From islands full of ghosts and flashes of lights, to abandoned quarantine hospitals
here are 10 of the most mysterious uninhabited islands.
10.
Champ Island
Champ Island is one of the most remote and mysterious islands in the Russian Arctic.
It is part of the Franz Josef Archipelago.
The 374 sq. km. isle has tundra landscapes and stone spheres randomly spread throughout
the terrain.
The spheres range in size from boulders to small pebbles that can be held in the palm
of your hand.
The most tame theory is that they were shaped by an ancient civilization for unknown purposes,
and of course there are the usual alien theories involved.
Some believe the spheres may be the result of concretion, a process by which the precipitation
of mineral cement between the particles in sedimentary rock or soil forms a hard mass.
But, scientists have determined the spheres were actually formed underwater, so concretion
in this case wouldn’t have worked.
Did ancient people carve these stone balls underwater?
Nobody knows, but that of course, is part of its mysterious charm!
9.
Bouvet
Bouvet is the most remote uninhabited island in the world!
To give you an idea of how remote it is: the nearest landmass is Antarctica.
Its roughly 75 square miles is mostly covered by glaciers.
There is very little aside from moss, seals, seabirds and penguins.
However, the island has been at the center of some peculiar mysteries.
An early discoverer of the island documented a second island nearby that was never seen
again.
In the 1960s, an abandoned lifeboat and various supplies were found on the island, though
nothing was ever seen of its passengers.
In 1979, the United States’ Vela satellite picked up a bright flash of light between
Bouvet and Prince Edward Islands.
Known as the Vela Incident, it is now believed that the flash was caused by a secret South
African-Israeli joint nuclear bomb detonation, though neither country has officially admitted
it.
Today, Norway lays claim to the island and has even designated a special internet domain
for the island.
As of yet, the domain, “.bv” remains unused.
They’d better watch out or the pirate bay might take it over!
8.
Daksa Island
Called the “Island of Ghosts”, Daksa in the Adriatic Sea near Dubrovnik, Croatia,
was once the home of the Franciscan Monastery of St. Sabina from 1281 CE to the 19th century.
The small island also has a villa and an ancient lighthouse.
However, it was little used after the monastery closed, and even less so after the events
of 1944.
At the height of World War II, Yugoslav partisans celebrated a victory by coming to Dubrovnik
and rounding up 53 men suspected of being Nazi sympathizers, including the mayor of
Dubrovnik and the local parish priest.
Without a trial or evidence, they took them to Daksa and executed them.
In 2009, two mass graves were unearthed on the island.
DNA samples were taken from the victims of the Daksa Massacre, and some were identified.
The remains finally received a proper burial in 2010, 66 years after they were executed.
But there are tales of the ghosts of the victims haunting the island, still crying out for
justice.
The little island is for sale, and has been for several years—without any takers.
Not sure who wants to buy that dark piece of history.
7.
Clipperton Island
Clipperton Island is a coral atoll south of Mexico and west of Guatemala in the Pacific.
It was claimed by the French, followed by the Americans, and they both mined it for
guano.
Mexico took possession in 1897 and allowed a British company to mine the guano there.
Around 1910, Mexico sent 13 soldiers to guard the island.
Their wives and some servants joined them, and soon children were born.
One of the island residents was a reclusive lighthouse keeper named Victoriano Álvarez.
In 1914, supply ships stopped coming due to the Mexican Civil War, and malnutrition set
in.
The soldiers living on the island started to die off, until only the wives and their
children remained.
Victoriano Álvarez, the lighthouse keeper, also survived.
Álvarez seized control of the survivors and declared himself king of the island.
He spent the next few years terrorizing the women and children of Clipperton Island, until
they banded together to kill him.
Gone was the mad king of Clipperton Island.
In 1917, the last surviving islanders, three women and eight malnourished children, were
rescued and evacuated by an American ship.
