are several claims that revolve around the idea of a ruling elite bloodline stretching back to antiquity. And, of course, this runs through the Founding Fathers and their connections to The Crown in England. What’s more, these connections also run through the royal and elite families of Europe. Going one stage further, many of these same bloodlines stretch back to antiquity. And through such empires as those of ancient Rome, and Egypt, right the way back to the Sumer region.

Perhaps one more point of interest is the notion that over 40 of the United States Presidents also connect to these bloodlines.

It is easy to see, then, where the idea of a ruling elite controlling resources all over the planet comes from. And why the idea blossoms easily in the minds of some researchers. And if true, The Virginia Company is just one part of that overriding control.^[6]

2 Intriguing Clues In The Names

Tied in and around these claims to the connections to secret societies and bloodlines are further intriguing clues. Ones that some researchers claim are hidden in plain sight for everyone to see.

And once again, we will turn to the District of Columbia and its apparent discreet origins to Babylon. For example, one of the most important deities in Babylon was Queen Semiramis. This divine being also goes by the name, Venus Columba. It doesn’t take too much study to see the near match in the words Columba and Columbia. Might it be that the District of Columbia is, in fact, the District of Columba? This would essentially mean it is the District of Venus Columba, or Queen Semiramis of Babylon.

This is simply one such clue that those who subscribe to claims of secret control over the world – including the United States – feel endorses their argument. Most would accept that such conspiracies are highly unlikely. There is still, however, that tiny bit in most of us that questions, just a little bit, if they just might be true.^[7]

1 The Words Of George Bush

While there is considerable doubt as to what he actually meant, a quote usually attributed to George Bush Sr is intriguing. And is looked at as being some an admission regarding the control a very select few have over the rest of the world’s populace.

According to the claims, Bush would state “if the American people knew what we had done, they would string us up from the lamp posts”.

Was he referring to the claims we have discussed here? After all, the above statement could be used in relation to many such incidents of the twentieth century. Anything from oil scandals, for example, to the death of JFK, to the many scandals of the Reagan era.

Was this what Bush Sr meant when he claimed they would be strung up from lamp posts if people knew the truth? It is certainly food for thought, of that there is little doubt.^[8]

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The history of the US dollar predates the United States itself. It goes back to the Revolutionary War when all thirteen colonies issued a single currency to fund the war against Britain. The current dollar was first issued during the Civil War. Several other currencies were introduced before, during, and after the war, and some even coexisted alongside the current dollar.

Interestingly, the present-day US currency has some bills that are rarely seen or even heard of. Ever heard of the $100,000 bill? Maybe not. Well! Here are ten old-timey bills and currencies of the US. Mind you, some are still legal tender even though they are out of print.

10Silver Certificates

Silver certificates were issued in the US between 1878 and 1964. They were used like regular money and were originally redeemable for their face value in silver coins. However, between June 1967 and June 1968, they could be exchanged for silver bullion and thereafter, regular bank notes. They remain legal tender and can still be traded for current bank bills. In fact, silver certificates closely resemble bank notes, except that their fine print reads “one dollar in silver payable to the bearer on demand.”

Interestingly and unknown to many, two versions of the $1 silver certificate issued in 1886 and 1891 are the first American paper money to ever feature the portrait of a woman. The woman was Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington and the first, first lady of the United States. Martha Washington silver certificates are valued among collectors. An 1891 version in perfect condition sells for about $1,500.^[1]

9Continental Currency

The Continental Currency was issued on June 22, 1775, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, when the thirteen colonies that would later form the United States agreed they needed a unified currency to prosecute the war against Britain. The money was called “Continental” because it was issued by the Continental Congress, which was the highest governing body during the war. It consisted of delegates from all thirteen colonies.

The currency was backed by nothing other than the promise that it would be repaid from the funds generated from future taxes. The public had no trust in the money, and it led to inflation so bad that even George Washington complained about one wagonload of Continental Currency not buying one wagonload of supplies. Britain worsened the effect of the inflation by releasing counterfeit notes into the US.

The value of the Continental Currency varied from colony to colony. People even coined the idiom “not worth a Continental” to describe the worthlessness of an object. The money became so unstable that it crashed in May 1781.^[2] The failure of the currency put the newly formed United States in heavy debt at the end of the war. It was even one of the reasons why the US abandoned the idea of a confederation for a stronger central government. The US itself avoided issuing paper money until the Civil War.

8$100,000

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered all US citizens to surrender all gold coins, gold bullion, and gold certificates in their possession. This was at the height of the Great Depression when people hoarded their gold and refused to accept paper money. In fact, paper money became so worthless that barter (the exchange of goods for other goods or services) became the preferred medium of exchange.

With most citizens separated from their gold, they were forced to spend the paper money. The federal government itself printed more money including a new $100,000 bill that featured the portrait of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States.

There was a catch though. The bill was not legal tender since it was not intended for general use. It was specially made for branches of the Federal Reserve to use in high-value transactions. It remains the highest single bill denomination ever printed in the US.^[3]

7Demand Notes

The US federal government issued its first paper money when the US Civil War broke out in 1861. Before then, the federal government used gold and silver in its transactions while more than 8,000 banks independently issued and controlled all the paper money in circulation. The war seriously depleted the US treasury and caused widespread inflation. In response, Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of Treasury, suggested that the government introduced a single paper money to replace all the paper monies issued by the banks.

This led to the introduction of Demand Notes, which are the first true paper money issued by the United States government. The Continental Currency mentioned above does not qualify as the first paper money because it was released before the formation of the United States. The government issued $10 million worth of Demand Notes, which was redeemable for gold or silver. However, it never caught on since people hoarded their gold and silver coins.

In 1862, the US Congress passed a law ordering the production of a new currency that was not redeemable for gold or silver. This led to the creation of the US dollars used to date. Demand Notes were taken out of circulation as this new paper money was introduced. At first, the paper money suffered from constant inflation and deflation as its value rose and fell depending on the victories and losses of the Union.^[4]

6Fractional Currency

As we already mentioned, Americans hoarded valuable coins during the US Civil War. To address this, the Treasury issued fractional currency notes in denominations of between one and fifty cents. Most Americans hated the fractional money, which they called “shinplasters” because of the extra thin paper used in its production. The paper was compared to the thin paper doctors used to make plaster casts.

In 1865, the Treasury announced plans to issue more fractional currency. However, Congress ordered that the three-cent fractional currency, which was originally a silver coin and was valued because of its use in making change and paying for postage (which cost exactly three cents) should not be made with shinplaster but with a mixture of nickel and copper.

The three-cent nickel was proposed by Congressman John Kasson, who was famous for previously disapproving the use of nickel in coins. Kasson did hate the idea of using nickels in coins, but he hated the shinplasters more, so he approved the nickel coin as the lesser of two evils.

