Top 10 Unsolved Mysteries

1. Shroud of Turin [Wikipedia]

The shroud of Turin is a linen cloth bearing the image of a man who had apparently died of crucifixion. Most Catholics consider it to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ. It is currently held in the Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. Despite many scientific investigations, no one has yet been able to explain how the image has been imprinted on the shroud and despite many attempts, no one has managed to replicate it. Radiocarbon tests date it to the middle ages, however apologists for the shroud believe it is incorrupt - and carbon dating can only date things which decay.

Prior to the middle ages, reports of the shroud exist as the Image of Edessa - reliably reported since at least the 4th century. In addition, another cloth (the Sudarium) known even from biblical times (John 20:7) exists which is said to have covered Christ’s head in the tomb. A 1999 study by Mark Guscin, a member of the multidisciplinary investigation team of the Spanish Center for Sindonology, investigated the relationship between the two cloths. Based on history, forensic pathology, blood chemistry (the Sudarium also is reported to have type AB blood stains), and stain patterns, he concluded that the two cloths covered the same head at two distinct, but close moments of time. Avinoam Danin (a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) concurred with this analysis, adding that the pollen grains in the Sudarium match those of the shroud.

2. Mary Celeste [Wikipedia]

Mary Celeste was launched in Nova Scotia in 1860. Her original name was “Amazon”. She was 103 ft overall displacing 280 tons and listed as a half-brig. Over the next 10 years she was involved in several accidents at sea and passed through a number of owners. Eventually she turned up at a New York salvage auction where she was purchased for $3,000. After extensive repairs she was put under American registry and renamed “Mary Celeste”.

The new captain of Mary Celeste was Benjamin Briggs, 37, a master with three previous commands. On November 7, 1872 the ship departed New York with Captain Briggs, his wife, young daughter and a crew of eight. The ship was loaded with 1700 barrels of raw American alcohol bound for Genoa, Italy. The captain, his family and crew were never seen again. The ship was found floating in the middle of the Strait of Gibraltar. There were no signs of struggle on board and all documents except the captain’s log were missing.

In early 1873, it was reported that two lifeboats grounded in Spain, one with a body and an American flag, the other containing five bodies. It has been alleged that these could have been the remains of the crew of the Mary Celeste. However, the bodies were apparently never identified.

3. The taos hum [Wikipedia]

The ‘Taos Hum’ is a low-pitched sound heard in numerous places worldwide, especially in the USA, UK, and northern europe. It is usually heard only in quiet environments, and is often described as sounding like a distant diesel engine. Since it has proven indetectable by microphones or VLF antennae, its source and nature is still a mystery.

In 1997 Congress directed scientists and observers from some of the most prestigious research institutes in the nation to look into a strange low frequency noise heard by residents in and around the small town of Taos, New Mexico. For years those who had heard the noise, often described by them as a “hum”, had been looking for answers. To this day no one knows the cause of the hum.

4. Black Dahlia [Wikipedia]

In 1947 the body of 22 year old Elizabeth Short was found in two pieces in a parking lot in Los Angeles. According to newspaper reports shortly after the murder, Short received the nickname “Black Dahlia” at a Long Beach drugstore in the summer of 1946, as a play on the then-current movie The Blue Dahlia. However, Los Angeles County district attorney investigators’ reports state the nickname was invented by newspaper reporters covering the murder. In either case, Short was not generally known as the “Black Dahlia” during her lifetime.

Many rumours and tales have spread about the Black Dahlia, and the investigation (one of the largest in LA history) never found the killer.

5. Comte de Saint Germain [Wikipedia]

The Count of St. Germain (allegedly died February 27, 1784) was a courtier, adventurer, inventor, amateur scientist, violinist, amateur composer, and a mysterious gentleman; he also displayed some skills with the practice of alchemy. He was known as ‘Der Wundermann’ — ‘The Wonderman’. He was a man whose origin was unknown and who disappeared without leaving a trace.

