9.
SECRET DOOR IN THE SPHINX
For centuries now, Egypt’s Great Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza have frequently fallen
under the spotlight for their suspected secret chambers, among other mysterious features,
including hopeful theories about lost treasure.
These rumors are to credit for the ongoing interest among archaeologists in getting to
the bottom of any possible truths behind the tales.
In August 2019, the 4,500-year-old Great Sphinx made headlines yet again, when reputed British
historian Dr. Bettany Hughes claimed that there are two hidden chambers beneath the
famous yet little-understood monument that are worth excavating for their potential loot
and for the secrets they may reveal about Ancient Egypt.
Speaking with The Sun, Dr. Hughes explained that for generations, Ancient Egyptians feared
and respected the sphinx, believing that it had supernatural powers.
Now, she says, archaeologists are investigating the statue based on suspicions that it may
sit atop an ancient network of tunnels and chambers.
At the base of the Sphinx near its tail, there’s a small, deep hole, which is typically kept
hidden from public view.
This hole could lead to the large chamber that some researchers believe is beneath the
monument.
Although researchers have yet to confirm any suspicions, Dr. Hughes believes that the tunnels
below the Sphinx could be linked to a nearby pyramid, where the Pharaoh Khufu is entombed.
But, she admits, nobody knows for sure, and it’s precisely the mystery researchers are
trying to solve.
8.
CROOKED FOREST
In 1930, when the village of Nowe Czarnowo in modern-day West Pomerania, Poland was part
of the German province of Pomerania, someone planted 400 pine trees that grew peculiarly
pointed northward and curved back upright.
Nobody knows why the entire grove appears to be sharply bent 90 degrees sideways.
The bizarrely shaped trees are otherwise healthy, growing up to 50 feet (15 meters) tall.
Some have theorized that a unique gravitational pull in the area is responsible for reshaping
them, but science proved long ago that gravity pulls downward rather than at an angle, as
Discovery points out on its website.
Another theory suggests that heavy snowfall caused the trees to bend when they were sprouting,
but fails to explain why this never happened to other vegetation in the region.
The direction of the wood’s grain makes it very tough, leading some to speculate that
the trees were deliberately grown at an angle for building wooden wheels.
This falls in line with the most commonly accepted theory that farmers manipulated the
trees.
Based on where they are angled, this would have been done when they were seven to 10
years old.
Anyone who may have had the answer to this mystery is long gone from the town, which
was largely abandoned at the end of World War II and remained that way until the 1970s.
7.
PATOMSKIY CRATER
The Patomskiy Crater is a peculiar rock formation in southeastern Siberia’s Irkutsk region.
Made from shattered limestone blocks, it stands at roughly 130 feet (40 meters) tall and has
a base diameter of 520 feet (160 meters).
At the top is a ring-shaped cone with a smaller, 39-foot-tall (12 meters) mound in the center.
The crater’s origins have been a mystery ever since its discovery in 1949 by Russian
geologist Vadim Kolpakov.
With an estimated age of just 300 to 350 years old, theories abound, including the possibilities
of meteorite, volcanic, or gaseous activity forming the crater, as well as possible radioactivity,
as evidenced by trees nearby that show signs of accelerated growth.
As of 2010, the general consensus was that the Patomskiy crater has geological origins,
although some scientists still believe it’s meteoric in nature.
No solid argument for a meteoric theory has been offered as of yet, and most modern experts
consider it historically valuable at best.
Some of the more imaginati ve theories connect the site with a suspected hidden nuclear plant
or a buried UFO containing nuclear fuel.
But no asteroid-like materials or metal have been discovered in or around the crater, making
these possibilities highly unlikely.
Recent research suggests that perhaps a gas volcano, formed by the underground release
of hydrogen and other fluids, caused the trees near the crater to grow abnormally fast.
Speaking with the Siberian Times, researcher Alexander Pospeev admitted that scientists
don’t yet know how the Patomskiy Crater formed, but that it’s definitely “of earthly
origin.”
6.
MARFA LIGHTS
Near U.S. Route 67 outside the west Texas town of Marfa, mysterious orbs of light glow
in the desert at night, leading to generations of speculation about paranormal phenomena
and a suspected extraterrestrial presence.
Eyewitnesses have claimed that the lights are basketball-sized and appear in various
colors, including white, blue, and yellow, and red, according to Live Science.
They move in ways that distinguish them from vehicle headlights or the lights of nearby
ranches, often hovering, twinkling, merging, dividing, flickering, and ascending toward
the sky.
The Marfa lights are seemingly unpredictable, occurring in various types of weather.
They’re spotted around a dozen times every year, and nobody knows for sure what they
are.
