Buzz
When discussions shift to the bizarre and seemingly unexplainable, topics like paranormal occurrences, puzzling anomalies, and enigmatic individuals or beings often arise. For enthusiasts like us, here are ten lesser-known mysteries that don’t receive as much attention as others.
10. Hornsey Coal Poltergeist January 1921
On January 1, Mr. Frost purchased a shipment of coal, which was delivered to his residence at 8 Ferrestone Road, Hornsey, London. From the outset, Frost, his wife, and their three young children (or grandchildren; the family relationships vary in newspaper reports) realized this was no ordinary coal. When burned in the fireplace, the coal either exploded or, even more disturbingly, leaped out of the grate, moved across the floor, and disappeared, only to reappear as bursts of sparks in another room. Frost contacted a police inspector, who personally witnessed some terrifying events.
The frightening incidents intensified. Items such as coal scuttles moved on their own. A knife and a loaf of bread soared across the room. Decorative trinkets tumbled from shelves. These occurrences were observed by Rev. A.L. Gardiner, Vicar of St. Gabriel’s, and Dr. Herbert Lemerle. Theories emerged. The coal originated from British mines, and some speculated that disgruntled miners had inserted dynamite into the coal to trigger explosions (later debunked). Others attributed the poltergeist activity to the spirits of aggrieved miners, while skeptics pointed fingers at the children.
The five-year-old girl, Muriel Frost, passed away on April 1, allegedly terrified to death by the poltergeist disturbances in her family home. Her brother, Gordon, was hospitalized after suffering a nervous breakdown following his sister’s death. The fate of the Frost family after these tragedies remains unclear.
9. Rain of Seeds February 1979
Roland Moody of Southampton, England, was shocked to hear small, solid objects striking the glass roof of his home’s conservatory. These objects were identified as hundreds of seeds—tiny mustard and cress seeds encased in a gelatinous coating. The seeds continued to fall throughout the day, eventually blanketing his garden. A neighbor, Mrs. Stockley, mentioned to Moody that she had experienced a similar event the year before.
The next day, Moody’s residence was bombarded with corn, pea, and bean seeds that appeared to fall from nowhere. His immediate neighbors also experienced showers of peas and beans. Only these three houses in the area were affected by the strange seed downpours, and a police inquiry failed to identify any source.
The unusual events gradually subsided and eventually ceased. By then, Moody and his neighbors had endured twenty-five separate seed bombardments and collected ten pounds of beans from their gardens. Moody alone gathered eight buckets of cress seeds. He noted that the produce grown from these seeds was of excellent quality. Both Moody and Stockley were featured in Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World television series in 1980. To this day, no satisfactory explanation for the peculiar seed showers has been discovered.
8. Strange Death of Netta Fornario November 1929
Norah Emily Editha “Netta” Fornario, a writer, associate of Dion Fortune, and member of the Alpha et Omega Temple—a branch of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—considered herself a practitioner of magical healing. In August or September, Netta departed London for Iona, an island off Scotland’s western coast, where she met an enigmatic end. Theories surrounding her death include psychic assassination, malevolent spirits, or exposure to harsh weather and heart failure (the official cause of death).
Upon arriving on Iona, Netta stayed at Traymore with Mrs. MacRae. During the day, she roamed the island, and at night, she fell into trances, attempting to communicate with its spirits. This pattern continued for weeks until Sunday, November 17, when her behavior suddenly shifted. She packed her belongings, planning to head back to London. She informed Mrs. MacRae that she had been telepathically disturbed and received messages from other realms. The landlady observed that Netta’s silver jewelry had seemingly turned black overnight. Later, Netta declared she had reconsidered and decided to stay on Iona.
The following day, Netta disappeared. Her body was discovered on Tuesday on a “fairy mound” near Loch Staonaig. She was found naked under a black cloak, lying on a turf-carved cross with a knife nearby. Her skin bore scratches, and the soles of her feet were cut and bloodied, as if she had run across rough terrain. Was she the victim of a psychic killer? Did she lose her way and die from hypothermia? Or did she perish accidentally during a ritual? What caused her injuries? Decades later, the mystery remains unresolved.
7. Odon Fire Poltergeist April 1941
On his farm near Odon, Indiana, William Hackler had breakfast with his family and then left the house. On his way to the barn, he detected the scent of smoke. Rushing back, he found a fire in the upstairs bedroom wall (notably, the house had no electricity). The local volunteer fire department was summoned, and the fire was quickly put out. However, this was just the beginning of the Hackler family’s day-long ordeal.
Shortly after the truck departed, another fire erupted, this time in a mattress located in an upstairs guest room. It appeared as though the fire had originated from within the mattress itself! Throughout the day, additional fires ignited across the house, some witnessed by stunned onlookers. By 2:00 p.m., more firefighters were summoned, and by day’s end, twenty-eight seemingly spontaneous fires had been extinguished, including one that started between the pages of a book.
The fires ceased as mysteriously as they had begun. Hackler demolished the house and constructed a new one using the salvaged lumber. Neither he nor his family ever encountered anything like the Odon fire poltergeist again.
6. The Third Eye Man November 1949
Late one evening, students from the University of South Carolina in Columbia were walking near the Longstreet Theater when they were startled by the sight of a gray-faced man dressed in a silver suit. He lifted a manhole cover and vanished into the sewer. Initially referred to as “Sewer Man,” he would soon earn a far more ominous title after another, even more frightening encounter in April 1950.
On this occasion, a police officer encountered a silver-clad man near the remains of mutilated chickens. When he directed his flashlight at the figure, he was horrified to see the man had a third eye in the middle of his forehead. The officer rushed to his patrol car and called for backup. By the time additional officers arrived, the man had vanished. Another sighting by students in the 1960s, in the steam tunnels beneath the university, kept the legend of the Third Eye Man alive.
