Buzz
A primary reason why skeptics often reject extraordinary accounts of the supernatural and surreal lies in the credibility of those narrating them. Stories about Bigfoot, alien abductions, and ghostly apparitions are frequently attributed to rural dwellers, the uneducated, or those deemed eccentric. The phrase “consider the source” is a common refrain among skeptics when assessing the truthfulness of such astonishing claims.
However, there are cases where unbelievable tales are recounted by individuals who are widely respected—people who have made significant contributions to society and are generally not viewed as irrational or unstable.
The notion of credibility is somewhat subjective, and many of these narratives can be linked to the era or cultural context in which the storytellers lived. Whether you lean toward skepticism or belief, this fascinating collection of incredible stories shared by credible individuals is sure to captivate your interest.
10. Charles Lindbergh And The Gremlins
Enthusiasts of The Twilight Zone are well-acquainted with gremlins, mythical beings known for their playful yet troublesome behavior, particularly around aircraft. Tales of these creatures first emerged from British Royal Air Force pilots during World War I, who claimed to spot small figures in their cockpits or on the wings of their planes.
These accounts persisted into World War II. Some pilots described gremlins as friendly and even beneficial, providing assistance to prevent crashes. Others, however, portrayed them as malevolent and hazardous, consuming fuel, severing cables, and damaging aircraft wings—much like the gremlin in The Twilight Zone that tormented William Shatner and, later, John Lithgow.
Before Shatner and Lithgow, renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh recounted his own encounter with gremlins in his book The Spirit of St. Louis (1953). He depicted them as “faintly visible, translucent figures, moving effortlessly alongside him in the aircraft.”
Lindbergh expressed a sense of comfort rather than fear. “These spectral beings communicate in human voices—friendly, ethereal forms, lacking physicality, capable of disappearing or reappearing at will, and passing through the plane’s walls as if they didn’t exist.”
He described their voices as “engaging in conversation, offering guidance on his flight, discussing navigational challenges, providing reassurance, and delivering profound insights beyond the reach of ordinary human experience.”
Although Lindbergh’s account might be dismissed as a result of exhaustion from prolonged flying, he presented it with sincerity, portraying it as a spiritual encounter that prompted him to reflect deeply on the essence of his existence.
9. Robert Stacy-Judd And The Hermit Of Loltun
Robert Stacy-Judd, an architect, is most renowned for designing the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia, California. Born and educated in England, his architectural style was heavily inspired by the pre-Columbian structures of Mexico and Central America.
His Aztec Hotel sparked the short-lived yet immensely popular Mayan Revival trend in the United States during the 1920s. (It’s worth noting that the hotel primarily features Mayan design elements, but Stacy-Judd assumed Americans were more acquainted with Aztecs than the Maya.)
Stacy-Judd’s extraordinary experience was documented in his own manuscript, titled The Hermit of Loltun. While venturing through the Loltun Caves in the Yucatan, he and his group found themselves completely disoriented. As they attempted to navigate their way back, they reportedly met an elderly man, whom Stacy-Judd estimated to be “over a century old.”
Stacy-Judd found it “unbelievable” that anyone could live “more than [30 meters (100 ft)] below the jungle floor and an unknown distance from the cave entrance, deeper than any previous explorer had ventured.”
Yet, the hermit insisted this was his home, where he protected ancient Mayan treasures. The gentle hermit led Stacy-Judd and his team to safety before bidding them farewell and vanishing back into the depths of the caves.
8. Teddy Roosevelt And Bigfoot
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th U.S. president, was renowned for his passion for hunting and the great outdoors. In his book The Wilderness Hunter, Roosevelt recounted a tale shared with him by a rugged, seasoned mountain hunter named Bauman.
Roosevelt admitted that Bauman’s story left a strong impression on him. While he harbored some doubts, he acknowledged that “no one can definitively say” whether Bauman’s account was true. (He also noted that frontiersmen were “too pragmatic and unimaginative” to fabricate such tales.)