The first known eyewitness account of the Marfa lights dates back to 1883, when a cowhand
named Robert Reed Ellison saw them and assumed they were Apache fires.
But no evidence of campfires was found in the area where the lights were seen.
During World War II, Army pilots stationed nearby tried to track down the source of the
Marfa lights, but had no luck.
According to local Native American beliefs, the lights represent fallen stars.
Others attribute them to aliens from outer space and the ghosts of Spanish conquistadors.
A study by physics students from the University of Texas at Dallas found that the lights could
be an atmospheric reflection of headlights and campfires, but the findings were inconclusive,
leaving the topic open for debate.
It’s possible that the phenomenon is an optical illusion consisting of light refractions
caused by layers of air at different temperatures.
Known as a “Fata Morgana” or a superior mirage, this happens when warm air rests above
a layer of cooler air.
The Marfa lights could also be caused by gases like phosphine and methane, which also comprise
“swamp gas” and sometimes ignite when they interact with oxygen.
This glowing phenomenon is sometimes called “will-o’-the-wisp” or “fool’s fire.”
For now, there’s no solid evidence of what the Marfa lights are, making your guess as
good as anyone else’s.
Have you ever seen anything weird in the sky???
Did you figure out what it was??
Let me know in the comments below and be sure to subscribe to TT and let us know what videos
you’d like to see in the comments below!!
5.
RACETRACK PLAYA
In Death Valley National Park, there’s a lakebed sitting 3,714 feet (1,132 meters)
above sea level known as the Racetrack Playa.
Measuring 2.8 miles (4.5 km) long by 1.3 miles (2.1 km) wide, it’s so flat that the northern
end is only an inch-and-a-half (3.8 cm) higher than the southern end.
Most of the time, the Racetrack Playa is dry.
But when it rains heavily, the basin it’s situated in fills up with water that washes
down from the surrounding mountains, forming a shallow lake.
Known as an endorheic lake, it’s a temporary body of water that quickly evaporates under
the hot southern California sun, leaving behind a soft layer of mud that dries and cracks
into octagonal shapes.
With the area only receiving a few inches of rainfall every year, the playa is almost
always dry.
When the lakebed is covered in soft mud, the rocks along its floor move, leaving a trail
in the mud behind them.
Some of them weigh hundreds of pounds, begging the question of how and why they slowly scuttle
along, seemingly for no reason.
One prevailing theory over the years is that strong winds push the rocks across the flat
ground.
This makes sense, since they move parallel to the prevailing winds, which blow from the
southwest to the northeast.
But even strong winds usually can’t push a rock that weighs hundreds of pounds, and
which is sitting inches-deep in the mud, suggesting that there are other factors at play.
In 2013, a three-inch-deep lake filled the playa and froze over.
During that time, researchers observed rocks actively moving across the ground, with some
traveling over 700 feet (213 meters).
The scientists found that the phenomenon occurs when ice sheets measuring a few millimeters
thick begin to melt, creating opportune conditions for light winds to push the rocks along while
they’re embedded in the ice, which floats on a thin layer of water.
4.
OREGON VORTEX
Located along Sardine Creek in Gold Hill, Oregon, the Oregon Vortex opened in 1930 as
a roadside attraction advertising itself as a “spherical field of force, half above
the ground and half below the ground.”
In more basic terms, things seem to move and lean in the wrong direction, with water flowing
uphill, brooms standing on end, and people’s height unexplainably changing.
Native Americans referred to the site as Forbidden Ground and reportedly avoided going there,
and their horses allegedly refused to go there, stopping and changing directions once they
realized they were near.
Between the 1920s and 1959, Scottish geologist and engineer John Lister conducted thousands
of experiments at the Oregon Vortex, and he is also who opened and ran it as an attraction.
The site’s advertisement as a “spherical force field” is based on Lister’s theory
about what causes the strange goings-on there.
He believed that this alleged field of force measures a little less than 165 feet (50 meters)
in diameter.
Today, the owner and proprietors continue to sell the Oregon Vortex as a site of possible
paranormal phenomena.
A more plausible explanation is that people who visit experience an optical illusion known
as a gravity hill, which is when a slight downhill slope appears to be uphill due to
the layout of its surroundings.
In 2012, the SyFy Channel Show Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files investigated the Oregon Vortex
and concluded that all the bizarre effects people experience there are, indeed, probably
the product of optical illusions.
But the show’s findings were admittedly inconclusive, leaving the site’s strange
happenings a mystery for now.
3.
GUNGYWAMP
Located in a forest less than an hour outside of New Haven, Connecticut, the Gungywamp site
contains evidence of hundreds or even thousands of years of human occupation.
Characterized by multiple stone chambers, rock piles, rings of stones, and mysterious
carvings, the ancient settlement is filled with a confusing mixture of Native American
and colonial artifacts, with the oldest finds dating as far back as 2000 B.C.