Despite extensive searches of the tunnels, no physical evidence of the Third Eye Man’s existence has ever been uncovered. Is he a ghost? A creature? An alien? A hoax? No one knows, but sightings persisted into the early 1990s.
5. Connecticut Jabber February 1925
Women in Bridgeport, Connecticut, were terrorized for months by a “phantom stabber” who used a sharp, pointed weapon to jab their buttocks or breasts before fleeing. Witnesses provided a range of conflicting descriptions of the Connecticut Jabber, as he came to be known. One consistent detail in their accounts was his remarkable speed, as he would vanish before victims could react to the shock and pain.
The Jabber had no specific target profile and showed no preference for a particular location or time of day. Every few months, another woman fell victim to his attacks, whether on the street or in public spaces like department stores, churches, or library entrances. Despite ongoing police investigations that led to several suspects, the Jabber’s identity remained a mystery.
By June 1928, the Jabber had attacked twenty-six women. The assaults suddenly ceased and never recurred in the city. Over the years, various theories have emerged—mass hysteria fueled by media sensationalism, a sadist satisfying his urges, or even a ghost with a vendetta against shapely women—yet no culprit was ever apprehended.
4. Angelique Cottin, the Electric Girl January 1846
A fourteen-year-old peasant girl from La Perriere in Normandy, France, began alarming her friends with her bizarre abilities. Angelique Cottin, dubbed the “Electric Girl,” exhibited poltergeist-like effects, such as causing a weaving frame to dance around the room or a heavy table to levitate. Chairs moved away when she attempted to sit, beds shifted uncontrollably, and people received electric shocks when near her. Paper and pens flew off tables when she extended her left hand.
Angelique experienced convulsions and injuries caused by the often violent movements her body made. Her parents, fearing she was possessed, took her to church, but a priest assured them her abilities had a physical, not spiritual, origin. She was then examined by scientists in Paris, including the renowned physicist François Arago, who concluded the phenomena were real and resulted from electro-magnetism.
Ignoring the scientists’ advice, the Cottins chose to showcase Angelique to paying audiences. However, in April 1846—just a few months after the phenomena began—her mysterious powers vanished as suddenly as they had appeared, never to return.
3. Ghost Sniper of New Jersey 1927-1928
An unknown “ghost sniper” began terrorizing New Jersey in November 1927, starting in Camden. Albert Woodruff’s car and several others had their windshields shattered by bullets that were never recovered. A city bus on the Camden Bridge also had its windshield broken, and another bus on the Federal Street Bridge was fired upon. Homes and a store window were similarly targeted. In every instance, no one was harmed except by flying glass, and the bullets seemed to disappear without a trace.
The enigmatic sniper struck in Collingswood and Lindenwood, New Jersey, and even briefly ventured into Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His targets included private cars, taxis, trolleys, buses, and homes, though he also took a shot at a police officer. Only one witness claimed to hear the sound of a gunshot, while another reported hearing eerie laughter. Most victims, however, neither saw nor heard anything unusual.
The attacks ceased abruptly in 1928. Despite thorough police investigations and a few imitators whose projectiles (such as a blue marble and a screw) were found at the scenes, the ghost sniper and his elusive bullets remained a mystery.
2. Margaret Foos, Blind Reader January 1960
Despite having perfect vision, fifteen-year-old Margaret Foos mastered the art of “blind reading”—interpreting books through touch alone while completely blindfolded. Encouraged by her father, she honed this unique ability. William Foos believed he had developed a method to teach the blind to “see” using their skin, a form of extrasensory perception. As his first student, Margaret was tasked with demonstrating this groundbreaking technique.
In 1960, Foos brought his daughter to the Veterans Administration Center in Washington, DC, for scientific testing by psychiatrists. Wearing a “foolproof” blindfold provided by the VA doctors, Margaret used her hands to read passages from the Bible, identify objects and colors, trace lines, play checkers, and complete other tasks. Her father was present in the room but occasionally left, and there was no evidence he was signaling her.
Ultimately, the VA psychiatrists admitted they were puzzled. While Margaret passed all their tests, they couldn’t explain how she achieved these feats and thus couldn’t confirm she could see without using her eyes. Was she deceiving everyone, or did she possess a genuine extrasensory ability? The mystery remains, though the FBI took the concept of blind reading seriously enough to investigate William Foos and his claims.
1. Bladenboro Fire Poltergeist January 1932
In Bladenboro, North Carolina, Mrs. Charles Williamson—an ordinary housewife—was horrified when her cotton dress suddenly and inexplicably caught fire. She wasn’t near a fireplace, stove, or any other source of ignition, nor had she been smoking or handling flammable substances. Thankfully, her husband and teenage daughter acted swiftly, tearing the burning dress off her before she was harmed. Strangely, neither Mr. Williamson nor their daughter suffered any injuries, despite using their bare hands to extinguish the flames.
The fiery ordeal persisted later that day when a pair of Mrs. Williamson’s trousers in a closet burned down to ashes. The following day, in front of witnesses, a bed and curtains in another room spontaneously caught fire. For three more days, flames erupted unexpectedly, glowing blue and refusing to be extinguished until they completely consumed the targeted household items. Remarkably, no one was harmed by the fires. By the fourth day, the Williamsons had endured enough and vacated the house.
Police, electricians, and arson experts thoroughly inspected the house but found no logical cause for the fires. On the fifth day, the fires ceased as mysteriously as they had begun. The Williamsons returned home and never experienced the fire poltergeist again.