Here’s the story Roosevelt relayed: Bauman and an unnamed friend were beaver trapping in a remote and desolate mountain pass, where a lone hunter had reportedly been killed and partially devoured by an unknown creature the year before. After some exploration, they returned to their camp to find it ransacked, presumably by a bear. However, they soon realized the tracks suggested a two-legged creature.
That night, Bauman was startled awake by a noise and glimpsed “a massive figure in the shadows” before firing his rifle to scare it off. The next day, the two men stayed close together. Upon returning to camp that evening, they discovered it had been disturbed once more.
That night, they built a large fire and took turns sleeping as best they could. Around midnight, they noticed the creature moaning and observing them from across a stream for almost an hour. By morning, the two men resolved to leave after collecting all their traps. They parted ways one last time.
Hours later, Bauman discovered his companion’s still-warm corpse, its neck broken and throat bearing bite marks. Terrified, Bauman fled immediately, abandoning everything except his rifle.
7. Deke Slayton And The Unidentified Flying Object
Donald Kent Slayton completed 56 combat missions in Europe and seven over Japan during World War II before pursuing a career as an aeronautical engineer and later becoming an astronaut.
In 1975, Slayton was the Apollo docking module pilot for a mission that achieved the first successful test of a universal docking system and facilitated the historic meeting in space between American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts.
For these achievements and more, Slayton received numerous accolades, including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and the Wright Brothers International Manned Space Flight Award.
Slayton is also featured in archival footage recounting an incident during a 1951 test flight, where he initially mistook an object for a weather balloon. Upon circling back to investigate, he described the object as resembling “a saucer balanced on its edge.”
Slayton recounted that the object then “ascended at a 45-degree angle, accelerated rapidly, and vanished. [ . . . ] I couldn’t keep up with it in my old piston-engine fighter, so I turned around and headed back.” He detailed this experience in his book Deke!
6. Rene Descartes And The Three Visions
Born in 1596, Rene Descartes was a French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher famously known for the statement, “I think, therefore I am.”
While Descartes’ approach of combining philosophy, mathematics, and logic to interpret the physical world led to some inaccuracies (such as his belief that the heart circulated blood by heating it), he is also celebrated for pioneering methodological skepticism and analytic geometry. Often called the father of modern philosophy, he emphasized doubt, observation, and experimentation.
This makes it all the more intriguing that Descartes attributed three dreams or “visions” to the revelation of some of his most groundbreaking ideas. During his stay in Neuburg, Germany, in 1619, he experienced three vivid visions involving flashes of light and thunderous sounds. He claimed to have been visited by a divine spirit, which left him with the fully formed concepts of analytic geometry.
5. Charlie Chaplin And The Human Frog
Charlie Chaplin is celebrated as one of the most influential figures in cinematic history. A multi-talented producer, writer, director, composer, actor, and comedian, he rose to fame with his iconic character, The Little Tramp. Despite his apprehension about transitioning to sound films after excelling in silent pantomime, Chaplin maintained his legendary status and success well into the era of “talkies.”
In his autobiography, Chaplin recounted a bizarre incident from his teenage years while touring with a theater group. Staying at a miner’s home in Ebbw Vale, Wales, his host offered to show him a so-called “human frog” named Gilbert.
Chaplin depicted Gilbert as “a legless man with a large, flat, blond head, a pale, sickly face, a sunken nose, a wide mouth, and strong, muscular shoulders and arms.” He emerged from beneath a dresser when called by Chaplin’s host. Despite having no legs, Gilbert had “ten thick, stubby toes” protruding from his cut-off flannel undergarments.
Gilbert grinned at Chaplin, revealing “yellow, widely spaced teeth,” before propelling himself into the air with his arms, “nearly reaching Chaplin’s height.” While not entirely implausible, Chaplin’s account is both astonishing and unsettling. The story even inspired the infamous X-Files episode, “Home,” adding to its eerie legacy.
4. King George V And The Flying Dutchman
George V, who reigned as the king of the United Kingdom during World War I, is celebrated for his advocacy for the middle class and his unwavering dedication to Great Britain.
