Buzz
From the outset, stories about strange events so unusual they can only be called ‘Paranormal’ — meaning 'beyond the normal' — have captured our imagination. These tales offer a 'what if' to a world that often believes everything has a logical explanation. They can be eerie, exciting, and entertaining, but that's where the warning lies: real life is often none of these things. Sure, some paranormal mysteries could lead to new scientific insights, discoveries about the world, or even about ourselves, but many are simply designed for entertainment, crafted by those more interested in attention and profit than in uncovering genuine paranormal truths.
10. Magic Bullets
Charles Fort is well-known for his four books published in the early 1900s, where he compiled what he called 'damned data' — phenomena that we now classify as paranormal. Fort’s writings played a key role in stoking the curiosity around such subjects, but that doesn’t mean everything he documented was accurate. In his 1932 book *Wild Talents*, Fort describes cases of people found dead from gunshots with no bullet holes in their clothing, a puzzling situation. The most famous example he gives is the 1872 death of Captain Colvocoresses in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Fort succinctly describes the case: 'shot through the heart — clothes not perforated.'
In truth, most of Colvocoresses' clothing was perforated, but one newspaper article — the same source Fort used — pointed out that the front of Colvocoresses' jacket wasn’t pierced by the bullet, suggesting the gun had been fired from within the jacket. While Fort took this as evidence that none of the clothing was damaged, the insurance companies involved interpreted this as a sign that Colvocoresses might have shot himself, holding his jacket open. It turns out Colvocoresses, who had a large family and no job prospects, had recently taken out enormous life insurance policies, leading to the theory that he may have staged a suicide to look like a murder.
9. A Tale for the Explorer’s Club
In the 1950s and 1960s, Ivan T. Sanderson was regarded as the foremost authority on the so-called 'Abominable Snowman' or 'Yeti' — the mysterious, hair-covered figure of the Himalayas, a topic that became immensely popular in media at the time. So when Sanderson reported that in 1902, a group of soldiers, while investigating the disappearance of workers laying a telegraph line, instead discovered and killed a Yeti in the Jelep-La pass between Tibet and India, the public was shocked. The creature was said to be 10 feet tall, covered in hair except on its face, and possessing 'long yellow fangs.' Unfortunately, it seems the creature was lost when it was sent to England.
Unfortunately for Yeti enthusiasts, official accounts of the telegraph line construction, written independently by the men who were present, make no reference to any such events. The story appears to have been fabricated in 1957, and Sanderson, in turn, added claims of having seen 'government reports' to lend it an air of authenticity.
8. A Truly Fiery Day
For many paranormal researchers, April 7, 1938 is considered one of the strangest days in history. In Upton-by-Chester, England, George Turner was driving down a quiet road. Meanwhile, out at sea, helmsman John Greeley was piloting the SS Ulrich. In Denmark, 18-year-old Willem Ten Bruik was driving through the countryside. Then, for no apparent reason, all three spontaneously burst into flames. Turner’s car was found overturned in a ditch, seamen rushed to the pilot house of the SS Ulrich to find Greeley ablaze, and Ten Bruik was discovered in his car, burned beyond recognition. Oddly, in all cases, the flames only affected the victims, leaving the vehicles untouched. Experts agreed that these were cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion, but no one could explain why all three occurred on the same day, seemingly at the same time!
Fortunately for those concerned about Spontaneous Human Combustion, there was never a George Turner, Willem Ten Bruik, or John Greeley; and no ship called the 'SS Ulrich' ever existed. The entire story seems to have been pieced together from various misreported details, then presented as a baffling case of supernatural spontaneous combustion deaths. However, when thoroughly investigated, each part of the story unraveled.
7. Deja Vu… in Green
In 1965, author John Macklin recounted an exceptionally strange event; one for which, he insisted, he had seen documents, reports, and witness testimony confirming its authenticity. According to Macklin, in August 1887, two children — a boy and a girl — were found in a shallow cave near the village of Banjos in Spain. The children did not speak Spanish, wore clothing that seemed to be made from a metallic fabric, and had green-colored skin.
While the locals tried to care for the children, the boy fell ill and died shortly after their discovery. The girl survived five more years, and during this time, her skin gradually returned to a normal tone. After learning enough Spanish, she explained that she and her brother came from a land with no sun, where everyone had green skin and lived in constant twilight. She never could explain how she and her brother had made the journey from their homeland to the place where they were found.
But Macklin's account was merely a retelling of a truly mysterious event from the 13th century in Woolpit, England. All Macklin did was change the time and location to create a 'new' paranormal tale. Ironically, some later researchers claimed that Macklin's version proved the Woolpit story must have been true, given the many similarities! However, the Woolpit event remains unique, and it continues to be an unsolved mystery.
