Folklore
The Trauco of Chiloé
The Trauco is a misshapen forest being of Chiloé folklore in southern Chile, said to prey on young women. His story was long used to explain pregnancies when no father was named.
Before you read on. On Chiloé, families blamed the Trauco when a young woman became pregnant and the father was not known, and Spanish Wikipedia reports that the myth was also used to frighten girls into keeping their virginity. A 2026 study finds violence towards young women's sexuality running through the Trauco stories.
Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Travis Walton abduction
In November 1975 forestry worker Travis Walton was picked up at a phone booth in Heber, Arizona, days after a reported abduction, and later described being aboard a spaceship.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 1 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Varginha UFO incident
Three young women in Varginha, Minas Gerais, Brazil, said that on 20 January 1996 they saw a strange creature in the street. The case became known as the ET de Varginha.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 1 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Villas-Boas abduction
Antônio Villas-Boas, a Brazilian farmer, said a craft landed in his field and took him aboard on the night of 15 October 1957. Sources also give 16 October.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 4 of 7
Hoax, proven
The Vrillon TV broadcast interruption
On 26 November 1977 a voice calling itself Vrillon, speaking for a group it named the Ashtar Galactic Command, replaced the sound of a Southern Television broadcast in parts of southern England. The person responsible was never identified.
Something ToldObscurity 4 of 7
Disputed
The War of the Worlds broadcast
On 30 October 1938, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre aired a radio drama about a Martian invasion of New Jersey, followed by long-running reports of panic.
Something ToldObscurity 3 of 7
Disputed
The Wem farm disturbances
At the Woods, a farm near Wem in Shropshire, in November 1883, a pan of eggs leapt off the fire, crockery smashed and clothes caught fire.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 3 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Westall UFO
Students at two Westall schools in Clayton South, Melbourne, said that on April 6, 1966, a metallic object hovered over them and dropped behind trees. In 2013 the local council approved a flying-saucer playground near the spot.
Something SeenObscurity 2 of 7
Hoax, proven
The Worcester airship of 1909
On the night of 22 December 1909, thousands of people in Worcester, Massachusetts, reported seeing an airship. The sightings followed inventor Wallace Tillinghast's claim to have built a fast aeroplane.
Something SeenObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Youghal mirage of an unknown city
For more than an hour in June 1801, a mirage of a city nobody could name hung over Youghal, County Cork. Mirages of walled towns had been seen there in 1796 and 1797.
Something SeenObscurity 5 of 7
Documented
The abandoned brig Resolven
HMS Mallard, a Royal Navy ship, found the brig Resolven abandoned off Newfoundland in August 1884, her lifeboat gone and her crew never seen again.
Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7
Folklore
The boto encantado
In Amazonian folklore the boto is a river dolphin that turns into a young man, goes to dances and seduces young women. The story has long been used to explain pregnancies when the father is not named.
Before you read on. The boto story is still used to explain a girl's pregnancy when the father cannot be named. A judge interviewed by Agência Brasil in 2018 said that behind many of these stories is sexual violence against girls, usually by relatives, which the legend helps to keep hidden.
Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7
Disputed
The burning of Jacques de Molay
Jacques de Molay, final Grand Master of the Templar order, was burnt in Paris on 18 March 1314. A curse on the king is said to have come from his pyre.
Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7
Folklore
The burning of Lady Glamis
Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis, died by burning for treason on Castle Hill, Edinburgh, on 17 July 1537. A ghost tradition at Glamis Castle links her name to a Black Lady.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 5 of 7
Disputed
The death of Charles Fort
Charles Fort, the American writer who collected reports of anomalous phenomena, died on 3 May 1932 in the Bronx, New York, hours after entering the Royal Hospital.
Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7
Disputed
The death of Daniel Dunglas Home
Medium Daniel Dunglas Home died at Auteuil, France, on 21 June 1886, aged 53, after years of tuberculosis.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 3 of 7
Documented
The death of Edmund Gurney
Edmund Gurney, psychical researcher and co-author of Phantasms of the Living, was found to have died at the Albion Hotel in Brighton on 23 June 1888, after taking too much chloroform.
Something Left BehindObscurity 4 of 7
Disputed
The death of Eusapia Palladino
Eusapia Palladino, an Italian medium, died on 16 May 1918. Investigators reported phenomena at her sittings, while the 1895 Cambridge series found her cheating.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 3 of 7
Disputed
The death of Johann Georg Schröpfer
Johann Georg Schröpfer, a Leipzig ghost-raiser, was found dead on 8 October 1774 after a gunshot was heard during a walk with associates. He was buried the same day in the hospital's burial ground for suicides.
Something ToldObscurity 2 of 7
Disputed
The death of Margaret Hogan
Margaret Hogan, an 89-year-old widow living alone on Prussia Street in Dublin, was found dead after a fire in her house on 28 March 1970.
Something Left BehindObscurity 7 of 7