The sea is a mysterious element, fraught with many undisclosed secrets. Every time you walk along the beach or admire the sun as it sinks into the waves, remember that in the depths of these waters there may be something hidden that you are not even aware of...

The Man of Medan (Ourang Medan)

The story of the Dutch cargo ship Ourang Medan, which sank in the Strait of Malacca, is one of the most terrible and controversial. Under unclear circumstances, the entire crew of the ship died.

“The captain and all the officers lie dead in the cockpit and on the bridge. Perhaps the whole crew is dead,” was the distress signal received by British and Dutch listening stations in June 1947.

After that, someone briefly “beat off” Morse: “I’m dying.” One of the American ships, Silver Star, was immediately sent to the ship.

The team really turned out to be dead - something did not even spare the dog. There were no signs of violent death on the bodies of the dead, but their frozen faces expressed horror. Although there was no damage to the ship, it was suspiciously cold in the depths of the hold. Then smoke began to rise from there, and the rescuers retreated in a hurry. Ourang Medan then exploded.

Since the only official mention of this incident appeared in the US Coast Guard's Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council, and there were no other mentions of it, many have questioned the veracity of this story.

In addition, there is a rational explanation for the incident. The Ourang Medan was likely carrying nitroglycerin and potassium cyanide, both of which are dangerous when in contact with seawater. So, probably, the team was simply poisoned.

Mary Celeste

Perhaps the most famous case ghost ship On November 5, 1872, a ship with a cargo of rectified spirit set sail from Staten Island to Genoa. In addition to the captain, there were 7 crew members on the ship, as well as the captain’s wife and daughter.

But the Mary Celeste never reached its destination port. The ship was found four weeks later completely empty: not a single living or dead soul it wasn't there. Neither the sextant nor the chronometer were found on the ship - the absence of these important instruments makes one think that the crew was trying to evacuate. And very quickly, considering that the captain left both jewelry and money in the cabin.

But the ship was not caught in a storm: the captain's cabin was in perfect order, and on the table of the captain’s wife there was an oil can with untouched oil, which would certainly fall if it rocked.

The cargo was also intact. All papers, with the exception of the ship's log, disappeared.
For several centuries now, historians have been trying to explain the mysterious disappearance of the crew of the Mary Celeste, but neither a pirate attack, nor a mutiny, nor the influence of alcohol, nor even the intervention of sea monsters can answer all the questions.

Carroll A. Dearing

The incident that happened with this American cargo schooner is cited as one of the examples of the Bermuda Triangle mystery.

Historians have never been able to explain what happened on the ship in 1921. The schooner made one single voyage, which became its last.

The Carroll A. Deering sailed with a cargo of coal from Norfolk to Rio de Janeiro. William Meritt commanded the ship and was assisted by his son. There were nine people on the team. According to some rumors, the captain did not want to go to sea with these people and did not trust them.

But soon the captain fell ill and was forced to go ashore, and the elderly Willis Wormell was sent to replace him. The ship docked in Rio de Janeiro without incident. Wormell, apparently, also had a low opinion of the team and managed to complain about it to his captain friend, whom he met in Brazil.

The ship departed with the same train back to the United States. During a short stop in Barbados, the crew spent several days drinking on shore, and a quarrel broke out between the captain and first mate. The assistant did not like that the captain did not allow him to punish the sailors and that he had to solve many navigation problems, since the captain had poor eyesight.

A few weeks later the ship was caught in a storm. Sailing past the lighthouse, one of the sailors called out to the lighthouse keeper. He reported that the schooner had lost its anchors during a storm. The lighthouse keeper noticed that chaos reigned on the ship and that the captain never came out to talk to him.

A few days later, US Coast Guard personnel noticed a schooner running aground. The sails were raised, but there were no lifeboats. When rescuers entered the schooner, not a single person was on board. There were no personal belongings or the ship's log. There were no anchors either. The last mark on the map was not made by the captain's hand.

The only one the rescuers brought from the ship was the gray ship's cat.