In 1881, King George V (then Prince George) and his elder brother, Prince Albert, were aboard the HMS Inconstant near the Australian coast. Their personal journals from the voyage were later published, containing an entry attributed to either George or Albert:
July 11th. At 4 AM, the Flying Dutchman appeared ahead of our ship. A mysterious red glow, resembling a phantom vessel, illuminated the night, revealing the masts, spars, and sails of a brig about 200 yards away as it approached on the port side. The lookout on the forecastle reported it nearby, and the officer on the bridge also observed it clearly. A midshipman was sent to the forecastle to investigate, but upon arrival, no trace of the ship could be found, despite the clear night and calm seas.
George or Albert noted that, hours later, a sailor who had seen the phantom ship “fell from the fore topmast crosstrees onto the topgallant forecastle and was killed instantly,” after which he was “buried at sea.”
3. William Lyon Mackenzie King And The Spirits
William Lyon Mackenzie King served as Canada’s prime minister for over two decades, spanning much of the Great Depression and the entirety of World War II. Known for his cautious and conciliatory approach, his leadership is credited with fostering a stronger, more independent global presence for Canada.
Despite his image as a rather unremarkable figure, King harbored several unusual beliefs that influenced his decision-making. He frequently sought advice from the deceased, tea leaves, and even the patterns in his shaving cream.
King meticulously documented his encounters and dialogues with spirits during seances and in his dreams. His journals include accounts of conversations with figures ranging from his deceased mother to former prime minister Wilfrid Laurier.
His accounts were so peculiar and extensive that even one of his biographers, Allan Levine, remarked, “It’s baffling to understand how anyone, especially a sixty-year-old political leader, could dedicate so much of his precious time to jotting down such absurdities. Yet, he did just that.”
2. Sir Edmund Hillary And The Yeti
In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay achieved the historic feat of becoming the first individuals to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak above sea level. Hillary was no stranger to climbing, having conquered New Zealand’s tallest mountain, his homeland, in 1948.
In his book High Adventure, Hillary recounted his experience at an altitude of over 5,800 meters (19,000 ft) in the Himalayas in 1952, a year before his legendary ascent:
While ascending a particularly steep section, Pemba [a Sherpa] suddenly halted and retrieved something from the rock. Clearly excited, he showed it to Angpemba. Intrigued, I inquired about the discovery. They handed me a clump of long, black hairs—thick and coarse, resembling bristles more than anything else. “Yeti, Sahib! Yeti!” Their conviction was undeniable, and it struck me as odd to find such hair in that location.
Hillary began discussing the discovery with explorer George Lowe, but “sensing our intentions, Pemba leaned forward, his weathered hand swiftly grabbing the tuft and tossing it over the cliff.”
The incident left such a mark on Hillary that he later embarked on an expedition to explore the existence of the yeti. However, he ultimately concluded that no such creature exists.
He detailed his findings in a 1961 LIFE magazine article, which debunked various yeti-related claims. The article concluded by stating that “the yeti undoubtedly belongs to the realm of mythology.”
1. Abraham Lincoln And The Two Faces In The Mirror
Abraham Lincoln’s remarkable story is recounted in the book Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, 1847–1865, penned by his close friend and bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon. Lamon revealed that Lincoln shared a haunting experience he had on the night of his election as the 16th U.S. president.
Alone in his room, Lincoln looked into a mirror and saw two reflections of his face—one “radiant with vitality and optimism” and the other “pale and ghostly.” Years later, during his 1864 re-election campaign, Lincoln recalled this vision, interpreting the ghostly face as a premonition that he would “meet his demise before the conclusion of his second term.”
In Recollections, Lincoln’s failure to replicate this phenomenon in another mirror was deemed mysterious. Today, it is often cited as evidence that the incident was caused by a defective mirror. Nonetheless, if Lamon’s account is to be trusted, the vision deeply impacted Lincoln, lingering in his thoughts during his final years.
