10.
The Fighter Plane In August 1942, a fierce battle was waged
above the skies of the Solomon Islands.
American Wildcats took on Japanese Zero fighter planes in a flash of fire and steel.
In the middle of this aerial assault, two pilots faced each other.
James “Pug” Southerland flew his Grumman F4F Wildcat, with its stocky chassis painted
in a deep sky blue.
The Wildcat was a strong aircraft, with great protection for its pilot and loaded up with
superior firepower.
Facing him was Saburo Sakai in his Mitsubishi A6M2.
Nicknamed the Zero, what this plane lacked in strength it made up for in sheer speed
and agility.
However, this came at a cost.
In order to be able to perform in this way, the Zero lacked protection both for its pilot,
and most importantly its fuel containers, which could prove both deadly, and very explosive.
This battle became known as the dogfight over Guadalcanal.
56 years later, deep in the jungle, the wreckage of Southerland’s F4F Wildcat was found by
an island native exactly where it had fallen following the epic battle.
The plane lays in pieces in a crater near an extinct volcano, with bullet holes on the
engine and by the tip of the propeller.
But what happened to its pilot?
Miraculously, Southerland survived!
He managed to eject from his aircraft before it crashed to the ground.
After a 3 day walk through the jungle, he made it to safety.
Saburo Sakai would go on to be heralded as one of Japan’s greatest aces.
9.
The Lost City of the Monkey God In 2012, researchers discovered the ruins
of an ancient city nestled deep within Honduras’s Mosquitia rainforest.
Using lidar technology, they were able to determine the presence of lost ruins and set
out to explore the site.
It was a perilous trek, in an area controlled by drug cartels, and all kinds of dangerous
creatures.
However, one of the biggest dangers came from the ancient city itself!
The city had begun to crumble away over time, but statues and fragments of an earthen pyramid
remained.
Stone jars had been ritually broken to release the spirits housed inside, as was the custom
when being buried in a grave.
Based on the quality of these items, they would likely have belonged to a great civilization.
And by the sheer number of the jars that archaeologists found, and given their age, it’s likely
that the graves housed the majority of the city’s citizens.
But what happened to the people that lived there?
There are many reasons why heading to this jungle city is a bad idea.
Some natives believe that the place is sacred, and a haven for indigenous gods from each
of the seven Indigenous nations who had fled when Europeans arrived 500 years before.
If you got there and couldn't talk to each one in their own language, you were never
allowed to leave.
The other reason is a lot more sinister and tells us what likely happened to the people
of this city.
As research explorers returned from the jungle, more than half of the crew fell ill.
But this wasn’t just a simple cold.
Instead, the team had contracted a flesh-eating parasite from the city, which began to eat
at their faces, causing their nose and lips to decay!
Thankfully, modern medicine and care meant that they were able to be treated.
But long ago, the people that once lived in the city didn’t have the kind of access
to life saving treatments that we do today.
Curiously, this particular type of parasite seemed to be unique to only this area.
Could it be an ancient curse?
Let us know what you think in the comments!
8.
The Secret Nazi Hideout Deep in the jungles of Argentina, in the Teyú
Cuaré Park, archaeologists stumbled upon the ruins of a secret World War II hideout.
It had thick, imposing walls that had stood the test of time, and its location was almost
completely inaccessible, meaning whoever had been hiding there definitely didn’t want
to be found.
The discovery of Nazi-era coins that were minted in the 1930s and 40s, and pottery with
German markings, told researchers that this location was likely a covert settlement for
fleeing Nazi officials.
Although they found these items, it appears unlikely that this site was ever actually
used to house Nazi fugitives escaping the punishment for their defeat in 1945.
This was due to the fact that the Argentinian government at the time allowed them to freely
settle in their towns and cities.
Despite this, many hideouts like this still exist, as part of a plan at the time, to create
ways for senior Nazis to escape, often hidden in remote places that people would never think
to look.
7.
The Stone Spheres of Costa Rica In the early 1930s, bananas were in high demand,
and the United Fruit Company needed more space for their banana plantations to meet this
demand.
They began to clear a section of the jungle in Costa Rica, only to make a curious discovery.
The workers discovered over 300 stone spheres, some small, and some reaching 6 or 7 feet
(1.8 - 2.1 m) in diameter.
Remarkably, the stones were completely smooth and round.
Instead of investigating the stones, the fruit company decided to simply move them out of
the way.
Some were even shipped off to become garden ornaments.
Little did they know that they were moving one of the jungle’s ancient mysteries.
But how did the stones get there, and who, or what, made them?
Further studies of the stones concluded that they had been made by the Diquis culture,
and were likely over 2000 years old.
They were carved using sharp pieces of stone to chip away at the rock until they were perfectly
spherical, a task that must have taken a tremendous amount of patience and work.
But what were the stones used for?
Were they compasses?
Were they used as burial monuments for ancient rulers?
Did the ancient Diquis use them to chart the stars?
The truth is, we really don’t know.
What do you think the stones were used for?
Let us know in the comments below.
6.
The Boiling River There are all kinds of incredible places you
can go swimming around the world, from sparkling beaches to tranquil cave pools.
However, there’s one river in the Amazon rainforest where you definitely would not
like to take a dip.
Known in its native Peru as Shanay-timpishka, which means ‘boiled by the heat of the sun’,
ancient legend states that the waters were heated up by the power of a serpent spirit
named Yacumama.
Yacumama must have done a really good job, as the waters in this river reach a staggering
200 degrees, and is capable of boiling alive anyone or anything unfortunate enough to fall
into its depths.