The three-cent nickel, the three-cent silver, and the three-cent fractional currency remained in circulation until the silver was phased out in 1873. The three-cent fractional currency followed when all fractional currencies were discontinued in February 1876. The three-cent nickel itself was discontinued in 1889 when postage was reduced to two cents. All three-cent nickels were melted and remolded into five cent nickels.^[5]

5$1000

The 1,000 dollar bill is one of the rarest legal tenders in the US. It has been out of print since 1946 but is still acceptable by banks in exchange for $1,000 equivalent in credit. Banks are expected to remit all $1,000 bills deposited at their branches to the Federal Reserve, which ensures they do not go back into circulation. However, people with $1,000 notes prefer hoarding them since their rarity has made them worthier than their face value.

The US federal government printed its first $1,000 bill during the US Civil War even though the thirteen colonies that formed the United States had issued a $1,000 bill as part of the so-called Continental Currency. The Union used the money to purchase items like ammunition, which it needed to use to fight the war.

After the war, the $1,000 note and other similarly high valued bills were relegated for use in large-scale transactions like interbank transfers and property deals. It was last printed in 1946 but remained in circulation until 1969 when President Richard Nixon ordered the Federal Reserve to recall all high valued bills over fears that they would be used for money laundering. Besides this, the $1,000 bill was expensive to print since only a few were produced at a time.^[6]

4$10,000

The $10,000 bill is the highest legal tender ever printed in the US. Unlike the $100,000 note, it was intended for everyday use, and like the $1,000 bill, it remains a legal tender even though they were both taken out of circulation in 1969. The $10,000 note features the portrait of Salmon P. Chase, who served as President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of Treasury. Chase also served as a senator and governor of Ohio and Chief Justice of the United States.

However, it was his role as Secretary of Treasury that earned him a place on the $10,000 bill. As we mentioned earlier, it was he who proposed the creation of a single, federally controlled paper money. The $10,000 bill was used for large transactions like settling interbank transfers and was not commonly used in public. Estimates point that there are less than 350 in circulation today. They are a huge collector’s item, and a crisp bill could fetch up to $140,000. A rough one could fetch $30,000.^[7]

3Double Eagle

The Double Eagle was a $20 gold coin issued between 1907 and 1932. It was taken out of circulation in 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt banned American citizens from owning gold. 445,300 gold coins postdated 1933 had been minted by the time President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order and were never released. They were melted down and converted into bullion in 1937.

However, some of the 1933 gold coins escaped being melted. No one knows how the coins were smuggled out of the US Mint, but it is speculated that a cashier called George McCann switched about twenty 1933 Double Eagles for earlier versions. That way, no one would notice the difference in weight.

A jeweler called Israel Swift is known to have been in possession of nineteen of these coins, and he sold nine to private collectors. One was sold to King Farouk of Egypt. The coin reappeared when King Farouk was deposed in 1952 but disappeared again when whoever was in its possession realized that the Secret Service was still trying to recover it. The Secret Service only got hold of it forty years later when it launched a sting operation against Stephen Fenton, a British coin dealer who was in its possession.

The coin was stored in the treasury vault of the World Trade Center while Fenton and the US Mint engaged in a lengthy legal battle, which ended with Fenton and the US Mint agreeing to sell the coin and splitting the proceeds. The coin was then moved from the World Trade Center to Fort Knox two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The coin sold for a record $7,590,000, which includes a 15 percent buyer fee and an additional $20 for its face value. Joan Langbord, one of Swift’s heirs uncovered ten more coins in September 2004. She sent them to the US Mint for authentication, but the Secret Service immediately seized them.^[8]

2Treasury Notes

Also called Coin Notes, Treasury Notes are series of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $1,000 bills issued in the United States between 1890 and 1891. They were issued after the passage of the Legal Tender Act of July 14, 1890, which permitted the Secretary of Treasury to print the notes as payment for the silver bullion purchased by the Treasury.

Treasury Notes could be redeemed for gold or silver coins, depending on the preference set by the Secretary of Treasury. A 500 dollar bill was also planned but was never issued. Only sample copies were printed.

The bills issued in 1890 and 1891 look similar but there are a few ways to tell them apart. One difference is the type and size of seal used. Another is the design of their reverse sides. 1890 bills have a rich dark green reverse while 1891 bills have a plain green and white reverse. Both versions are collector’s items although the 1890 edition is rarer and more expensive.^[9]

11974 Aluminum Cent

Copper got so costly in 1973 that the US Mint started looking into an alternative metal to use for its coins. After an extensive test, it settled for aluminum. In 1974, the US Mint transported uncut aluminum alloys from its Philadelphia mint to its Denver mint, where it was cut to shape and returned to Philadelphia for stamping.

The Denver mint was not supposed to stamp any coin but an assistant superintendent went on to make the only 1974 aluminum cent created at the Denver mint. It is a one cent denomination and was marked “D” to show that it was made in Denver.

In 1974, the Philadelphia mint stamped about 1.5 million aluminum coins and shared some samples among members of the Congress. However, Congress refused to authorize the aluminum coins for several reasons including the fact that a representative of the vending industry claimed that aluminum coins would not work with their machines.

The US Mint melted the aluminum coins, but at least fifteen remain unaccounted for to date. These unaccounted coins are part of those held by Congressmen who did not return their sample coins. As for the illegally made “D” coin, Harry Edmond Lawrence, the son of the assistant superintendent, returned it to the US Mint after the death of his father.^[10]

The United States government has a department responsible for making sure its citizens don’t eat foods that may be dangerous. Whether this is due to an ingredient or how the dish is made, the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Products Safety Commission have decided that some stuff, no matter how delicious it may be, is just too dangerous to consume.

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Some of the items on this list may actually surprise you, given that you either had them growing up or consider them perfectly fine. These ten foods are considered safe for almost everyone else on the planet. The US government, however, has determined that they aren’t good for Americans.

10 Raw Milk

Remember in school, when you learned that Louis Pasteur figured out how to pasteurize milk, saving millions of lives and making milk safe for everyone to drink? It seems some folks missed school that day because there are people who enjoy drinking raw, unpasteurized milk. Raw milk isn’t necessarily dangerous to consume, but when it is mass-produced on the level the dairy industry puts out milk in the United States, the odds of passing on harmful bacteria increase exponentially if pasteurization is skipped.

