40 Unsettling Facts That People Admit Deeply Disturb Them

In a recent online thread, users bravely opened up about deeply unsettling facts that shook them to the core. From chilling historical events to eerie personal experiences, the revelations shared were enough to send shivers down anyone's spine. Tales ranged from disturbing facts about the natural world to unnerving truths about human behavior and society. As the discussion unfolded, it became a haunting reminder of the dark and unsettling aspects of life that often lurk beneath the surface. Despite the discomfort they may evoke, these revelations serve as a sobering reminder of the complexity and sometimes disturbing nature of the world we inhabit.

#1 Over 46% of ocean waste is fishing nets. And commercial fishing kills more animals in the ocean than any plastic does. Idk why this isn’t talked about more.

Image source: wyattg67, Fredrik Öhlander

#2 Climate change. It’s a bit hard to grasp without context. And context is key because no one can understand, respect, or appreciate anything without context.

Image source: HellxKnight, skigh_tv The earth is about 4.6 Billion years old. Arguing about climate change is difficult since 4.6 Billion seems like a very long time and we has humans have been alive for such a short time. “Why do I care? I won’t be alive to deal with it?” So… let’s add context and say that the planet is 46 years old. That means that humans have been around for about 4 hours (4 hours ago I was making dinner). 1 minute ago the industrial revolution began (the mid to late 1800s - and I began typing this). In that time we have destroyed (removed, burned, chopped down) over 50% of the worlds forests. This is not sustainable. For anyone’s generation. To understand problems you must have context. Edit: spelling, missing words, etc. (I’m getting drunk).

#3 Most serial killers won't ever even be noticed, never mind captured.

Image source: Katze1Punkt0, Gabriel

#4 Purebred dogs are basically just walking Frankensteins. They were created by rich Victorians in the 1800s for aspects such as speed and strength. However, this circle of a bloodline recession made it worse for the animals. It explains why many modern animals have very wrinkly faces and many golden retrievers don't live past the age of 12 due to cancer. I did a project on this awhile back and it's really interesting to read about.

Image source: FrogsofChaos998, Jens Mahnke Also the reason we don't have a lot of mummies is because rich people also ate them in the Victorian era. To make it short: Purebred dogs are the equal of the Charles II of Spain and mummies were the snack that smiles back in the 1800s.

#5 Murder at the hands of an intimate partner is the leading cause of death for women who are pregnant or in their first postpartum year. (This has been shown true by a number of studies in US states, but is likely also true elsewhere).

Image source: ifitdontmakedollars

#6 The USA has lost 6 nuclear weapons that were never found.

Image source: venomstrike, Dan Meyers

#7 With the permafrost and tundra thawing out bacteria and other microorganisms that we know nothing about are becoming active again.

Image source: Uncle_Lazlo

#8 Once symptoms start, rabies has a 100% mortality rate. Fortunately, the incubation period is several months, so get that shot ASAP.

Image source: Thomas_Chinchilla

#9 There were Holocaust survivors that died shortly after being liberated because their body couldn't handle the increased calories when they were fed by the soldiers that freed them.

Image source: brackenish1, Julia Sakelli

#10 Youtubers who 'find' animals in distress with the camera running usually put animals in distress to look like heroes.

Source https://youtu.be/p7nVntZpJLM Other videos are it there. Image source: anon

#11 In extreme cases of scurvy, your scars break down and old wounds re-open.

Collagen keeps scars together and that collagen maintains itself throughout our lives. But without vitamin C, that process begins to halt and the collagen breaks down. Eat your fruits and veggies folks. Image source: Spectre06

#12 Cows don’t convert grass directly into protein. They have enormous colonies of bacteria in their stomachs that have population explosions when they eat grass, live, breed, die, and then the cows digest *them* into protein.

Image source: Sethrial, Monika Kubala

#13 The number of people older than you never increases.

Image source: anon, Jacek Dylag

#14 Cats know when they are going to die, they go and find a small secluded place and pass away.

