40 Bizarre Mysteries That Still Leave People Scratching Their Heads

The world is full of questions we still can’t answer. From strange disappearances to puzzling artifacts, these mysteries have fascinated and frustrated people for decades, sometimes centuries. Even with all our technology and scientific advances, these stories remain unsolved, leaving us to wonder: what really happened?

#1 Monarch Butterfly

Image source: Cindy Gustafson, MasonS98

So the Monarch Butterfly migrates to Mexico and back every year. During the year there are a full 4 generations of butterflies that live and die during the journey. Upon returning back from Mexico, the butterfly manages to find the same trees it’s relative started out at despite never having been there.

#2 The Lead Mask Mystery Of Brazil

Image source: Brazilian government, Agustin6m

The bodies of two men were found wearing lead masks covering their eyes with a notebook that mysteriously read “4:30 PM be at the determined place. 6:30 PM swallow capsules, after effect, protect metals, wait for signal” in Portuguese.
There are multiple theories that have been proposed to explain this case, ranging from foul play to UFOs. One theory revolves around the testimony of a friend of the two men, who claimed that they were members of a group of “scientific spiritualists”. This theory purports that the men were apparently attempting to contact extraterrestrials or spirits using psychedelic d***s; believing that such an encounter would be accompanied by blinding light, the men cut and wore metal masks to shield their eyes. The two then ultimately died of a simultaneous drug overdose. This account is corroborated by the esoteric diary entry found at the scene and by mask-making materials and literature concerning spirits found at the men’s homes.

#3 The Sodder Children

Image source: Pixabay, erinkjean

The Sodder family house burned down in the middle of the night. Several of the kids were presumed dead, but their bodies were never found in the debris and it never burned hot enough to cremate them. It started to look extremely suspicious and the parents until their deaths believed that they had been taken for some reason. Many years down the line they did receive a photo and cryptic note from someone claiming to be their son but it was never authenticated.

#4 Chechem Tree And The Chaka Tree

Image source:  Leonora (Ellie) Enking, collide7

I’m not sure if you’d call this ‘unsolved’ or frankly even solvable. But there are two trees found in parts of Central America, called the Chechem tree and the Chaka tree. The Chechem tree’s bark has a p****n that is so strong that just by touching the bark (or its sap of course) your skin will begin to numb. The cure to this exact p****n lies in its sister tree, the Chaka. And as if that wasnt enough all on its own, whats more they are Always found to be right next to each other in nature. There is a Mayan myth that comes with these trees that they are from two brothers that fought each other over the love of a woman, but they ended up unaliving each other, and the woman, Nicte-Ha, died of heartbreak. One of the brothers, Kinich, was kind and caring, and thus became the Chaka tree. The other brother, Tizic, was cold-hearted and arrogant, and became the Chechem tree. Poisons and cures found in nature are of course a reality in many different instances, but the fact that these trees are right next to each other in nature, and provide exactly opposite effects, is pretty crazy.

#5 Invention Of Bread

Image source: Magda Ehlers, Mr_Paper

I would really like to know how bread was invented. Which madman looked at a field of wheat and thought to themselves: ‘If we dry it and ground it, mix it with water, pound it into a ball and place it in a warm box for a while, it could be really delicious.’

And don’t get me started on yeast.

#6 The Ibadan Forest Of Horror In Nigeria. A Local Taxi Driver Goes Missing And His Friends Create A Makeshift Search Party And Investigate A Forest

Image source: Alex Fu, Abandoned_Cosmonaut

Instead of finding their friend, they find an abandoned school (or factory) that have the remnants of a hellish t*****e/m****r, ritual k*****g and human trafficking. 8 survivors were rescued. Numerous body parts, rotting corpses and personal artifacts were found. The perpetrators were never found – although local politicians and ritualists were suspects.

Whilst this discovery is disturbing, the mystery for me is that the original taxi driver – still hasn’t been found.

#7 Christopher Kerze, 17, Stayed Home From School On April 20th, 1990, Complaining Of A Headache

Image source: WinnieBean33

His mom came home later to find him gone and a note explaining that he’d be back later, if he didn’t get “lost” (which was underlined twice). He has never been found.