A few months later, one of the fishermen who lived near the site of the shipwreck found a bottle on the shore with a letter in which it was written that the ship Carroll A. Deering had been captured by pirates and the crew had been taken prisoner.

Kaz II

Let's fast forward to 2007. Australian fishing catamaran Kaz II departed Airlie Beach for Townsville. There were three people on board: the yacht's owner, Derek Batten, and his two brothers, Peter and James.

Three days later, the yacht was spotted from a helicopter, drifting in the Great Barrier Reef area. When the maritime patrol landed on the yacht, neither the owner nor his brothers were on the ship. There was no one at all.

It was as if they had left the yacht just a few hours ago: the food was untouched, the laptop was on, as was the yacht's engine.

According to one version, James for some reason dived into the sea, the yacht drifted to the side, and his brother rushed to his aid. When the owner of the ship noticed that the ship was moving away from his friends, he tried to lower the sails, but the sail knocked him down, and the man drowned along with his brothers.

Our amazing planet is still full of secrets. We try to explore space, we think about what is hidden in distant galaxies, but in fact we don’t even suspect what surprises are hidden in the bowels of the Earth. The simplest (at first glance) natural phenomena remain great mysteries for humanity. Analyze, guess - that’s all that modern scientists can do. Look, for example, at the list of these riddles. Some of them have tormented humanity for hundreds of years!

Animal migration

Animals migrate along the same routes for many years. Fish, birds, even insects also change hunting places, guided by a certain algorithm. However, scientists simply cannot explain the very existence of this important instinct in the genetic patterns of such different creatures.

Great Sphinx of Giza

The small head of the Great Sphinx is causing controversy in the scientific community. Robert Schoch, a British geologist, suggests that the statue originally had the face of a lion, from which one of the pharaohs ordered a mysteriously smiling face to be carved. Another archaeologist, Graham Hancock, correlated the three surrounding pyramids with stars in the constellation Orion, which also defies any scientific explanation.

Firefly Synchronization

Instead of flickering at random, fireflies of one group light up their “lanterns” simultaneously, every 1-2 seconds. Jonathan Copeland, a firefly specialist at the University of Georgia, suggests it's a ritual. But no one knows which one it is.

Meredith stone

This stone was found in 1872 during earthworks in the city of Meredith on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee (New Hampshire, USA). It is a piece of skillfully processed quartz - but there has never been quartz here, and the stone is processed too well for primitive tribes. Scientists are at a dead end.

Taos Rumble

For years, residents of Taos have heard a low-frequency rumble coming from the depths of the desert, as if tanks were moving along a highway. Main feature The phenomenon is that only local residents hear it; no one has yet been able to capture the sound on film.

Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island

Nobody knows where the labyrinths on Bolshoi Zayatsky Island came from. 14 low spiral structures have stone altars with solar symbols in the center. Here archaeologists also found traces of ritual sacrifices, but they could not find the culture that created all this.

Yonaguni Monument

Off the coast Japanese island Yonaguni divers discovered a real underwater city. It’s simply surprising why research does not continue now - the find is truly frightening and inspiring at the same time. The stone formations are dated back to 16 thousand years ago; similar structures were found off the islands of Okinawa. And in the strait between Taiwan and China (on the other side of Yonaguni) there are other underwater structures that most closely resemble roads and walls.

Red glow over the Pacific Ocean

This strange red light was first seen by Chrisiaan van Heijst. He was flying from Hong Kong to Alaska on a Boeing 747-8, and the glow seemed to originate below him after a flash of lightning. At present, the phenomenon remains unexplained.

Stone ball in Bosnia

Some believe that our distant ancestors created such balls as symbols of certain celestial objects. Other archaeologists find only boundary markers in them, but no one knows how things really are.

The Mystery of Mount Rushmore

During the construction of this famous monument, the architect Gutzon Borglum wanted to create the Hall of Chronicles inside the rock. To do this, he excavated a cave behind the head of Abraham Lincoln. In 1998, more than 50 years after Borglum's death, the US government actually placed here the memoirs of the presidents, the Bill of Rights and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. But what was here before? Conspiracy theorists believe that the CIA used the cave as a secret laboratory.

