Mysteries at the Museum

At the Clark County Heritage Museum in Las Vegas is a simple poker chip, salvaged from one of Las Vegas's most opulent hotels. This piece of plastic played a huge conflagration that bore witness to one of the city's greatest atrocities.  Stationed at the Marshall County History Museum in Warren, Minnesota is a damaged 1970s police cruiser with a past, that some claim, is out of this world.  Encase...

Housed in a glass case at The Boone County Historical Center in Boone, Iowa is a seemingly ordinary metal and glass lantern. But this beacon of light helped guide a brave teenager through a stormy night, on a life saving mission.  At the Daredevil Museum in Niagara Falls, New York is a huge, elaborately constructed, 12-foot barrel, built specifically for a death-defying act use in several crazed s...

Hanging in storage at the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka is what appears to be a well-worn naval uniform. It actually belonged to a physician who practiced a bizarre and infamous surgery using the testicles of goats. What common malady was this operation said to cure? And did it really work?  The U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia displays a brass bell that was linked to lege...

On display at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts is a small clear plastic box, filled with electrical components and used in a legendary scheme to deceive Las Vegas Casinos. How was it used...and does it actually work?  At the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is an unusual accessory to a regulation US military weapon. The concept behind this strange contraption is that pig...

Among the salvaged items that make up the surreal playground of St. Louis, Missouri's, City Museum, is a 3-foot tall copper cross. Where did it once rest? And what notorious paranormal event took place beneath its shadows?  Louisiana's Abita Mystery House, holds some of the state's most peculiar artifacts...including the molding of a bizarre footprint, one man claims is the mark of a strange bayou...

At Bright's Pioneer Exhibit in Le Grand, California is an ordinary yellow schoolbus that became ensnared in a crime so heinous that it would devastate an entire community. So what notorious felony was committed on board this vehicle?  The Texas City Museum in Texas City, Texas houses a ball of sisal twine that bore witness to one of the worst industrial accidents in American history. What was this...

Inside a small museum dedicated to the history and legacy of law enforcement in Los Angeles, California, is a small, innocuous cardboardbox. It's filled with cards bearing names, locations, and other evidence related to a still-unsolved murder that gripped the nation in the middle of the last century. Does this box still contain any clues that could solve this sensational case?  Among the grotesqu...

Stored in a glass jar at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, CA is a strange cluster of preserved sea creatures that may unlock a mystery linked to the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcok. But how exactly did these tiny organisms help spawn one of the scariest horror films of all time?  The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. h...

Carefully preserved at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland is a lock of hair belonging to one of America's most celebrated authors - Edgar Allan Poe. What insight do these brown strands provide into his bizarre and tragic death?  At the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas is a capsule that flew into space before sinking to the bottom of the ocean, almost takin...

Inside a small museum of turn-of-the-century electrical oddities in West Palm Beach, Florida is a small shattered glass photographic negative. It's the only surviving evidence of a strange machine that harnessed an unknown power source to potentially replace steam and electricity. What's the real story behind this motor? Among the classic cars and historic automobiles at the Henry Ford Museum in D...

Conspicuous among the quintessentially American items on display at the Pennyroyal Area Museum in Kentucky is a collection of sketches that depict frightening creatures, decidedly out of this world. What are they? Encased at the Ford's Theatre Museum in Washington, D.C. is a seemingly primitive weapon - brass knuckles. Which celebrated president was this piece of metal carried to protect? At Old F...

Parked inside the Boston Fire Museum in Boston, Massachusetts is an antique steam engine. It was once called upon to battle a devastating event that no firefighter had ever trained for. So what was this bizarre and deadly disaster?  The Northwest Museum of Legends and Lore in Seattle, Washington is home to an oddly life-like wax sculpture -- modeled after the man who committed what may be the most...

Preserved on a glass microscope slide at Michigan State University's Forensic Science department is a small sample of skin, the key piece of evidence, from an infamous 20th century homicide. Whose tissue is it...and who was responsible for their murder?  In the archives of California's San Diego Natural History Museum is a collection of 52 birds, all victims of a mysterious epidemic. What killed t...