Unpasteurized milk can carry dangerous bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. These and other harmful organisms killed in the pasteurization process can be dangerous to the young, people with weakened immune systems, the elderly, and pregnant women. Pasteurization prevents harmful diseases such as listeriosis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and brucellosis, so it makes sense to keep raw milk under control. In the US, 20 states and the District of Columbia prohibit the sale of raw milk, while its sale is heavily regulated in all but 13 of the remaining 30 states.^[1]

9 Lazy Cakes

When having trouble sleeping, some people may take melatonin. In small doses, it’s a harmless supplement that can help regulate sleep, but it is not generally considered a food ingredient. That’s a problem for the makers of Lazy Larry brownies (formerly called Lazy Cakes), as their principal marketed ingredient is melatonin. The Food and Drug Administration found out about this additive and sent a letter to the company responsible, informing them that their cakes weren’t particularly good for people to . . . well, eat.

These cakes are particularly dangerous for children, who might see a delicious brownie and eat it. If a child were to take melatonin, they shouldn’t exceed 0.3 milligrams, but these brownies are packed with 8 milligrams of melatonin. While the nation as a whole hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon and outright banned Lazy Larry brownies just yet, you won’t be able to find them anywhere in Arkansas. The state banned them in 2011.^[2]

8 Ackee Fruit

Sometimes, the most dangerous treats are also the most delicious. That is certainly the case for the ackee fruit, which can be found in West Africa and Jamaica but certainly not in the United States. The FDA has completely banned the importation of ackee fruit into the country,^[3] and it may have been for a good reason: Ingesting unripe ackee will result in something called Jamaican vomiting sickness (JVS), which is pretty much exactly what you think it is. About two to 12 hours after eating unripe ackee, someone with JVS will begin vomiting uncontrollably, may lose consciousness, and is susceptible to seizures. If this happens while you’re out camping, this little fruit is going to kill you.

The reason ackee causes JVS has to do with the presence of hypoglycin, a nonproteinogenic amino acid. It functions by lowering a person’s blood sugar, which leads to an increased use of glucose and ultimately hypoglycemia. There are thousands of people who eat ackee fruit and its products every day without harm thanks to their patience in waiting for the fruit to ripen, but seeing as dozens of people die from eating it every year, the FDA may be on the right track with this ban.

7 Sassafras Oil

Sassafras oil is probably the one product many people have heard of but have never used. That’s certainly true for Americans, seeing as the use of it in commercially mass-produced foods was banned back in 1960. Sassafras is a bit different than other items on this list; you might just have it growing in your backyard. The plant hasn’t been banned, but you aren’t going to find it in your root beer anymore. The reason the oil has been banned in the States stems from the presence of safrole, a constituent in sassafras oil, which has been shown to be carcinogenic, causing cancer in lab animals.^[4]

There is another problem with safrole in that it is one of the principal ingredients of MDMA, otherwise known as Molly or ecstasy. Because the tree produces a component of the popular party drug, it is becoming threatened and may disappear one day. Despite the dangers posed from ingesting safrole, it is still used in a wide array of products across the planet. Some uses are not banned in the United States, but it is no longer included in foods.

6 Haggis (Imported)

If you have never been to Scotland or eaten their food, odds are you have heard of haggis and want nothing to do with it. Take it from the writer of this article, you are doing yourself a disservice! Haggis is delicious! Unfortunately, you cannot import it into the United States, thanks to a ban placed on the dish in 1971 by the FDA. They made the ban due to the presence of sheep lung, which constitutes less than 15 percent of the total dish. The FDA created the ban, which encompasses all lung meat, due to the potential presence of stomach acid and phlegm.^[5]

The ban only exists on haggis imported from the United Kingdom, so there is nothing stopping an intrepid eater from getting some homemade haggis in the States. If you aren’t ready to take the haggis challenge just yet, you may want to learn what it is: Haggis is described as a pudding in the way only folks from the UK can call a meat dish a pudding. It consists of a sheep’s heart, liver, and lung meat, which is then minced with various spices, onions, and oats before it is stuffed into a sheep stomach. It sounds disgusting but is arguably delicious, and many people in and out of Scotland enjoy it.

5 Casu Marzu

Most Americans reading this may be scratching their heads wondering what casu marzu is, and there’s a reason for it which you’ve probably already guessed: It’s banned in the United States. The traditional dish from Sardinia is made from sheep milk that contains an ingredient the people at the FDA may have gagged at learning: live insect larvae, more commonly known as maggots. Yes, you read that correctly—when prepared in the traditional way, this dish contains a cheeseload of maggots.

Casu Marzu is made by placing a wheel of pecorino cheese outside with a small portion of the rind removed. This allows a fly, Piophila casei, to lay its eggs in the cheese. Seeing as these little buggers can lay up to 500 eggs at a time, there are going to be quite a few maggots inside. As they mature and eat the cheese, the acid in their stomachs breaks down the cheese fat, making the cheese incredibly soft. The chef knows the dish is ready to be served when several thousand maggots are present. It’s up to the person eating the dish whether or not they want to eat the maggots whole or by mashing them into a paste. Many do this, while others flick them aside. While casu marzu is certainly banned in the United States, it is also banned in the EU, making it difficult to find . . . should you want to.^[6]

4 Mirabelle Plums

For most of the foods on this list, the United States government banned them for health reasons or environmental concerns. For the mirabelle plum, their reason is quite different, thanks to rules making the fruit protected from importation due to its designation as a “protected origin” food.^[7] This designation is the result of an agreement between the French and American governments aimed at helping the French market. As a regional delicacy in France, the country prefers to keep it in-house as a means of attracting tourism. This isn’t unusual for France, which protects a number of regional delicacies, including certain peppers and wines.

Because of this agreement, it is nearly impossible to get a mirabelle plum into the United States. If you want one (and you do, they are delicious), you need to travel to the Lorraine region of France. You can even attend a two-week festival in honor of the fruit and its economic importance to the region in the city of Metz. They hold a mirabelle festival every August, when the fruit becomes ripe. They do grow in other countries outside France but should be enjoyed when cultivated from their native soil.

3 Fugu

This food is so dangerous, it nearly killed Homer Simpson! Fugu is the sushi cut from a pufferfish—you know, those cute fish that blow up at the sense of danger. These fish possess within their bodies an incredibly toxic chemical called tetrodotoxin, a type of neurotoxin and one of the deadliest substances in the world. Because of the danger from eating it, the United States slammed the ban hammer down on serving it, but there are a few places you can get it. In order to serve fugu, a special license is required, and in Japan, three years of training are required before a chef can serve the dish.

