10 “Mysteries” That Prove We Live in Weird & Awful Times

Times have certainly changed, and not necessarily for the better. This is more evident than ever in 2025. There is a lot of anger, hate, conflict, and strife, which does not seem to be going anywhere soon.

It is no wonder, then, that even the nature of mysterious incidents has changed. While we used to be equally fascinated and terrified by stories of harmless ghouls, ghosts, and swamp lights, today’s “mysteries” making headlines continue to take on a distinctly weird, unpleasant, or even horrific nature.

The examples on this list are just a few of the truly strange and dark things happening worldwide over the past few years, causing stress, unhappiness, and downright despair.

Related: 10 More Historical Events That Sound Too Strange To Be True

10 The Fog

Fog is not a strange occurrence in the U.S. or Canada. But when that fog comes with a weird chemical smell, people take notice, and the conspiracies begin to fly. The new year was about to start when posts began making the rounds on social media about a toxic fog enveloping parts of America and Canada.

Many of those who posted about the fog claimed it smelled like chemicals and that they suffered flu-like symptoms because of the fog. Others reported stomach cramps, lethargy, and food poisoning-like symptoms.

The fog posts soon came from the UK when mist set in over the country. Connections were drawn with the recent drone sightings in America, and people immediately concluded that these drones were contaminating the atmosphere with chemicals. This made everything worse, with people claiming their animals were starting to act strange and others speculating about terrorist plots and bioweapons.

The National Weather Service explained that people were experiencing advection fog, which usually appears in the U.S. and elsewhere during winter. The chemical smell comes from the water droplets inside the fog that trap pollutants in the air. This explanation has not done much to dispel fears that ‘the government’ is out to get people.^[1]

9 The Mystery of the Antennas

At the start of 2023, authorities in Utah reported finding antenna arrays on top of mountains and ridges in Salt Lake City. At the time, officials said they had been discovering random antennas for more than a year. However, they seemed to rapidly increase in number toward the end of 2022. One array was found at 7,000 feet (2,133 meters).

Apart from being annoyed about hiking up mountains and hills to remove these antennas, officials also had no idea who kept installing them.

There have been rather mundane theories about these antennas. Some believe they form part of an amateur radio emergency data network. Others are convinced these antennas are meant to track wildlife. The problem is that no permits have been issued, so these theories remain in the air for now.

Two years later, the weird mystery remains. There have been no updates, and it is unclear whether officials in Utah are still trying to figure out where the antennas, routers, black boxes, and solar panels came from. Some people believe Helium (cryptocurrency) miners are behind the antenna arrays. But this has yet to be proven.^[2]

8 Paper, Snow, and a Ghost!

Sometimes, weird things happen, like antennas popping up out of nowhere and fog freaking people out. And, other times, much weirder things happen.

Take, for instance, the poor man who was stuck in an abandoned well for three days in November 2024. 22-year-old Liu Chuanyi was walking near the Thailand-Myanmar border when he fell into the well hidden by overgrown vegetation.

Chuanyi sustained serious injuries, including a wrist fracture and cerebral concussion. Fortunately, he could scream for help, hoping nearby villagers would hear him. And hear him, they did, but no one came to his rescue. It seems that the villagers believed the anguished cries came from a ghost. So, they gave the well a wide berth to avoid being attacked by a spook.

Chuanyi was trapped in the well for three days and three nights. When someone eventually alerted the police about the sounds coming from the area, the unlucky fellow was finally rescued. Afterward, authorities approached the local immigration department to determine how Chuanyi landed in the area. It is apparently still a mystery as to why he was at the border to begin with.^[3]

7 Black Magic Can Be Dangerous

Another extremely weird incident happened in Spain in August 2024. After an argument with his wife, a 65-year-old man left his home and set off for Costa Brava beach near Girona. Here, he decided to decapitate half a dozen hens in an apparent satanic or black magic ritual. He fell ill in the middle of his gruesome task and passed out. When his wife went looking for him, she found him dead on the sand with the remains of the hens scattered around him.

Police believed that the man had taken drugs, and his body responded badly. There were no signs of trauma on his body that proved otherwise. What the point of the ritual was supposed to be remains unknown.^[4]

6 Things Keep Getting Weirder

Villagers in a remote Peruvian jungle had a very tough time of things in the middle of 2023. They came under attack by what they called 7-foot (2.1-meter) tall, face-peeling aliens. The Ikitu people described these creatures as having massive heads and yellow eyes. They compared them to los Pelacaras, face-peeling beings from Peruvian folklore. These beasts are said to live on human organs and fat.