Locked in a glass case at the FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. is a shabby brown chauffeur's cap. It was left at the scene of one of the most notorious heists in U.S. history. Who wore this hat, and was he ever caught?  Among the weapons and military gear at the 4th Infantry Division Museum in Fort Carson, Colorado sits a block of polystyrene foam. What role did this humble relic play in one o...

Host Don Wildman examines an automobile designed to take to the skies. He inspects a circular saw that was transformed into a deadly weapon and wielded in a terrifying prison riot. And he investigates a fire that decimated Coney Island's most extravagant amusement park. For even more Mysteries at the Museum, head to discovery+. Go to discoveryplus.com/mystery to start your 7-day free trial today....

The Pennsylvania State Police Museum is home to a lottery ticket inscribed with the sinister digits 6-6-6. What role did this ticket play in a state lotto-fixing scam?  Among the weapons of war at the National Navy UDT SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida is one item that's designed to save lives. It's a giant orange lifeboat, and stenciled on it is the name, "Maersk Alabama." What role did this ve...

On display at the Centers for Disease Control Museum in Atlanta is a seemingly simple cardboard box. Once, its contents were tied to a deadly outbreak that left the nation paralyzed with fear. So what exactly did this box carry?  Among the glitzy treasures at the Hollywood Museum in California is one item that looks decidedly ordinary. It's a small plastic pill bottle, and on its faded label is th...

At the Carbon County Museum in Wyoming is a pair of men's Oxford shoes. What role did they play in one of the most gruesome tales of the Wild West?  The National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio is home to one object that cannot fly: a miniature spacesuit. What happened to the unconventional space pioneer who wore it?  In the archives of The Museum of the Confederacy in Virginia is a cod...

On display at the Oakland Museum of California is the marble statue of a girl who was once named the most beautiful woman in the state. What happened to her, and how did her crowning achievement also lead to her downfall?  The Oregon Historical Society is home to an ordinary-looking tire cover that boasts a very unusual printed message. What warning does it provide against a power-hungry religious...

Host Don Wildman examines what appears to be a miniature human head, brought back from the jungles of South America. In the pages of a handwritten journal, he discovers the harrowing details of an Arctic expedition that ended in disaster. He surveys the dented casing of the hydrogen bomb that sat at the center of a horrifying nuclear accident. For even more Mysteries at the Museum, head to discove...

In the collection of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, is a standard-issue US Postal Service mailbox. It's tied to one of the biggest spy cases of the Cold War. But how did something so ordinary become a tool of deception? The LaPorte County Historical Society Museum in Indiana is home to an antique wheelbarrow. This battered piece of farm equipment wasn't used to work the land - but...

In the collection of the Chicago Maritime Museum is a life jacket from the SS Eastland. In 1915, the steamship suddenly capsizes in the Chicago River, killing hundreds. But during the catastrophe, the Eastland is still tied to the dock. What causes this deadly disaster? Four stone slabs carved with cryptic symbols are on display at the Superstition Mountain Museum in Apache Junction, AZ. Some beli...

In the collection of the Drug Enforcement Agency Museum in Arlington, Virginia, is a dossier of black and white photographs. It comes from the files of the police officers who brought down a powerful drug syndicate known as the French Connection. How did they do it? A gold ingot is on display at the Museum of American Finance in New York. How did it end up on the bottom of the ocean, and how was i...

On display at the University of Akron's Center for the History of Psychology is a simple khaki uniform. It played a pivotal role in one of the most controversial science experiments ever conducted. But did a costume really bring out the worst in a group of volunteers? The story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - and how they died in a South American shootout -- is one of the most enduring tal...

Locked inside a glass case at the Warren's Occult Museum in Connecticut is what may be its most sinister artifact: a rag doll named Annabelle. The museum's curators say it's linked to a visitor's sudden death. But what is the real story behind this devilish doll? A long-forgotten blueprint is stored in the archives of the Minnesota History Center. Does this 40-year-old plan hold the key to the apo...