If you ever end up eating fugu but then start to feel a little sick, you might have ingested some of the toxin. Here’s what you have to look forward to: some light dizziness followed by outright exhaustion, headache, and nausea. If you ingested a lethal dose, you will begin to have difficulty breathing and then enter a state of total paralysis in which you are unable to do much but contemplate your poor life choices. When the body is completely paralyzed, your lungs cease to work, and asphyxiation occurs. There is no antidote to tetrodotoxin, but your life can be saved with a stomach pump and the ingestion of more charcoal than anyone would want to eat.^[8]

2 Shark Fin Soup (Eight States)

Shark fin soup is a traditional dish found mostly in China and Vietnam, but it has made its way around the world since it originated sometime in the Song dynasty roughly 1,000 years ago. The dish is considered a luxury item and is traditionally served only during special occasions. It is also considerably expensive, costing anywhere between $50 and $100 per serving. You may be picturing a bowl of broth with a shark fin sticking out of the liquid, but it is made using the meat from the fin, which is dried and shredded after the skin is removed. One of the reasons the dish has been so prominent in Chinese culture is due to the belief that it helps prevent cancer, among many other purported benefits.

Its use in Chinese medicine has caused the demand for shark fins to skyrocket, which has caused a decline in a number of shark species. The biggest problem occurs when fishermen pull in sharks, slice off the fin, and throw the bleeding fish back in the water to die. In order to help conservation efforts, many nations have written laws and bans protecting various species targeted for the dish. While shark fin soup is banned in only a handful of states, the US has established a law requiring that sharks caught in American waters be documented before a fin can go on sale.^[9] By the end of 2017, efforts to completely ban the dish in the United States were underway.

1 Kinder Eggs

Saving the best for last, Kinder Eggs are probably the most ridiculous ban the United States has placed on an imported item. For most of Europe, these candies are ubiquitous and a nostalgic part of most people’s childhood. Kinder Eggs, also called Kinder Surprise, are hollow, egg-shaped chocolates containing a toy. The toy comes in a yellow plastic shell, and it can be just about anything. Whether they are promoting a film or are releasing their own line of toys, these can range from small cars to intricate playsets, unique characters, or just about anything imaginable. Sadly, it’s the toy inside that the US government has set its sights on.^[10]

Thanks to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, food items cannot be sold if they contain a nonnutritive object. Since there is very little nutrition in plastic toys, Kinder Eggs fell victim to the ban hammer. In 1997, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reexamined the ban based on some eggs brought illegally into the United States. They determined the presence of small parts in the toys presented a health and safety risk to small children under the age of three. The fine for bringing a Kinder Egg into the United States is a whopping $2,500 per egg. Ferrero, the company that makes Kinder Eggs, was able to create a modified version to market in the US. The new product started showing up in stores at the end of 2017, but they differ considerably from their European counterpart and just aren’t the same.

Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who has set your eyes on the world’s largest ball of twine, located in Kansas. Maybe you’ve even seen aliens on the highway as you’ve passed through Roswell, New Mexico, at night. Could it be that you can even brag to your friends about attending the world’s largest spinach festival in Alma, Arkansas? Or perhaps it’s always been your dream to see the world’s largest ketchup (catsup?) bottle in Illinois.

Whatever strange, silly, or (in)famous things you have seen on your travels throughout the United States, you cannot possibly see every wacky thing in every wacky town across this wacky country often simply referred to as “America.” That’s why this list of small towns famous for weird things is here for you. From the weird to the spooky, from the pointless to the dangerous, from the historic to the futuristic, this list of ten strange towns below might just make you want to go on a road trip in search of them all!

10 The Flavor Graveyard

Everybody loves ice cream, especially Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. If you stop in Waterbury, Vermont, and take a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream factory, you’re sure to get a sweet and fun experience. However, a more gruesome part of the tour leads you to a hill in the back of the factory surrounded by white picket fencing and some ghostly trees. But don’t worry, it’s just the Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard, where ice cream flavors go to die!

The Flavor Graveyard is there because of the company’s constant experimentation with weird and wacky ice cream flavors. However, some flavors are just too strange, which ultimately means they did not turn a profit. Every year, around ten or so flavors are eliminated due to low sales and become unfortunate inductees into the Flavor Graveyard. While the sweet cemetery makes for a serene setting for some of the oddest ice cream flavors to rest, only 34 graves have been dug so far out of the over 200 flavors that have been killed off as of this writing. If you can’t find your favorite ice cream flavor in your local supermarket, maybe it’s time to pay your respects at the Flavor Graveyard in Vermont.^[1]

9 The Lost Luggage Capital

Alabama may be famous for college football, Southern food, and Forrest Gump, but if you’ve ever wondered where unclaimed airline baggage ends up, and you happen to be in the northeastern part of the state, make a stop in Scottsboro. When an airline cannot track down the owner of a lost item or piece of luggage, it is sent to the Unclaimed Baggage Center there. At the center, you can browse through and purchase a myriad of lost luggage items.^[2]

Strange items have been found in this bizarre retirement community for suitcases. Ancient Egyptian artifacts, secret documents, and even a 5.8-carat diamond ring have been reportedly been discovered. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has even been given awards for retailer of the year.

8 Birthplace Of Captain Kirk

Riverside, a small town in Central Iowa, once had a town slogan saying “Where the best begins,” honoring its laid-back lifestyle and small-town Midwestern values. However, the town’s slogan is now “Where the trek begins,” as it is the self-described future birthplace of James T. Kirk, captain of Star Trek ‘s USS Enterprise.^[3]

While Kirk has not yet been born, the town celebrates his future birth date of March 22, 2228, with a festival called Trek Fest (formerly River Fest). Note that Kirk’s birth year was established as 2233 in the Star Trek series. The 2228 date is from a book, The Making of Star Trek, published in 1968. While no Star Trek novels, television series, or movies have made clear what Iowa town Kirk was (will be?) born in, Riverside, during the mid-1980s, said, “Why not us?” Perhaps this small town truly has gone where no small town in Iowa has gone before!

7 The Devil’s Crossroads

According to lore, when blues legend Robert Johnson was a young man, he sold his soul to the Devil himself in the small town of Clarksdale, Mississippi. As the pioneering state of American blues music, Mississippi has been the home of blues greats such as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters, to name but a few. However, Robert Johnson was said, in exchange for playing wicked blues, to have made a wicked deal with the Devil himself at what is now known as the Crossroads, where US highways 61 and 49 converge in Clarksdale.^[4]

As a young man, Johnson wanted desperately to be a blues guitarist. “Voices” told Johnson to take a guitar to nearby Dockery Plantation at midnight and wait. He did, and a tall, dark man emerged, took Johnson’s guitar, played it, and then handed it back to Johnson. Immediately, Johnson was able to play blues guitar like no other ever had. If you desperately need to make a pact with the Devil anytime soon, perhaps a trip to the small town in Central Mississippi is what you need.

