Blood Falls: brine inside a cold glacier
Red stains mark the discharge of iron-rich salty water; radar helped trace its hidden route.
An explanation existsMcMurdo Dry Valleys, Taylor Glacier
Atlas of mysteries
Items: 143All material
Jersey Devil: the week of 1909
In January 1909 footprints, noises and newspaper stories turned a local legend into a regional sensation.
UnverifiedPine Barrens and southern New Jersey
Tunguska: an explosion above the Siberian taiga
A historical event studied through physical effects, witness accounts and modelling.
An explanation existsPodkamennaya Tunguska region
Okapi: from striped hide to a giraffe relative
An account of an animal unfamiliar to Europeans changed when complete skin and skulls became available.
An explanation existsIturi forests
Mercy Brown: a family tragedy turned into a vampire story
In March 1892 Exeter residents opened family graves in an attempt to stop consumption. What the ritual tells us, and why it does not establish the existence of vampires.
An explanation existsExeter, Rhode Island; approximate area
Krakatau: an explosion, waves and extraordinary sunsets
The August 1883 eruption left records in the ocean, atmosphere and observers’ accounts around the world.
An explanation existsSunda Strait, Krakatau area
The Bell Witch: a voice retold decades later
An invisible speaker torments children, argues with visitors and allegedly claims responsibility for a farmer’s death.
Insufficient evidenceAdams area, Robertson County, Tennessee
The Stronsay beast: a body transformed by the sea
An unusual carcass prompted a dispute about sea serpents and the way decomposition changes a shark.
Under reviewStronsay, Orkney Islands
The Hammersmith ghost: when a ghost hunt ended in tragedy
A white figure, armed night patrols and a real court case that outlasted the rumour behind it.
An explanation existsHammersmith, west London
Laki: the dry haze over Europe
The 1783–1784 eruption linked Icelandic lava fields with an unusual haze thousands of kilometres away.
An explanation existsLaki fissures, southern Iceland