History is cyclical. In the process of development, people have come up with something more than once, lost these technologies, and after some time discovered them again. Here are four brilliant inventions of the past, the secret of which is still being unraveled.

Roman concrete

Express information on the country

The Earth is in third place in terms of distance from the Sun and in fifth place among all planets solar system by size.

Age– 4.54 billion years

Average radius – 6,378.2 km

Average circumference – 40,030.2 km

Square– 510,072 million km² (29.1% land and 70.9% water)

Number of continents– 6: Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Antarctica

Number of oceans– 4: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic

Population– 7.3 billion people. (50.4% men and 49.6% women)

Most populous states: Monaco (18,678 people/km2), Singapore (7607 people/km2) and Vatican City (1914 people/km2)

Number of countries: total 252, independent 195

Number of languages ​​in the world– about 6,000

Number of official languages– 95; the most common: English (56 countries), French (29 countries) and Arabic (24 countries)

Number of nationalities– about 2,000

Climate zones: equatorial, tropical, temperate and arctic (main) + subequatorial, subtropical and subarctic (transitional)

Many ancient Roman temples, aqueducts and roads are still in excellent condition. And even the harbors, which are more than 2 thousand years old, are surprisingly well preserved, despite the fact that they are constantly being undermined by the sea. The secret is in a special building material.

Besides sand, water, lime and broken clay, Roman concrete also contained one secret ingredient - volcanic ash. It was he, according to modern scientists, who made concrete so durable and timeless. Ash prevents cracks in the material and protects buildings from destruction. The most striking evidence of this can be considered the Pantheon, which has stood in Rome since 126 AD.

Fire of Archimedes

Archimedes of Syracuse was born in 287 BC. e. and became famous as one of the most outstanding mathematicians and physicists of his time. In particular, he is credited with the invention of concave mirrors, with the help of which it was possible to destroy ships. To do this, it was necessary to correctly point at the mirror sunbeam: it refracted and set the tree on fire.

The hosts of the MythBusters program tried to recreate Archimedes' invention, but the temperature was too low to ignite the tree.

Antikythera Mechanism

This is one of the most mysterious inventions of the past. The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in 1901 near the Greek island of Antikythera. The find is a bronze mechanism with 37 gears, wheels and dials.

Researchers suggest that the device was used to determine the astronomical position of the Sun, Moon and other planets. The Antikythera Mechanism dates back to the 1st–2nd centuries. BC e. Such mechanisms began to be used again only in the 14th century, so one can only guess how scientists were able to make such a device.

"Death Ray"

Famous inventor Nikola Tesla claimed to have spent 40 years developing weapons based on directed energy. In 1937, he announced that a weapon called the “Death Ray” was ready and had even been tested. It is a particle accelerator capable of firing a beam of directed energy over a distance of up to 400 km. A death ray can even melt an airplane engine. Fortunately, the scientist did not find money to implement his development and the world did not receive new look weapons.

Many people consider the church a sacred and very comfortable place. Some of them cannot even imagine that something terrible could happen in such a place. However, churches keep many unsolved mysteries, which include murders, disappearances, supernatural events and even unexplained acts of “divine intervention.”

1. Mysterious suicide "Wm L. Toomey"

On December 4, 1982, a very tanned stranger walked into Catholic Church Heart of Christ, in Boise, Idaho. The man looked to be no more than forty, and he seemed to be waiting his turn in the confessional, which was occupied at that moment. The man was soon found dead on the floor of the church.

It was later determined that he had swallowed a capsule containing potassium cyanide. There were no documents on him, only $1,900 and a note saying that the money should be spent on his funeral. The signature on the note was "Wm L. Toomey", but this could not have been the real name of the suicide, since "Wm L. Toomey" is the name of a company that produces vestments for clergy. All further attempts to establish the identity of the stranger came to nothing, but there is one disturbing theory about this suicide.

