Forest trails might be a nice place to do some morning jogging or hiking,
but if you start wandering off the beaten path, you never know what you might just encounter.
From wild animals and poisonous plants, to abandoned cabins or even ghosts that might be
lurking behind the trees—yes, I do believe in the supernatural,
fight me—the woods hold a lot of scary mysteries just waiting to be unraveled.
If you’re still not convinced, here’s something that might change you mind. Today, we’re rounding
up the 9 Strangest Things Found in the Forest! What’s up, fact-natics! This is Discovery Amuse,
serving up your daily dose of the most outrageous, outlandish, and out-of-this-world fun facts!
Stay tuned because our number one pick is not one to mess with. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
Ready to venture into the woods? #9: Incest Family
Families who have chosen to live off the grid are not unheard of. But this who clan
who decided to isolate themselves from the rest of the world holds a particularly dark
secret that might just haunt you in your sleep. In 2012, Australian authorities were shell-shocked
when they found out about the Colt family , a New Zealand clan of 40 living in a camp on
the outskirts of Boorowa in New South Wales. Aside from the filthy living conditions that didn’t have
access to running water or even toilets, some of the children were found to have deformities
and couldn’t speak proper English. It turns out that most of the kids were the product of
incestuous relationships within the clan that have gone undetected for decades!
A dozen of the children found in the commune-style property were immediately placed into state care,
and some of the adults were charged with incest and perjury. In 2020, 2 years
after being arrested, Frank Colt was finally convicted of raping his 17-year-old relative.
If you think nothing could possibly top this strange family, then you’ve got another thing
coming. So keep watching ‘til number one! #8: Gigantic Stone Ball
Remember that giant boulder from Raiders of the Lost Ark? Well, who would’ve thought a real-life
Indiana Jones would discover one himself! Ain 2016, archaeologist Semir Osmanagić,
dubbed as the “Bosnian Indiana Jones,” unearthed an enormous spherical stone in the middle of a
forest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which measures a whopping 5 feet in diameter! According to Semir,
the red and brown color suggests that the stone ball has a high content of iron.
The archeologist is quick to claim that the iron-rich stone could be the oldest man-made stone
sphere in the world. He believes that it is proof that an advanced lost civilization existed more
than 1,500 years ago. However, geologists theorize that these stones were not man-made, but rather
might actually be the result of a natural process called “concretion” where small mineral particles
glue together over millions of years. #7: Australian Chupacabra?
In parts of the Americas, myths about the Chupacabra, a mystical monster that is said
to drink the blood of livestock, continues to persist. While there haven’t been any concrete
sightings of the mythical beast as of yet, this mummified corpse found in a forest in Australia
certainly fueled the flames even further. In 2014, a Reddit user named natureismetal posted
this photo, which was taken by a friend during a hike. The creature certainly looks eerily bizarre,
that some speculated it was the remains of a chupacabra. However, experts analyzed the
picture and concluded that it’s most likely a mummified koala based on its skull shape,
teeth, double thumbs, and claws. #6: Petrified Dog
Visitors of the Southern Forest World in Waycross, Georgia, flock the museum not much
to learn about the history of the forestry industry, but to get a glimpse of a… mummy!
A mummified hound dog to be exact, which got stuck inside a hallow tree and which the museum
staff have lovingly named Stuckie. Woman: He’s a 4-year-old hound dog,
and they found him near the Georgia-Alabama lawn. We go him in ’78.
What’s surprising is that the carcass was found 28 feet up inside the hollow trunk.
According to some experts, the canine may have been chasing a squirrel at that time and followed
it through the tree. It was able to wedge itself inside the trunk but wasn’t able to get out.
But how was it mummified in the first place? The museum staff believe it was because of
the hollow tree’s chimney effect. The upward draft carried away the carcass scent, which
would have attracted organisms that would lead to its decay, and then the dog’s skin was eventually
hardened by the oak tree’s natural acid. Man: And the bugs couldn’t smell, people
couldn’t smell ‘coz it’s trapped within here. Woman; And already on the log truck, ready to go
to the mill. #5: Spy in the Sky
Back in 1962, a man named David McPherson Sr. spied with his little eye a huge white box
in a forest outside Moncton, New Brunswick in Canada. He found the mystery box particularly
odd because it had what seemed like large lenses, and was attached to a parachute.
