Forgotten Mysteries

This episode tells the strange story of a mysterious traveler who appeared at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in 1954 carrying a passport from a country called Taured — a nation that does not exist on any map. The man claimed Taured lay between France and Spain and showed official-looking documents: a passport with multiple visas, driver’s license, bank papers, and past Japanese entry stamps. Authorities v...

This episode explores the mystery of the Wow! Signal, a powerful and unexplained radio transmission detected on August 15, 1977, by the Big Ear radio telescope in Ohio. The signal lasted 72 seconds, appeared at the hydrogen line frequency (1420 MHz) — considered ideal for interstellar communication — and originated from the direction of the Sagittarius constellation. Astronomer Jerry Ehman famousl...

This episode explores the haunting story of Kaspar Hauser, a mysterious teenager who appeared in Nuremberg in 1828, claiming he had spent most of his life imprisoned in total isolation. Barely able to speak and unfamiliar with the world, Kaspar said he had been raised in a dark cell by an unknown man who never revealed his identity. As Kaspar learned to live in society, rumors spread that he might...

This episode revisits the infamous Max Headroom Signal Hijacking of November 22, 1987, when television broadcasts in Chicago were mysteriously taken over by an unknown individual wearing a Max Headroom mask. What began as a brief interruption escalated into a longer, more disturbing intrusion during a PBS broadcast, filled with distorted audio, mocking commentary, and surreal behavior. The hijacke...

This episode explores the eerie mystery of the Hexham Heads, two small carved stone heads unearthed by children in Hexham, England, in 1971. After the discovery, the family reported paranormal activity — objects moving on their own, strange noises, and sightings of a wolf-like creature wandering through the house and neighborhood. Celtic scholar Dr. Anne Ross studied the heads and soon experienced...

This episode explores the strange phenomenon known as The Taos Hum, a persistent low-frequency sound reported by residents of Taos, New Mexico, since the early 1990s. Described as a deep mechanical rumble — like a distant engine — the hum can be heard by only about 2% of the population, yet instruments and audio equipment cannot detect it. Scientists investigated but found no industrial, seismic,...

This episode explores the mysterious disappearance of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy torpedo bombers that vanished over the Atlantic during a routine training mission on December 5th, 1945. After reporting compass failure, disorientation, and strange conditions, the flight leader — Lt. Charles Taylor — and his crew became hopelessly lost. Their final radio messages expressed panic and dwindl...

This episode unravels the centuries-old mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, the first English settlement in North America that vanished without a trace around 1590. When Governor John White returned after a three-year delay, he found the colony deserted — no bodies, no struggle, only the cryptic word “CROATOAN” carved into a post. Theories abound: the settlers may have joined local tribes, move...

In the summer of 1518, the city of Strasbourg was struck by one of history’s strangest events — an outbreak of uncontrollable dancing. It began with a woman named Frau Troffea, who danced alone in the streets for days without rest. Soon, hundreds joined her, moving frantically until many collapsed or died from exhaustion. City officials, believing the affliction was caused by “hot blood,” encourag...

This episode investigates the haunting mystery of the Somerton Man, an unidentified man found dead on Somerton Beach, near Adelaide, in 1948. Well-dressed but carrying no identification, with all clothing labels removed, he left behind only one cryptic clue — a scrap of paper hidden in his pocket that read “Tamám Shud,” Persian for “It is finished.”A torn copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was l...

This episode examines the eerie Lead Masks Case of 1966, when two Brazilian men, Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel José Viana, were found dead on a hillside near Niterói. They wore formal suits, raincoats, and handmade lead masks covering their faces. Next to them lay a cryptic note reading: “16:30 be at the designated place. 18:30 swallow capsules, after effect protect metals, await signal mask.”...

This episode recounts the haunting mystery of the Mary Celeste, a merchant ship discovered adrift in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872, completely intact but eerily abandoned. The crew’s belongings, food, and cargo were untouched, yet every person aboard — including Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife, their child, and seven sailors — had vanished without a trace. Investigations found no evidence of strugg...

This episode tells the chilling true story of the Beast of Gévaudan, a mysterious creature that terrorized rural France between 1764 and 1767, killing more than 100 people—mostly women and children. Witnesses described it as larger than a wolf, fast, cunning, and unnaturally vicious, often attacking broad daylight and mutilating its victims with terrifying precision. Despite royal hunting expediti...

