We will never solve all the mysteries out there. Not only will many historical enigmas remain unsolved, but many more will arise in the future. The MH370 Malaysian plane is a good example. With nothing conclusive after weeks of searching, will we ever discover its fate? On this list are some of the world’s lesser-known mysteries, which nonetheless remain impossible to solve.
10 Shanyna Isom
In 2009, 28-year-old Shanyna Isom was rushed to an emergency room in Memphis, Tennessee after experiencing an asthma attack. The doctors on call treated her with a dose of steroids and sent her home.
[amazon asin=1601632045&template=*lrc ad (left)]Soon after this, Shanyna began experiencing an itching sensation which worsened despite medical treatment. Then, alarmingly, she noticed that her legs were turning black. Doctors became convinced she had a staph infection or some type of eczema-like skin disorder. More treatment was given, but things just went from bad to worse. Scabs were forming all over her body and she was losing weight rapidly.
The doctors in Memphis were dumbfounded, telling Shanyna and her family that she would probably have to live with this strange disease for the rest of her life. Two years later, still looking for answers and a cure, Shanyna visited Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore. Specialists there determined that she was suffering from an unknown condition that caused her to produce 12 times the normal number of skin cells in her hair follicles. This was[amazon asin=0878393129&template=*lrc ad (right)] essentially causing her to grow fingernails instead of hair.
Doctors at Johns Hopkins are still trying to figure out the cause of this strange disease. Isom is currently taking 25 different types of medicine but is still no closer to being cured.
9 The Patomskiy Crater
[amazon asin=0471283681&template=*lrc ad (left)]In 1949, geologist Vadim Kolpakov set off on an expedition to Siberia, not realizing that he was about to discover one of the strangest unsolved mysteries in the world: the Patomskiy crater. As Kolpakov traveled deep into almost uncharted territory, the local Yakut people warned him not to go on, explaining that there was an evil place deep in the woods that even the animals avoided. They called it the “Fire Eagle Nest” and claimed that people would start to feel unwell near it—and some would simply disappear without a trace.
A man of science, Kolpakov was not put off by these stories. But even he was at a loss to explain what he found deep in the Siberian forests. A giant crater, the size of “a 25-story building,” reared up out of the trees. Up close it resembled a volcano mouth, but Kolpakov knew that there had been no volcanoes in the area for at least a few million years. This crater looked relatively newly formed—Kolpakov estimated it as around 250 years old, a figure[amazon asin=0060014016&template=*lrc ad (right)] supported by later studies of nearby tree growth. Interestingly, the trees also seemed to have undergone a period of accelerated growth similar to that seen in the forests around Chernobyl.
Since the discovery of the crater, there have been many theories as to what (or who) could have created it. Some people, including Kolpakov, have speculated that it might have been formed by a meteorite, although the crater does not resemble any other known meteorite site. Others are convinced that it was indeed a volcano. Many even think that there is a UFO hidden underneath the crater. In 2005, an expedition was launched in the hopes of [amazon asin=B0002DRDWI&template=*lrc ad (left)]finding some answers—but then tragedy struck. The leader of the expedition died of a heart attack just a few kilometers away from the site. The locals were convinced it was the “evil” crater that led to his death.
8 The Taulas Of Menorca
The taulas are ancient megaliths that stand on the Spanish island of Menorca, quite similar in appearance to the more famous Stonehenge. While it is thought that the taulas were erected by the ancient inhabitants of the island at some point after 2000 B.C., there is no concrete evidence as to why the structures were built or why they are found only on Menorca and not on neighboring islands.
Naturally, theories abound. Some believe that the stones symbolized a temple of some sort. Waldemar Fenn, a German archaeologist, has pointed out that the taulas all faced south, leading him to speculate that they were erected as a religious monument to measure the movement of the moon. His theory became known as the Taula Moon Theory.
Unfortunately, Fenn’s theory could only be applied to 12 of the 13 intact taulas. It did not match the megalith found on the northern side of the island. The real reason for the taulas’ construction remains unknown.
