Mysteries That Have Been Solved

Quick Disclaimer: Topics in this blog post may be distressing to some readers. Reader discretion advised.

Hi friends! For this blog post, I thought we could take a look at some of the mysteries that have been solved instead of looking at the unsolved ones. Hope you enjoy this post!!

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Mysteries That Have Been Solved

• The "Bloop" sound coming from the Pacific Ocean in 1997 turned out to be an icequake. It was an "ultra low frequency, high-amplitude underwater sound" and was originally thought to be some sort of marine animal.

• The Solway Firth Spaceman photograph (taken in 1964) that showed a "figure" representing an astronaut in the background just turned out to be the mother of the child walking into the shot without knowing it.

• I haven't heard of this one before today, but allegedly there was a man in Florida who used giant penguin shoes to pull off a hoax about a giant penguin on the beach. This hoax began in 1958 and wasn't revealed until 1998 that it was a hoax. I find this one fascinating because NZ actually had giant penguins, and they just found their fossils not that long ago.

• The Easter Island mystery of the Moai (the giant statues) - when people learned that they had whole bodies under the ground, they weren't sure how the statues were moved, but they replicated it with ropes, and it turns out, with enough manpower, you can move them.

• The trails of rocks in Death Valley, California (now known as sailing stones). This is where rocks move along sand/ice without any intervention from animals, and it took scientists a really long time to work out how this was happening, but it turns out it was a combination of wind and ice. If you're ever in Death Valley, watch out for flying rocks!!

• The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Obviously we ALL know the urban legend about aircraft and ships going missing in the Bermuda Triangle. However, that's all it is - an urban legend. There is no evidence suggesting that any plane/ship/person has in fact gone missing in this area. Any reported incidents can be attributed to human error, natural phenomena, or misinterpretation.

• I wouldn't say this one is fully solved, but we now know the identity of the Somerton Man; he is most likely Carl "Charles" Webb (an electrical engineer). The Somerton Man was a deceased man found near the beach at Somerton Park on the 1st of December, 1948, with a note in his pocket that said "tamám shud" - a Persian phrase that translates to "it is finished". The University of Adelaide believe they have identified him as Carl, but the South Australian authorities have not confirmed and continue to investigate.

• The Dyatlov Pass Incident - This was where nine ski hikers were k*lled in the Ural Mountains in 1959, and their bodies were all found very far apart and with body parts missing. The original theories as to how these hikers died was due to hypothermia (which can make you do some crazy stuff), but when the case was re-opened, they found that there was an avalanche that acted as a catalyst for the events following. I did a bit of a deep dive on this case in "this blog post" if you'd like to learn more.

• The Golden State Killer - When investigators uploaded DNA of the k*ller to a genealogy site, they were able to find a family tree with the help of a few internet sleuths. From this, authorities were able to identify the Golden State Killer as Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. (a former police officer).

• Jacob Wetterling - Jacob was an 11-year-old boy who went missing in Minnesota in 1989. It wasn't until 27 years later that the family got justice. His remains were found in 2016, and his kidnapping and m*rder were committed by a man called Danny Heinrich (a long-time person of interest in the case). RIP to Jacob.

• Why do socks "vanish"? Do you ever have a sock go missing randomly? It's VERY common, and this happens to me a lot - like once we found a sock in the boot of the car, and we have no idea how it got there. But it turns out that socks going missing is a bit of a science. Due to the material of socks and their shape (a flat tube), socks can hold a very large static electrical charge, which makes them stick to stuff (and be transported to other places without people noticing). Due to the shape of the sock, usually with one heavy end, they can work themselves free in a pendulum motion and get lost in random places.

Thank you for reading! Let me know if I've missed any, and I can always make a part 2!!

Ash :)