6 World’s Largest Time Capsule

In the small town of Seward, Nebraska, a man named Harold Davisson liked the year 1975 so much that he made sure to preserve everything he could in the world’s largest time capsule. Today, his time capsule, which is largely underground, is a tourist attraction for those passing through. With a pyramid built on top, the 45-ton vault holds more than 5,000 items from the 1970s!

The large vault made Davisson somewhat of a local celebrity in Seward, and his time capsule was sealed on July 4, 1975. Two years later, The Guinness Book of World Records certified that his time capsule was the largest in the world. However, Seward’s most famous resident received backlash from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, which argued that their “Crypt of Civilization,” sealed in 1940, was the world’s largest time capsule. Controversy followed, but Davisson was granted the title. His capsule is due to be opened on July 4, 2025.^[5]

5 The Last Sideshow Town

Gibsonton, Florida, with a population of around 14,000, is America’s one true “Carny Town.” During the early 20th century, when roaming carnivals traveled the land, many carnival workers, also known as carnies, took the summer holiday in the small town of Gibsonton, about 19 kilometers (12 mi) north of Tampa. Gibsonton is fabled for a large portion of its population having been former carnival workers and so-called “sideshow” human attractions. Gibsonton was known as a place for many such people to retire or spend the off season in a warm locale.

Many “carnies” called the place town Gibtown. In the past, the local police chief was a dwarf, and the fire chief was a 244-centimeter-tall (8′) carnival performer. As one can imagine, the carnie population in Gibtown was a closely connected community, and over time, the former carnival workers even developed their own secret language called (yes, you guessed it) carny. Additionally, the International Independent Showmen’s Association runs a very specific welfare system for retired and out-of-work carnies. These days, however, the number of former carnies in Gibsonton has greatly dwindled, and the town is more or less like any other.^[6]

4 On Fire for Decades

Centralia, Pennsylvania, has been on fire since the 1960s. In the early 1980s, around 1,000 people lived in this small Pennsylvanian town about 100 kilometers (60 mi) north of Harrisburg. Centralia is more of a ghost town now; by 2010, less than a dozen inhabitants called it home.

Why is Centralia on fire, you might ask? Since 1962, there has been an intense coal mine fire burning not above but below the tiny town. Toxic smoke venting from the cracked ground, sinkholes, and underground gas explosions are pretty good reasons to avoid living in Centralia at all costs. Nevertheless, a few (brave?) residents still hang on.^[7]

In 1992, the Pennsylvania government seized all properties in Centralia and condemned them. However, the handful of inhabitants in and around the town are currently allowed to stay. However, once they pass, the town of Centralia will officially be no more. In fact, some scientists believe the fire underground will go on for at least another 250 years!

3 Meet ‘The Slabs’

Residents of Slab City, California, are creatively known as “the Slabs.” This tiny town is popular for recreational vehicling in the Sonoran Desert, but, situated 240 kilometers (150 mi) northeast of San Diego, the bizarre Slab City remains a self-described city without laws. The residents, or “Slabs” as we should refer to them, share one communal shower in this dusty part of the California badlands. As many as 4,000 people may live there in the winter, when it’s cooler, but it gets quite hot in the summer.

Often occupied by hippies, the homeless, drifters, drug addicts, artists, adventurers, and local weirdos, Slab City’s residents brag about their “town” being “the last free place in America.”^[8] In this lawless land, a city with no rules, some arguments have resulted in absolute chaos, with tents and RVs set ablaze and even shoot-outs and duels.

Today, Slab City is managed by the state of California, but in the past, the site was known as Camp Dunlap, a former World War II base. But why is it called Slab City? The name comes from the large concrete slabs that remained after the Army abandoned the area. The site was returned to the state of California in 1961. The state eventually destroyed the remaining slabs.

2 The Bell Witch Cave

What makes this small town of Adams, Tennessee, so scary? Well, during the 19th century, the area was said to be haunted by a demon-like witch!

The legend goes that the Bell Witch’s original name was Kate Bates (or Batts). As rumor has it, Kate entered a poorly planned land deal with the neighboring family, whose name was the Bells. Kate promised to haunt the Bell family after learning she had been tricked. She seemed to keep her scary promise after one of the Bells’ daughters appeared to show signs of possession and strange aggression toward spirituality during the time. Some rumors hold that even former US president Andrew Jackson encountered the Bell Witch after investigating the cave that Kate’s spirit now seems to inhabit as she terrifies all who go near.^[9]

For roughly two centuries, people in the area have told of experiencing strange feelings when they go anywhere near the cave. Despite her being known locally as a not very kind spirit, a major dare is to repeat the Bell Witch’s original name in a mirror three times. No thanks!

1 A Town Under One Roof

In Whittier, Alaska, nearly the entire population of 218 people resides in a single building! This 14-story condominium was originally designed as an Army barracks during the 1950s and was made a residence in 1969, about five years after the Army moved out. The building, now known as Begich Towers, doesn’t just have people living in it but is nearly a fully functional tiny town under one roof. The building also serves as a church, the police station, a convenience store, and the post office for the town, 100 kilometers (60 mi) south of Anchorage.

In this so-called “town under one roof,” keeping secrets is much more difficult than in other small towns. However, since Whittier is situated between mountains and the sea, the town, or rather building, can mostly only be accessed by boat from long distances. Or, you can take a very long one-lane tunnel that runs one way underneath the mountains for certain portions of the day. While this setup might look strange, isolated, and perhaps even uncomfortable, Whittier’s residents seem to get along quite well and are a very close-knit community.^[10]

From prison gangs to extortion rackets to neo Nazis, the United States is home to a variety of criminal groups and organizations. While we don’t hear about them as often as we should, they remain an active threat for the security apparatus of the country, with membership numbers comparable to some large, multinational corporations. 

10. Jewish Defense League

The Jewish Defense League is recognized as a far-right terrorist group by the FBI. Formed in 1968 by Rabbi Meir Kahane, one of the stated aims of the organization was protection from anti-Semitism worldwide. It was primarily founded on the principles of Jewish nationalism, territorialism, and the use of force to defend Jews against their enemies. The JDL has since been accused of numerous terrorist attacks, including bombings, assassinations, and extortion.

The group is primarily active in the US and Israel, where it has been responsible for a number of violent incidents over the years. It first gained prominence in the 1970s, when JDL members carried out a number of high-profile attacks against Arab targets in the United States and Europe. They were also known for their staunch opposition to the USSR, as Jews across the Soviet Union were barred from emigrating to Israel. Despite its small size, the JDL was able to gain a large following in the Israeli-American Jewish community due to its aggressive tactics.

9. MS-13

MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, is an international criminal organization that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally formed as a protection racket for Salvadoran refugees in the city, the group gradually evolved into a violent criminal organization involved in activities like drug and human trafficking. Today, the group operates in several countries, including the United States, El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.

