RoanokeLet me take you back to the late 16th century. Colonization of the New World is in full swing, with the British efforts being led by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had been appointed by Queen Elizabeth I specifically for this job. A lot of the mainland was settled by Native Americans (but not for long, don’t you worry – the rest of the settlers would make that problem go away soon enough), so Raleigh decided to settle on the island of Roanoke, just off the coast of modern day North Carolina. The colony proved to be an immense success, with the colonists turning out to be self-sufficient enough to manage it and live off the land. In 1587, a little girl named Virginia Dare would become the very first child to ever be born in the American Colonies, fated to live out the rest of her days on the island, working the fields and having the simple life of a 16th century colonist, just like her parents.

Except that’s not what fate had in store for her. Shortly after the girl’s birth, her grandfather John White, appointed by Sir Raleigh as the governor of Virginia, left with a small crew back to England in order to gain more supplies for Roanoke. His journey ended up taking three years (which really makes those seven-hour long oceanic flights feel like a breeze), and in 1590, White finally returned to the colony… Only to find it completely deserted. Not a single person was there. Nothing of value was left. His family, including his little granddaughter, was gone without a trace. The only clue left was the word “Croatoan”, which had been carved into one of the trees – presumably by a fleeing colonist. There were no signs of violence, no puddles of blood, no bullet holes or tomahawks in the trees. The colony had been untouched, safe for the missing colonists and their belongings.

So the obvious question is what happened to Virginia Dare, her family and her fellow colonists? Why did they leave their home, and if they did, where did they go? Now, as you should know by now, I’m a man of reason and I don’t like to entertain impossibilities, so for the time being, let’s eliminate aliens, demons, Native American graveyards and anything else in this realm, okay? There are several theories that are a bit more grounded in nature, based on the evidence at hand. The likeliest explanation is that the colony found itself no longer able to sustain itself. It took three years to bring home the much-needed supplies, and it’s entirely possible that the colonists simply didn’t last that long. They may have left the island in search for a home with more resources, and on their way might have drowned, or been killed by Spanish conquistadors. The Dare Stones – a series of inscribed stones discovered in the 1930s – were apparently used as a gravestones for Virginia Dare, her father and most of the colonists, claiming that they were murdered by savages. However, it’s very likely that the stones were faked, given the fact that they were discovered quite far from Roanoke.

The likeliest theory received some support only recently, when two different teams discovered the remains of pottery in North Carolina. What’s interesting about this discovery is that it was made in a style called Border Ware, shared by a lot of the pottery and cutlery found in Roanoke. Which means that it’s very likely the colonists did, in fact, go inland, and eventually mixed in with some of the local native tribes. It seems like a stretch, but considering the fact that no bodies were ever discovered by future colonists, it seems unlikely that the inhabitants of Roanoke met their doom prematurely. The hint left on the tree – “Croatoan” – also supports this, as the Croatoan tribe lived on an island not far from Roanoke. It’s very likely that, rather than face starvation, the colonists (at least part of them) went there and mixed in with the local population. Unfortunately, at this point more concrete proof than that will likely be impossible to find. No matter what happened, though, it’s clear that the Roanoke Colony, alongside its youngest resident Virginia Dare, has been able to capture the minds and imaginations of people who lived hundreds of years after them – something that likely wouldn’t have happened had they remained untouched.

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beale-cipherWhat would you do if you happened upon a treasure worth over $63 million? Would you buy a house? Would you start a business? Would you go on a vacation? Would you become the greatest user that www.pcasinos.co.uk has ever seen? Of course, for most people, such a sum of money is nothing but a pipe dream. The majority of us will never even see a fraction of it in our lifetimes, let alone all in one place, and unless you’re Donald Trump and get a small loan of a million dollars from your father, the only way you can possibly get a sum that big is if you win the lottery. But what if I told you that there is another way? Indeed, there’s currently a treasure hidden somewhere in Bedford County, Virginia, just waiting to be found? Of course, you’re not going to just stumble upon it. Only the person who’s able to solve the cipher can gain the treasure.