McPherson initially thought the box was used as a spy camera by the Americans. His suspicions grew
even more when the Canadian military tried to get ahold of the thing. He eventually gave it
up to the authorities without ever knowing what it really was, until he passed away in 2016.
55 years after the discovery of the mysterious white box,
his son David Jr. finally uncovered the truth. With the help of CBC news, David learned that the
quote-unquote “thing in the woods” was actually part of Project Genetrix, a government program
that conducted surveillance operations on Russia and China using aerial apparatuses!
#4: Island of the Dolls This place is a dark tourist’s dream come true.
But for the rest of us, getting stuck in this deserted little island in Mexico might be our
worst nightmare. Just look at all those creepy-looking dolls staring back at you!
In the mid-20th century, a man named Don Julian Santana Barrera sequestered himself on this
island in Xochimilco, where he discovered the body of a dead girl that drowned in the lake.
Believing that the spirit of the girl would often look for her doll, Barrera littered the
island with dolls to appease the lost soul. Girl: In Mexican culture, there are a lot of
legends about dolls. People believe they can trap evil spirits and stop them from harming anyone.
In 2001, Don Julian passed away and his remains were found in the lake,
at the exact same spot where he claimed he saw the drowned girl. Since then, tourists have
flocked the place, attaching their own dolls to add to the late Don’s macabre collection.
#3: Britain’s Roswell
Out of all the alleged UFO sightings through the years, one of the most enduring stories
is the one that supposedly happened in Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk, England.
At around 3AM on December 26, 1980, a couple of US servicemen who were patrolling the perimeter
of their Rendlesham camp, allegedly saw some strange lights that were descending
down into the forest. Upon investigating the site, they saw something that they described as
a metallic object glowing in multi-colored lights. According to the report submitted by Lieutenant
Colonel Charles Halt, the unidentified object suddenly moved through the trees and over a
nearby farm when they tried to approach it. One of them even claimed he got to touch the UFO himself.
But when the US military probed the site, the only thing they saw were lights from the Orford Ness
lighthouse a few miles away. However, because of the number of credible witnesses who attest
to the incident, the incredible legend remains very much alive to this day.
#2: Breathing Earth If we ever see Mother
Nature breathing like a human being, it would probably look something like this.
This video taken in October 2018 at a forest in Quebec, Canada,
shows a phenomenon you’d only see in supernatural movies. As if inhaling and
exhaling, the ground heaves up and down like the lungs of a giant underground monster!
But before you go looking for Groot among the trees in this forest,
researchers explain that breathing earth phenomenon is actually caused by strong winds that
are moving the trees. And because the roots might have loosened their grip on the soil over time,
they move along with the tree trunks, essentially lifting the forest floor with them.
In short, there are no giants walking around nor any mystical forest spirits to be found here.
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#1: Isolated Tribe Try stepping into
this remote island and you might just meet your untimely death even before you reach the shore.
In an island in the Bay of Bengal in India called the North Sentinel Island,
you’ll find an entire tribe of indigenous people infamous for refusing to interact with anyone
outside their community. Not only that, they are notorious for attacking and
killing anyone who dare encroach their territory. In fact, in 2018, an American missionary named
John Chau who tried to convert the Sentinelese to Christianity
was killed by the extremely isolated tribe. Woman: He wanted to share the love of God
with them. That was his whole mission. The Sentinelese are so hostile that India’s
government has prohibited anyone from getting near the island. Armed patrolmen are also on standby
off the coast of the island just to prevent gutsy, hard-headed intruders who insist on trespassing.
So, which of these bizarre forest finds baffled you the most? Tell
us about it in the comments section down below. Take home any of our exclusive gear by browsing
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Wanna discover more incredible wonders hiding in the woods?
Then don’t miss our ranking of the 8 Largest Creatures Found in the Amazon!
‘Til then, stay eagle-eyed, fact-natics! And see you in the next video!