Since his death, various occult organizations have adopted him as a model figure or even as a powerful deity. In recent years several people have claimed to be the Count of St. Germain. (Note that St Germain was never regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church - the “st.” before his name refers to his alleged home).

6. Voynich manuscript [Wikipedia]

The Voynich Manuscript is a medieval document written in an unknown script and in an unknown language. For over one hundred years people have tried to break the code to not avail. The overall impression given by the surviving leaves of the manuscript suggests that it was meant to serve as a pharmacopoeia or to address topics in medieval or early modern medicine. However, the puzzling details of illustrations have fueled many theories about the book’s origins, the contents of its text, and the purpose for which it was intended.

The document contains illustrations that suggest the book is in six parts: Herbal, Astronomical, Biological, Cosmological, Pharmaceutical, and recipes.

7. Jack the Ripper [Wikipedia]

In the later half of 1888, London was terrorrised by a series of murders in the east end (largely in the Whitechapel area). The name Jack the Ripper was taken from a letter sent to a newspaper at the time by someone claiming to be the killer. The victims were typically prostitutes who had their throats cut and bodies mutilated. In some cases the bodies were discovered just minutes after the ripper had left the scene.

The police at the time had many suspects but could never find sufficient evidence to convict anyone. In modern times there has even been some speculation that Prince Albert Victor was the murderer. Even with modern police methods, no further light has been shed on the murders in recent times. To this day no one knows who the ripper was.

8. Bermuda Triangle [Wikipedia]

The Bermuda triangle is an area of water in the North Atlantic Ocean in which a large number of planes and boats have gone missing in mysterious circumstances. Over the years many explanations have been put forward for the disappearances, including bad weather, alien abductions, time warps, and suspension of the laws of physics.

Although substantial documentation exists to show that many of the reports have been exaggerated, there is still no explanation for the unusually large number of disappearances in the area.

9. The Zodiac Killer [Wikipedia]

The Zodiac killer was active in Northern California for ten months in the late 1960s. He killed at least five people, and injured two. He comitted the first two murders with a pistol, just inside the Benecia border. In his second shooting in Vallejo, he attempted to kill two people, but one survived despite gunshots to the head and neck. 40 minutes later the police recieved an anonymous phone call from a man claiming to be their killer and admitting to the murders of the previous two victims. One month three letters were sent to Newspapers in California containing a cypher that the killer claimed would give them his name. They cypher was decrypted to read:

“I LIKE KILLING PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS SO MUCH FUN IT IS MORE FUN THAN KILLING WILD GAME IN THE FORREST BECAUSE MAN IS THE MOST DANGEROUE ANAMAL OF ALL TO KILL SOMETHING GIVES ME THE MOST THRILLING EXPERENCE IT IS EVEN BETTER THAN GETTING YOUR ROCKS OFF WITH A GIRL THE BEST PART OF IT IS THAE WHEN I DIE I WILL BE REBORN IN PARADICE AND THEI HAVE KILLED WILL BECOME MY SLAVES I WILL NOT GIVE YOU MY NAME BECAUSE YOU WILL TRY TO SLOI DOWN OR ATOP MY COLLECTIOG OF SLAVES FOR MY AFTERLIFE EBEORIETEMETHHPITI” The last eighteen letters have not been decrypted.

While Arthur Leigh Allen was the prime suspect, all of the evidence was against him being the killer. To this day the Zodiac murders have not been solved.

10. The Babushka Lady [Wikipedia]

During the analysis of the film footage of the assasination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, a mysterious woman was spotted. She was wearing a brown overcoat and a scarf on her head (the scarf is the reason for her name as she wore it in a similar style to Russian grandmothers - also called babushkas). The woman appeared to be holding something in front of her face which is believed to be a camera. She appears in many photos of the scene. Even after the shooting when most people had fled the area, she remained in place and continued to film. Shortly after she is seen moving away to the East up Elm Street. The FBI publically requested that the woman come forward and give them the footage she shot but she never did.

