10 Incredibly Complex Mysteries Solved by Ordinary People

In a world filled with unsolved mysteries and complex puzzles, we often assume that only experts or professionals have the tools to crack these enigmas. Yet history is full of stories where ordinary people, armed with nothing more than curiosity, perseverance, and determination, have managed to solve mysteries that left the brightest minds stumped. From historical puzzles to scientific breakthroughs and criminal cases, these ten stories demonstrate that sometimes, it takes an outsider to see what experts cannot. Here are ten instances where everyday people solved incredibly complex mysteries.

Related: 10 Puzzling Unsolved Mysteries from Ancient History

10 The Dutchman Who Solved the Zodiac Killer’s 340-Character Cipher

For over 50 years, one of the Zodiac Killer’s most famous messages—the 340-character cipher—remained unsolved, frustrating cryptographers and police alike. The Zodiac Killer terrorized Northern California in the late 1960s, taunting police and the media with cryptic messages that promised to reveal his identity. While some of his ciphers were cracked shortly after they were sent, the 340-character cipher resisted all attempts at decryption—until 2020.

A Dutch warehouse worker named Gert Jan van ‘t Land, who had developed an interest in cryptography as a hobby, joined forces with two other amateur codebreakers: American software developer David Oranchak and Australian mathematician Sam Blake. They used advanced computer algorithms to test thousands of potential solutions and patterns. After months of trial and error, the trio finally decrypted the cipher. The message, while chilling, didn’t reveal the killer’s identity but instead mocked law enforcement.

Van ‘t Land’s contribution was key in solving the puzzle that had eluded experts for decades. His ability to think outside the box, combined with the team’s dedication, cracked one of the Zodiac Killer’s most famous codes, bringing closure to a mystery that had captivated the public for over half a century.^[1]

9 The Man Who Tracked Down a Billion-Dollar Fraud

In the early days of the Internet, domain names were seen as valuable real estate, and disputes over ownership could be both costly and contentious. One of the most bizarre and high-profile cases of domain theft involved Gary Kremen, an entrepreneur who registered the domain name “sex.com” in 1994. Little did Kremen know, he was about to embark on a legal and personal journey to recover his stolen domain—a case that would set legal precedents for internet law.

Kremen discovered that a notorious con man named Stephen Cohen had fraudulently obtained the rights to the domain name by submitting forged documents to the domain registrar. Despite the clear evidence of wrongdoing, law enforcement showed little interest in helping Kremen recover his domain, leaving him to fight the battle on his own. Kremen, undeterred, took matters into his own hands. He gathered evidence, filed lawsuits, and doggedly pursued Cohen across the world.

In 2000, Kremen won a landmark court ruling, which awarded him the domain and a judgment of $65 million. Though it took years to collect any portion of the judgment, Kremen’s victory set important legal precedents about the ownership of internet domains. His relentless pursuit of justice in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds is a testament to the power of perseverance.^[2]

8 The Grandmother Who Solved the Humpback Whale Song Mystery

In the 1960s, biologists studying marine life began recording the haunting, complex songs of humpback whales, but no one could figure out what the songs meant or why the whales sang them. The recordings were puzzling: long, repetitive, and structured, but with no clear purpose. Scientists theorized that the sounds might be related to navigation or feeding, but the truth remained elusive.

Enter Katy Payne, a grandmother and former music teacher with no formal training in marine biology. During a visit to Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology in 1967, Payne heard recordings of whale songs and immediately noticed something the scientists had missed: The songs had a distinct musical structure. Payne, with her background in music, realized that the whales were singing in repeating patterns that changed over time, similar to the way birds use songs for communication.

Payne’s discovery revolutionized our understanding of whale communication, showing that humpback whales use their songs to communicate with each other across vast distances. She later published her findings and became a leading figure in the study of animal communication, all because she approached the problem with a fresh perspective and a keen ear for patterns that had eluded others.^[3]

7 The Photographer Who Helped Solve a 70-Year-Old Cold Case

In 2018, Australian photographer David Fletcher was researching old shipwrecks when he stumbled upon a clue related to one of Australia’s most famous cold cases—the Somerton Man. In 1948, an unidentified man’s body washed ashore in South Australia with no ID and a cryptic coded note, leading to decades of speculation and mystery.

While reviewing archives, Fletcher discovered a potential match: Carl Webb, an electrical engineer who had disappeared around the same time. His find prompted a renewed investigation, leading forensic experts to confirm through DNA testing that the Somerton Man was indeed Carl Webb. Fletcher’s chance discovery helped potentially solve a case that had puzzled the world for over 70 years. While the case seems to be solved, some still do not yet believe the DNA findings.^[4]

6 The Amateur Codebreaker Who Solved the Beale Ciphers

The Beale Ciphers are one of the most enduring treasure mysteries in American history. In the 1800s, three coded messages supposedly detailed the location of a hidden treasure worth millions, buried somewhere in Bedford County, Virginia. While the first and third ciphers remain unsolved, an unlikely hero cracked the second cipher, giving treasure hunters a tantalizing glimpse of the prize.