The water steams and bubbles, but what actually makes it into the world’s most dangerous
jacuzzi?
If you thought it was volcanic, you’d be wrong.
The nearest volcano is over 400 miles(644 km) away!
The river gets its scalding temperature from hot springs heated by faults in the earth.
Water seeps down into the cracks, gets heated up by the earth’s core, and then shoots
back up to the surface!
Probably best to stick to the local pool… 5.
Cambodia’s Underground Cities Although the lush, tropical rainforests in
Cambodia may appear to be normal, there is something rather huge lurking beneath its
surface.
Not far from the infamous Angkor Wat temple, scientists and archeologists used lidar technology
to scan the ground with lasers to see what’s hidden beneath.
Normally you might expect to find a small settlement or two, but they discovered something
staggering: multiple underground cities that were between 900 and 1400 years old!
These weren’t small settlements either, a lot of them rival the size of Cambodia’s
capital city, Phnom Penh.
Scientists now believe that this would have made the Khmer empire one of the largest on
earth!
These cities were also remarkably high-tech, with water system technology that was unheard
of for the time.
The population of these settlements was immense, with researchers believing that about a million
people would have lived within this massive network of streets and buildings.
This would have made it one of the largest cities at its peak in the 1200s!
4.
Ancient Artwork in Borneo What would Leonardo da Vinci have painted
if he was a caveman?
If the deep jungle in Borneo is anything to go by, he’d probably be painting a lot of
cows!
In the 1990s, a group of archaeologists made their way through the dense rainforest, climbing
down limestone cliffs in a move even Indiana Jones would be jealous of.
They did this to access a wide range of caves hidden in the rock, which led to some exciting
discoveries.
Inside, they found hand stencils left from early ancestors on the walls and ceilings.
But the key finds were the actual paintings that had required more than just slapping
your hand on the wall.
The cavemen had drawn various animals, including one of an ancestor to the modern day cow.
It’s surprisingly well-drawn, with clear features, curved horns and in a rich brown
color, so the original artist must have been quite good!
The cow artwork, otherwise known as a Banteng, was dated to be at least 40,000 years old!
This means that the first real artistic muse wasn’t a pretty woman, but a jungle cow.
3.
The Stone Head of Guatemala In the 1950s, explorers found a mysterious
stone head deep within the jungle of Guatemala.
There are plenty of stone heads around the world, such as the Easter Island statues,
but there was something different about this one.
The head was about the size of 5 cars stacked on top of one another, but it was not the
size that made it strange.
The stone head had thin lips, a large nose, and fine features and was tilted towards the
sky.
Given that this statue was found in Guatemala, it was odd that it more closely resembled
a Caucasian face than that of the native people.
Studies as to why this head looks so different from the people thought to be in the area
at the time have become all but impossible.
Sadly, in the 1980s when scientists went back to check on the statue, they found it had
been vandalized by revolutionaries, and almost none of its strange features remained.
Since then, there have been many theories as to the head’s existence.
Some people believe that it was from alien contact, others an unknown civilization we
didn’t know existed.
What do you think?
Let us know in the comments below.
2.
The Stinkiest Flower in the World A lot of us like to buy flowers for people
that we care about.
However, some of the flowers you can find in the jungle would be more suited as a bouquet
for your worst enemy!
Found in Borneo, the Rafflesia Arnoldii (that’s its scientific name) is the largest flower
in the world, reaching almost 3 feet(1 m) across.
It has bright red thick petals with white bumps on them, and the center of the flower
is a deep hollow, with thick pollen-bearing stamen at the bottom.
You might think that gifting the largest flower in the world to someone would be the biggest
romantic gesture there is, but you would be sorely mistaken.
See, the common name for this flower says it all: the stinking corpse lily.
It’s also known as the monster flower due to both its size and smell.
When the stinking corpse lily blooms, the stench is unbearable.
The plant gives off the smell of rotting flesh which is enough to make anyone’s eyes water.
Instead of creating this unique aroma to keep things away from it, this plant gives off
this particular scent in the hope of attracting pollinators!
It just goes to show that even if you stink to high heaven, someone, or something is still
going to love you.
1.
The Mysterious Earth Rings of the Amazon Throughout remote areas of the Amazon, such
as in Bolivia and Brazil, scientists have discovered strange ditches and raised structures.
Some of them are straight, some are rectangular, while others form massive circles in the ground.
The sheer size of some of these ditches and rings is staggering.
Most can easily be seen from the air, while others are 16 feet(4.8 m) deep in places.
But what exactly are they, and how did they get there?
The answer to this question is rather surprising.
You might think based on other entries in this video that the earth circles were made
by jungle tribes as part of some kind of ritual, but that is where you would be wrong.
In fact, when these rings were made, there wasn’t even a jungle there at all.
The circles were likely made around 2000 to 3000 years ago, and the landscape would not
have looked as it does now.
Experts believe that the rainforest would have looked more like the African savannah,
with large grasslands and a much drier climate.
As time went on, the ecosystem changed, and more trees began to sprout up to form the
jungle that we know today.
Scientists have come up with multiple theories as to why the ditches were built, such as
for drainage or religious ceremonies.
Others suggest that it could be a natural barrier as the trees grew around them.
Either way, it’s interesting to learn that the rainforest didn’t even exist at the
same time that the ancient Egyptians were around!
The jungle is a mysterious place as our list shows, where you can find anything from a
fighter plane to a lost city.
What else do you think is out?
Thanks for watching!
Which one of these jungle discoveries shocked you the most?
Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe!
See you next time, bye! :)