There are some truly weird events taking place throughout the world right now that you probably
aren't aware of, but you should be.
Some can be explained, even if it takes a long time (often centuries), while others
are so enigmatic that even the world's top historians, archaeologists, and scientists
haven't been able to figure them out.
The massive rocks that make up England's Stonehenge, for example, have been sitting in that area
for generations now, and no one knows how they got there when people at the time didn't
even know what the wheel was because it hadn't been invented yet.
Newer finds, such as the largest known dinosaur footprint on the planet, the remains of the
real Mona Lisa, and a strange fruitcake that has been frozen in Antarctica for hundreds
of years, have provided experts with simpler explanations.
But, whether or not we know who, why, and how these discoveries were made, we should
be aware of them.
So, here are ten findings from around the world that experts have yet to explain.
1.
The Baigong Pipes There are three enigmatic triangle apertures
on top of a mountain housing hundreds of ancient rusty iron pipes of unknown origin in an area
of China that has never been known to have people, let alone industry.
Some of the pipes are buried deep within the mountain.
Some of them end up in a saltwater lake nearby.
More pipes are in the lake, and more are still running east-west along the lakeshore.
Some of the bigger pipes are 40 cm in diameter, uniform in size, and arranged in what appear
to be deliberate patterns.
So, what exactly is the big deal?
Archaeologists believe the pipes date back to a time when people were still figuring
out how to cook meat, let alone cast iron.
Despite being older than Zeus, the pipes are clean of debris.
This implies that they were not simply thrown into the ground for the sake of it but were
used for something.
Oh, and did we mention the mountain is entirely unfriendly to human life?
As usual, some scientists believe the Baigong Pipes are an ancient astronomy facility or
possibly a spacecraft launch site left by aliens.
This is conceivable because the pipes contain a silica concentration similar to that seen
on Mars.
2.
The Hobbits of Flores When the 18,000-year-old bones of the Flores
man (who was actually a woman) were discovered in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores,
scholars assumed they originally belonged to a human, albeit a very small one.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the skull they discovered was less than a third the
size of ours.
Later discoveries revealed that the bones belonged to a Homo floresiensis, a separate
species of archaic human that existed after the Neanderthals died out.
They dubbed the primitive woman "Hobbit" after J.R.R.
Tolkien's Lord of the Rings because of her elfin stature.
Many sceptics, however, dispute how a hominoid with that size of a brain could have developed
the complex tools discovered nearby.
3.
The Voynich Manuscript A roughly 240-page mediaeval codex written
in an indecipherable language, overflowing with odd images of esoteric plants, naked
women, and astrological symbols, has baffled historians, cryptographers, physicists, and
scientists for almost 600 years.
The Voynich manuscript defies classification, let alone comprehension.
Nonetheless, a continual stream of academics has come forward with new claims to have unlocked
its secrets throughout the years.
An anthropologist at Foothill College in California concluded just last month that the writing
was a "vulgar Latin dialect" written in an obscure Roman shorthand.
Earlier this year, Gerard Cheshire, a scholar at the University of Bristol, released a peer-reviewed
study in the journal Romance Studies proposing that the script represents a mash-up of "proto-Romance"
languages.
However, every claim of a Voynich solution, including both of last year's, has been rejected
or refuted by other specialists, media outlets, and Voynich devotees.
In Cheshire's case, the University of Bristol cancelled a press release touting his paper
after other experts heavily criticized it.
According to physicist Andreas Schinner, the Voynich manuscript might be "pure poison"
for a scholarly career because there is "always an easy option to make a ridiculous mistake"
when examining it.
All we know for sure, according to forensic testing, is that the text is from the 15th
century, when books were handmade and scarce.
However, its provenance and purpose remain unknown, making any assertions concerning
its contents almost impossible to substantiate against other historical materials.
4.
The Baghdad Batteries The Baghdad Batteries are a collection of
objects discovered in Mesopotamia in the early centuries AD.
This was roughly the period Gozer the Gozarian was roving the lands, changing into whatever
you imagined and then devouring you.
When researchers discovered the batteries, they assumed they were just typical old clay
pots for storage, but that notion rapidly fell apart because each one contains a copper
rod with indications of acid corrosion.
If you weren't the nerdiest kid in school, this means that the pots most likely contained
a liquid that interacted with the copper and produced an electrical charge.
If real, they are hundreds of years older than the earliest known modern battery.
That's all well and good, but what were they doing with the batteries?
It's not like we constantly unearthing antique camcorders over there.
Some stone reliefs known as the "Dendera light" portray what some assume to be electrical
arc lights, which would need to be powered by something like the Baghdad Batteries.
Others think the theory is just insane.
More rational theories suggest that the batteries were used to electroplate things with gold.
Others believe that the batteries could have been used to shock people, giving the impression
they had mystical powers.
5.
Otherworldly Crater in Siberia In 1949, a geologist discovered a mystery
crater in Irkutsk, Siberia.