The story goes that, in the early 1800s, a man by the name of Thomas J. Beale buried two wagons full of treasure (gold, money and gems, mostly) estimated to be worth about $63 million in today’s money, somewhere in Bedford County. Afterwards, he visited a local inn and left a small box with the innkeeper, one Robert Morriss, never to be seen again. Within that box were three pieces of paper containing ciphers (like the one you see on the picture) which, when deciphered, would supposedly lead whoever was smart enough to solve them straight to the buried treasure. Out of all three, one has been solved using the US Declaration of Independence as a decoding device, proving that the ciphers are not random and can, in fact, be decoded. The translated page reads the following:

I have deposited in the county of Bedford, about four miles from Buford’s, in an excavation or vault, six feet below the surface of the ground, the following articles, belonging jointly to the parties whose names are given in number three, herewith:

The first deposit consisted of ten hundred and fourteen pounds of gold, and thirty-eight hundred and twelve pounds of silver, deposited Nov. eighteen nineteen. The second was made Dec. eighteen twenty-one, and consisted of nineteen hundred and seven pounds of gold, and twelve hundred and eighty-eight of silver; also jewels, obtained in St. Louis in exchange to save transportation, and valued at thirteen thousand dollars.

The above is securely packed in iron pots, with iron covers. The vault is roughly lined with stone, and the vessels rest on solid stone, and are covered with others. Paper number one describes the exact locality of the vault, so that no difficulty will be had in finding it.

That’s all the progress that has been made on deciphering the Beale Ciphers in two centuries. Nobody has been able to decipher the other two pages yet, which is unsurprising considering the fact that we have no clue what the decoding device is. Without it, it’d take even a supercomputer hundreds of years to crack the code. If someone does manage to figure it out, though, it’s highly likely that they’re going to be able to find the fabled treasure that Thomas Beale is talking about. If that sounds like the plot of an “Uncharted” game to you, I assure you you’re not alone! Now all we need is a master adventurer/archeologist/cryptoanalyst and we’re all set!

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VoynichThere are numerous unexplainable mysteries in the world. What’s the explanation behind the Fermi Paradox? Are there other universes besides our own? Why is it that some of the best online casino reviews always recommend the same games? Okay, maybe not that last one, but you get what I mean! Our Earth, for as small and insignificant as it is in the grand scheme of the universe, seems to be more riddled with mysteries than the town of Gravity Falls. And yet most mysteries have an explanation, or at least a theory surrounding them. That’s why it’s always fascinating for me to discover objects, like the London Hammer which defy all explanation. And boy, do I have the mother of all unexplainable objects for you today! An item so odd that it keeps being associated with magic and witchcraft even to this day.

In 1912, a book dealer known as Wilfrid Voynich managed to get his hands on a rather extraordinary find, though he didn’t realize it at first. At a glance, it seemed like just any old book written in a foreign language and talking about plants and stars, possibly an encyclopedia or a traveler’s journal. It’s nothing that unusual – there’s plenty of those around in various collections. But upon closer examination, one would realize that not only is this journal written in a completely foreign language that has never been encountered before or since, but it also depicts plants and star systems that don’t actually exist in the real world, neither today, nor during the 1400s, when the book was written. It almost seems like it doesn’t really belong to our world.

The book, which would gain the moniker of the Voynich Manuscript, was thoroughly studied by numerous experts – linguists, botanists, astronomers and more, in an attempt to discover something, anything, that could provide the key to cracking the mystery. Some of the biggest code breakers who operated during WWI and WWII tried their hand at solving the code, but alas, they came up empty handed. A popular theory is that, since it’s so uncrackable, the Manuscript is actually a fake – nothing more than a collection of random jumbles and pictures. But linguists have been able to determine that the writing is consistent with the syntax of a real language that has its own alphabet, and several nouns have been successfully deciphered. If this is a fake, then it is an exceptionally well-made one – and even if it is, we still have no idea what use someone from the 15th century could possibly have for a book written in a fictitious language containing illustrations of plants that do not exist.

So, if we assume that it’s not a fake, what are some possible explanations of the Voynich Manuscript? One possible explanation is that it’s some sort of cipher, with not just the language, but also the images and diagrams on its pages serving as parts of the code. According to Robert S. Brumbaugh, it’s possibly that the Manuscript is an imperfect copy of an earlier code, hence why it’s impossible to decipher. Other researchers who have studied the book have claimed that it’s a coded or early version of pretty much any language imaginable – German, Aztec, Hebrew, even Chinese. Theories range from the plausible to the downright improbable (like Dan Burisch’s claim that the Manuscript contains clues leading to alien technology), but one thing’s for sure – we have no idea where to even begin with it.

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The London HammerWhat if one day we discovered an iPod in a previously unopened chamber of the Pyramid of Giza? Or a Snickers wrapper buried deep beneath Stonehenge? Will that discovery change the course of human history? Are we going to assume that it’s just a hoax and move on, or that we’re missing something and the discovery isn’t as important as we may think it is? What would our reaction to such a phenomenon be? Well, that’s actually not a hypothetical scenario, as we’ve already discovered an item so misplaced in time that there seems to be no logical explanation of its existence.

