We are all drawn in by mysteries! The term "unsolved mystery" brings up associations of focused research, risky investigations, and television series from the '80s. Still, they sometimes turn out to be solved.
In fact, a number of them had been clarified many years ago. Even though the answers to the riddles of our world are frequently far less sensational than the mysteries themselves, they are nonetheless fascinating.
Here are 42 of the greatest solved mysteries.
Jump to:
- 1. Rosetta Stone
- 2. Jacob Wetterling
- 3. Dinosaurs’ Extinction
- 4. The City of Troy
- 5. Boy In The Box
- 6. The BTK Killer
- 7. The Delphi Murders
- 8. The Body of Richard III
- 9. Christine Jessop
- 10. John Franklin’s Lost Expedition
- 11. Hindenburg Disaster
- 12. The Somerton Man
- 13. The Bloop
- 14. Dyatlov Pass Incident
- 15. Mia Zapata
- 16. The Higgs Boson
- 17. Craig Williamson
- 18. The Anthrax Murder
- 19. The Solway Firth Spaceman
- 20. How Cats Purr
- 21. Four Bodies in Williamsburg
- 22. Bonnie Haim
- 23. Blythe Star
- 24. Pasta in Old Bridge
- 24. The 1983 Clock Heist
- 25. The Boston Strangler
- 26. The Origin of Eels
- 27. Joyce McLain
- 28. Wombat’s Cube Poops
- 29. McCubbin’s Artwork “Found” was Found
- 30. The Devil's Corkscrews
- 31. Alie Berrelez
- 32. Randy Mark Yager
- 33. Kayla Unbehaun
- 34. Billy London
- 35. Lady Be Good
- 36. The Persian Soldiers / Lost Army of Cambyses
- 37. The Death Valley Rocks
- 38. Jun Lin
- 39. The Tunguska Event
- 40. The Face on Mars
- 41. Ryan Stallings
- 42. Jamal Khashoggi
1. Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone has become one of the most renowned items in the British Museum that assisted experts in learning Egyptian hieroglyphs. Nobody understood how to read the text when it was found.
2. Jacob Wetterling
It took 27 years to solve the case of Jacob Wetterling. A masked man grabbed Jacob while he was biking his way home, and this accident led to one of the longest-lasting criminal investigations in the US.
3. Dinosaurs’ Extinction
We didn't fully understand the cause of the dinosaur extinction until the 1990s. Yet, we later discovered that the dinosaur's extinction was probably mostly caused by volcanism at India's Deccan Traps.
4. The City of Troy
For a very long time, legend and mystery surrounded the ancient city of Troy, which was thought to be most likely mythical from when Homer wrote The Iliad in 750 BCE. Archaeological digs in the late 1800s have revealed a system of subterranean arcades beneath the old city.
5. Boy In The Box
In 1957, a boy was found dead in a box, and it has confused the police ever since. But things just changed in December 2022, almost seven decades later. It has been determined through genetic testing that the victim is four-year-old Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
6. The BTK Killer
Since 1974, at least ten people in Wichita, Kansas, have been murdered by Dennis Rader, the man who was eventually charged as the BTK Killer - which stands for “bind, torture, kill.” After teasing police and the media with letters, he pleaded guilty.
7. The Delphi Murders
Two eighth-grade girls vanished while hiking in Delphi, and an Indiana man has been charged with their murders. Following authorities' announcement of possible clues, the case attracted attention across the country.
8. The Body of Richard III
King Richard III's remains were discovered buried beneath a parking lot, and DNA testing has verified this. He lost his life during the Battle of Bosworth Field, which happened in 1485.
9. Christine Jessop
Christine Jessop, a nine-year-old girl, was raped and murdered, and the case remained unsolved for thirty years. DNA evidence was eventually pointed out to their suspect — someone close to the Jessops — after years of legal wrangling.
10. John Franklin’s Lost Expedition
Even now, people find great fascination in the legend of John Franklin's lost expedition. Scientists have recently reexamined forensic specimens and determined that lead poisoning was not as significant as previously believed.
11. Hindenburg Disaster
The German airship Hindenburg was nearing the conclusion of a three-day exploration before it suddenly went up in flames. A Greek scientist recently discovered that it took four minutes to start the flame.
12. The Somerton Man
The identity of a well-dressed man who was discovered slumped on Somerton beach in 1948 has remained a mystery for over seven decades. He was identified as a Melbourne electrical engineer by an Australian academic.
13. The Bloop
The media popularized the idea that the Bloop - a strange underwater sound - might have come from the scream of an unidentified animal. However, the NOAA is very confident that it is an echo of a fairly typical aquatic event called an icequake.
14. Dyatlov Pass Incident
The enigmatic passing of nine Russian hikers over sixty years ago has inspired speculative beliefs for decades. Evidence put forth by scientists supports the theory that a slab avalanche caused the tragedy.
15. Mia Zapata
Lead singer Zapata of the punk band the Gits was murdered and sexually assaulted in 1993. Prior to Jesus Mezquia's imprisonment in 2003, the case remained unresolved for almost a decade. Jesus ended up dying in a hospital in Washington state.
16. The Higgs Boson
Scientists reported in 2012 that they had finally discovered the Higgs boson, which is believed to be the particle that makes our existence possible. In the recorded history of science, the discovery was quite significant.
17. Craig Williamson
Craig Williamson's wife knew he had to be alive somewhere when he vanished during a business trip to Colorado Springs. She was correct, so the case was partially solved. However, there’s still much unknown about her husband's disappearance because he developed amnesia.
