Uncanny Atlas
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Everything in the atlas

Every published entry, A to Z. Each one says what kind of claim it is.

144 entries · page 2 of 3
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Documented
The Brocken goat experiment
On 17 June 1932, psychic researcher Harry Price staged a ritual on the Brocken in Germany's Harz Mountains. The aim was a goat transformed into a young man, and reporters were invited.
Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall
A ghost said to walk Raynham Hall in Norfolk, known from 19th-century sightings and from a 1936 Country Life photograph of a veiled figure on the stairs.
Something SeenObscurity 2 of 7
Folklore
The Busby Stoop chair
A chair shown at Thirsk Museum and linked by legend to Thomas Busby, who was hanged for murder in 1702, though a furniture historian dated it to 1840.
Something Left BehindObscurity 2 of 7
Disputed
The Bélmez faces
María Gómez Cámara said that on 23 August 1971 a human face formed on the concrete floor of her kitchen in Bélmez. More faces followed.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 3 of 7
Disputed
The Canterbury Moon sighting
Five witnesses from Canterbury told the chronicler Gervase that on 18 June 1178 the Moon's upper horn split and threw out fire. A later geophysicist proposed an impact on the Moon.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 7 of 7
Disputed
The Chinese seals of Ireland
J. Huband Smith described to the Royal Irish Academy a set of Chinese seals found in Ireland, all alike, each a cube with a seated animal on top.
Something Left BehindObscurity 4 of 7
Disputed
The Cock Lane ghost trial
On 10 July 1762 five people stood trial at the Guildhall in London, on a conspiracy charge brought by William Kent, over the Cock Lane ghost affair.
Something ToldObscurity 5 of 7
Folklore
The Count of St Germain's death record
A church register in Eckernforde records the Count of St Germain's death on 27 February 1784. Later writers say he never died.
Something ToldObscurity 3 of 7
Folklore
The Crying Boy painting
Prints of a painting of a weeping child, sold in department stores, that were blamed for house fires in the 1980s, including one in Rotherham reported by The Sun.
Something Left BehindObscurity 2 of 7
Folklore
The Culloden anniversary ghosts
The Battle of Culloden was fought on 16 April 1746 on Culloden Moor, and press accounts say reenacting ghosts gather there each anniversary. Reports also describe a Highlander who whispers "defeated".
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 6 of 7
Disputed
The Davenport Brothers riot in Liverpool
At a show in the small concert room of St George's Hall, Liverpool, in February 1865, the audience tied the Davenport Brothers into their cabinet. A riot followed and the cabinet was smashed.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 5 of 7
Folklore
The Dead Mother by Edvard Munch
A single 1899 version of Edvard Munch's Death and the Child, also titled The Dead Mother, which an urban legend says is cursed.
Something Left BehindObscurity 4 of 7
Folklore
The Defenestration of Prague survival legend
On 23 May 1618 Protestant nobles threw Catholic officials from a window of Prague Castle. Each side later gave rival explanations for why they survived.
Something ToldObscurity 4 of 7
Disputed
The Devil's Footprints of Devon
After a heavy snowfall on the night of 8 to 9 February 1855, lines of hoof-like prints were reported at over 30 places across Devon. Explanations offered since include birds, mice, hares, and an escaped kangaroo.
Something SeenObscurity 2 of 7
Disputed
The Dyatlov Pass incident
Nine experienced ski hikers lost their lives in the northern Ural Mountains in early February 1959. In 2020 a Russian prosecutor announced that an avalanche caused the deaths, though Kommersant reported that his statements had not been agreed with the Prosecutor General's Office.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Emilcin abduction
Polish farmer Jan Wolski said that on 10 May 1978 two small beings climbed onto his cart and led him to a glowing craft.
Something ToldObscurity 5 of 7
Disputed
The Enfield poltergeist
A run of knocks, slammed doors and thrown objects reported at a family home in Enfield, north London, from 1977, and argued over ever since.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 1 of 7
Disputed
The Flannan Isles lighthouse keepers
The keepers of the Flannan Isles lighthouse were found missing on 26 December 1900 when the relief ship Hesperus arrived. Newspapers of the time offered several supernatural explanations.
Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7
Folklore
The Ghost of Kyiv
A story of a lone Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot who shot down six Russian planes over Kyiv spread within a day of the 24 February 2022 invasion. Reports describe it as a wartime legend.
Something ToldObscurity 3 of 7
Folklore
The Gold of Tolosa
A treasure the Roman commander Quintus Servilius Caepio took from Tolosa, now Toulouse. Ancient writers said it brought ruin on everyone who touched it.
Something ToldObscurity 3 of 7
Folklore
The Graves Supercomplication
A Patek Philippe watch made for Henry Graves Jr. between 1925 and 1932. In 2014 news.com.au ran it as a cursed watch.
Something Left BehindObscurity 7 of 7
Folklore
The Great Bed of Ware
A large bed made around 1590 to draw visitors to the inns of Ware, Hertfordshire, and now held by the Victoria and Albert Museum. Of its sources, only Wikipedia calls it haunted.
Something Left BehindObscurity 6 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Griefswald body crossing the sun
Postmaster Ziegler and several others watched a body take about an hour to cross the face of the sun. Dr. Brendel of Griefswald, Pomerania, sent in their report.
Something SeenObscurity 5 of 7
Documented
The Hammersmith ghost shooting
On the night of 3 January 1804 an excise officer in Hammersmith shot a man he took for the neighbourhood ghost.