In 1970 a woman called Beverly Oliver came forward and claimed to be the Babushka Woman, though her story contains many inconsistencies. She is generally regarded as a fraud. To this day, no one knows who the Babushka Woman is or what she was doing there. More unusual is her refusal to come forward to offer her evidence.

10 More Unsolved Mysteries of the World

There is no doubt that some of our most popular lists are ones which revolve around mystery and intrigue. Fortunately for us all, there is no end to the number of weird and wonderful mysteries in the world, so we are now able to present our fourth list of unsolved mysteries. So - onwards to the world of the mysterious!

10The Grooved Spheres

Over the last few decades, miners in South Africa have been digging up mysterious metal spheres. Origin unknown, these spheres measure approximately an inch or so in diameter, and some are etched with three parallel grooves running around the equator. Two types of spheres have been found: one is composed of a solid bluish metal with flecks of white; the other is hollowed out and filled with a spongy white substance. The kicker is that the rock in which they where found is Precambrian - and dated to 2.8 billion years old! Who made them and for what purpose is unknown.

9 The Dropa Stones

In 1938, an archaeological expedition led by Dr. Chi Pu Tei into the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains of China made an astonishing discovery in some caves that had apparently been occupied by some ancient culture. Buried in the dust of ages on the cave floor were hundreds of stone disks. Measuring about nine inches in diameter, each had a circle cut into the center and was etched with a spiral groove, making it look for all the world like some ancient phonograph record some 10,000 to 12,000 years old. The spiral groove, it turns out, is actually composed of tiny hieroglyphics that tell the incredible story of spaceships from some distant world that crash-landed in the mountains. The ships were piloted by people who called themselves the Dropa, and the remains of whose descendants, possibly, were found in the cave.

8 The Ica Stones

Beginning in the 1930s, the father of Dr. Javier Cabrera, Cultural Anthropologist for Ica, Peru, discovered many hundreds of ceremonial burial stones in the tombs of the ancient Incas. Dr. Cabrera, carrying on his father’s work, has collected more than 1,100 of these andesite stones, which are estimated to be between 500 and 1,500 years old and have become known collectively as the Ica Stones. The stones bear etchings, many of which are sexually graphic (which was common to the culture), some picture idols and others depict such practices as open-heart surgery and brain transplants. The most astonishing etchings, however, clearly represent dinosaurs - brontosaurs, triceratops (see photo), stegosaurus and pterosaurs. While sceptics consider the Ica Stones a hoax, their authenticity has neither been proved or disproved.

7 Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica

Workmen hacking and burning their way through the dense jungle of Costa Rica to clear an area for banana plantations in the 1930s stumbled upon some incredible objects: dozens of stone balls, many of which were perfectly spherical. They varied in size from as small as a tennis ball to an astonishing 8 feet in diameter and weighing 16 tons! Although the great stone balls are clearly man-made, it is unknown who made them, for what purpose and, most puzzling, how they achieved such spherical precision.

6 Oera Linda Book
The Oera Linda Book is a controversial Frisian manuscript covering historical, mythological, and religious themes that first came to light in the 19th century. Themes running through the Oera Linda Book include catastrophism, nationalism, matriarchy, and mythology. The text alleges that Europe and other lands were, for most of their history, ruled by a succession of folk-mothers presiding over a hierarchical order of celibate priestesses dedicated to the goddess Frya, daughter of the supreme god Wr-alda and Irtha, the earth mother. The claim is also made that this Frisian civilization possessed an alphabet which was the ancestor of Greek and Phoenician alphabets. The current manuscript carries a date of 1256. Internal claims suggest that it is a copy of older manuscripts that, if genuine, would have been written by multiple people between 2194 BC and AD 803.