Ownership of the island reverted to France, which operated a lighthouse on Clipperton
Island.
However, after World War II France completely abandoned it.
There are now only occasional scientific expeditions to the atoll.
6.
Hashima Island
Hashima Island could once claim the title of the most densely populated spot on the
planet, packing over 13,000 people into each square kilometer of its residential high-rises.
It operated as a coal mine from 1887 until 1974 and had everything a city could offer.
Now, it sits completely deserted.
The thousands of Japanese workers, as well as forced laborers from China and Korea who
toiled in the island’s deep mine shafts during WWII, are long gone.
When Japan shifted to petroleum as its main energy source instead of coal, the island
was no longer economically viable, and everybody left.
Or in the case of the forced laborers, were probably sent somewhere else.
It doesn’t look good for them wherever they put them.
But hence, the island was deserted.
Most of the massive concrete buildings are still standing, though, which gives this island
the aura of a floating ghost town, or an old battleship.
Or the remains of an apocalypse.
For a time, the place was considered to be beyond restoration and it was illegal to even
go near it.
The penalty for visiting Hashima Island was 30 days in prison followed by immediate deportation.
Recently, the island has received World Heritage Status and people can now take guided tours.
If we are ever attacked by zombies, Hashima is the place to go.
Actually most of the islands on this list would be a good option!!
5.
North Brother Island
Until September 11, this island was the location of the worst loss of life in New York City.
North Brother Island in the East River in New York City is a protected nesting area,
and therefore off-limits to the public.
The island’s lurid history spans 130 years.
Riverside Hospital opened a quarantine facility for smallpox patients on the 20-acre island
in 1885.
The hospital later took in patients with other communicable diseases, like typhoid.
It was here that Typhoid Mary was housed involuntarily for two decades until her death in 1938.
Typhoid Mary was the first person identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the disease
in the US.
She worked as a cook for wealthy families and everywhere she went, people would get
sick and even die of typhoid.
It took scientists awhile but they figured out she was a carrier.
She was arrested and put on the island several times and she would get let out and be a cook
again.
She constantly changed her name and became a menace to public health.
The last time she was arrested and put in quarantine she started an outbreak at a hospital.
The hospital on North Brother Island closed in 1942, but the buildings were used for veterans'
housing for a while, and then as a rehab center for young drug addicts, until corruption,
abuse, and rights violations forced the facility to close for good in 1963.
All kinds of bad stuff went on there.
The island was purchased by the City of New York in 2007.
The buildings still stand in their ruined state, and are said to be haunted by the many
who died or suffered there.
In 2016, City Council members proposed a way for tourists to make legal trips to the island
but the idea is still in the discussion phase.
4.
Lazzaretto Nuovo
Lazzaretto Nuovo is an island situated at the entrance of the lagoon that surrounds
Venice, Italy.
It was a monastery in medieval times, then in 1468 was designated as a quarantine area
for ships approaching Venice, to protect the city from the bubonic plague.
This continued until the 18th century.
When the quarantine facilities were abandoned, Lazzaretto Nuovo became a military base.
The Italian Army left the site in 1975, and it suffered years of neglect.
Community efforts have since turned it into a cultural museum site, now supported by the
Italian Ministry of Arts and Culture.
The island is currently open for tourism.
However, what makes the island very eerie is a recent discovery.
Mass graves were unearthed on the island, which isn’t surprising given it was used
for quarantine.
However, what both unsettled and fascinated researchers was the skull of a young woman.
It had a brick jammed into the mouth.
At the time of the plague, people didn’t understand where the illness was coming from.
Most explanations were rooted in the supernatural.
One thing that many people blamed for the disease were vampires.
Apparently, at some point in the past, this woman was thought to have been a vampire and
shoving a brick into the deceased’s mouth was one way of preventing her from rising
from the grave.
3.
Palmyra Atoll
Located 1000 miles south of Hawai’i, Palmyra Atoll is a territory owned by the United States.