Scientists have failed to definitively define what caused it.
It was initially thought to be a meteorite, while others hypothesized about nuclear blasts,
UFOs, and neutron stars burrowing through the planet.
Others say the crater has deadly powers.
The Patomskiy crater, named after a local river, was discovered by Russian geologist
Vadim Kolpakov and consists of a circular mound with a diameter of 520 feet and a height
of 139 feet.
A 39-foot-high circular hill sits in the middle of the depressed center.
It has the look of an eagle's nest with an egg within, earning it the nickname "Fire
Eagle Nest."
Locals cautioned Kolpakov to avoid the crater, claiming that it held an evil power and would
kill anyone who entered it.
Kolpakov was fearless and made it to the top of the mound; unfortunately, the leader of
a 2005 trip to the crater died of a heart attack shortly afterwards.
Kolpakov was the first to propose that the crater was produced by a meteorite, but he
was unable to collect samples to back up his theory.
Recent expeditions have been able to collect samples, ruling out many of the explanations
that have been proposed since Kolakov's discovery.
6.
The Polonnaruwa meteorite For many years, scientists have struggled
to understand the reality of life beyond Earth.
There is no evidence or proof to support this, however the finding of the Polonnaruwa meteorite
in Sri Lanka gave rise to several theories that life existed beyond our planet.
The experts who discovered this rocky object stated that it was a meteorite rather than
a rock.
Some cells and fossilized diatoms were discovered inside the object, however other scientists
are skeptical that the rock is a meteorite.
This prompted further investigation by a group of scientists who analyzed bits of the object
and discovered that the alleged meteorite was actually a terrestrial rock formed by
lightning strikes.
All of these back-and-forth debates among these scientists indicate one thing: science
cannot answer every question.
7.
The Gates of Hell Apart from being Turkmenistan's most popular
tourist destination, the Gate of Hell is a curious conundrum that has kept scientists
guessing for almost five decades.
Darvaza Turkmenistan's natural gas crater has been blazing indefinitely for years.
It all purportedly began when Soviet engineers discovered the site and believed they could
find oil deposits beneath it.
However, they were surprised to discover a natural gas pocket when they began digging.
The ground finally crumbled to form a massive crater, releasing large amounts of methane
gas.
To prevent the gas from spreading into adjacent communities, they decided to set fire to the
crater, hoping that the gas would burn off in a few weeks.
Unfortunately, the fire has not yet been extinguished.
Various attempts by scientists to determine the origin of the never-ending inferno were
futile, but in January 2022, Turkmenistan's president directed officials to seek a solution
to put out the long-burning fire.
We don't know how viable that strategy is, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
8.
Namibian Fairy Circles For more than 50 years, ecologists have researched
and discussed the enigma of the Namib Desert's "fairy circles," circular stretches of largely
barren grass that have spread across 1,100 miles of Southern Africa's harsh grasslands.
Namibia's gorgeous African country features the famed Kalahari Desert and the Namib Desert,
but the Namib Desert has a remarkable wonder that has left many scientists perplexed for
years.
This is primarily due to the Namib Desert's enormous circles of soil bordered by vegetation.
The villagers refer to these rings as fairy circles since they believe fairies are responsible
for them.
There are no fairies at play here, despite their amusing moniker, which is similar to
the term "fairy rings" for circular patterns of fungi seen in woodland places.
The grasses that grow in circles in the Namib Desert have become a popular tourist attraction.
Scientists believe the circles were caused by termites and have been experimenting on
various desert soils to substantiate this claim, but we have yet to receive any real
explanation for these circles at this time.
9.
Chamarel Seven Colored Earth The Seven Colored Earths in Mauritius, known
in French as TERRES DES SEPT COULEURS, are a remarkable geological peculiarity that demonstrates
that brown is not the only color of dirt.
These kaleidoscopic dunes, surrounded by forest and spread out in seven diverse colors (red,
brown, violet, green, blue, purple, and yellow), were formed by a rare confluence of volcanic
activity that brought together a variety of different components, each with their own
characteristic hue.
The color bands are created by a remarkable phenomenon in which different sand particles
appear to miraculously settle together, forming areas of red iron or blue aluminum.
Another peculiar feature of the dunes is that, despite Mauritius' strong and regular rains,
they do not appear to erode.
10.
The Shroud of Turin Could the Shroud of Turin be the burial cloth
of Jesus?
Some believe it is possible.
The famous shroud is a centuries-old linen cloth with a depiction of a crucified man
on it.
While the original sepia-colored image of the face may appear dubious to some, the black-and-white
negative of it unquestionably bears a strong resemblance to Jesus Christ, and the late
Pope Pius XII agreed in 1958.
The only question is whether the linen is genuine or the product of a skilled artist,
which is still being discussed.
Meanwhile, the Shroud of Turin is on display at Turin's Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist.
Let’s hear what you have to say about these mysteries in the comments section.