17 Of The Strangest Mysteries That Are Still Unsolved

Prepare to be creeped out.

Recently, Reddit user inevitableloudmouth asked people to share the strangest unsolved mysteries they knew, and the responses didn't disappoint – here are the most bizarre ones.

1. The Circleville Letters.

City of Circleville Police Department / Via youtube.com

In 1976, residents of the small city near Columbus, Ohio began receiving handwritten sinister and graphic letters. Each letter included secret disturbing details about their personal lives.

One resident, Mary Gillispie, received a ton of letters, accusing her of having a nonexistent affair. The author warned Mary that he had been keeping an eye on her home and her actions. Then her husband started receiving letters.

The letters stopped for a while, until one day in 1977 when her husband was found dead in his truck, after taking a call from who he thought was the letter writer. His death was ruled an accident and the harassment continued, in the form of both letters and threatening road signs.

In 1983, Mary tried to remove one of the road signs and was faced with a booby trap – a box that contained a gun, designed to shoot whoever opened it. Luckily, Mary opened the trap in a way that didn't set the gun off, so she wasn't hurt. After investigation, Mary’s brother-in-law was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the crime. But the letter writing continued while he was locked up, with hundreds of residents getting letters up until 1994.

–GeneralMadAnthony

2. The disappearance of the USS Cyclops.

Getty Images / Via en.wikipedia.org

On 16th of February 1918, the USS Cyclops departed a journey from Rio de Janeiro carrying 306 crew members and passengers, and was set for Baltimore, Maryland. The ship was carrying manganese ore, and was thought to be overloaded 100 tons above capacity. The trip made an unscheduled stop in Barbados, and then set out for Baltimore on the 4th of March, and was due for arrival on the 13th.

Despite rumoured sightings, Cyclops never made it to Baltimore, and no wreckage or bodies were ever found. Some people believe the ship fell victim to the Bermuda Triangle...

–Catlenfell

3. The mysterious disappearance and "reappearance" of Lawrence Joseph Bader.

Getty Images / KETV-7

In 1957, cookware salesman Lawrence Joseph Bader, who had a string of financial problems. vanished after going fishing near his home in Akron, Ohio. A storm hit and his boat was found damaged.

Four days later, John “Fritz” Johnson appeared in Omaha. Nebraska. Fritz was known for his big personality and became something of a local celebrity – he was by no means trying to keep a low profile.

In 1965, when Fritz was in Chicago, someone from Akron recognised him and went as far as bringing Bader’s niece to identify him. They confronted Fritz about his identity, which he denied, and even found funny.

Fritz’s fingerprints matched Larry Bader's, but he maintained that he had absolutely no memory of a life in Akron. Psychiatrists even examined him and believed that he wasn't lying. He died in 1966 and the truth was never established.

–moon-dweller

4. The Toxic Lady.

ABC

In February 1994, Gloria Ramirez was admitted to a California emergency room while suffering with aggressive cervical cancer. When she entered the hospital at 8.15 pm, she was described as being extremely confused and having an oily sheen covering her body.

Within minutes of treating her, medical staff began feeling ill and fainting. Ramirez was pronounced dead after 45 minutes of CPR and defibrillation, and 23 people became ill, five of which were hospitalised – one medical resident spent two weeks in an intensive care unit.

The county health department believed hospital workers suffered from mass hysteria, but some of the affected staff members disagree with this.

–thegreatdookutree

5. The Oakville Blobs.

Denis Torkhov / Getty Images

In 1994, there were six rainstorms in Oakville, Washington. Except it didn’t rain water, it rained gelatinous blobs, which residents described as jelly-like. To make things even weirder, a number of residents experienced flu-like symptoms after coming into contact with the substance, and pets all over the city were dying.

When tests were run on the mystery “rain” they found that it contained human white blood cells, but to this day, no one knows exactly how or why it came about.

–Xaldyn

6. The Oklahoma bomb and the missing leg.

Julian J Rossig / Getty Images

On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb detonated outside a federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The deadly explosion killed 168 people.

Investigators working on the case found a missing leg clad in a military boot, but the person who they thought the leg belonged to – Lakesha Levy – had been buried with both her legs.

Levy’s body was exhumed, and the leg that was originally buried with her was taken for investigation. Because it had been embalmed, taking a DNA test wasn’t possible, so it’s not known who the leg belonged to. The discovery led to suspicion of either an additional terrorist, or another victim, but neither have been confirmed.

–felixwolfe

7. The murder of the Miyazawa family.

Laurent Watanabe / Getty Images

On New Year’s Eve in 2000, the dead bodies of Mikio and Yasuko Miyazawa, and their two young children were found in their home in the suburbs of Tokyo.

After carrying out the investigation, detectives found that the killer had stayed in the house for several hours; using the family computer, eating their fruit and ice cream, and treating his injuries with their first aid kit. He even used the toilet and didn’t flush it.

The strange thing about this case is that despite the police being able to determine really specific clues about the killer’s identity – such as what he had eaten beforehand and where he bought his clothes – they’ve never apprehended a suspect.

–rr1252

8. The missing Flannan Isles lighthouse keepers.

Swen_stroop / Getty Images

On the 7th of December 1900, three lighthouse keepers headed to Flannan Isles to do a two-week shift. When the boat arrived to collect them at the end of their shift, the lighthouse was locked, and they were gone. There was no trace of their bodies, but the clock had stopped, their waterproof gear was inside, and there was a meal on the table ready to be eaten. Their bodies were never found.

–unhealthyshoe

9. The Salish Sea feet.

Carlos Gandiaga Photography / Getty Images

Since 2007, around 20 dismembered human feet have been found in or around the coast of the Salish Sea, which is near British Columbia and Washington.