Enter the London Hammer. In 1934, a group of tourists was hiking near the town of London, Texas. One of them threw a stone, accidentally breaking it and finding something rather peculiar inside – a perfectly preserved hammer head, alongside part of the wooden handle. Finding the discovery to be interesting, the tourists brought the hammer to the attention of the local museum, who quickly deduced that since the hammer was embedded into the rock, then the rock must have formed around it in order to enclose it, and by that logic the hammer must be older than the rock. The kicker? The rock is over 400 million years old. If that doesn’t sound shocking to you, let me put it in perspective. The oldest known tools used by humans are 3.4 million years old. The very first species which would eventually evolve into homo sapiens lived between 7 and 5 million years ago. The dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, and that doesn’t even come close to the age of the hammer.

400 million years ago, the Earth was in the Devonian era, where the Earth was populated by giant mushrooms and most lifeforms still lived underwater. The only living creatures on the surface of the Earth were primitive anthropods who had previously evolved from ocean dwellers. And yet, somehow, somebody was using a hammer. Not only that, but the metal comprising the head of the hammer consists of 97% pure iron – a purity that can only be achieved with modern means. There is nothing to suggest that this is just a normal, everyday, store-bought hammer inserted into the rock, either – parts of it are still embedded into the 400 million year old rock. To say that this discovery is impossible would be a massive understatement, and yet it very much is. In a time period where no creature with anything resembling opposable thumbs lived, someone somewhere created a hammer using techniques that wouldn’t be discovered for another 400+ million years. Was that an ancient astronaut? A time traveler? Was the hammer somehow misplaced in time? Or is there a lot about history that we simply do not understand?

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Many people fail to see the convenience and entertainment level of online slots, simply because they are too used and attached to the good ol’ one-armed bandit. But what they probably don’t know is that there are hundreds of fantastic titles developed by renowned software providers that are just as fun and really similar to the land-based slots Brits love and crave. But with one big difference – they pay more and are easier to access. While the same type of slot at your local casino will have an RTP of 75% to 85%, online sites will raise that to 95% or even higher. And you only have to access the site to play it, instead of having to travel anywhere.

Reel King Slot from NovomaticReel King, by Novomatic is the perfect example of a classic slot machine that you could find in the corner pub back in the day. It is a 5-reel, 20-line masterpiece that only goes to show that sometimes less is more and this is why you shouldn’t expect any bonus rounds or spectacular graphics. On the other hand, for those who would rather spin to win rather than play through numerous animations and bonus rounds, this slot is truly a sight for sore eyes. With the classic cherries and plumbs symbols and your all too familiar cards from 10 to king, Reel King is just the thing for me. Simple and clean, with a pretty juicy 777 jackpot, this slot has really deserved its name of king. You can find more information at https://www.bestonlineslots.co.uk/reel-king/.

Sizzling Hot Deluxe is yet another fantastic Novomatic creation, with 5 reels and 5 paylines. Sizzling Hot Deluxe offers a nostalgic throwback to traditional slot machines, which makes it very popular among Brits. This time, you won’t find any of the card symbols that we are so used to, but fruits – lemons, melons, cherries, grapes and plumbs, stars and the red 7. The stars are scatter and the red 7s can bring you the highest payout – if you get 5 of them, you will win 400 times your bet. When it comes to the fruit symbols, they don’t pay all that much, as the highest payout is for melons and grapes – 40 times your initial bet for 5 of them, while all other fruits have a maximum payout of 16 times. Once again, you will not be seduced by interactive bonus rounds or mesmerizing graphics, but the burning flames and the flashy wins that are part of the theme of the slot will more than enough to raise your adrenaline level.

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aliensIn the early 1960s, Betty and Barney Hill’s supposed abduction and subsequent experimentation by aliens sparked a mass interest in aliens across the United States, to put it mildly. Suddenly everyone was seeing flying saucers, everyone was being abducted, everyone was talking to aliens. Blurry black and white images of odd shapes in the night sky, or of weird creatures half-hidden behind a tree and other dubious pieces of “proof” were widespread. Some people wanted to ride the bandwagon to get their 15 minutes of fame, others wanted to capitalize on the phenomenon in order to bring some tourism revenue, while others still genuinely fell to the psychosis of the time and believed they had been visited. As such, the overwhelming majority of reports from the 60s and 70s should be, and have been, rightfully dismissed as untrue, which is why it is so crucial that we examine the reports dating before the word UFO was a household name. And by far the most famous of these cases is the 1955 Hopkinsville Goblin.

