Truth is stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to unsolved mysteries. After all, there’s something about the untold, unanswered, and all sorts of unexplainable happenings around the world that deeply captivates us. We binge-watch tantalizing TV shows and documentaries, devour numerous books and podcasts, indulge in research and go down rabbit holes all because of our morbid fascination with the unknown.
History buffs and true crime aficionados love the thrill that comes with exploring the perplexities of these events. So when Redditor PitifulWay6371 reached out to ‘Ask Reddit’ and wondered, “What is the strangest unsolved mystery?”, they immediately jumped to the comment section to share their discoveries with fellow members of the community.
From spine-chilling disappearances to unthinkable crimes, Bored Panda has gathered some of the best stories that may make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. Continue scrolling to read through these responses, but be warned — the eeriness-level in some of them is off the charts. Upvote your favorite examples, and if you know of any other unsolved cases that keep you up at night, be sure to share them with us in the comments.
#1
The disappearance of Brandon Swanson.
He was driving home from a party and drove into a ditch. He called his parents and was on the phone with them as he was unsure of his exact location. He told his parents he was outside of a town and they drove over to pick him up. They were on the phone with him as they were driving, but were unable to locate him. He went silent after saying “Oh s**t” and was never to be seen again.
Image credits: waterfromthetapp
#2
Asha Degree.. lived in my town 🙁 In 2000, she walked out of her home willingly at age 9 in the middle of the night on Valentines Day during a massive storm. She was sighted multiple times walking down an extremely rural and desolate highway by herself in the pouring rain and then was never seen again. Her book bag was discovered miles away buried in a trash bag a year later. How was a 9 year old convinced to leave her home alone in the middle of the night, in a storm, to walk down a deserted highway? How has there been no substantive leads at all since 2001?
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#3
There’s a star called “Przybylski’s Star” that’s full of plutonium, an element that should not exist anymore in nature as it would have all decayed into other elements.
Even if you assume aliens, where did they get so much plutonium? And why would they use it to change the composition of an entire star?
Nothing makes sense about it.
Image credits: Wizard_Elon_3003
#4
There was a girl in the 19th century who was murdered after a party. She went to a friends to get dressed, then they went to the party. It was on a particular holiday I don’t remember. She met a man named Thornton at the party and left with him. She was found the next day in a park, she had been r*ped and strangled. Thornton was put on trial but acquitted due to lack of evidence and it was never solved. The weirdest thing was that in the 1970’s it happened again, and both crimes were nearly identical. It was the same holiday, the same town, the girl went to a friend’s to get dressed and they then went to the party. She met a man named Thornton and left with him, and was found the next day r*ped and strangled in the same park, very close to where the first girl was found. Again, Thornton was put on trial but acquitted due to lack of evidence. That story is just weird. Also, both girls had the same birthday.
Image credits: mariam67
#5
The ‘Dog S*icide’ bridge, also known as Overtoun Bridge in Scotland. According to VICE, approximately 50 dogs have died by leaping to their death off the 50-foot bridge since the 1950s, and 600 have jumped but survived. Some dogs are even reported to have survived the jump, returned to the bridge, and attempted to jump again.
There are tons of theories as to what lures dogs to do this, from the scientific to the paranormal. Some believe the bridge is haunted due to a man throwing his baby off the bridge, believing he was the antichrist. Others think a specific scent is drawing dogs over the edge, such as the smell of mink or squirrels who live under the bridge.
Image credits: Caybayyy8675309
#6
The lost A-bomb off the coast of America, which the US government said not to worry about in the 50’s and tried to cover up. Was dumped in the ocean in an aviation accident and it’s still lost to this day.
100x more powerful then what was dropped in Japan.
Image credits: FoxSafe4
#7
Probably Terrence Woods Jr.