#8 The Voynich Manuscript – Still Unreadable After 600+ Years

Image source: pschyco147

I’ve recently done a deep dive into one of the most persistent unsolved mysteries in history: the Voynich Manuscript. It’s a book that has fascinated cryptographers, linguists, historians, and conspiracy theorists alike for over a century. Here’s a full breakdown of what we actually know, the main theories, and why none have held up to serious scrutiny so far.
What is the Voynich Manuscript?
Discovered in 1912 by rare book d****r Wilfrid Voynich in a Jesuit college in Italy, the manuscript is written in an entirely unknown script and illustrated with bizarre images. It’s been carbon-dated to around 1404–1438. The pages contain:
Unidentified plants (none matching known species). Astrological diagrams with suns, moons, and zodiac symbols. Biological imagery, including naked women bathing in green liquid and connected by strange tubes. Pharmaceutical-like illustrations showing jars and roots.Long passages of continuous text with paragraph markers, but no recognizable words or syntax. It’s currently housed in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.

#9 On April 4th, 1991, Angela Hammond, 20, Was Abducted While Using A Payphone

Image source: WinnieBean33

Her fiancé heard her screams and the haunting words of her kidnapper saying, “I didn’t need to use the phone anyway,” before the line went dead. She has never been found.

#10 The Mary Celeste Was A Ghost Ship Found Abandoned On December 4, 1872

Image source: malihafolter

Despite having ample provisions, an intact cargo, and no signs of structural duress, her crew had disappeared without a trace. To this day, there is no conclusive explanation for what happened on the ship.

#11 In 1993, Six Hikers Were Trekking Near Lake Baikal In Siberia When They Were Suddenly Overcome With Horrific Symptoms

Image source: littlequeef99

Blood streamed from their eyes and noses, they clutched at their throats and bashed their heads against rock. Why this happened is still unknown.

#12 Natalie Wood Lived Her Life Afraid Of Dark Water. She Disappeared Off Her Yacht In 1981. No One Can Explain How She Got In The Water

Image source: MrRMacc

Film legend Natalie Wood was 43 when she went on a weekend trip with husband Robert Wagner and costar Christopher Walken. The boat’s captain, Dennis Davern, reported tension onboard. Wagner, Walken, and Davern all confirmed a heated argument on Saturday night, during which Wagner smashed a wine bottle.
Davern claimed Wagner said to Walken, “What are you trying to f**k my wife?” Natalie reportedly returned to the couple’s stateroom. Walken went outside. Wagner and Davern cleaned up the mess. Nearly 45 minutes later, Wagner discovered Natalie was missing. He believed she went to shore. At 1:30 AM, almost two hours after her disappearance, Wagner called for help— but not the Coast Guard. Volunteers and the harbormaster called the Coast Guard at 3:30 AM.
Natalie was found hours later floating in a cove, upright, eyes open, wearing a nightgown, red coat, and wool socks. The couple’s dinghy was found elsewhere, tangled in kelp, engine off and in neutral.
Wagner told people he thought Natalie went to shore, but also said he couldn’t imagine her doing so. Natalie, one of the last stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, was known for always appearing glamorous — yet she was found in sleepwear. She had long feared “dark water.”
Davern and others questioned why Natalie would try to use the dinghy alone at night in rough water. The case was initially ruled accidental drowning, but reopened in 2011 after new information emerged. Wagner is now a person of interest.
Witnesses John Payne and Marilyn Wayne reported hearing a woman calling for help at 11:05 PM. They kept a spotlight on the water for 20 minutes and heard two male voices speaking to the woman “almost mockingly.” Other reports described a man and woman arguing on the yacht around the same time.
Accounts of the dinghy’s condition vary. Some say it appeared unused; others say it showed signs of struggle and scratches. Natalie had long, pointed nails at the time.
In 2020, Wagner told his stepdaughter Natasha in a documentary that Natalie likely tried to tie up the dinghy, slipped, hit her head, and fell into the water. However, the autopsy showed an abrasion on her cheek but no major head trauma. If unconscious, her eyes likely would’ve remained closed, especially in cold water.

#13 On June 5th, 1991, Hotel Security Went To Check On Someone Only Known As Eduardo. He Was Supposed To Check Out The Day Prior

Image source: malihafolter

Instead, they found the decomposing body of a woman and this photo of her and an unknown man. The woman has never been identified.

#14 The Winchester Mystery House

Image source: OliJalapeno, camybrook

I watched a documentary on this house when i was 10 and it has stuck with me ever since. it’s about a woman named Sarah Winchester. Her husband and baby both died. Her husband owned a rifle company, and she went to a psychic. The psychic told her that she is being haunted by the ghosts of all the people who have died by the hands of those guns, and that is the reason for the tragedy that happened in her life.

To appease the spirits, the psychic told her to build a great house for them, and she was not allowed to stop building, or tragedy would strike again. She didn’t get help from anyone, but she did it and kept building for the next 38 years.

There are stairs that lead to nowhere, windows that don’t look out, hallways that wrap around. It has 161 rooms, and it’s huge.