5 Impossible Fossils

Fossils, as we learned in grade school, appear in rocks that were formed many thousands of years ago. Yet there are a number of fossils that just don’t make geological or historical sense. A fossil of a human hand print for example, was found in limestone estimated to be 110 million years old. What appears to be a fossilized human finger found in the Canadian Arctic also dates back 100 to 110 million years ago. And what appears to be the fossil of a human footprint, possibly wearing a sandal, was found near Delta, Utah in a shale deposit estimated to be 300 million to 600 million years old.

4 Out-of-Place Metal Objects

Humans were not even around 65 million years ago, never mind people who could work metal. So then how does science explain semi-ovoid metallic tubes dug out of 65-million-year-old Cretaceous chalk in France? In 1885, a block of coal was broken open to find a metal cube obviously worked by intelligent hands. In 1912, employees at an electric plant broke apart a large chunk of coal out of which fell an iron pot! A nail was found embedded in a sandstone block from the Mesozoic Era. And there are many, many more such anomalies.

3 Ark Of The Covenant

The Ark is considered the greatest of all hidden treasures and its discovery would provide indisputable truth that the Old Testament is hard fact. Its recovery remains the goal of every modern archaeologist and adventurer. Its purpose was as a container for the ten commandments given on stone tablets by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. According to the book of Exodus, the Ark is made of shittim wood (similar to acacia) and gold-covered inside and out. It was topped by a mercy seat comprising two cherubs also made of gold. It was believed to have supernatural powers due to several events, including causing the death of a man, who attempted to steady the Ark as the oxen hauling it stumbled, bringing down the walls of Jericho in one battle, and showering misfortune on the Philistines after they captured it in another. There are several speculations around the final resting place of the Ark, and whilst it would take a shrewd operator to find it, it would need a brave or even foolhardy person to open it!

2 Angel Hair

Angel Hair is a rare phenomenon that has so far defied explanation. It is made up of silken threads that rain down on to the earth, but reach out to touch it and it will almost certainly vanish before your eyes. It is a world wide phenomenon with the most regular occurrences from North America, New Zealand, Australia, and western Europe. There is no known proof for what causes this substance, or even what it is made up of. Speculations are that it has come from Spiders or another type of silk-spinning insect, and even UFO’s as it has often been associated with UFO sightings. Because of its sensitive nature, it has been difficult to collect, and to analyse as it is subject to contamination from car exhaust fumes, and even human contact, which could skew the chemical results.

1 Piri Reis map
The Piri Reis Map is a famous pre-modern world map created by 16th century Ottoman-Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis. The map shows part of the western coasts of Europe and North Africa with reasonable accuracy, and the coast of Brazil is also easily recognizable. Various Atlantic islands including the Azores and Canary Islands are depicted, as is the mythical island of Antillia. The map is noteworthy for its depiction of a southern landmass that some controversially claim is evidence for early awareness of the existence of Antarctica. Some scholars claim this and other maps support a theory of global exploration by a pre-classical undiscovered civilization.

19 Unsolved mysteries of the world

Atlantis: Paradise Lost? It is said that much before Summerian civilization, a great civilization existed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was a paradise, where civilization was at its zenith. But then a volcano erupted and the entire grand civilization was washed away. The story of Atlantis civilization was first told by Greek philosopher Plato. But how far can we believe Plato? This is a question which many ask. After all where did Atlantis disappear? Why do we have no historical proof? Or was the story of Plato a fable? True or fiction? Myth or reality? These are the questions which have inspired many to carry out research. Yet the truth is unknown, untold.

Haunted People ‘Ghosts’ is the subject which baffles everyone, everywhere. Even after the advancement of science, the reality about ghosts remains a mystery till this day. But human beings have always been inquisitive. Harry Price spent 40 years in unraveling the mystery about ghosts in vain. Spirits’ photographers tried their best to substantiate the facts. But again progresses with little success. In fact, all efforts have been without success. Often people who claim to have seen a ghost are labeled as fraud or suffering psychologically. Science has totally disbelieved in the existence of ghosts. Yet, the phenomenon exists and is as true as our reflection in the mirror.