This episode explores the medieval legend of the Green Children of Woolpit, two mysterious children who reportedly appeared in 12th-century England with green-tinted skin, unknown clothing, and speaking an unrecognizable language. They refused all food until given raw broad beans, and over time learned English. The boy died young, but the girl grew to adulthood and claimed they came from a place c...

This episode explores the discovery and mystery of the Antikythera Mechanism, a 2nd-century BCE device recovered from a shipwreck near the Greek island of Antikythera. At first dismissed as corroded bronze, it was later revealed to contain a system of precision gears, making it the world’s earliest known astronomical computer. The mechanism could predict eclipses, track planetary movements, model...

This episode explores the legend of the Curse of the Pharaohs, which became famous after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. Shortly after the tomb’s opening, Lord Carnarvon, the expedition’s sponsor, died unexpectedly, fueling rumors of an ancient curse that promised death to anyone who disturbed the pharaoh’s rest. Newspapers sensationalized the story, linking other deaths and misfortun...

This episode explores the enigmatic Phaistos Disc, discovered in 1908 at a Minoan palace on Crete. The small clay disc, dating to around 1700 BCE, is inscribed with 241 stamped symbols arranged in a spiral—making it the earliest known example of movable type printing. The symbols include plants, animals, and human figures, but they match no known writing system. Theories suggest it could be a reli...

In this episode, we uncover the legend of the Oak Island Money Pit, a mysterious shaft first discovered in 1795 by teenager Daniel McGinnis. Early diggers found wooden platforms and strange materials buried deep underground, suggesting a man-made construction. But every attempt to reach the bottom was thwarted by flooding tunnels, as if the pit were deliberately booby-trapped. Over the centuries,...

This episode explores the enduring mystery of the Voynich Manuscript, a 15th-century book filled with strange illustrations and written in an unknown script that no one has ever deciphered. Discovered in 1912 by book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, the manuscript features bizarre plants, astronomical charts, and drawings of women in odd biological or alchemical settings. Despite analysis by cryptographers...

This episode examines the mysterious Tunguska Event of June 30, 1908, when a massive explosion flattened over 2,000 square kilometers of Siberian forest. Witnesses described a fiery object in the sky followed by shockwaves felt around the world—yet no crater was ever found. The most accepted explanation is a meteor or comet airburst, but alternative theories include natural gas eruptions, antimatt...

This episode of Forgotten Mysteries explores the enduring enigma of the Loch Ness Monster, affectionately called “Nessie.” The story traces its origins to a 6th-century account of St. Columba confronting a water beast, but the modern legend began in the 1930s with a surge of eyewitness reports and the famous—but later debunked—“Surgeon’s Photograph.”Listeners are taken through decades of sightings...

This episode explores the mysterious Nazca Lines in Peru—massive geoglyphs of animals, plants, and geometric shapes etched into the desert between 500 BCE and 500 CE. We discuss their creation by removing the desert’s dark stones to reveal lighter soil, their incredible preservation, and competing theories about their purpose—from ritual pathways for rain ceremonies and astronomical markers to the...

This episode dives into the eerie legend of the Jersey Devil, a winged cryptid said to haunt the Pine Barrens of New Jersey since the 1700s. Born from folklore involving a cursed child of Mother Leeds, the creature is described as having bat wings, hooves, and a forked tail. We explore the mass hysteria of 1909, when sightings and panic spread across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as the las...

This episode explores a mysterious event from 1803 Japan, where fishermen discovered a strange, round vessel—called the Utsuro-Bune—washed ashore with a foreign-looking woman inside. She spoke no Japanese, carried a guarded box, and soon vanished after locals sent her back to sea. Multiple historical documents from the Edo period recorded the incident, fueling centuries of debate. Was it early for...

This episode delves into the mysterious disappearance of British explorer Percy Fawcett, who vanished in 1925 while searching for a legendary ancient city—Z—deep in the Amazon rainforest. Fawcett believed Z was proof of a lost, advanced civilization, inspired by Indigenous legends and ancient manuscripts. Despite skepticism, modern discoveries of pre-Columbian settlements and infrastructure in the...