James B. Ward, a local farmer with a love for puzzles, discovered that the second cipher could be solved using the Declaration of Independence as a key. He painstakingly decrypted the message, which described the contents of the treasure—thousands of pounds of gold, silver, and jewels. Despite solving this part of the puzzle, Ward was unable to uncover the exact location of the treasure, and the first and third ciphers remain unsolved to this day.

Ward’s work sparked renewed interest in the Beale Ciphers and inspired countless treasure hunters to try their hand at finding the fortune. Though the treasure remains elusive, Ward’s achievement stands as a remarkable example of how a curious mind and a bit of persistence can crack even the toughest codes.^[5]

5 The Reddit User Who Helped Crack the Golden State Killer Case

The Golden State Killer, responsible for at least 13 murders and dozens of rapes across California in the 1970s and 1980s, evaded capture for decades. Despite years of investigation and multiple attempts to track down the killer, law enforcement seemed no closer to solving the case. That is until a breakthrough came not from professional detectives but from an unexpected source: an amateur genealogist on Reddit.

In 2018, after law enforcement uploaded DNA evidence from the crime scenes to a public genealogy database, amateur sleuths began tracing the killer’s family tree. A Reddit user, known only by their handle, used publicly available data and their extensive knowledge of genealogy to help narrow down the list of suspects. By carefully tracing the familial connections, they were able to provide key information that eventually led to the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer, as the Golden State Killer.

DeAngelo’s capture marked the end of a decades-long search, and it was amateur genealogists and Reddit users who played a crucial role in piecing together the family tree that finally identified him. The case highlighted the power of crowdsourcing and how ordinary people with the right tools can solve even the most complex criminal cases ^[6]

4 A Teacher Identifies the Zodiac Killer’s Identity… Maybe

In 2021, a group of amateur sleuths calling themselves The Case Breakers reignited public interest in the Zodiac Killer case when they claimed to have identified the infamous murderer as Gary Francis Poste, a former Air Force veteran. While their theory remains controversial, it gained significant attention for the sheer amount of evidence they compiled—much of it gathered through the dedication of a retired art teacher named Thomas Colbert, who led the investigation.

Colbert and his team scoured old police reports, interviewed witnesses, and used modern forensic techniques to build their case. They pointed to similarities between Poste’s appearance and the Zodiac Killer’s composite sketch, along with cryptic letters and clues that they claimed linked Poste to the murders. Although the case remains officially unsolved, Colbert’s efforts demonstrate how ordinary citizens, driven by a passion for justice, can reignite investigations and potentially bring new evidence to light.^[7]

3 The Hobbyist Who Solved the Mystery of the Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient Greek device discovered in a shipwreck in 1901, baffled experts for over a century. Often referred to as the world’s first computer, the complex mechanism appeared to predict astronomical events, but its exact purpose and workings were a mystery. While scholars made progress in understanding parts of it, a crucial breakthrough came from Michael Wright, a curator at a London museum with a passion for mechanical engineering.

Wright, an amateur horologist— a person who designs, constructs, and maintains clocks, watches, and other timepieces—built a working model of the mechanism using X-rays and imaging of the device’s internal gears. His reconstruction revealed that the mechanism was far more sophisticated than previously thought, accurately predicting lunar and solar eclipses and the positions of planets. Wright’s hands-on approach and mechanical expertise helped unlock the secrets of this ancient marvel, solving a puzzle that had stumped historians and scientists for decades.^[8]

2 A Computer Scientist Solves a 250-Year-Old Math Problem

Fermat’s Last Theorem, a mathematical riddle posed by Pierre de Fermat in 1637, stumped mathematicians for over two centuries. The theorem, which stated that no three positive integers could satisfy the equation a^n + b^n = c^n for any integer value of n greater than 2, had become one of the most famous unsolved problems in mathematics. In 2003, a British computer scientist named Andrew Wiles, who had been obsessed with the problem since childhood, quietly solved it.

Wiles had worked in secret for years, developing a groundbreaking proof that drew on advanced techniques in algebraic geometry. When he finally revealed his solution, the mathematical world was stunned. Fermat’s Last Theorem, which had stymied some of the greatest minds in history, had been solved by a man driven purely by passion and curiosity. Wiles’s achievement earned him international acclaim, and his proof became a landmark moment in the history of mathematics.^[9]

1 The Treasure Hunter Who Solved the Fenn Treasure Riddle

In 2010, art dealer Forrest Fenn announced that he had hidden a treasure chest filled with gold, jewels, and artifacts somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Fenn provided clues in a cryptic poem, sparking a modern-day treasure hunt that captivated thousands of adventurers. For nearly a decade, treasure hunters scoured the Rockies, often putting themselves in dangerous situations, but no one could find the chest—until Jack Stuef, a medical student and amateur treasure hunter, cracked the code.

Stuef spent years analyzing Fenn’s poem and studying the clues, piecing together the geographical hints to narrow down the possible locations. In 2020, he finally discovered the chest hidden in a remote part of Wyoming, ending one of the most famous treasure hunts in modern history. Fenn later confirmed that Stuef had found the treasure, bringing closure to a riddle that had captivated the world for nearly a decade ^[10]