The feet are often found still inside of shoes. While a small number of the feet have been identified, many are still a mystery. Authorities have ruled out foul play, but some have theorised that they may be the remains of victims of the Asian Tsunami that struck in 2004.

10. The Tamám Shud case.

Warning This image is graphic Tap to reveal Click to reveal

Australian Police / Via dailymail.co.uk

In 1945, the body of an unidentified man was found on Somerton Park beach in South Australia. The police were unable to identify the him, but months later, a scrap of paper that read “tamám shud” was found in his pocket. “Tamám shud” is a Persian phrase meaning “finished,” and the paper had been ripped out of the final page of a book written by 12th-century poet Omar Khayyám.

After a public appeal, the book was located, and detectives were able to read indentations on the back cover that appeared to be an encrypted message. Despite international attention, the man’s identity has never been established.

–louifg

11. The disappearance of Lars Mittank.

Varna Airport CCTV / Via hyoutube.com

In 2014, 28-year-old Lars Mittank was on holiday in Bulgaria with friends. He had planned to fly back home to Germany with his friends, but after getting into a fight with some locals, a doctor advised against air travel, as he had burst his eardrum. He insisted on staying back alone and checked into a hotel.

A day after his friends left, he started acting strangely. He seemed paranoid and scared, and called his mum to tell her that four men were coming to kill him. His odd behaviour was recorded on the hotel’s CCTV, but he only stayed there for one night.

He was last seen on 8th of July – two days after his friends had left – at Varna Airport. The airport security cameras captured him running away from something, climbing a fence, and into a field of sunflowers near a highway. He hasn’t been seen since.

–Marmalade_flesh_

12. The disappearance of the Sodder children.

Wikimedia Commons / Jennie Henthorn. / Via en.wikipedia.org / smithsonianmag.com

In the middle of the night on Christmas Eve in 1945, the home of the Sodder family burned down. At the time, George and Jennie Sodder and nine of their 10 children were inside, and only four of the children escaped safely. The bodies of the other five weren’t recovered from the blaze, and the Sodders suspected the fire had been caused by arson, and the children abducted. George, an Italian immigrant, had been very outspoken against Mussolini, and there were theories that the kids had been taken by the Sicilian Mafia.

The Sodders spent years travelling across the United States to try and track down their children, following tips and reported sightings. In 1967, Jennie received a letter that enclosed a photograph of a young man who looked a lot like how Louis would have looked as an adult. Written on the back of the photo was:

“Louis Sodder
I love brother Frankie
Ilil boys
A90132 or 35”

The letter had no return address and the family were unable to track down the man in the photo. Both parents continued searching for their children until they died.

–erinkjean

13. The Tromp family's bizarre road trip.

Kokkai / Getty Images

One Monday morning in 2016, Mark and Jacoba Tromp, and their adult kids Riana, Mitchell, and Ella left their home and berry farm in Victoria, Australia. When the police searched their home a few days later, they found it unlocked, with their cards and phones left behind. It was later reported that Mr and Mrs Tromp were showing signs of paranoia and stress and had fled their home.

Mitchell seemed to the only one unaffected by the belief that the family was in danger, and had brought his mobile phone along with him. When his parents discovered it, they made him throw it out the window.

By Tuesday morning they had travelled almost 500 miles North to a town in NSW, and Mitchell left the family to go home. The rest of the family continued to travel, but then the two sisters left their parents.

They stole a car and reported their parents missing. They ended up separating, and Ella and Mitchell were the first two of members of the Tromp family to return home. Riana, on the other hand, had climbed into the back of a car. When the driver of the car discovered her, she was in a catatonic state, and didn’t know her name or where she was.

Eventually, the entire family were found, but no one could explain their strange behavior, which the police involved called a “massive meltdown.”

–Hysterymystery

14. Lady of the Dunes.

Universal Pictures

In the summer of 1974, the body of an unidentified woman was discovered in the Race Point Dunes in Massachusetts. she had suffered horrific injuries and underneath her body was a pair of Wrangler jeans and a blue bandanna.

Despite facial reconstructions and extensive searching, the woman’s identity has never been discovered. In 2015, speculation that she may have been an extra in the film Jaws arose, as there was a woman wearing clothes similar to the ones found near the body, and it had been filmed near that area. While some people described the claim as far-fetched, the lead investigator noted interest in it.

–KyaPL

15. Zimbabwe's alleged alien invasion.

Ktsimage / Getty Images

In 1994, 62 primary school-aged children in Ruwa, Zimbabwe were on break, and they saw four silver crafts at the edge of their playground. When they went to investigate, they saw a small creature wearing a tight black suit, and big eyes “like rugby balls.”

Some of the children claimed that the creature communicated with them telepathically, and while some of them were traumatised, others were excited.

Obviously, their teachers didn’t believe their reports, but they all went home and told their parents about the incident. When the children were separately asked to draw what they’d seen, all of their drawings were the same.

–DepressionFiesta

16. The Max Headroom incident.

WGN-TV / WTTW / Via youtube.com

In November 1987, two TV stations in Chicago were hijacked by someone wearing a Max Headroom mask. Both incidents featured the unknown person behaving very strangely, and the second takeover ended with the man in the mask having his bare butt spanked with a flyswatter.

An FFC employer at the time said that the people responsible faced a fine of up to $100,000, or even prison time, but they have never been identified.

–-eDgAR-

17. The location of Genghis Khan's grave.

Hulton Archive / Gyn9038 / Getty Images

The Emperor of the Mongol Empire asked to be buried without any signs or markings. According to legend, when he died in 1227, everyone involved in his funeral was killed in order to keep the burial location a secret. Throughout the 20th Century, many have searched for the hidden tomb, but none have been successful, and his final resting place remains a mystery.

–GamerForEverLive

What unsolved mystery keeps you up at night? Let us know in the comments!