Was it really the ghosts? Was she insane? I have no idea, but it’s the most interesting story i’ve ever heard.

#15 Three Men Vanished From A Yacht In 2007 – Engine Running, Food On Table, No Trace Ever Found

Image source: pschyco147

I want to share a real mystery from 2007 that still has no clear answer. It happened in Australia, and some people call it the modern “Mary Celeste.”
What Happened?
On April 15, 2007, three men—Derek Batten (56), and brothers Peter (69) and James Tunstead (63)—left Airlie Beach, Queensland, on a 9.8-meter catamaran named Kaz II. They planned to sail around northern Australia to Western Australia. On April 18, a helicopter spotted Kaz II drifting near the Great Barrier Reef. When authorities boarded the boat on April 20, they found it abandoned under strange conditions:
The engine was running. A laptop was on and working. Food and cutlery were set on the table. A newspaper was open on the floor. All safety equipment, including life jackets, was still on board. One sail was badly torn. The anchor was up, and a small dinghy was secured at the stern. There were no signs of struggle or foul play. The men’s wallets and personal items were untouched. No distress signal had been sent. Despite extensive searches, no trace of the men was ever found.

#16 Car In The Trees At Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

Image source: chrisbogard

Found what looks like a vintage car in the trees above a rock cliff next to the railroad track trail in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Anyone know the story behind this?

#17 Found These Cryptic Notes And Mapa Of UCLA Campus Hidden In A Small Glass Bottle In A Crevice Deep Within A Utah Ski Resort. What Do These Notes And Maps Mean?!

Image source: Slcloser

My buddy was hiding from a hail storm and found a bottle hidden behind rocks in a crevice. (Coordinates – 40.551740,-111.643867 near a utah ski resort) This bottle was last manufactured in the 70’s and all the notes were distressed

In the bottle, he found these weird maps of UCLA campus highlighting entrences with swasticas, and cryptic letters all linked to a guy named Alfred Alder. What are these notes? Is there hidden n**i gold? Why was this hidden in bottles?!

#18 A Man Dropped Off Photos Of People I’ve Never Seen At My House

Image source: TernadoChaeser

At the end of March a man in a blue 2000’s Chevy pulled up to our house while we were outside messing with our garden. He got out and placed this framed photo on a set of rocks about 100 yards away, up by our mailbox. He didn’t acknowledge us, he didn’t care that we watched him do it he didn’t even look at us. We live on the Missouri/Illinois border there is no terrain like this around us. This woman is not in our extended family when the frame was opened it was found to contain another photo of that same man with a child on his lap (most likely his daughter). This man didn’t have a license plate. We thought it was incredibley strange seeing how we have no idea who any of these people are and our family has lived in house house for 23 years. It’s a bit strange. I hope it’s a vacation photo of some kind, but I don’t know. The woman in this photo looks to be in her 30s-40s, while the photo itself looks to be taken in the 70s-80s. Let me know what you think.

#19 The Mystery Of The Icon Preserving Bees

Image source: Resident-Stage-3759

For a decade, a beekeeper near Athens, has kept a tradition: every spring, he slips icons of Christ, the Holy Virgin and different saints in his beehives, in order to bless his bees and his yearly honey production. And every year, the very same mysterious phenomenon occurs: bees make their honeycomb cells around the pious images, meticulously avoiding covering them.

#20 In 2003, Two Individuals Successfully Stole A Boeing 727 From Luanda International Airport In Angola

Image source: Time-Training-9404

After taking off, the aircraft vanished, prompting a large international search by intelligence agencies. Despite the efforts, both the plane and the thieves disappeared without a trace.
The Boeing 727, once operated by American Airlines, was retired and left at Luanda airport after plans to convert it fell through. In 2003, two men—a pilot and a mechanic—illegally boarded the plane and took off with 14,000 gallons of fuel, enough to travel 1,500 miles. The plane and the men were never found.

#21 We Like To Think We Understand The Universe And That Physics Is A Well Grounded Discipline, And In Some Ways It Is

Image source: Pixabay, Ok_Passenger_4202

However we have no idea what dark matter or dark energy is and yet we think it makes up 27% and 68% of the universe respectively.

#22 This Photo Taken By A Western Tourist Shows Hundreds Of People On Top Of A Roller Coaster In North Korea. It’s Still Unclear What Exactly They’re Doing

Image source: geo-boywife

#23 Not Sure If It’s The Biggest Mystery. But The Antikythera Mechanism Is Pretty Wild

Image source: Logg Tandy, SmokedMessias

Dated to at least 60BC, possibly as old as 200BC, it’s as complex as clockworks that didn’t show up until the 1400s, over a millennium later!