18. The Anthrax Murder
Doctors found that several employees had anthrax poisoning in 2001 after they all became strangely ill. Eventually, the FBI closed the case, concluding that Dr. Ivins was the anthrax killer from the beginning.
19. The Solway Firth Spaceman
In 1964, a figure dressed in what is believed to be a space suit appeared in a picture shot by historian Jim Templeton. In 2014, journalist David Clarke analyzed the photo and concluded that the figure was actually Jim's wife.
20. How Cats Purr
The purring sound made by cats has long baffled scientists. Nevertheless, they have concluded that the vocal cord pads in these animals may aid in the production of low-frequency noises.
21. Four Bodies in Williamsburg
Four men's skeletal remains were discovered in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2022. They belonged to soldiers who took part in the battle in 1862, according to archaeologists.
22. Bonnie Haim
In 1992, Bonnie Haim vanished a few days after Christmas. Police assumed she was dead and suspected her husband of killing her. In 2019, he was determined guilty of killing his spouse.
23. Blythe Star
The missing remnants of the M.V. Blythe Star have been found, ending a 50-year mystery. While researching an underwater landslide off western Tasmania, the team found the spot of the wreck.
24. Pasta in Old Bridge
An Old Bridge, New Jersey, resident noticed an enormous mound of pasta, which set off the whole spaghetti saga. Eventually, neighbors determined it was the work of a man who had been clearing out his mother’s house.
24. The 1983 Clock Heist
Forty years ago, a thief got around security at the Jerusalem Museum for Islamic Art. The missing timepieces were found after a deathbed confession, ending the seemingly never-ending heist.
25. The Boston Strangler
The identity of the Boston Strangler - who killed 11 women - was still up for debate even after his arrest - until he admitted it. With perseverance, two female journalists covered the killings, providing details on the idea that the acts were committed by one individual.
26. The Origin of Eels
The notion that eels have sex at all is relatively modern, and the no-genital theory has been widespread for generations. But by now, scientists have observed eels mate in laboratory environments.
27. Joyce McLain
Teenager Joyce McLain left for a jog in Maine and never returned. It took just two days to find her body. Philip Fournier was detained for her murder 34 years after the incident.
28. Wombat’s Cube Poops
A bare-nosed wombat's daily excretion can reach up to 100 cubes. Patricia Yang and her colleagues discovered in 2018 that the cube-shaped excrement originated at the final part of the wombat's digestive cycle.
29. McCubbin’s Artwork “Found” was Found
Previously, the only way to know McCubin's art piece called “Found” was through a picture that was in the artist's scrapbook. Following an x-ray examination, Varcoe-Cocks disclosed that it was concealed beneath another well-known piece, The Pioneer.
30. The Devil's Corkscrews
These fossils, which are referred to locally as Devil's Corkscrews, are among the most unusual ones ever discovered. Martin and Bennett discovered, however, that Palaeocastor's teeth matched the grooves exactly.
31. Alie Berrelez
When her babysitter left for a moment and came back, Alie Berrelez had disappeared. One dog tracked the girl's scent, which led to the highway. The case was resolved eighteen years later.
32. Randy Mark Yager
When Yager was under a federal investigation, he met Margie, who vanished a few weeks later, leaving her bags at home. In 2014, Yager was eventually captured in Mexico after 17 years on the run while he was staying with Margie.
33. Kayla Unbehaun
In 2017, Kayla was visiting her mother in prison. However, she was gone when her father picked her up. More than five years later, a woman in Asheville recognized her from the Netflix show “Unsolved Mysteries” and contacted the police.
34. Billy London
After leaving a club in 1990, porn star London was discovered dead. After more than thirty years, Clark Williams developed an obsession with the case and collaborated with a detective to capture Daralyn Madden.
35. Lady Be Good
In 1943, a raid was conducted using Lady Be Good, an aircraft. Nevertheless, it vanished en route and was never found again. That is until the aircraft was sighted in the Libyan Desert in 1958.
36. The Persian Soldiers / Lost Army of Cambyses
A Persian king dispatched over 50,000 soldiers into the Egyptian desert in 525 BCE, but they never returned. Two Italian men found evidence in 2009 that the army had been swallowed by a sandstorm.
37. The Death Valley Rocks
Hundreds of paths carved out of massive rocks crisscross the Death Valley. Through the use of GPS devices and weather observations, scientists were able to solve the puzzle of these moving rocks.
38. Jun Lin
An unidentified person mutilated an Asian man. The case garnered global attention and was shrouded in mystery for a few days. However, detectives soon identified Luka Magnotta as the person responsible for the gruesome murder.
39. The Tunguska Event
The Tunguska incident, a blast that flattened trees and killed animals in an area of 2,150 square km in 1908, was one of the most puzzling bits of paranormal folklore for many years. Scientists have since determined that an air burst was probably the cause of the incident.
40. The Face on Mars
People recognized that one of the attributes in the photo, which had been captured by the Viking orbiters, resembled a human face quite a bit. However, more recent images only show a monotonous hill.
41. Ryan Stallings
Ryan Stalling's blood contained what doctors believed to be ethylene glycol. A suspicion of poisoning was then placed on his mother. Afterward, it was discovered that the child had methylmalonic acidemia.
42. Jamal Khashoggi
While visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Khashoggi vanished from sight. Khashoggi was writing harsh critiques of the Saudi Arabian government at the time. Following that, the CIA determined that Khashoggi had been murdered.
