Unsolved mysteries

We’re not going to lie; we have a strange obsession with all things mysterious. We’re putty for riddles, unsolvable puzzles and cryptic messages. So we’ve compiled a list of the most bone-chilling, unheard of and unsolved mysteries in this world. 

The case of the unfortunate ship

In June 1947, a chilling SOS message was picked up by nearby ships and listening posts: “All officers, including the captain, are lying dead in chartroom and bridge.” This was followed by some indecipherable Morse code, and one final grisly message, “I die.” Then, silence. The authorities identified the vessel as Dutch freighter SS Ourang Medan and within a few minutes, they had located it within the Strait of Malacca. The nearest merchant ship raced to the ship’s aid. When they finally found the ship, every member of the crew was dead, their corpses scattered on the decks. More than this, it was surprising to see that dead crew’s eyes were still open and expressions of sheer terror were etched on their features.

The decision was made to tow the ship back to port, but before they could do that, smoke began emanating from the decks below. The rescue party hurriedly returned to their ship and barely had time to cut the tow lines before the SS Ourang Medan exploded and swiftly sank.

The evil mausoleum

George MacKenzie was a merciless persecutor of a people’s movement during his lifetime. However, once he died, a mausoleum was made in his honour by the people who supported him. Since then, strange things have started to happen near his tomb. In 1998, a vagrant broke into his tomb and fell through a rotten lower floor into a pit filled with skeletons. No one knows how the skeletons got there. Since then, there have been over 450 reports of strange incidents, from people having lost consciousness to inexplicable fires breaking out and an unusually high number of dead animals having been found around the tomb. Visitors even said that they have had their fingers broken, hair pulled and have been punched or kicked by an invisible assailant.

The alien diaries

The Voynich Manuscript was discovered by bookseller Wilfrid M Voynich in 1912. It is a detailed 240-page book written in a language or script that is completely unknown. Its pages are also filled with colourful drawings of odd events, animals and plants that do not seem to match any known species. The original author of the manuscript remains unknown, but carbon dating has revealed that its pages were made sometime between 1404 and 1438. It has been called “the world’s most mysterious manuscript”.

Many of the pictures of herbs and plants hint that it many have been some kind of textbook for an alchemist. Some fanciful theorists have also proposed that the book may have an alien origin.

Source:brainz.org/10-greatest-unsolved-mysteries

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2012.