Mysteries at the Museum

At the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California visitors can see a bright yellow car with a unique design, built with promises that seemed too good to be true. At the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a glass and wooden musical instrument tells the tale of miraculous medical cures that came under the scrutiny of one of America's most famous statesmen. And at the International S...

At the The Oregon State Hospital Museum of Mental Health in Salem, visitors inspecting a pair of commonplace dining implements will be shocked to discover they played a central role in a terrifying and deadly outbreak that devastated an Oregon psychiatric ward. At the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco, Washington, a charcoal portrait on display showcases a scantily clad man who was once e...

At the Marin History Museum in San Rafael, California, a tattered and time-worn briefcase in the collection once belonged to an eccentric doctor who performed gruesome and controversial surgeries, all in the hopes to make the old young again. At the Wyatt Archaeological Museum in Cornersville TN, visitors can see a giant slab of rock unearthed from the hills of Turkey which some believe is fossili...

At the Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell Kentucky, visitors to the worlds only museum dedicated to the art of ventriloquism will see a set of tattered and weather beaten dummies who may be the only remaining witnesses to a bone-chilling crime. At the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, a decades-old rudimentary electronic device played a critical role in exposing and capturing o...

At the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn, a piece of early 1900's industrial machinery reminds visitors of a catastrophic subterranean disaster that took place beneath the east river. At the Monroe Moosnick Museum at Transylvania University in Lexington Kentucky, a medical jar containing a strange substance is the only evidence from a freak meteorological event in which meat rained from the sky....

At New York City's Municipal Archives, one aged dossier stored in their collection may contain critical information linking a gruesome turn-of-the-century murder to one of the worlds most notorious serial killers. At the Secret Service Museum in Washington DC, select visitors can view a weathered 20 dollar bill which was once wielded by a brilliant and elusive master-criminal whose forgeries trigg...

At the Salon De Magie in Loveland, Ohio, visitors to the collection can see a strange wooden box which was used in a chilling ritual that was said to summon the spirits of the dead. At the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum in Golden, Colorado a weather beaten oxygen tank speaks of an adventurer's tragic end at the highest peak in the world and the controversy over his death which st...

At the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine, a plaster cast of hoof prints speaks of a mythic beast that is thought to haunt the woods of New Jersey. At the General Patton Memorial Museum inChiriaco Summit, California, a massive tank on view harkens back to when a lethal war machine laid siege to an American city. And at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia, visitors...

At the Newseum in Washington DC, the mangled body of a car tells of an intrepid journalists dogged pursuit of the truth. At the Skeptiseum at the Center for Inquiry in Amherst NY, an antique vile of clear liquid may contain a miracle elixir. And at the Northfield Historical Society in Northfield, Minnesota, visitors can view a massive iron safe which thwarted one of the most ruthless gangs of the...

At the Chicago History Museum in Chicago, Illinois, a pair of ostrich feather fans stored in the museum's archives tells of a risqué dancer who scandalized the Chicago's World Fair. At the Joseph Jefferson Mansion and Gardens on Lake Peigneur in Louisiana, an antique urn is one of few relics to survive a terrifying earth-shaking disaster that defies belief. And at the Los Angeles Police Museum in...

The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum showcases a pistol that was used by a member of a notorious cult in a twisted attempt to assassinate the president. The Rhinelander Logging Museum displays the stuffed skin of a beast believed to have preyed on people in the woods of Wisconsin. And at the New York County Clerk's Office, a file stored deep in the archives tells of an infamous woman...

The National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia displays a pistol that once belonged to members of a secret network of wartime spies that plotted against America on its very own soil. At The Newseum in Washington, D.C., visitors can discover a bag that belonged to a pioneering journalist whose groundbreaking investigation generated more than headlines. And at the Museum of Crime and Punishment a...

The Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange New Jersey displays a failed gadget of the famed inventor that went on to leave a surprising and permanent mark. At the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, visitors can discover a bell recovered from a ship whose crew mysteriously vanished without a trace. And at the South Carolina Cotton Museum an unusual cast footprint tells the tale of a m...

At the Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum visitors can find an aged wooden detonator box found in the wreckage of one of the most daring and explosive train heists in American history. The National Atomic Testing Museum displays standard consumer video camera that used to record what appears to be an otherworldly pattern of bright lights the hovered in the Arizona sky. And the Califo...

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The Missouri History Museum in St. Louis contains a set of twenty-nine bound volumes, each one containing hauntingly beautiful writing that was allegedly dictated from beyond the grave. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC has on display the taxidermied body of a famous primate, who once played a pivotal role in America's earliest forays into space exploration. And at th...

The Hollywood Museum in Los Angeles, California displays a silk dress, a costume from a movie at the heart of a legendary curse believed to have taken the lives of some of cinema's biggest stars. The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY has a sample of a small, putty-like material that eventually was molded into a classic American plaything. And at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston,...

The Conrad Hilton Community Center Museum in Cisco, Texas contains a pair of handcuffs that once bound the wrists of an infamous bank robber with a clever disguise. The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook, New York displays a glamorous dress once warn by the prime suspect in a scandalous murder case. And at the Arizona Military Museum in Phoenix Cultural History a simple leather bag that once belong...

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Mutter Museum contains carefully preserved human remains that once placed a central role in a major political scandal. The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois is home to a massive skull belonging to a beast that terrorized people on the African savannah. And at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Eugene, OR stands a replica of an otherworldly object that...

In Elysburg, Pennsylvania, the Anthracite Mining Museum contains a makeshift device rigged from a parachute harness and coveralls that played a role in a dangerous mine rescues. The California Surf Museum is home to a styrofoam and fiberglass surfboard with a large chunk missing, bitten off by a ferocious shark. And at the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, DC is a crude metal...

Housed in the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society is a chunk of cement and nails that played a role in one of the deadliest disasters in California History. The Philadelphia History Center is home to a taxidermied dog that displayed death-defying courage in the trenches of World War I. And at the 1875 Delta Saloon in Virginia City Nevada is an artifact that strikes fear in the hearts of many....

Tucked away in the Big Sandy Heritage Center in Pikeville, Kentucky is a cotton-stuffed doll tied to a horrific incident that defies belief. On display at The Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia is a vibrant silk swatch that forever changed the world of fashion. And The Katy Depot Museum in West, Texas is home to an artifact linked to one of the most spectacular publicity stunts of all ti...

Hidden in the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka is a piece of machinery that inadvertently contributed to one of the nation's most tragic natural disasters.  On display at the Connecticut Air and Space Center is a craft that may alter the story of man's first flight.  And the Cold War Museum in Virginia is home to a deadly contraption that is linked to one of the most perilous top secret missions...

Hidden in The Haggin Museum in California's Central Valley is a vintage trunk which tells a gruesome story of love and betrayal.  On display at The National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas are strange pieces of debris that defy all earthly explanation.  And the Koreshan State Historic Site in Estero, Florida is home to a sphere which speaks to the bizarre beliefs that once bound an unusual cult...

Stored at the Furnace Creak Visitor Center in Death Valley National Park is an antique weathered trunk discovered in the unforgiving desert landscape. Some believe it is evidence of a legendary cross-country journey.  On display at the Chicago History Museum are group of bricks that were the key to one of the largest prison breaks of the Civil War.  And the Omaha Public Library is home to a grueso...