Image source: WarlockGnoll

#15 Paradoxical undressing. it happens during the last stages of hypothermia. as your nerves are damaged, the person removes all of their clothing in freezing temperatures because they feel irrationally hot.

Image source: shadowinc

#16 There was a man who got really bad radiation poisoning. The Japanese government kept him alive for months just to study how the body reacts.. He daily begged for death, and unless you have a strong stomach don't look up the pictures.

Image source: Mrfrunzi, Johannes Daleng

#17 People with dementia just... forget how to eat one day. They forget how to swallow.

Image source: CrazySnekGirl, Steven HWG We don't know if they feel starvation or pain, because they're too far gone. My brother works in a dementia care facility, and they know that a patient is gonna die soon when they eventually refuse food. And we don't euthanise them. They just... starve. To death. And they never tell the families that. Edit: I'm *so* sorry to those that have lost loved ones to dementia. It's a really cruel and heartless way to die.

#18 There was a medical manufacturing lab in the UK that kept having reports of headaches and weird visions. People would see something at the edge of their vision, but couldn't figure out what it was. It wasn't just one person either, and was causing some serious panic. When they entered a room, they felt a "presence," like someone else was in the room with them, and something would appear at the corner of their eye, then disappear when they tried to look.

Turns out, it was caused by a newly installed fan that was vibrating, causing a sound that was too low-frequency for humans to hear it. Hilariously, the guy who discovered it found it using a fencing sword. He had brought it to work and put it in a vice to polish it, but then the sword started vibrating. Me, I would have nope'd out of there, considering the room was haunted, and now a sword is moving, but he was apparently much braver. The frequency is known as the "fear" or "ghost" frequency. It's around 19hz. [Here](https://youtu.be/h-zM3qAzBaw) is a YouTube video of 18.98hz. Mileage may vary, for some people it causes just mild discomfort, others it causes total panic, and still others it does nothing. For me, it caused my eyes to feel weird, and after a good minute or so, I noticed weirdness at the edge of my vision, and was definitely creeped out. I shut it off then, definitely an unnerving experience. It's not entirely known why it triggers such a response. The optical illusions and eye discomfort are likely due to the frequency resonating with your eyeballs, causing them to vibrate. But the actual fear response is unknown. Some theories are that our bodies are able to detect low frequencies, such as that of earthquakes or predator roars, but we just can't hear it. A bit like how deaf people can still "feel" certain sounds. So we become alert and nervous around these "infrasounds," since they usually indicated danger. This, combined with the optical illusions, leads to some pretty uncomfortable experiences. Oh, and don't worry, "vibrate your eyeballs" sounds way worse than it is. It's like super tiny vibrations, and your eyeballs are nice and squishy. It's not harmful in the slightest. At least, not mentally. Certainly feels like you are doing some eldritch ritual though. (Edited due to me being a doorknob and mixing up Hz with kHz). Image source: Planey_McPlane_Face

#19 Rainbow Valley at Mount Everest is named so because of the colorful coats of dead people. The Blue Mustang statue at the Denver Airport, Named Blucifer by the locals, killed its creator when a piece fell and severed an artery in his leg. If weird “ghost” stuff is happening, make sure your carbon monoxide detector is working.

Image source: Ryukotaicho, Nanda Ram Gharti

#20 All whales eventually lose the energy to surface for oxygen, so they basically just sink and drown.

Image source: anon, Davis Arenas

#21 In 2019, there was a document about internet predators. The filmmakers hired three young-looking actresses and let them pose as 12yo girls on social media for 10 days. They received 2458 messages. Only one of them actually wanted to chat, the rest were sexual predators.

Image source: anon

#22 Dogs like squeaky toys because it sounds like prey that's frightened or injured.

Image source: SnooDoughnuts3368, Mathew Coulton

#23 The Junko Furuta case. Reading about it gave me nightmares. She was held captive for 44 days and basically tortured by her classmates. Some parents knew what was going on but did nothing about it. Since the criminals were juveniles at the time, they are free today.