He was a 26 year old production assistant on scene in rural Idaho with his crew filming a documentary about an abandoned mine in late 2018. The project was slated for completion in mid November but he texted his father early morning on Oct 5th 2018 telling him that he would be heading home on the 10th of October, cutting his stay short by weeks. Later that day when filming concluded for the day he was seen speaking to one of the miners who used to operate the mine when Terrence said he was going to go into the foliage to relieve himself. The Prod Manager thought this was strange because apparently he had been acting odd all day, so the Prod Manager when to check on him. When he did, he noticed that Terrence’s radio was on the ground and suddenly noticed Terrence break into a full on sprint into the woods down small ledge. The manager tried to chase him but lost him in the woods shortly after trying. He returned to his crew and alerted the authorities, who launched a full scale SAR mission that’s turned up no clues. The authorities noted how odd it was that he was able to run in such thick foliage. He has never been seen nor heard from again.
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#8
Who was Kaspar Hauser. A feral child found in 1820’s germany, who dies a violent death after revealing that he had spent his youth in a darkened cellar.
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#9
Brian Schaffer, a medical student who disappeared from a Columbus OH bar without a trace. There is absolutely no footage of him leaving the bar on the cameras and he has never been heard of since. It seems as if he fell off the face of the earth. Crazy case
Image credits: soulsista12
#10
The 169th victim of the Oklahoma City bombing. They found an additional leg in the rubble. DNA tests showed it belonged to another victim who had already been buried but with the wrong leg. The wrong leg had already been embalmed, so they could not get DNA at the time. So who did this leg belong to? All other legs had been accounted for in other victims. They found no other body parts, and nobody else had been reported missing. It was only until 2015 they could get DNA from the leg, but it’s still classified as a John Doe. A few conspiracy theories had popup like maybe a second bomber that got caught in the blast but it’s still unknown.
Image credits: draiman
#11
Idk if this has been posted already or not. 1986 “Missing Boy of Somosierra”, Juan Pedro Martínez.
Kid’s father is a truck driver. He is tasked with taking a semi carrying a tank of sulfuric acid from Cartagena to Bilbao, and brings his wife and son to make it a little family trip. When they pass through the Somosierra Mountain pass, the truck is reported as driving erratically, and then it crashes. The cabin is destroyed, both parents are killed in the crash, but kid apparently just f*****g *vanishes off the face of the earth*
The “obvious” explanation is he somehow survived the crash and wandered off, but the area was thoroughly searched, and no trace of him was found.
Some have theorized that the sulfuric acid dissolved his body. This wouldn’t work either, because it would take longer than that to dissolve a body, and because it would have left traces.
There are a few unexplained and unusual details as well:
* Andrés was apparently a decent driver and in good health, and there was nothing wrong with the truck. Why was he driving so badly, especially through mountains with steep cliffs, with his whole family on board?
* The truck’s tachometer recorded a number of unexplained starts and stops that didn’t match the traffic patterns. What’s that about?
* There were traces of cocaine found, not in the cabin, but inside the tank with the sulfuric acid. Why?
* Unverified reports claim that two people arrived at the scene before emergency services and removed a small package from the cabin. Is this true, and if so, who were they, and what are they doing?
* Almost a year later, in 1987, a boy matching Juan Pedro’s description was reported in Madrid. He was accompanying an elderly woman, and they were asking about the location of the US Embassy. Was this Juan Pedro, and if so, who is he with, and why?
Image credits: KpcAu
#12
The case of Branson Perry in 2001 he was cleaning out a house and he told a friend he was going to return a pair a jumper cables to the shed and he never was seen again.
Image credits: 1401238754
#13
I wanna know about Cicada 3301.
Basically in 2012, an image was posted on 4 Chan saying “We are trying to find intelligent individuals for our organization. If you have what it takes the first clue is in this image.” It was an incredibly elaborate puzzle, and solving the puzzle led to another puzzle. And another. And another.
These puzzles ended up leading all around the world, in tons of different forms “including the internet, telephone, original music, bootable Linux CDs, digital images, physical paper signs, and pages of unpublished cryptic books written in runes.”
Image credits: PhantomTissue
#14
The Phoenix Lights. On March 13, 1997, thousands of people — including the Governor of Arizona at the time — saw “a v-shaped light formation.” The governor was a pilot, and when the government came out with their report claiming they were flairs, the Governor — once out of office, of course — called bulls**t. According to NBC News, he said, “I know just about every machine that flies. … It was bigger than anything that I’ve ever seen. It remains a great mystery.”