Something ToldObscurity 2 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Hellfire Caves
Chalk tunnels at West Wycombe that Sir Francis Dashwood had dug, which tradition links to the Hell Fire Club. A local legend says a ghost called Sukie haunts them.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 4 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Hessdalen lights
Lights reported over a 12-kilometre section of Norway's Hessdalen valley, in the rural centre of the country. Sightings peaked between 1981 and 1985.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 2 of 7
Disputed
The Highgate Vampire
In a letter of 6 February 1970, David Farrant told a London paper he had seen a grey figure at Highgate Cemetery. Reports of a vampire there followed in the press.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 2 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Inverness Courier Loch Ness report
The Inverness Courier, on 2 May 1933, carried a report of a large creature seen in Loch Ness. The sighting it described had happened earlier, on 15 April 1933 according to British Online Archives.
Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Kattenau luminous bodies
Half an hour before sunrise on 22 March 1880, a great many bright points of light rose over Kattenau, Germany, and crossed the sky east to west in a narrow band.
Something SeenObscurity 5 of 7
Folklore
The Koh-i-Noor diamond
A 105.6-carat diamond in the British Crown Jewels, said to bring bad luck to men who wear it, whose ownership is disputed.
Something Left BehindObscurity 4 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Lagarfljót Worm
The Lagarfljót Worm is a creature said to live in Lagarfljót lake in northeast Iceland. Annals first mention it in 1345; in 2012 a video of it was published and the local municipality set up a committee to decide whether it is real.
Something SeenObscurity 7 of 7
Disputed
The Lakenheath-Bentwaters radar incident
On the night of 13 August 1956, radar operators at RAF Bentwaters and RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk tracked fast targets. Much of the detailed account comes from a later letter by a watch supervisor.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 6 of 7
Folklore
The Livonian Christmas werewolves
Men changed into wolves gather on Christmas night, attack people and animals, and lay siege to houses standing alone in the woods.
Something ToldObscurity 2 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Manises UFO incident
On 11 November 1979 a Spanish airliner carrying 109 passengers made an emergency landing at Manises, Valencia, after its crew reported being pursued by unidentified objects.
Something SeenObscurity 5 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Marseilles round body on the sun
Two observers some distance apart in Marseilles each saw an unknown round body at the same point on the sun's edge.
Something SeenObscurity 5 of 7
Disputed
The Mary Celeste
A brigantine found drifting in the Atlantic off the Azores on 4 December 1872 with nobody aboard. None of the ten who sailed on her, the captain's wife and two-year-old daughter among them, was seen or heard of again.
Something Left BehindObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Mjosa ghost rocket
In July 1946 witnesses in Norway reported a rocket-like object crashing into Lake Mjosa. Accounts differ on whether it happened at night or at noon on 18 July.
Something SeenObscurity 6 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Moberly-Jourdain Trianon adventure
Two English women, C. A. E. Moberly and E. F. Jourdain, said that a strange experience befell them on 10 August 1901 in the grounds of the Petit Trianon, Versailles. They published their account in 1911 as An Adventure.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 7 of 7
Folklore
The Molebka anomalous zone
An area near the village of Molyobka in Perm Krai, Russia, built up by the tabloid press in 1989 and 1990. Ufologists say paranormal events happen there and visitors can make contact with aliens.
Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 7 of 7
Disputed
The Naples lapstone fall
A stone of plainly artificial shape was said to have fallen at Naples in November 1885. Two professors treated it as unexplained; Nature's correspondent took it for a shoemaker's lapstone of Vesuvian lava.
Something Left BehindObscurity 5 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Norfolk News airship reports of May 1909
On 15 May 1909 the Norfolk News printed three witness accounts of an airship over Norfolk, and a theory that it came from a German warship.
Something SeenObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Norfolk airship witnesses of May 1909
On 22 May 1909 the Norfolk News reported several people who saw an airship over Norfolk and Lowestoft, alongside an aeronaut's explanations.
Something SeenObscurity 7 of 7
Documented
The Paisley witches' executions
On 10 June 1697 people convicted of witchcraft after the Bargarran trial of 1696 were executed at Paisley's Gallow Green in Scotland.
Something ToldObscurity 6 of 7
Folklore
The Peckham letter on Spring-heeled Jack
An anonymous letter from a Peckham resident, complaining of pranksters in villages around London, was made public by the city's Lord Mayor on 9 January 1838.
Something ToldObscurity 2 of 7
Documented
The Pendle witches hanged at Lancaster
A group from the Pendle area, convicted of witchcraft at a trial lasting two days, were hanged on 20 August 1612 at Lancaster's Gallows Hill.
Something ToldObscurity 2 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Petrozavodsk phenomenon
A bright light sending pulsing rays to the ground, seen over Petrozavodsk at about 4 a.m. on 20 September 1977. Soviet researchers and James Oberg later tied it to a satellite launch from Plesetsk.
Something SeenObscurity 7 of 7
Folklore
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
In the tradition of Hamelin in Germany, on 26 June 1284 a piper in colourful clothes led 130 of the town's children away and they vanished.
Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7
Disputed
The R101 medium sitting
On 7 October 1930, two days after the R101 airship disaster, medium Eileen Garrett held a sitting in London that spiritualists said reached an R101 officer.
Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Rain Woman painting
A painting by Vinnytsia artist Svetlana Telets that Ukrainian newspapers reported was repeatedly bought and returned by owners who said they dreamed about it.
Something Left BehindObscurity 6 of 7
Claimed sighting
The Rendlesham Forest incident
In late December 1980, USAF security police at RAF Woodbridge in England reported strange lights and a glowing object in nearby Rendlesham Forest. Astronomers and skeptics have tied the lights to a fireball and a lighthouse.
Someone Who Was ThereObscurity 1 of 7