Eldorado – A golden myth Human beings have always been fond of possessing gold. This lure led to many weird and strange adventures. And the strangest of all the expeditions had been the search of Golden Land – Eldorado. For centuries the legend of Eldorado, the fabulous land of gold led many to undertake the courageous feat. Some lost their fortune, some their reputation and some their life. Still the men remained undaunted. Year after year, decades after decades, men went out in search of the Golden Land. After all, what were they seeking? Gold? A Golden City? A Golden Man? Or was everything juast a myth, a story which destroyed many adventurers?

Olmecs: The founders of the American civilization? One of the most astonishing unsolved mysteries of the world is the knowledge about Olmecs. The world doesn’t know who Olmecs were? And where did they suddenly disappear? Archeologists believe that Olmecs were the precursors of the Mayas. They were the great sculptors, who created remarkable sculptures. Even the intensive research of the archeologists has revealed little about them.

Who was queen of Sheba? For 30 years the Queen of Sheba has baffled people. According to the Bible, Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon with rare gifts. But the question is how far can one believe the Bible? Did she really exist? And if she really existed then where was the land Sheba? Was she a queen, a noble woman, a witch or simply a seductress? Did she marry Solomon? Was Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia, the direct descendant of a union between the Queen and King Solomon?

Innumerable questions surround the personality of the Queen of Sheba. And the field is open to controversy and research till now.

Project U.F.O Throughout the ages, man has always been eager to explain the happenings in the sky. Unidentified Flying Objects (U.F.O.) pose a great mystery to the present scientists. Some American scientists have categorically negated the phenomenon. But some do agree. They explain U.F.O. as objects from other distant galaxy. Yet no unanimous decision has been reached. The mystery of U.F.O. continues to be elusive and intriguing.

The mysterious Iron Pillar The Iron Pillar situated in Meharauli (New Delhi) does not rust, although scientific studies reveal that the metal from which the column is made is full of impurities. How is it so? This is the question which baffles us. And we are still groping in the dark about the truth.

The secret of Tutankhamen’s Mummy American archeologists succeeded in locating the Tutankhamen’s mummy. They also unearthed the large amount of wealth buried inside it. But they could not solve two mysteries. Inside the mummy, archeologists discovered 150 amulets. They could not fathom its meaning. Secondly, Tutankhamen’s mummy had started decaying. Why? They could not answer. The historians and archeologists are still experimenting and speculating the significance of 150 amulets and the reason for decay of Tutankhamen’s mummy.

The jungles of Angkor Angkor Thom, the remarkable capital of the Khmer empire, was the perfect combination of religious faith and economic necessity. The dense jungle of Angkor hid the secret of the civilization, where the rice farmers, with the help of their God-kings controlled the hostile surroundings. The kings built magnificent buildings temples and tanks. Yet, it saw its doomsday. It declined, degenerated and the people completely vanished into thin air. Even after so many years, historians have failed to know the place where they disappeared. The mystery still hangs in the air.

PSI – The science of seeing the unseen It is the science of knowing something or about somebody without having been told or met or seen. It is a science of extrasensory powers. Animals are supposed to have been endowed with it. But some human beings also have it. And modern science’s attempts to prove the existence of extrasensory powers have inevitably given birth to extensive research resulting in a few facts, but in the process giving rise to much more controversy around it.

The secret of Mayas Archaeology in America is in infancy. Still we have discovered a civilization par excellence. This civilization was called the Mayas. They were far ahead of the Egyptians and Greeks. They had the knowledge of Zero and build impressive architecture. And all this was gazed to the ground before Columbus discovered America. The world is still waiting for documents to prove that how did these people built up such a magnificent civilization at a place, where even to this day, life is an unending struggle for survival? How was it that a flourishing civilization was created by the people of Stone Age? And who were these people whose classical age collapsed before even Columbus could discover America?