Edit: For those who haven't read it, I would honestly say that you shouldn't and don't look it up. It will do nothing but make you furious at the least and disgusted. At worst, you won't be able to forget the details. There's enough s**t going around, spare yourself this one time. TW: abuse, rape [https://japaninsides.com/44-days-of-hell-the-story-of-junko-furuta/](https://japaninsides.com/44-days-of-hell-the-story-of-junko-furuta/). Image source: Educational-Horror22

#24 **People's "conscious" decisions are usually nothing of the sort**; they're usually made subconsciously. Then, all the conscious mind normally does is build narratives about the previously-made decisions. Those narratives consciously seem to arise concurrently with the decisions, but really they arise only afterward. Research on split-brain patients has proven all of this.

*Simply put: your brain makes choices without you knowing; then tricks you into thinking the choices were yours, by allowing you to invent gratifying reasons why you supposedly chose them.*. Image source: JSanzi

#25 In 2018 my sister was murdered. We know who did it. We keep track of where he lives, he has moved 4 times since my sister disappeared. The police also know he did it. There’s not enough evidence to bring him in or charge him. Her body has still never been found. If I go after him he becomes the victim and I won’t be able to be a father to my children.

Image source: ServingTheMaster, RDNE Stock project He gets to be alive every day. He’s a serial rapist. We suspect my sister was not his first murder. From our interactions with state police and FBI my impression is that our situation, while a nightmare, is perhaps not as rare as you would normally assume or hope.

#26 In 1933, a doctor named Carl Tanzler raided the tomb of a female patient with whom he'd become obsessed and stole her body. He lived with the corpse for seven years. As the body fell apart, he attached the corpse's bones together with wire and coat hangers, and fitted the face with glass eyes. He was only caught when someone saw him dancing with the corpse in front of an open window.

Image source: Platonus44, Zach Lezniewicz

#27 That talent and skill isn’t enough to follow your dreams. You need appeal and people skills.

Image source: UltimateBetaMale, Magnet.me

#28 Seemingly 100% healthy people with literally no reason to believe they would have any reason to, can still spontaneously drop dead. Cherish every day!

Image source: anon, Tirachard Kumtanom Edit: just thanking for the upvotes. The topic is just a bit grim but, glad it gets people thinking about making their time here count, perhaps. Love y’all. ♥️.

#29 The symptoms for a heart attack can be a lot milder than what is shown in movies or TV shows. I have seen people coming in with some discomfort and then passing due to a massive infarction when we did the angiogram.

Image source: OneNOnly007, Towfiqu barbhuiya -Edit- This blew up over the past couple days. I didn’t have time to really look through all the comments, but to all those that have lost a loved one, I’m really sorry for your lost. I guess the one piece of advise I would like to give is to really look after yourselves, keep your cholesterol levels and blood pressure in check. Lastly, quit smoking if you already haven’t done so!

#30 Veteran criminals in the gulags would recruit naïve prisoners for their escape attempts called "cows" for the sole purpose of eating them when they ran out of food in the Siberian wilderness.

Image source: Jaquivleon

#31 There are dogs and cats on YouTube that made more money than you and your parents working your whole life.

Image source: P_elquelee

#32 The USSR built a massive arsenal of nuclear weapons and then dissolved, leaving poorly paid guards behind who no longer had a USSR to hold allegiance to. This made them vulnerable to being bought off by the highest paying bidder to feed their families and a whole bunch of those nukes just vanished and no one knows where they are.

Image source: adamislolz

#33 Terminal lucidity is the return of mental clarity or memory or consciousness shortly before death. This happens to around 10% of people with dementia. :[.

Image source: Final-Procedure-8235, Isaac Quesada

#34 The Astronauts aboard the Challenger shuttle were still alive after the explosion. It took them a few minutes to fall to Earth, but they knew they were going to die.

Image source: frezor, Pixabay

#35 The mathews and the hart bridges in jacksonville are about to fail, the pilings in the river do not touch bottom. I'm a commercial diver and I refuse to drive on these bridges.