Among the most notable finds at Gungywamp are a stone chamber featuring the astronomical
alignment of the equinoxes and a formation or large quarried stones arranged in two concentric
circles.
There are also multiple stone chambers that archaeologists believe were root cellars,
but truthfully do not know the purpose of.
Other discoveries include Native American pottery fragments and arrowheads, as well
as colonial-era china, buttons, coins, tobacco pipes, glass bottle and window fragments,
bricks, and animal bones.
But none of these artifacts are helpful in determining what the stone chambers were used
for.
On the surface, it’s clear that the 100-acre (40 hectares) site was repurposed multiple
times throughout its history.
But archaeologists have struggled to make sense of the muddled mess of structures and
artifacts or put together a precise timeline or order to Gungywamp’s occupation.
One of the more far-flung theories, put forth mostly by non-academic investigators, is that
the settlement is of pre-Columbian Celtic origins, and was built in the 6th century
by Christian monks fleeing persecution in Europe.
But no evidence points toward this as a likely possibility, despite the discovery in Newfoundland,
Canada in recent years of a pre-Columbian Norse population in North America.
Some people even believe that there are alien connections to Gungywamp, citing the alleged
presence of energy vortexes at the site based on occasional detectable spikes in electromagnetic
activity, which geologists more convincingly attribute to the quartz, granite, and magnetite
rocks at the site.
But in all fairness, the mysteries surrounding Gungywamp and modern scholars’ failure to
come up with a more comprehensive explanation of its history open the door to these types
of beliefs.
2.
ARAMU MURU
While exploring the Peruvian countryside near the Bolivian border during the early ‘90s,
mountaineering guide Jose Luis Delgado Mamani found an abandoned stone carving bearing a
smooth, flat surface and a six-and-a-half-foot-tall (2 meters) T-shaped alcove.
Situated near Lake Titicaca, the roughly 23-foot (7 meters) stone resembles a portal.
It’s thought to be an abandoned Incan construction project, but its purpose is unknown.
Known as Aramu Muru and nicknamed “Puerta de Hayu Marca,” or “Gate of the Gods,”
the structure is the subject of local folklore claiming that people have disappeared through
its doorway.
Stories also tell of strange sights near the portal, including “tall men accompanied
by glowing balls of lights walking through the doorway,” according to Atlas Obscura.
But the website admits that these tales could be embellished by paranormal fanatics like
Jerry Willis, who claimed that he traveled through the portal, and that photos of people
“goofing off” near the structure “do little to add to its mystique.”
Conspiracy theorists have suggested that Aramu Muru is a multi-dimensional doorway created
by aliens, and one story alleges that an Incan priest used a golden disk that fell from the
sky to open the door.
Unsurprisingly, none of these claims are backed by credible evidence.
1.
HESSDALEN LIGHTS
For over a century, bizarre, flashing balls of light have been appearing in rural central
Norway’s Hessdalen Valley.
Known as the Hessdalen Lights or the Hessdalen Phenomenon, the bright white, yellow, and
red lights are of unknown origin.
They appear day and night, both above and below the horizon, and last anywhere from
a few seconds to a few hours.
Spectators have observed the lights moving slowly and with enormous speed, as well as
hovering.
People have also reported seeing metallic objects in the sky during the daytime, as
well as bright blue flashes that last no longer than the blink of an eye, giving rise to rumors
about UFOs and aliens from outer space.
There have been periods of unusually high activity, including during the 1980s, when
the lights appeared as much as 20 times per week.
Since then, the number of annual sightings has dwindled to fewer than 20.
The phenomenon has attracted the attention of scientists and conspiracy theorists, but
both have failed to determine what it is or what causes it.
One theory put forth in 2014 suggests that metallic minerals interact with a sulphurous
river, creating a ‘natural battery’ of sorts that illuminates the sky.
The researchers replicated this effect in an experiment, lending potential credibility
to their suspicions.
A type of plasma could be responsible for the Hessdalen lights, according to some experts,
while others believe the phenomenon is a type of lightning.
But there are pitfalls to each hypothesis.
For one, plasmas require incredibly hot temperatures to form, and the lights seem to be cool.
The lights also do not occur during lightning or leave scorch marks on the ground, challenging
the idea that they are a type of lightning.
Other theories include the possibility that the valley’s shape, climate, geology, and
high winds generate static electricity, or that radioactivity or decaying radon in the
atmosphere are responsible for the lights.
Whatever the case, more research is necessary before the scientific community can solve
the mystery.
Thanks for watching!
If you enjoyed today’s video, be sure to give it a thumbs-up, and don’t forget to
subscribe.
Bye for now!