The mysterious Inca Treasure Conquistadors destroyed the great Inca Empire. They destroyed it so completely that historical documents lack evidences. These Spanish Conquistadors indulged in loot, plunder, pillaging and burning. They enslaved the last Inca ruler and killed him. But before his death he escaped to jungles with his wealth. What happened to the great mass of wealth is still to be identified. In fact, the identification of two primary cities – Vitcos and Vilcambamba is itself not known. The Spanish colonial maps do not mention it. But historians believe otherwise.

Is the earth shrinking? Till a few decades earlier nobody believed in the Continental Drift Theory. Now geophysicists accept the fact. They believe that many-many centuries ago the entire world was one place. It was united. But several geographical factors separated the continents. And they cannot answer that for how many more centuries the world will remain in this present condition. Will the earth keep on shifting slowly, or, suddenly something drastic will happen, they do not know. The scientists and scholars only speculate.

The unknown message of Nazca drawings Some specialists believe that the world’s largest astronomical calendar was drawn by the Nazcas on the dry plains of Southern Peru. While others believe that the lines drawn on the expansive wastes are huge birds, animals and geometrical figures. What exactly do these lines signify – nobody knows. Yet they are laid across the desert by the Nazca Indians 1500 years ago – even long before man could fly, although now-a-days it is crossed by the Pan American Highway.

Is there a second life? Science has failed to reason out its existence. Neither has it been able to disprove all stories floating about this syndrome. Reincarnation til this day remains a mystery, beyond the comprehension of believers and non-believers. It is believed that child prodigies e.g. Mozart who composed simple music at the age of four and the 17^th century mathematician Blaise Pascal , who had outlined a new geometric system by the time he had reached 11 years of age may have been reincarnations of talented people of earlier time. Annie Besant, 19^th century feminist and leader in London’s Theosophical Society, was convinced that she would be reincarnated. In the 20^th century, the case of Shanti Devi is too well known. Despite all the vividness of the cases, science has not been able to accept it. It demands scientific explanations.

Bermuda Triangle – Is it a reality? Is there any point in the Atlantic ocean which is suicidal? Or is Bermuda Triangle mere writer’s imagination? Many books have been even done a long arduous research on the Bermuda Triangle. Yet, till now, no satisfactorily evidence has come forth. The Triangle still baffles everybody and people avoid taking that route. Perhaps, the mystery of Bermuda Triangle can be summed up in the following sentence – ‘at times truth is stranger than fiction’.

The stones which speak of past artistry The huge upright stones standing erect with an air of mystery make an unforgettable impression. There ser called Stonehenge. They have attracted men from all fields to study them. Scientists, astronomers, archaeologists, spiritualists – all studied them but failed to come to a conclusion. The questions remain unanswered. Was it a temple? Was it an observatory? Was it a magic shrine? Was it a computer built much before we came to know about the computer? There are questions and questions. Perhaps one day we will be able to discover the true and actual meaning of these splendid stones.

The navel of the world Easter Island is called the ‘Navel of the World’. Its inhabitants are cut off from the rest of the world. It is the loneliest spot on earth. Yet, the inhabitants produced one of the most magnificent statues. They managed to create a prosperous society; they built and transported giant statues weighing up to 90 tones. The mystery prevails about their motive behind constructing such sculptures and how did they manage to do it?

The splendor of pyramids The skyline of the Nile Valley seems to be dominated by the mountains. But these are no natural mountains. They are man made mountains, known as Pyramids. What exactly was the purpose behind the construction of these pyramids is unknown. Perhaps, they were intended by the god-kings of Egypt as the everlasting sanctuaries for their dead bodies, since they believed in the theory of life after death.

The question arises how did the ancient Egyptian raise such tall structures? Who built them? Why did they build them? Is it true that the kings had some secret motive which passed away with them? There are questions and questions as the enigma of pyramids astonishes a traveler.