Aside from a handful of "non-occupants" working for The Nature Conservancy or the U.S. government
temporarily inhabiting the island, it is officially uninhabited by long-term residents.
The U.S. military built an airstrip there during World War II, which has fallen into
disrepair, although it is still used for infrequent supply runs.
The atoll is now administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife agency, with the exception
of Cooper Island, which is owned by The Nature Conservancy.
The Atoll, unlike regular islands, is formed by a ring of reefs.
And it is also cursed.
The first person to discover it, Captain Edmund Fanning, did so by nearly crashing into it
after a night of feeling a haunting sense of impending doom.
Today, passing ships claim to see lights flitting through the trees on the atoll.
The surrounding waters are said to contain both sharks and mysterious sea monsters.
People have also shipwrecked onto the island over the years.
One set of survivors who washed ashore on Palmyra in 1870 were later discovered strewn
around the beach, all of them violently killed.
Also, buried Incan treasure is said to be hidden somewhere on the atoll bringing all
kinds of pirates and causing all kinds of trouble.
Although how Incan treasure may have come to be there I have no idea!
2.
The Island of Dolls
The Island of the Dolls, or La Isla de las Munecas, makes for some serious scary vibes.
The island, which is fairly close to Mexico City, overflows with dolls and doll parts
hanging from trees.
The story of why varies but they all revolve around one man: Julian Santana Barrera.
Most of you have probably heard the story by now but in case you haven’t, Julian,
grieving over the loss of his entire family, went to the island to live as a hermit.
Some versions of the story say a child died there in the canals long before Julian moved
in.
Other versions of the story say he found the body of a drowned child, clutching a doll,
not long after he arrived.
Either way, he began to claim that he constantly heard a child crying near the waters.
To appease the spirit, he began to hang dolls all over the island.
Which personally, I think just made things worse.
As the dolls decayed, it has made for some intensely scary scenery.
To add a touch of extra fear is the way Julian died.
His drowned body was found in the same area where the little girl supposedly died.
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1.
Isola La Gaiola
At first glance, Isola La Gaiola appears to be a perfect example of the beauty and romance
of southern Italy.
Situated in the Gulf of Naples, a rough stone bridge joins the island’s two sections.
Surrounded by ruins dating back to Ancient Rome, the island is at the center of Gaiola
Underwater Park, an area famous for its rich marine wildlife.
At one time, Isola La Gaiola was a status symbol for the rich, with Europe’s wealthiest
vying for ownership.
Today, the island stands deserted—due in part to the string of unfortunate incidents
that plagued its former owners, leading to rumors that the island is cursed.
The island’s first recorded inhabitant was a hermit known only as “the Wizard,” who
lived there in the early 19th century.
In the early 20th century, a new owner built a rustic villa on the island, only for the
owner’s murdered corpse to be found in a rolled up carpet.
Nothing good.
After this, talk of a curse began.
The murdered man’s wife drowned in the gentle seas of the Gulf of Naples and everyone said
she had had something to do with her husband being found in the rug.
Curse?
Or love triangle gone wrong.
The island passed to a wealthy German named Otto Grunbach.
While staying there, Grunbach died of a heart attack.
The next owner, a Swiss pharmaceutical tycoon, went insane on the island and committed suicide.
The same fate fell upon owner number four: the son of legendary Fiat head Gianni Agnelli.
Agnelli’s nephew, who both inherited the island and became heir to the Fiat empire,
died of an extremely rare type of cancer shortly afterward.
Yet another owner bankrupted himself with his lavish spending.
J. Paul Getty purchased La Gaiola and his grandson was kidnapped shortly after.
The island and its decaying villa have been abandoned since its last owner was jailed
in connection with the collapse of his company.
Unsurprisingly, nobody has been rushing to buy it.
Thanks for watching!
If you are interested in animals check out my video on islands run by animals!
See you soon!
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