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
Atlas of mysteries
Items: 143All material
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
The Beast of Gevaudan: attacks and hunts
Real fatal eighteenth-century attacks prompted royal hunts and a lasting monster tradition; the animals’ precise identity remains disputed.
Under reviewGevaudan, Margeride uplands
The Cock Lane ghost: knocks, an accusation and the 1762 investigation
A supposed spirit answered through knocks and appeared to accuse a living man of murder.
An explanation existsCock Lane, London
Arnaut Paole: an old grave behind a new investigation
Military specialists opened graves after a series of deaths, while villagers linked the crisis to a neighbour burned years earlier.
Insufficient evidenceMedvedja in the documents; no exact modern cemetery established
Petar Blagojevic: nine deaths and a demand to open a grave
Villagers connected a rapid series of deaths to a buried neighbour and insisted on exhumation.
Insufficient evidenceKisilova in historical accounts; no exact modern location assign…
Mykonos: the vroucolacas whose heart was burned
A botanist witnessed an exhumation and disputed villagers’ attribution of night-time disorder to a murdered peasant.
Insufficient evidenceMykonos island, Aegean Sea