6. The Ultimate Escape
In November 1856, John Wilhelm Gebhard was hanged for a murder he maintained he did not commit. He protested his innocence until the very end, declaring that although he would die, no grave would ever contain his body. Gebhard was buried near the prison in an eight-foot-deep grave, with a cairn of rocks built over it. To prevent anyone from trying to exhume his body and re-bury it in consecrated ground, the governor had the coffin sealed with his official mark and stationed armed guards around the grave, who kept watch day and night for three months following the execution.
However, just six weeks later, the true murderer was discovered — a person who had also been the key witness against Gebhard during the trial. It became clear that a gross miscarriage of justice had taken place, and both the governor and the prison worked quickly to rectify the situation. Gebhard's name was officially cleared, his mother was given a lifelong pension, and arrangements were made to exhume his body and give him a proper burial in a cemetery. When the grave was opened and the seals confirmed to be intact, the coffin was found to be empty. John Gebhard's body was never recovered.
The tale of John Gebhard’s paranormal escape from the grave has roots in truth; there really was a man named John Wilhelm Louis Gebhard who was hanged for a crime he did not commit. However, this Gebhard died in 1822, and his body certainly didn’t disappear. The legend of his vanishing corpse, though, was later invented, taking inspiration from his death and creating a false and eerie narrative that persists to this day.
See Also: Top 10 Creepiest Episodes Of Paranormal Television
5. Dufferin's Ominous Warning
A famous tale is told about Lord Dufferin [1826-1902], a highly regarded English diplomat who was well-liked by the public. While on holiday in Ireland, Dufferin and his wife stayed at the home of a friend. One night, while at the house, Dufferin saw a strange man carrying a coffin across the garden. When the man looked up and met Dufferin’s gaze from the upper story window, his face was so grotesque that Dufferin was paralyzed, unable to look away or react. The eerie figure soon disappeared into the night, leaving Dufferin with a haunting memory of the man's disturbing face.
Years later, now England's ambassador to France, Lord Dufferin was attending a diplomatic event at the Grand Hotel in Paris. While waiting for the elevator, he was stunned to see that the elevator operator was the very same man who had terrified him all those years ago. Dufferin, instead of stepping into the elevator, rushed to the front desk to inquire about the strange man. Before he could ask, the elevator doors closed, and it plummeted down the shaft, tragically killing everyone inside. The mysterious, unsettling man had unknowingly saved Dufferin's life by frightening him away from the doomed lift.
As chilling as the story is, there’s a major flaw in the tale. During Lord Dufferin’s lifetime, there was only one recorded elevator accident in Paris that resulted in deaths, and it happened at the Grand Hotel on February 24, 1878. The tragic incident involved only three people: the elevator operator and two passengers, all of whom perished, though none were 'mutilated,' as the fatality was due to the impact. Moreover, no contemporary reports of the incident mention any diplomatic functions at the hotel, nor is there any mention of Lord Dufferin being present.
4. Heaven Help Us
The following day, the newspapers reported a shocking incident — a young girl had been attacked and raped in the very same alley where Diane had just passed through 20 minutes earlier, completely unharmed. Concerned, Diane contacted the police, and was asked to identify a suspect from a lineup. To her surprise, one of the men was the same one she had seen loitering at the alley’s entrance. When she pointed him out, he immediately confessed to the crime. When asked why he had let Diane go, he answered, 'Because she wasn’t alone. She had two tall men walking on either side of her.'
This story has since circulated widely as a testament to divine protection. However, it’s important to note that the tale originally circulated anonymously via email, and the exact town where it supposedly occurred remains unidentified. Some might argue that while there's no solid evidence it happened, there’s also no proof it didn’t. Yet, it’s been established that the story wasn’t originally about angels, but was adapted from a different source entirely.
In 1938, the journal Folklore published an intriguing account from a woman identified only as Mrs. D. She recounted how her mother frequently walked between the nearby villages of Scunthorpe and Crosby in Lincolnshire, England. One evening, her mother noticed a large black dog accompanying her on her walk, a dog she had never seen before. The dog kept pace with her until they passed a group of idle laborers. The workers discussed what they would have done to her, had it not been for the presence of 'that [expletive] dog.' When Mrs. D’s mother returned home, she eagerly called her husband to meet the protective animal. But by the time he arrived, the dog had vanished. Fast forward 63 years, replace the dog with angels, and the story becomes Diane's tale.