Image credits: Late-Impression1372
#15
The Max Headroom incident. Basically there was a tv station whose signal was hijacked by a mysterious man wearing a mask and doing crazy stuff. It happened like two separate times and then stopped completely. No one knows who it was.
Image credits: Terrbear1013
#16
The Dyatlov Pass mystery.
Image credits: miss-maiden
#17
The murders of billionaires Barry & Honey Sherman found dead in their mansion in Toronto by their realtor. They were found with their necks tied, fully clothed on their pool deck with no signs of a break in. Well known philanthropists, Barry was in the pharmaceutical industry and they donated millions annually to multiple charities. The police originally believed it was a murder s*icide and didn’t pursue other leads.
The family launched a private investigation that found the evidence didn’t support that theory and thus proved police incompetence.
As the public became more interested, it was discovered there was a whole family dispute over inherited shares of the apotex company. The Sherman’s nieces and nephews had launched lawsuit over their right to inherit shares which they lost and most accepted.
The Sherman’s children hired private investigators bc of the inept toronto police. It uncovered an unknown man leaving the property around the time of the murders.
The case is fascinating and is the subject of multiple podcasts, a book, and movie
Image credits: Kickkit
#18
The Yuba City 5. Five men vanished from a car on a snowy mountian road. Several months later the remains of 4 of them were found in the woods between the abandoned car and a Foresty trailer 20 away.
Image credits: ValiantMagnus
#19
Ireland’s most beloved, Derby-winning racehorse, Shergar. Shergar was kidnapped by a gang on February 8, 1983. It’s widely believed the IRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army) was behind it. They were believed to be seeking ransom money — Shergar was valued at £10 million — and allegedly ended up shooting him to death as he got too much to deal with. According to the BBC, though, little actual evidence was found at the scene, the gang never contacted them for ransom, and no one has ever officially admitted responsibility of the crime.
#20
The story of the Ourang Medan always gives me chills for some reason
According to the story, at some point of time in or around June 1947, two American vessels navigating the Straits of Malacca, the City of Baltimore and the Silver Star, among others passing by, picked up several distress messages from the nearby Dutch merchant ship Ourang Medan. A radio operator aboard the troubled vessel sent the following message in Morse code: “S.O.S. from Ourang Medan * * * We float. All officers including the captain, dead in chartroom and on the bridge. Probably whole of crew dead * * *.” A few confused dots and dashes (of Morse code) later, two words came through clearly. They were “I die.” Then, after that chilling message, there was nothing more heard of. When the Silver Star crew eventually located and boarded the apparently-undamaged Ourang Medan in an attempt at a rescue, the ship was found littered with corpses (including the carcass of a dog) everywhere, with the dead bodies found sprawled on their backs, the frozen (and allegedly badly-frightened) faces of the deceased upturned to the sun above with mouths gaping open and eyes staring straight ahead, with the corpses resembling horrible caricatures. No survivors were located and no visible signs of injuries on the dead bodies were observed. Just as the ship was to be prepared for a tow by the Silver Star to a nearby port, a fire then suddenly broke out in the ship’s No. 4 cargo-hold, forcing the boarding party to hastily evacuate the doomed Dutch freighter, thus preventing any further investigations to be carried out. Soon after, the Ourang Medan was witnessed exploding before finally sinking.
#21
The mysterious case of D.B. Cooper ? I mean there are a lot of theories but then there is a fact or two to question the validity of a particular theory. Its interesting but very confusing as to how a person could pull that off and leave no record despite a prompt investigation and intensive steps to mark/recover the cash.
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#22
Zodiac killer. Kinda…
Image credits: Theone_wolf
#23
Mohammed Atta (lead hijacker on 9/11 put almost 4 THOUSAND miles on a rental in 4 days right before 9/11. Where did he go and why.
Follow up: this is on his Wikipedia page.
#24
the location of Heinrich Mueller, the final Gestapo chief. He was last seen in Berlin, roughly three days before it fell. At the time, he claimed to be fully aware of what the Russians did to POWs and that he had no intention of being taken prisoner. He most likely had access to foreign documents as the Gestapo leader and knew how to duplicate them. He was sought after by the CIA and the KGB, but nothing of him has ever been discovered.
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