MS-13 got popular attention in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it was responsible for a string of murders and assaults across the country. The gang is infamous for its brutal tactics, like their preference for machetes and other melee weapons to fight their rivals. Despite its notoriety, however, MS-13 remains a relatively-small gang, with an estimated 6,000 – 10,000 members in the US. In central American countries, however, the gang’s membership may be as high as 60,000.

8. Vice Lords

Vice Lords Nation originated in Chicago, Illinois, in 1958 as a community organization aimed at helping local African Americans overcome poverty and discrimination. Over time, however, the group grew into one of the largest criminal organizations in the United States, with a chapter in almost every city and town across the country. The group is known to be involved in various criminal activities, including drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, and murder. 

The gang mainly operates in the Midwest and southern regions of the United States, and has an estimated total membership of anywhere between 30,000 – 35,000 regular and associate members. The US government has designated the group as a criminal organization, though despite several high-profile arrests over the years, it remains a large and influential gang, particularly in Chicago. 

7. Barrio Azteca

With an estimated 3,000 members across the United States and around 5,000 in the Juarez region in Mexico, Barrio Azteca – also known as Los Aztecas – began as a prison gang in the El Paso prison system in Texas. It was formed in 1986, and has since expanded its presence to other states like Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico. While it’s not a particularly large gang, they’ve set themselves apart by the sheer intensity of their violence, which often spills over to either side of the border. 

By the 2000s, Barrio Azteca had aligned itself with Mexico’s Juarez Cartel in their brutal fight against the Sinaloa Cartel. Many of the gang’s members have been killed or arrested in the years since – including its leader Eduardo Ravelo – severely weakening the group’s influence in the region. According to reports by law enforcement agencies, however, Barrio Azteca has regained a lot of its strength in recent years, particularly in the city of Juarez, where it’s still heavily involved in a variety of criminal activities like drug smuggling, money laundering, and extortion.

6. Mongols Motorcycle Club

The Mongols Motorcycle Club is a notorious outlaw motorcycle club founded in Montebello, California, in the 1970s. They have a strong presence in the Pacific and southwestern regions of the United States, with chapters in California, Nevada, Arizona, and other states. The group is predominantly made up of Hispanic members, though it also includes members from other ethnic backgrounds.

The Mongols gained fame in the 1980s and 1990s as a powerful and violent motorcycle club. They’ve been involved in a variety of criminal activities like assault, intimidation, and murder, including a high-profile shootout with members of rival Hells Angels gang in Las Vegas in 2002. 

Despite several attempts by law enforcement agencies to stop them, the Mongols Motorcycle Club remains a potent and influential gang, with many of its members maintaining strong ties with other Hispanic street gangs spread across the Los Angeles area. 

5. Crips And Bloods

Crips and Bloods are two rival gangs based in Los Angeles, California. Their origins are disputed, but some reports from the time suggest that Crips was born as a neighborhood protection gang in 1971, and Bloods was formed in response to the growing power of the Crips. Both the gangs eventually evolved into influential criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking and extortion, as well as violent crimes like robbery and murder.

Crips and Bloods have a long-standing rivalry that has resulted in numerous violent clashes over the years. It’s fueled by a complex mix of factors, including territory, reputation, and personal conflicts between various gang members. Both are known for their heavy use of graffiti, hand signs, and colors to identify themselves.

The gangs’ criminal activities have led to a lot of violence and devastation in the communities they operate in, with innocent bystanders often getting caught in the crossfire. Despite various efforts by law enforcement, however, Crips and Bloods remain a major problem in many urban areas of LA.

4. Latin Kings

Latin Kings was formed in Chicago in the 1960s as a predominantly Mexican and Puerto-Rican street gang. They’re known to be involved in multiple criminal activities, like drug trafficking, burglary, homicide, identity theft, and money laundering, as well as high profile assassinations of law enforcement officers in cities across the United States. Currently, Latin Kings operate under two umbrella factions, Motherland and Bloodline, for their Chicago and New York Chapter, respectively. 

The group first got media attention in the 1980s and 90s, when they were associated with several gang-related murders and other crimes across Chicago. With over 160 chapters and 20,000 – 35,000 members around the country, Latin Kings is easily one of the largest gangs in the US, with a strong presence in multiple cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. 

3. Gangster Disciples

Black Gangster Disciple Nation – later renamed to Gangster Disciples – is a prison and street gang formed in Chicago in the 1960s. It was founded by the merger of two gangs led by Larry Hoover and David Barksdale – the Black Disciples and Supreme Gangsters. It’s a predominantly African-American gang involved in activities like drug trafficking, extortion, and murder.

While Gangster Disciples have a significant presence in the Midwest, particularly in Chicago and Detroit, the gang is also known to be active in other parts of the country like the East Coast and the South. It has grown into a large and powerful group in recent years, with an estimated 25,000 – 50,000 members spread across the United States.

2. Aryan Brotherhood

The Aryan Brotherhood started out as a white supremacist prison gang formed in response to race wars against rival black gangs. Over the years, it has grown into one of the most feared criminal organizations in the country, with many of its members openly sporting tattoos of Nazi insignia and other fascist symbols. 

Members of the Aryan Brotherhood primarily operate in prisons, though they’re also quite active on the streets. The group is involved in a wide range of criminal activities like drug trafficking and extortion, and while it’s not as large as other gangs like the Mexican Mafia, the Aryan Brotherhood remains a potent force in the criminal underworld.

While law enforcement agencies have been working to dismantle the Aryan Brotherhood for decades, the group’s highly-structured hierarchy and its members’ fierce loyalty to the organization make it difficult to infiltrate. Still, there have been numerous high-profile arrests of Aryan Brotherhood members in recent years, and many of its leaders have been sentenced to long terms in prison. Despite these efforts, however, the Aryan Brotherhood continues to operate as an influential and fairly-large gang in multiple parts of the country.

1. Mexican Mafia

Also known as La Eme and Los Carnales, Mexican Mafia is one of the largest prison gangs in the United States, with members active in over 13 states. It was founded in 1957 in southern California by former street gang member Luis Flores, and many of its early members were leaders of hispanic gangs active in LA and nearby areas. Since then, it has grown into one of the deadliest and most influential gangs in the country.

As of now, the Mexican Mafia operates both inside and outside the US prison system, and its crime portfolio includes robbery, extortion, assault, murder, and drug trafficking. It’s estimated that the gang has about 350 to 400 members inside US prisons, with tens of thousands of additional foot soldiers on the streets throughout California and beyond.

It’s unfortunate that many of the women attributed as heroines during the American Revolutionary period are more from the realm of folklore than historical fact. Such women include Molly Pitcher, likely a composite of several women who followed the Continental Army in the field. Others are Betsy Ross and Sybil Ludington, whose stories did not appear until decades after the Revolution, and are unsupported by any contemporaneous documentation.