On December 21, 1981, Catholic priest Patrick Ryan was murdered at a motel in Odessa, Texas. He was found naked, with his hands tied behind his back. The night before, Ryan's father had had an affair with a suspect named James Harry Reyos. After a drunken Reyos called the police himself and confessed, he was sentenced to 20 years for Ryan's murder. However, Reyos later retracted his confession, and there is evidence that he may not have even been in Odessa on the night of the murder.

This evidence is supported by a similar murder of a priest that occurred in next year. In November 1982, another Catholic priest, Father Benjamin Currier, was murdered at a motel in Yuma, Arizona. Like Ryan's father, he was found naked with his hands tied behind his back.

The later "Wm L. Toomey" wore a distinctive buckle on his belt, which was purchased in an Arizona gift shop. Some believe that this man was responsible for the murders of both priests. He may have intended to die in the confessional after absolution, but miscalculated the time it would take for the cyanide to kill him.

2. The disappearance of Henryk Borinski's father

After leaving his native Poland and moving to Bradford, England, Father Henryk Borinski became a Catholic priest for the 1,500 members of the local Polish community. Borinski was supposed to replace another Polish priest, Boleslaw Martinellis, who had ceased to be respected by the Polish diaspora.

Father Borinski had been serving as a priest for 10 months when on the evening of July 13, 1953, he received a mysterious phone call. The conversation was in Polish, but Borinski's landlady overheard it. According to her, the dialogue ended with the words “okay, I’m going.” Borinski then left his apartment without taking any belongings with him and was not seen again.

At the time, many Polish residents of Bradford were refugees having fled their communist country. It was believed that Polish secret service agents were frequent visitors to Bradford, and it was well known that Father Borinski was very outspoken in demonstrating his anti-communist views. According to one version, rumors about these views were actively spread by Martinellis, whose place Borinski took, and who was very angry because of this. It is believed that it was Martinellis who helped Polish agents lure Borinski out of the house, after which the priest was kidnapped and killed.

Shortly before his disappearance, Borinski allegedly received a call from Martinellis, who asked Borinski for a meeting, but Martinellis denied that such a call ever took place. A month later, Martinellis claimed that two men attacked him in his home and ordered him to remain silent about the circumstances of Borinski's disappearance. Martinellis died of a heart attack two years later, and Borinski's disappearance remains unsolved to this day.

3. The Ghost of St. Mark's Episcopal Church

St. Mark's Episcopal Church, built in 1868, is considered a landmark in Cheyenne, Wyoming. There are also rumors that a ghost lives there, and there is a very unusual story associated with this ghost.

In 1886, they decided to erect a new tower in the church. Two Swedish masons were hired for this work, but they mysteriously disappeared before the tower was completed. Because of this incident, the tower stood unfinished until 1927. All this time, a serious problem was the unexplained creepy incidents that occurred in the church and were accompanied by the appearance of a mysterious ghostly figure. Every time the tower was scheduled to be completed, the workers were too scared to complete the work.

Several decades later, the Rev. Eugene Todd served as pastor at St. Mark's Church. It was then that he received everyone's unexpected explanation mysterious cases. One day he was called to a nursing home in Denver, where an elderly dying patient asked to see him. The man claimed to be one of the two Swedish masons who disappeared while working on a tower many years ago. The second mason accidentally fell and was killed while working on the tower. His partner was very scared because he thought that he might be accused of murder. As a result, he decided to wall up the body in cement in one of the wall sections of the tower, and then escaped. Although the dead mason's body was never found, many people find the old man's story plausible and believe that the mason's ghost now haunts the church.

4. The murder of Alfred Kunz's father

On March 4, 1998, the small community of Danes in Wisconsin was shocked by the news that Father Alfred Kunz had been murdered. The 67-year-old priest, who served at St Michael's Church for 32 years, was found in the parochial school with his throat cut. The murder was the subject of a thorough investigation, but to this day many unconfirmed theories surround the death. One of the most incredible assumptions is that the priest was killed by a group of Satanists.