3. Out of Time
In June 1950, the morgue in New York City received a peculiar body — a man who had been struck by a car. He was quickly identified as Rudolph Fentz, based on the items found in his pockets. However, the mystery deepened when they discovered that Fentz was wearing clothes that appeared to be from about 70 years earlier: a starched collar, buttoned shoes, and a stove-pipe hat. In his pockets, Fentz had $70 in banknotes that were out of place, as they were not contemporary bills, and the coins were dated no later than 1876.
The business cards found on Rudolph Fentz provided authorities with his name and an address on Fifth Avenue. Additionally, there was a letter addressed to the same location. However, when investigators went to that address, they discovered it was a business, and no one there had ever heard of Rudolph Fentz. No one had come to the morgue or contacted the police in search of him either. According to eyewitnesses, Fentz was first seen standing in the middle of a busy street, looking dazed, before he suddenly darted toward the curb and was struck by oncoming cars.
The police uncovered a chilling detail: there was indeed a man named Rudolph Fentz in New York City. According to aged police records, Fentz had mysteriously vanished one night in 1876. Could it be that Rudolph Fentz had somehow traveled through time, only to meet his end on a modern city street?
Although many authors have recounted the tale of Rudolph Fentz with intricate detail and even claimed to possess photographs of him, the story is ultimately a work of fiction. The origins of the Fentz tale stem from a short story penned by sci-fi writer Jack Finney [1911-1995], which was published in the 1951 edition of Collier’s Weekly. The story gained popularity, and soon after its release, Fentz’s time-traveling adventure was adopted as a ‘true’ tale in British paranormal literature, complete with fabricated photographs circulating on various websites.
2. A Smoking Problem
Peter Lyman Jones developed a smoking habit one fateful day in October of 1980... but it lasted only that single day.
Jones was sitting at the edge of his bed with his wife, Barbara, by his side when suddenly smoke began to rise from his arms. Both of them panicked and searched his body for signs of fire, but there was none—only smoke. The smoke had no odor, and his skin wasn’t unusually hot, yet it was unmistakably emanating from his arms for no apparent reason. Then, as abruptly as it began, it stopped.
Later that day, while driving alone, Jones experienced it again. He had both hands on the wheel, his sleeves rolled up, and he could see the smoke coming from his arms. This time, it was a pale blue-gray with a metallic taste, filling the interior of the car. Jones, understandably, didn’t tell his wife about this second occurrence until months later, and after that, the smoke never appeared again.
This peculiar story first appeared in print in Larry Arnold's 1995 book on spontaneous human combustion, Ablaze!. And I do mean first appeared—there’s no known mention of such an event in any publication prior to Arnold's work. He also leaves out the specific town where Jones and his wife lived, simply stating it was somewhere in 'central California.'
What Arnold does mention is that at the time, Mr. Jones 'harbored 'total hatred' for his wife’s teenage daughter,' and that he has since become much calmer. This specific detail, oddly convenient for Arnold's theory connecting strong emotions to spontaneous human combustion, raises doubts. The lack of any prior record of the event and the absence of proof that Peter Lyman Jones even existed make it very likely that Arnold fabricated the story to fit his theory.
1. Diderici’s Disappearance
In 1815, a man named Diderici, a criminal imprisoned at Weichselmunde Prison in Poland for assuming the identity of his former employer — one of the earliest known cases of identity theft — experienced something bizarre. While taking part in a daily exercise routine with other prisoners, chained together in the prison yard, Diderici began to slowly fade away, becoming increasingly transparent. Both fellow inmates and the guards looked on in horror as his form continued to dissipate. Soon, he was entirely invisible, and the shackles that had been holding him dropped to the ground, leaving nothing behind. The man was never seen again, and his fate remains a mystery to this day.
The legend of Diderici is fascinating because, in essence, most of it is grounded in truth. Diderici was indeed a prisoner at Weichselmunde Prison in Poland, serving time for the crime of impersonating his employer. His disappearance is also factually accurate, though it happened quite differently from the mysterious manner described in the legend.
Diderici vanished sometime between 1812 and 1813. The prison, once under Prussian control, had been seized by the French during Napoleon’s efforts to conquer Europe. Diderici had been incarcerated by the French for masquerading as a higher-ranking officer. Due to a prior escape attempt, he was made to wear heavy iron shackles at all times to prevent another attempt.
In 1813, after the prison was handed back to the Prussians, a routine roll call revealed Diderici was marked as 'missing.' When questioned, the former prison commandant suggested that Diderici may have leaped or fallen from the prison wall that faced the ocean. This response seemed oddly precise, leading some to speculate the commandant knew more than he was letting on. Regardless, Diderici was gone, though no witnesses were present to see his disappearance firsthand.