It’s just such a strange technological anomaly. Who made it? What else did they make and why haven’t we found more stuff as advanced?

#24 An Active One In The Archaeology World Is The Exact Time Frame Of When Humans Made It To The Americas

Image source: Plato Terentev, DocAuch22

The date keeps getting pushed back with more controversial discoveries that then just turn to evidence as they pile up. It’s a fascinating story to see unfold.

#25 The Devil’s Kettle Falls. There Are Reports Saying It Was Solved, The Water Ends Up In Lake Michigan, Etc. But There Is No Proof

Image source: lexirosewoods, CatherineConstance

For those who don’t know, the Devil’s Kettle Falls are the bane of my existence. They are located in Cook County, MN. It’s a waterfall that splits into two streams as it comes over a wall of rock – one stream goes into the river connected to the falls, and the other stream falls directly into a hole in the rocks and disappears. Scientists have dropped all kinds of things down there like ping pong b***s, dyes, etc. and tracked surrounding water sources like lakes and rivers to see if the stuff turns up and it never does. The theory about the water ending up in the Great Lakes is a good theory, but it hasn’t been proven.

The hydrologists that claimed they “solved” it were just looking at water levels in the stream and in Lake Michigan, and their explanation for all of the things that’s been dropped into the falls and never resurfaced is “well the current is really strong it probably just disintegrated everything”? Hundreds of plastic items? Disintegrated?

#26 Mysterious Sphere Found On Rooftop After A Snowstorm

Image source: Alchemyst78

A gift from the crows, or a melted chunk of space debris? It appears to be made of rubber, about the size and weight of a baseball and has 4 wires sticking out if it.

#27 My GPS Randomly Was Set To Guide Me To Arcana Imperii In Miami Beach Yet It Doesn’t Seem To Actually Exist Nor Did I Ever Search This

Image source: sukkitrebek

Googling the name only turns up a weird definition.

#28 Woke Up To A Cryptic Caption Added To My Usual Alarm And I Don’t Know How It Got There

Image source: PeachYvoid

I woke up to my usual alarm and I never really put any captions for my alarms, but there was a caption this time when I checked it. I have no idea what it means or why it’s there. I don’t recall ever putting it and the typos there are weird too. No one in my house could’ve put it cuz no one has my passcode except for my brother, but he wasn’t home at the time. Could I have typed it in my sleep?

#29 The Indus Valley Script

Image source: The Trustees of the British Museum, Oculi_Glauci

There was a huge civilization in northern India and Pakistan around 3300-1300 BC. It spanned more area than any other civilization at the time. They invented writing independently, something only done 5-6 times in history. But to this day, with all the thousands of inscriptions we have and all the documented contact with other civilizations, we haven’t deciphered their writing. There’s no known Rosetta Stone, no known descendant scripts, no known documentation of the language other than what is written in the Indus Valley script.

But the biggest mystery isn’t how to read the script or what it says, but the question of whether we’ll ever be able to know. Is it even possible to decipher a language we know absolutely nothing about?

#30 If The Universe Contains Everything And It’s Expanding, What’s It Expanding Into?

Image source: Aleksandar Pasaric, Mauri0ra

#31 Between 1200 And 1150 BCE, Most Of The Civilizations In The Eastern Mediterranean Region Were Either Greatly Depleted Or Collapsed Entirely, Bringing An Abrupt End To The Bronze Age

Image source: Alexikoua, GuardianGero

These civilizations were massively depopulated, their palaces and cities were destroyed or abandoned, and some transformed into small, isolated village cultures or nomadic herders. The Greek Linear B script was lost, and there is no written record of the following period of Greek history, meaning that Greeks of the time were probably illiterate.

This rapid decline affected – to one extent or another – major historical powers like Mycenaean Greece, New Kingdom Egypt, the Hittite Empire, and Assyria, among others.

And we don’t know why it happened.

These were sprawling, thriving civilizations, with healthy economies, elaborate trade networks, complex bureaucracy, written language, and large-scale agriculture, and they just…died. For some reason. There are plenty of theories, of course, but ultimately there’s no conclusive evidence that tells the story of how the Bronze Age collapsed into the intermediate period that preceded the Iron Age.

#32 Kodinhi Small Town In Kerala State Of India The Town Is Known For Having An Unusually H**h Number Of Twins

Image source: Greta Fotografia, reddit.com

It has around 2,000 families, there are something around 250 sets of twins legally recorded there. And , there could be a lot more While the national average of twin births is not more than 9 in 1000 births, in Kodinhi, the number is as h**h as 45 in 1000 births.