Yet contributions by women to the Patriot’s cause were many, and several women deserve to be ranked among the Founders for their actions and the sacrifices they made in support of the Revolution and the formation of the United States. Their roles have long been overlooked. Here are 10 women whose contributions to the Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary War, and the Constitution deserve better notice.

10. Mary Katherine Goddard

Born near New London, Connecticut in 1738, she accompanied her brother William when he established a newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island in 1762, called the Providence Gazette. His paper soon supported the activities of the Patriots. William also established a newspaper in Baltimore, called the Maryland Journal, and when he left for Philadelphia to establish yet another newspaper, Mary took over publication of the Maryland Journal in 1774. She thus became one of the earliest female publishers in the world.

In 1775 she took on the duties of Postmaster in Baltimore while continuing to publish the Journal. Some consider her to be the first female federal employee of the United States. Goddard’s newspaper supported the Patriots during the early days of the war, and when the Continental Congress in Philadelphia decided to publish the Declaration of Independence, Goddard offered her press to create the version known today as the Goddard Broadside. It was the first to contain the names, in typeset, of the signatories, and Goddard included her own name in a lower corner of the document. This made her liable to charges of treason.

Goddard’s brother William forced her out of her position as publisher of the Maryland Journal in 1784. She continued to serve as Baltimore’s Postmaster until 1789, when Postmaster General Samuel Osgood decided the job was too much for a woman. Over 200 citizens of Baltimore petitioned for her to be reinstated, though the petition was denied. She remained in Baltimore, operating a bookshop, until her death in 1816.

9. Lucy Flucker Knox

Henry Knox was a young Boston bookseller who catered to British officers occupying the city before the Revolution began. He allowed the British to socialize in his shop, which gave him the appearance of being loyal to the King while allowing him to absorb British gossip and tactical practices of their army, particularly artillery. It also allowed him to court young Lucy Flucker, one of Boston’s belles. Her parents, wealthy Massachusetts and Maine landowners, disapproved of the relationship. In 1774, against her parents’ wishes, the Knoxes were married. In 1775, when it became apparent Henry was a Patriot, Lucy’s family disowned her.

During the course of the war Henry Knox served as the Continental Army’s Chief of Artillery. Lucy served as well, arranging supply trains and other support for the army in the field. In one letter to Henry written during the war, Lucy warned him that the necessity of her handling her husband’s business affairs had changed her and that upon his return, “…I hope you will not consider yourself as commander in chief of your own house…” She joined her husband in camp at Valley Forge and other winter encampments during the war.

During their long and evidently happy marriage, Lucy gave birth to 13 children (10 of whom died in childhood), supported her husband during the Revolutionary War, and later in New York and Philadelphia when Henry served as the nation’s first Secretary of War. After 1775 she remained estranged from her Loyalist family for the remainder of her days. Most of her letters to her husband survive, and give deep insights to the struggle and sacrifices of the home front during the American Revolution. Lucy sacrificed her family, wealth, and a life of luxury to support the Patriot’s cause throughout the formation of the United States.

8. Mercy Otis Warren

Mercy Otis could trace her maternal lineage to the Mayflower, as could her husband, James Warren. Both were from prominent Massachusetts families, and Mercy, though never formally schooled, was well educated through the efforts of Reverend Jonathan Russell. The Reverend, with the support of Mercy’s father, allowed her to attend tutoring sessions as he prepared her two brothers for entry into Harvard College.

She used that learning to write satiric poetry, pamphlets, and plays, published under a pseudonym, the usual practice for the day. In all of them she supported the growing Patriotic cause in Boston during the period of protests over the Stamp Act, the Intolerable Acts, and the presence of British troops in Boston. She corresponded with all of the Revolutionary leaders, giving frank recitations of her views, and frequently served as the hostess of Patriot’s meetings in Boston both before and during the war.

Following the war, she continued to correspond with several of the Founders during the Constitutional Convention. After the Constitution was submitted for ratification, she authored a pamphlet opposing its acceptance without the immediate adoption of a bill of rights. In the early 19th century she published one of the first histories of the American Revolution. Nearly all of her writings are available today, including letters she wrote to George Washington during his tenure as America’s first President. Few women of the Revolutionary era left a more lasting legacy.

7. Esther de Berdt Reed

In January 1780, a pamphlet appeared in Philadelphia announcing the formation of the Ladies Association of Philadelphia. Its title was Sentiments of an American Woman, which served as the only identification of its author. That American Woman was, like countless other Americans since, foreign born. She was Esther de Berdt Reed, born in England, and the wife of Joseph Reed, a prominent Philadelphia attorney then serving as one of George Washington’s aides in the Continental Army.

The Ladies Association announced its intention of raising money for the support of the Continental troops, which until then were often unpaid. Congress proved hapless at raising the necessary funds. The Ladies Association were more successful, but Washington balked at disbursing the money directly to the troops, fearing they would waste it on liquor. At the General’s suggestion, the funds were used to purchase clothing and other supplies for his men. Washington and de Berdt corresponded directly, and developed a mutually beneficial working relationship during her efforts with the several other Ladies Associations she helped bring into being in the former colonies.

The Ladies Associations purchased material and sewed it into shirts for Washington’s men, and at Esther’s urging they stitched their names into the seams of the garments. Eventually more than 2,000 shirts were prepared by the 39 women of the Philadelphia Ladies Association alone. Esther did not live to see the project through to American victory. She died, of dysentery, in Philadelphia later that same year.

6. Mary Norris Dickinson

John Dickinson refused to sign the Declaration of Independence, despite the Pennsylvania delegation, of which he was part, voting for independence in 1776. He refused, in part, because he was a Quaker, and he believed the document would lead to prolonged violence, a violation of his religious principles. His wife, Mary Norris Dickinson, was likewise a Quaker. A precept of the Society of Friends is that men and women are equal, with souls not possessing a gender. Mary Norris Dickinson took that precept quite literally, in all matters, including business and politics.

Mary was a landowner of extensive tracts, and owned one of the largest private libraries in North America by the time of the Constitutional Convention, in which her husband represented Delaware. During the deliberations of the convention, Mary frequently hosted delegates at dinners in her home, where she actively took part in political discussions, to the dismay of some of the more conservatively minded. The polite withdrawal of the ladies following dinner, allowing the men to discuss matters such as politics and business was not practiced in her home, and she drew other ladies into the discussions.