As the name would suggest, the case occurred in the small town of Hopkinsville, Kentucky – more particularly in and near the small Sutton farmhouse where, at the time, lived over ten people. One of them was a 21 year old man name Billy Ray Taylor, who was a carnival worker from Pennsylvania there with his 18 year old wife. At about seven PM, Billy was drawing water from the well nearby when he noticed an odd light in the sky – a sight which had also been reported by numerous people in Hopkinsville. An hour later, the barking of a dog outside attracted him, and once he left the farmhouse Billy noticed an odd, small creature roaming about. Going back in the house, he picked up his rifle and shot the creature dead. For the rest of the night, the farm was assaulted by up to fifteen creatures which banged on the walls, pressed their faces against the windows and threw rocks. Come morning, the creatures – including the one shot by Billy – were gone.

Numerous reports have been written about the case in an attempt to identify the creatures and examine the evidence to determine if the whole thing was a hoax or not. It’s important to note that while Billy was a known prankster and nobody at the house took him seriously when he reported the glowing light, the story about the creatures’ assault was confirmed by almost all of the residents, safe for Billy’s wife who confirmed the noises but claimed she was too afraid to look. The description of the creatures was identical across all the residents of the farmhouse – small, with silvery, glowing bodies. While a popular theory states that the creatures were, in fact, Great Horned Owls, it has neither been proven nor disproven.

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Low frequency noiseIn the 1990s, the citizens of the small town of Taos, New Mexico, began complaining of a sound which was driving them crazy. Not everyone complained – the reports were made by a small minority of citizens, but those who made them were completely unrelated and had never met before. The University of New Mexico investigated these claims, but found no substantial evidence that a noise even existed – nothing was picked up by the tools and instruments used in an attempt to record the source of the sound, and none of the people who investigated even heard it with their own ears. While originally just written off as an odd form of mass psychosis, soon it was discovered that British newspapers had been reporting a very similar phenomenon since the 70s, and once the story of Taos reached global attention, numerous people across the globe reported hearing the noise that would later be dubbed “The Hum”.

The Hum is a low-frequency noise, like a quiet, but still very audible buzzing which can also be sensed as a vibration. Listeners report that it sounds like a machine being used far away, but the sound is of the same volume no matter where the person hearing it is located. Since headphones do nothing to block the sound, and doctors have discovered nothing wrong with the ears of the people who reported hearing it, it is more likely than not that what is perceived to be a “sound” is actually not audible at all, though its exact cause is, obviously, unknown. Regardless, the Hum has very real, physical consequences on those that hear it, such as fatigue, headaches and pain, with listeners reporting the sound as “excruciating”. In the UK, it has been linked to at least one suicide.

Despite numerous researches and explorations into the source of the Hum, nothing but theories and speculation has been presented. According to some, the source of the sound is the shifting of tectonic waves or electric grids, but to sound the answer isn’t nearly as innocent. One thing that must be taken into account is that while the Hum is audible across the world, most of the cases where it can be heard are tied to specific regions, such as New Mexico or parts of the UK. Many believe that there is something on those lands, or maybe even under them, which is causing it. One theory involves the presence of secret military bases which use an unknown frequency to communicate, which can be felt as vibrations by a small percentage of the population. While this definitely sounds in character for New Mexico, as there are already numerous military bases in the state, it becomes harder to explain in other regions. One thing’s for sure, though – the Hum exists, and we’re about as close to figuring it out as we were in the 90s.

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Mysteries UFO sightings. Signs of species unknown to science. Paranormal activity. Out of body experiences. Reincarnation. Unexplained disappearances. We all have at least one story to tell about something that has happened to us or to someone close, a story that is mysterious, unexplainable, even a little bit creepy. We’ve all experienced something that conventional science claims is impossible, like witnessing a creature or object we couldn’t quite identify, or having a premonition about an event which happened to be accurate.

When I was only nine years old, my parents and I witnessed a formation of three lights in the sky traveling in the form of a triangle and slowly moving through the sky. The lights were bright, much brighter than the stars around them, and they weren’t blinking or colored like they would be on an airplane. After about a minute of slow movements the lights vanished from the sky, as if extinguished.

This experience, while terrifying at the time, inspired me to research the mysterious, the unexplainable and the obscure. I’ve looked into practically every area of the unknown and have gathered a collection of notable cases which could make anyone stop and wonder if there’s more to this world than meets the eye. I will be presenting some of these cases to you, the person reading this right now. I will not make any claims or statements that have not been proven by science, and I will only present the facts the way they are, leaving you to draw your own conclusions. Maybe eventually you, too, will believe that anything is possible in a world filled with so many mysteries.

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