Koontz frequently collaborated with Malachi Martin, a renowned exorcist and author of numerous books on the subject. Martin claimed that a week before his murder, Koontz was preparing to perform a banishing ritual. evil spirits of a man in Wisconsin who was believed to be possessed by demons. Martin expressed the opinion that from that moment the priest's life was in danger. Martin also suggested that the handwriting of the murders was very similar to the work of devil worshipers.

Another controversial suggestion suggests that Father Kunz had sexual relations with some of his parishioners, and may have been killed by a jealous mistress.

Despite all these theories, the Dane County Sheriff's Office says they have a prime suspect, but he left town immediately after the crime was committed and police don't yet have enough evidence to file charges. So the murder of Father Kunz remains unsolved to this day.

5. UFO sighting in Papua New Guinea

In April 1959, respected Anglican priest William Gill was serving as a missionary in the village of Boyanai in Papua New Guinea. One day he noticed a strange light crossing a distant mountain. The same light appeared later on the evening of June 26, but this time Jill's father was outside the mission building and there were many witnesses nearby. As the light moved towards the people, it soon became apparent that it was a luminous disc-shaped object, underneath which appeared to be four huge legs. Witnesses also discerned what could be alien figures moving around on the "upper deck" of the object.

People observed a strange object in close proximity for 45 minutes, then it disappeared. And when he returned an hour later, he was accompanied by other, brighter flying objects. They hovered over the mission for 4 hours and then disappeared again, but the very first object and 2 smaller objects returned to the village the next evening. This time, Jill's father and one of his companions decided to wave to the aliens on the "deck". Surprisingly, the figures waved back. The next night, a total of 8 UFOs appeared over the village, and this was the last appearance. Before they disappeared, everyone heard a deafening metallic grinding sound that seemed to be coming from the roof of the mission. But no signs of damage were found on the roof. This story is supported by more than 3 dozen witnesses, including Gill's father himself, and is one of the most credible UFO sightings in history.

6. The Murder of Harold and Thelma Swain

In 1985, Harold Swain served as a deacon at Waverly Baptist Church, Georgia. On the evening of March 11, a mysterious stranger arrived at the church. When Harold met the stranger in the lobby, the man pulled out a weapon and shot the priest several times. Harold's wife, Thelma, ran into the lobby to help, but the killer shot her too. After that, he fled the crime scene, leaving only his glasses behind.

In 2000, a suspect named Dennis Perry was convicted of killing the Swains and sentenced to two life sentences. Perry allegedly threatened to kill Harold two weeks before the crime, but some evidence suggests he may be innocent. Perry claimed that Swain was working in Atlanta, which is a six-hour drive from the crime scene, at the time of the murder. Thus, he was physically unable to commit murder. A witness who saw the shooter led police to another suspect named Donnie Barrentine, who allegedly bragged about killing the Swains at a party. However, police lost several key pieces of evidence, including the killer's glasses, which went missing during the filming of an episode of the TV show Unsolved Mysteries. Since Perry had excellent eyesight and never wore glasses, this piece of evidence may have exonerated him. But in order to avoid the death penalty, Perry voluntarily waived his right to appeal, so he remains in prison while the real killer may still be at large.

7. The Murder of Jacob Gerard

During a Sunday service on February 27, 1994, at a Lutheran church in Vernon, New Jersey, a shocking discovery was made: the body of a newborn boy lying in the snow outside one of the church windows. The unidentified child weighed approximately 3 kg and was naked body was wrapped in a thin blanket. Unfortunately, the baby's body was completely frozen, so the autopsy was performed only 3 days later, when the body thawed.

The child was probably placed near the church at night and died of hypothermia. The umbilical cord was still on the baby's body, but it looked as if it had been torn rather than cut, suggesting that the baby was not born in a hospital. A memorial service was held for the unidentified child and he was buried in North Hadiston Church Cemetery. It turned out that the child’s body was found just when there was a sermon in the church, which told the story of Jacob (English Jacob - Jacob). And Saint Gerard in the Catholic Church is considered the patron saint of newborn children. So the unidentified child was called Jacob Gerard at the memorial service.