#33 The Circleville Letters

Image source: Suzy Hazelwood, GeneralMadAnthony

In 1976, residents of the small city south of Columbus Ohio began receiving handwritten sinister and graphic letters. Each letter included secret and dark details about their personal lives.

One resident received a ton of letters, accusing her of various unsavory acts. The resident was horrified and tried to keep the letters a secret until her husband began receiving them. The attacks on the family continued, with large posters appearing around town spreading rumors about their 12-year-old child. One day in 1977, the husband left the house after receiving a call from who he thought was writing the letters. A few minutes later, the husband was found dead at the end of the street dead behind the wheel. The letters began once again, this time accusing the sheriff of covering up the true nature of the death.

The harassment continued, this time with signs along the road and in 1983, the original resident who had been accused of having an affair pulled over to remove a sign. During the effort to remove the sign, she discovered a box was attached and inside of it was a small pistol. The gun was part of a booby trap designed to fire when the sign was removed.

The letter writing continued even after Paul Freshour, the registered owner of the gun was put in jail. In a new batch of letters, the author had promised to dig up the grave of a deceased baby and mail the bones to the police in the case of another potential affair turned m****r.

Hundreds of residents continued to receive personal letters until 1994 when everything stopped.

#34 Amanda Gill, A 41-Year-Old British Traveler Who Died In Mexico In 2018 From Diabetes Complications

Image source: malihafolter

Was found to have had her eyes, heart, brain, and other organs missing when her body was returned to her family. It is believed that police or hospital staff sold her organs to traffickers.

#35 Here’s A Very Interesting Mystery From The Late 70’s That Hardly Anybody Has Ever Talked About

Image source: bigguys45s

The highly bizarre, creepy, and mysterious 3 day lived syracuse, ny based pirate tv station, lucky 7. It was hosted by unknown men wearing gas masks broadcasting films such as deep throat.

#36 The One That Always Gets Me Is The M****r Of Missy Bevers

Image source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, PaxtonRose

She was unalived in the early morning at a church that she taught yoga at. Security footage from the church showed the murderer roaming the halls of the church all night, but that’s not what’s weird. What’s weird is that the murderer was dressed head to toe in police riot gear. It is the weirdest and eeriest video footage and is just unsettling. There’s lots of theories, but her m****r has never been solved and I believe there hasn’t even been a real suspect in the case.

#37 Maya Civilization

Image source: Stuardo Herrera, Innocentlypurreee

One of the most enduring mysteries in human history is the disappearance of the ancient Maya civilization. The Maya were a highly advanced civilization that flourished in Central America for hundreds of years before mysteriously disappearing in the 9th century. Despite extensive archaeological research, we still don’t know exactly what caused the downfall of the Maya or why their civilization collapsed.

#38 No One Knows Exactly Who ‘Founded’ Rome, Or When

Image source: Davi Pimentel, Final_Walrus_9416

All known records of the city’s early history date from the 5th or 6th century BC at the earliest (which doesn’t help the usual foundation date of 753 BC) and all of the foundation myths are exactly that, stories. All we know with any certainty is that Rome was ruled by kings at some point in its early history. But we don’t know who founded Rome; if it really was by a Romulus type figure or if it was multiple villages that eventually merged into a single town. Even with the latter possibility, it’s unknown when those communities would have considered themselves as a single town or when they decided to call it ‘Rome’.

#39 The Eriksson Sisters. They Are Said To Have Suffered From A Shared Psychosis Known As “Folie À Deux”

Image source: Pixabay, Stock_Garage_672

They’re the forty year old twin sisters from Sweden, who became front page news in the UK in 2008 when they repeatedly ran into traffic on the M6 motorway. A day or two later one of them, Sabina, stabbed a man to death in his home for no apparent reason. She fled the house, striking herself on the head with a hammer as she ran to a highway bridge. She jumped off, falling 12m and landing on a highway. She survived, with several fractures.

I’ve heard the audio from a tv news crew who happened to capture part of the M6 incident and just can’t forget one of them yelling at her sister about how “they’ll steal your organs”. Whatever happened to them was intense, sudden and largely unprecedented.

#40 Where Are Juan Peron’s Hands?

Image source: Luis Quintero, No-Farmer1601

In 1987, the hands of deceased Argentine president Juan Peron were cut off of his body and stolen from his tomb along with his cap and sword. Members of his political party received a ransom note requesting money for their return. Six men were arrested and five arraigned, but no charges were made against anyone. His hands are still lost and no person has still been charged.