Image source: Nkdly, Maryanne Kirk Edit: https://www.fdot.gov/maintenance/bridgeinfo.shtm Here you can read terminology and bridge ratings for every bridge in Florida, on the latest report Mathews has a "health index" of 96 but a "sufficiency rating" of 44, while the Hart is 90 and 30.

#36 In the 1800s a LOT of dentures were made using the teeth of dead soldiers.

Image source: SnooDoughnuts3368, Emeric Kalil

#37 Multiple genetic diseases, and this is extremely over simplified so I don't give people nightmares:

Glass bones/brittle bone disease (sneezing can break a bone, or bumping a counter. Basically the body can't grow strong bones at all. CPS has been called on MANY a parent for this disease before diagnosis ) Harlequin syndrome (very very cracked and "broken" skin due to what doctor's believe is the body being unable to shed old skin easily) Stone man syndrome (body overreacts to injury and instead of a bruise or sore muscle, will turn the injured area into bone. After a certain point people with this have to decide what position to be frozen in for the rest of their existence) Tree Man syndrome (condition where the HPV to grow uncontrollably to the point that the skin starts looking like tree bark) Butterfly Skin (you know how delicate a butterfly's wings are and how easily they can lose their wing scales? That's the skin of someone who has this. It just comes off at the slightest touch, leaving many patients to look like walking mummys and needing to be under insane amounts of sun protection.) Vampire disease (basically if someone goes out in sunlight without enough protection, their skin reacts horribly. Worse than a sunburn by at least 20x) Edit: thank you for the awards lovely strangers! And to people who might wonder how the heck I came up with this list, well, when you do research for your own medical problems, are fascinated by ER stories, and are still wondering why some of the human body glitches exist, you come across a lot. Definitely gives you a hard slap to the face and more sympathy. Especially if you meet people like these in the wild. Makes it easier to look at them as people instead of wtf their genetic lottery decided to do. Image source: bandashee

#38

Ok, i put this in another comment on AITA, but it fits better here. In Mexico, there was a case of a woman with a thyroid problem. She worked on a department store. She started to have serious abdominal pains and told her employers about it, they ignored her. She went to the bathroom and then called emergency services, who arrived but were blocked by the superiors from entering. She was pregnant and didn't knew it because of the thyroid. She was having a miscarriage on the bathroom. After she came out, she was fired. But that's not the end of it. The store ratted her out for having a miscarriage. See, where she lives, abortions are illegal, and her situation was apparently, catalogued as an abortion. She was thrown to prison, 16 years, for "involuntary manslaughter" that was 2016, and even after many protest and media coverage, the state refuses to drop the charges, and the department store hasn't taken any responsibility about their acts EDIT: So in good news, she was freed in 2019, as noted by an user after me EDIT 2: BTW, as people ask, her name is Dafne Mcpherson, the store is a Mexican chain named Liverpool, located in San Juan del Río, Querétaro. The reason I didn't knew she was (thankfully) freed is my fault, the story was lost in between lots of stories that happened from then to today. Mexico is an awful place to be a woman unfortunately, so much we have typified murder against a woman as "feminicide", and while abortion is a right in the capital, right-wing groups and parties have blocked this right in almost all of the other states. Image source: Blustach

#39

If you fall from a high enough point and hit water, your insides are liquefied on impact. When my dad was in the Navy, someone jumped from a bridge near the base his ship was about to leave. Since his ship had the only available rescue divers on it, they got sent out to check to see if they were military. My dad asked the divers what it was like and they said it was like trying to get a bag of Jell-O out of the water. This happened at Coronado Naval Base Edit: turns out your insides don't liquefy, everything just ruptures and it feels like it. My bad. Image source: UnoriginalMetalhead

#40 Russia sank a number of nuclear submarines, with the reactors intact, in shallow water. Once the submarine rusts enough, high level nuclear waste will start contaminating fairly crowded shipping lanes.

Image source: Jozer99, Defence Imagery One of the submarines they sunk used a liquid metal cooled fast reactor. When water finally rusts its way into that reactor, instead of the reactor rusting, it may explode.