Because Jacob was completely healthy at the time of his birth, the case was classified as a homicide. DNA samples were taken from the blanket in which the child was wrapped to determine who was responsible for his death. But even now, 20 years later, the murder of Jacob Gerard remains unsolved.

8. Rothwell Bones Crypt

Built in the 13th century, Holy Trinity Church is a medieval architectural monument in Rothwell, England. However, located directly below the church, the chapel contains one of the most macabre sights ever found in this temple: the entire chapel room is lined with human bones.

Known as the "Crypt of Bones", this chapel is filled with the remains of approximately 1,500 people. Previously, the room was sealed, but legend says that in 1700, the floor collapsed under a gravedigger who happened to be in the church. What he saw in the hidden chapel supposedly drove the man mad.

Eventually the bones were sorted and placed on separate shelves, and the Crypt of Bones has since become a very popular attraction. The intrigue is that no one knows the origin of the bones. The most common theory is that they belong to victims of the plague. Another theory claims that these people were all former soldiers killed during a major battle in 1645. It is also possible that many of them were originally buried in the church cemetery, but were later moved to the crypt because a hospital was built on the site of the cemetery in the 16th century. Scientists hope to use radiocarbon dating to determine the ages and perhaps even the identities of deceased people. But until this happens, the Crypt of Bones remains one of England's most eerie unsolved mysteries.

9. The Murder of Irene Garza

On April 16, 1960, 25-year-old schoolteacher and former beauty queen Irene Garza went to confession at Heart of Christ Catholic Church in McCullen, Texas. She never returned home, and her body was found 5 days later in a canal outside the city. Someone hit the girl on the head with a blunt object and raped her, after which she was strangled.

Shortly thereafter, a slide viewer was found in the same canal. It was tied to a long cord that may also have been used to bind Garza's hands. When the owner of this device showed up to demand it back, things took an alarming turn. The device belonged to John Faith, a priest from the Church of the Heart of Christ who confessed to Garza before she disappeared. A month before Garza's murder, Feit was accused of attempting to rape another young parishioner, but in that case he got off with only a $500 fine. Garza was wearing Feit's broken glasses. And on his hands there were scratches, which, according to him, he inflicted on himself by accident.

Despite such strong evidence of Feit's guilt, no one wanted to admit that a Catholic priest could be guilty of such a terrible crime, and he was eventually transferred to a monastery in Missouri. And several decades later, two witnesses were found who said that Feit admitted to them that he killed Garza. However, the district attorney realized that there was not enough evidence to charge Feit, and one of the witnesses died suddenly. By now, Father Feith is over 80, and officially he has always maintained his innocence. However, he remains the main suspect in the murder of Irene Garza, which remains unsolved.

10. The Mystical Rescue of the West End Baptist Church Choir

On the evening of March 1, 1950, the West End Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska was completely destroyed by an explosion. The explosion itself was caused by a leak natural gas and there was nothing mysterious about him. Mysterious is the chain of almost incredible events, as a result of which the lives of 15 people were saved. Some consider these events to be a real miracle.

The church choir was scheduled to meet for rehearsal at 7:20 p.m. All the choir members were very punctual, but nevertheless, all 15 people were late this evening. As a result, none of them managed to enter the church, which exploded in front of them at 19:27. The choir director and her daughter, a church pianist, planned to arrive half an hour before the others. However, the daughter fell asleep, and as a result both women were late. A church pastor and his wife were late after their daughter spilled soup on her dress. Two more choir members did not arrive on time because their cars did not want to start. Other participants were detained business as usual such as writing a letter, listening to a radio play, completing homework. One person was late despite living literally across the street from the church. In the end, every member of the choir was saved by what can only be called the most amazing coincidence of our time, or divine intervention.