Top 10 Creepiest Mysteries of 2020
#10: Mysterious Drone Sightings
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This year kicked off on an unsettling note as mysterious drones were spotted in northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska, as well as southeastern Wyoming. While there’d been reports of unidentified drones since late 2019, it was in January 2020 that the story really blew up. Larger than the average drone, some claimed that they were the size of cars. Adding to the creep factor, reports suggest that the drones were flying in grid patterns. One witness estimated that he saw up to 30 drones flying at night. While many of these sightings were given reasonable explanations, a lot of them are still unidentified. Reports seemed to die down after January, although it remains unclear who was operating these drones and what purpose they served.
#9: Cosmic Object Swallowed by Black Hole
The Highest Energy Cosmic Ray Ever Seen | Unveiled
It might sound like something you’d read in a comic book, but this story is all science and nonfiction. About 790 million light-years from our planet, an unidentified cosmic object merged with a black hole of 23 solar masses. This resulted in a gravitational wave signal known as GW190814, which made it all the way to Earth on August 14, 2019. By June 2020, astronomers still had yet to determine what the mysterious object was, although it was reportedly about 2.6 solar masses. Theories have ranged from the heaviest of neutron stars to the lightest of black holes. “Either way, it breaks a record,” said Vicky Kalogera of Northwestern University. Kalogera also stated, “We haven’t seen, with confidence, anything like this before.”
#8: “Groaning” Noise in Southwest Anchorage
In February 2020, a mysterious “groaning” sound made its way from Midtown to West Anchorage. Waking up to the noise at around 5:00 in the morning, some residents only heard it once. Others claim that the sound repeated for a few hours and only got louder. Although this wasn’t the first time that the noise had been detected in this area, reports were especially high this time. The noise has been compared to “a foghorn,” “a submarine scraping the bottom of a pool,” and a “big backhoe [that] was giving birth.” Yet, nobody can determine for sure where it emanated from. Maybe it was a snowplow, maybe it was construction, or maybe it was “trumpets in the sky,” as some have said.
#7: The L.A. Jet Pack Flyer
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We’ve all dreamed about soaring through the sky in a jet pack and technology may finally be catching up with movies like “The Rocketeer.” In late August, two pilots reported that they saw “a guy in a jet pack” roughly 3,000 feet above Los Angeles International Airport. About six weeks later in October, another jetpack sighting was reported in Southern California. It’s unknown if this was the same jet pack flyer as before. In any case, the mysterious jet pack operator made it up to 6,000 feet on this flight. The FBI has been investigating this mystery, although the identity of this “guy in a jet pack” remains up in the air. Our money is on Tony Stark.
#6: Seeds, Seeds, Everywhere
Tell us if this sounds familiar. You go outside your house, look in your mailbox or down at your driveway, and there’s a package of seeds just sitting there. You’re not alone. These unsolicited seeds have been randomly popping up at homes in the U.S., Canada, and Ireland as of late. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has advised against planting these seeds. Meanwhile, the United States Department of Agriculture and Canadian Food Inspection Agency chalked this up to a “brushing scam.” The USDA also noted that the packages have been addressed from China Post, but a rep from China’s foreign ministry claims that these labels were forgeries. At this point, we wouldn’t be surprised if Pod People were behind this mystery.
#5: Where in the World Was Kim Jong Un?
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People go missing every day, but for a North Korean dictator to vanish from the limelight for almost three weeks… well, it’s unusual, to say the least. That’s what happened with Kim Jong Un in April, however. People first suspected that something was wrong when Kim wasn’t present to celebrate the birthday of his late grandfather, Kim Il-sung. In his absence from the public, many called Kim’s health into question, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic was now in full swing. There’s still no concrete evidence, however, confirming that Kim had the virus or that he was even unwell. Kim eventually resurfaced for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in May, but no explanation was given as to where the Supreme Leader had been for almost 20 days.
#4: Life on Venus?
Did Scientists Just Discover Alien Life in the Clouds of Venus? | Unveiled
Many have speculated about life on Mars, but life on Venus sounds especially far-fetched. We mean, it’s the hottest planet in our solar system with a surface temperature that can reach more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Then again, sometimes life finds a way! In September, scientists discovered phosphine, a toxic gas, in Venus’ atmosphere. On Earth, phosphine is produced from microbial life. While some believe that this could be evidence of either past or present life on Venus, subsequent studies have cast doubt on the idea. In October, it was reported that reanalyses of available data had failed to find traces of phosphine. For now, we’ll just have to keep watching the stars… and the clouds.
#3: The Missing Star
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There are countless stars scattered throughout space, but some shine brighter than others. One in a dwarf galaxy roughly 75 million light-years away has been on our radar for almost twenty years. This star stands out with a luminous blue glow and shines even brighter than our solar system’s sun. Then one day, it was just gone. First reported in 2020, astronomers are still pondering where this blue giant went. Maybe it collapsed into a black hole, but that would usually result in a vibrant supernova. If this was the case, it’d be a first according to Andrew Allan of Trinity College Dublin. Other theories suggest the star lost some of its mass, or dust is obscuring the view. Or maybe Galactus got to it.
#2: Radio Signal From Space
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In 2007, the first fast radio burst - or FRB - was reported. Another first occurred in 2019 when scientists managed to trace an FRB back to its original galaxy. Even after all these years, astronomers still don’t know what exactly causes these signals, although they may be on the verge of a major breakthrough. In February 2020, it was reported that one FRB repeated every 16.35 days. One researcher described this discovery as “an important clue to the nature of this object.” Later in the year, astronomers dwindled down the list of possible FRB sources, which includes “compact-object mergers and magnetars arising from normal core-collapse supernovae.” Research is ongoing, but until we know where these signals come from, we’ll just have to keep listening.
Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
Lemur Abduction
A Lemur Went Missing & Was Found the Next Day Four Miles From the Zoo
Shake & Boom in West Mobile
Whatever Caused This Sudden Shake, It Wasn’t an Earthquake
How Did Murder Hornets Get to the U.S.?
Maybe They Were Accidentally Shipped with Imported Goods?
Who Killed Moscow’s “Sausage King?”
With a Crossbow in a Sauna, No Less
#1: Pentagon Confirms UFO Sighting
It’s only fitting that the same year SpaceX began transporting astronauts into space, the universe would get infinitely more mysterious. The biggest mystery came out of the United States Department of Defense, which confirmed not just one, not just two, but three UFO sightings. In April 2020, the Pentagon released three Navy videos featuring “unidentified aerial phenomena.” The videos, known as “GIMBAL,” “GOFAST,” and “FLIR,” were filmed between 2004 and 2015. Granted, this wasn’t the first time that these videos were exposed to the public, as they were published online in the late 2010s. Regardless, the fact that the Pentagon has now officially declassified these videos only further piques our interest. While the secret may be out, we’re still no closer to learning the truth.