She used her influence to press her husband and other delegates to include a bill of rights, and to regard men and women equally in all matters before the law. She also argued for voting rights for women. Though the British burned some of her estates during the Revolution her library survived. In 1784 she and her husband donated land near Carlisle and the library to Benjamin Rush to found a new college, which Rush named John and Mary’s College. Today it is known as Dickinson College.

5. Dolley Madison

Dolley Madison gained her first experience as a White House hostess during the administration of Thomas Jefferson. The widowed President asked her to fill that role on several occasions when his daughter was unable to serve. Dolley is rightly known to history as the leader in making the Executive Mansion and the President’s table the center of society in early Washington, positions they retain more than two centuries later. But it was certainly not her only contribution during the formative years of the United States.

Dolley helped furnish the White House, working with architect Benjamin Latrobe. She also helped define the social structure of events such as State Dinners and other official functions. Her use of social events to generate political discussions and reach compromises led to her becoming the only First Lady in American history to be granted an honorary seat in the House of Representatives. Though she did not save the famed Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington when the British burned the White House in 1814, as is so often claimed, she did direct it be removed and carried to safety.

Dolley Madison defined the role of the First Lady much more formally than had her predecessors. She used the role to actively support her husband’s agenda and positions as President and leader of his political party. Following Madison’s death and the forced sale of his Montpelier plantation to pay his debts, Dolley returned to Washington, where she lived for most of the remainder of her life, still a fixture of Washington society. She died in 1849 at the age of 81. After interment in Washington, her body was later exhumed and reinterred at Montpelier next to her husband, James Madison.

4. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton

Elizabeth Schuyler, called Eliza by friends, descended from wealthy New York families, the Schuylers and the Van Rensselaers. She met her husband, Alexander Hamilton, when he served on George Washington’s staff in the Continental Army encampments at Morristown, New Jersey in 1780. They were married in December of that year, in the Schuyler mansion in Albany. As his wife, Eliza exerted considerable influence in the development of the Constitution and in the emerging federal government of the United States.

During the debates over ratification of the Constitution, Eliza helped pen Alexander Hamilton’s contributions to the series of essays known today as the Federalist Papers. During the two administrations of President George Washington Eliza endured a miscarriage and the news of an affair involving her husband which led to a temporary separation, though they eventually reconciled. When Washington prepared his Farewell Address, much of the essay was penned by Hamilton, with Eliza contributing to the work, a fact not known to scholars for nearly two centuries.

Following the death of her son and her husband in duels, Eliza helped found the Orphan Asylum Society in New York. She worked with the society for over four decades, raising money, collecting needed supplies, and supervising the education and care of over 700 orphaned or abandoned children. The society remains in operation today as Graham Windham. She also worked to repair her husband’s legacy and preserve his writings and personal papers, leaving to posterity much of what is known about the complicated individual who was Alexander Hamilton. She died in 1854, having outlived her husband by half a century. She was buried near Alexander in New York’s Trinity Church graveyard.

3. Sarah Livingston Jay

Sarah Livingston Jay was the daughter of one signer of the Constitution (William Livingston) and the wife of another (John Jay). As a daughter of a wealthy and influential New York family, Sarah was raised in the upper strata of American colonial society. When her husband, John Jay, was sent to Spain by the Continental Congress to serve as Minister there, then to France to join the delegation led by Benjamin Franklin, she accompanied him. There she adopted the practice of Franklin to involve the Americans in the upper reaches of French society as a means of smoothing diplomatic relations.

Sarah included within her social circle Adrienne, wife of the Marquis de Lafayette, as well as Abigail Adams and other wives of the Americans in Paris. She became a noted member of French society, and on at least one occasion the performance of a play was brought to a stop when she entered her box to the applause of the audience. She later served as the First Lady of New York while her husband was Governor, and as the head of society involving the Supreme Court when he served as the Chief Justice of the United States.

Sarah served in Washington as a hostess and social leader. Being fluent in French and known for her tact and diplomacy, she was a prominent member of the administration of George Washington. As with most of the Founding Mothers, her life was permanently intertwined with her husband’s, a 19th century practice known as coverture. Yet she contributed significantly to the events which led to the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Jay Treaty with Great Britain, and the critical decisions made during the early years of the new government of the United States.

2. Martha Washington

A wealthy widow when she married George Washington, Martha brought to her new husband a large dowry, lands, and two children from her first marriage, to Daniel Parke Custis. They were married in 1759, 14 years later her daughter Martha, called Patsy, died of a seizure. The Washington’s had no children together, though their marriage was by all accounts a happy one. During Washington’s long tenure as commander of the Continental Army, Martha journeyed from Mount Vernon to be with him in the encampments whenever she could. There she harbored other officer’s wives, and provided aid and comfort to the troops.

When Washington came out of retirement to accept the office of President of the United States, Martha accompanied him, first to New York, then to Philadelphia. She served as the hostess at weekly Presidential levees, as the receptions were then called. With no guidelines to aid her, she established the role of First Lady, though without the title, and she had no officially assigned duties. Few of her letters from Washington survive; she burned the majority of their personal correspondence following his death in 1799.

Martha Washington chafed at the confines of New York City, and at her role of providing weekly entertainments for the members of the administration, foreign dignitaries, and the hangers-on who surround any seat of government. There were also complaints among some former revolutionaries that the levees she hosted were suspiciously similar to the Royal Courts of Europe. But she prevailed, and left Philadelphia for Mount Vernon in 1797 as a respected and admired lady and hostess, having served yet again in the shadow of her illustrious husband. Indeed, her reputation grew over her time as the first lady of the land, while that of her husband had done very much the opposite.

1. Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams was one of the most prolific writers of letters in history. During her long life, in addition to the letters to her husband during his many long absences, she wrote to nearly all of the Founders. Jefferson, Washington, Lafayette, John Dickinson, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, and many more received missives from her, and responded in the stilted manner of the day. And her letters, most of which survive, reveal how much she urged the founders, toward independence, toward democratic government, and toward the support of women’s rights.

She accompanied her husband to Paris during the Revolution, and her letters reveal her New England Puritan contempt for many practices of the French Court. She accompanied him to the Court of St. James where she was presented to the King, and her comments about British society were equally acidic. During the Constitutional Convention she chided her husband to ensure women’s rights were considered and afforded equal treatment. After Jefferson and Adams split politically, she wrote to the former defending her husband’s positions and actions.

When she and her husband moved into the White House in 1800 she found it unfurnished, with no landscaping, and poorly heated. She did, as legend claims, use the unfinished East Room to hang her laundry. Years before, in a letter to the Continental Congress through her husband John, she admonished the all-male body, “If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation.” Though John resisted Abigail’s chidings, referring to what he called a “despotism of the petticoat,” Abigail’s influence among the founders was extraordinary. Harry Truman once said of her, “…she would have been a better President than her husband.”