The villagers could not sleep during these attacks, which they said happened every night for weeks. A fifteen-year-old girl was grabbed by one of the yellow-eyed aliens, and when she tried to fight back, it cut her across the neck.

When the community leader mentioned to the local media that the aliens can float and have armor like Green Goblin from Spider-Man, it dawned on officials what they may be dealing with. Authorities believe that these terrifying aliens were illegal gold miners flying around using jetpacks. They also think that these miners can be linked to cartels in Colombia and Brazil.

Very little information exists online about the fallout of these attacks, so it is unclear whether the alleged illegal miners are continuing their reign of terror.^[5]

5 You Are Not Safe Anywhere

It seems you are not safe in the Peruvian jungle or a hotel in the UK, for that matter.

Diana Albers Ramirez posted a video on TikTok in 2023 that shows her husband walking around a hotel room. He walks past the huge bed and circular bathtub and stops at two massive wardrobes. The video continues as he looks into the first wardrobe, and everything seems normal. When he opens the second wardrobe’s door, he is taken aback when he spies smaller doors within.

Curious, he pries open the doors and ends up in a rundown corridor behind the wardrobe that circles the room to the wall next to the tub. He comes back inside and then looks in the first wardrobe, where another set of doors awaits. There is another corridor when he opens these doors, and the video cuts out.

While there is no official explanation for these secret doors, some TikTok users were quick to note that it seems like a way for criminals to traffick people.^[6]

4 Stranger Things in Nebraska

Car accidents are common in Nebraska. What is not common is having the same unidentified man show up at more than one accident scene. Yet this is exactly what is happening in rural Nebraska.

Kyle Sorenson and his wife were driving on Pawnee Road when he hit a child’s bike that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Glancing in his rearview mirror, he saw a man sitting in a car on the road. A few moments later, the man pulled up behind him and asked whether they were okay. Feeling uneasy, Sorenson drove off. Later, his wife saw the same man spilling oil onto that same road. The couple informed the police.

In another incident, Garrison Beach and his wife were on Highway 36 when he suddenly had to swerve to avoid a piece of metal in the road. The car landed up in a roadside ravine. When Beach looked around after getting out of the car, he spotted another car with its headlights on parked next to the road. A man got out, approached him, and said he had called the police. The man also offered to give the couple a lift. They opted to wait for the car.

After two additional similar reports, the local sheriff confirmed that authorities had a suspect in mind and would continue with an investigation.^[7]

3 The Twist No One Saw Coming

There are people out there who want to harm others. And, then, some want to harm themselves, but for unexpected reasons.

In September 2024, 50-year-old Lalita Kayi was found chained to a tree in Maharashtra, India. The tree was in a dense part of the Sindhudurg forests, and by the time she was found, the woman was completely emaciated. After being taken to hospital, her condition improved, and she told the police that her husband had chained her to the tree, leaving her to die without food or water.

But things quickly turned weird. Kayi had 31,000 rupees, a tablet, and a mobile phone on her. This meant she eventually had no choice but to tell the truth. And the truth was that she had tied herself to the tree and was not married.

It is believed that the two days she spent tied to the tree made her hallucinate, which is why she spoke of a husband she did not have. The police also said that Kayi was stressed because of her expired visa and because she had no money left.

Unsurprisingly, the rest of her treatment was given in a psychiatric hospital. Kayi also contacted her family in the U.S., but no further information is available on her condition. It is also not clear whether any charges will be brought against Kayi.^[8]

2 There Is No Relief from the Darkness

There are many tragic stories of unsolved disappearances in the U.S. Richard Moreau is one of thousands of bereaved fathers who have been searching for his missing daughter for many years.

Moreau’s daughter, Kimberly, went missing in 1986, but he refused to give up hope. Speaking to a psychic out of desperation in 2024, Moreau did not get good news. The psychic told him that she believed there was something behind a bowling alley outside of Portland that could finally solve the mystery. Sure enough, when Moreau and the psychic traveled to the site in Jay, 70 miles (112.6 km) outside of Portland, they discovered human bones.

The bones were dug up, and it was revealed that they belonged to a male. This meant more agony for Moreau as he could not get the closure he longed for. But it also meant that yet another person likely met with a horrific end.

At the time, it was believed that the remains may have belonged to 28-year-old Harold Simpson, who went missing from Livermore Falls three months after Kim disappeared. This has, however, not been confirmed.^[9]

1 A Ghost Hunt Leads to Tragedy

The last entry on this list is perhaps also the most stark reminder that women are not safe anywhere. They are murdered by friends and spouses. When they are not killed, they are physically and mentally hurt or abused. In one of far too many cases of violence against women, things took a dark turn for a 22-year-old French woman who went ghost-hunting in Italy in 2024.

Auriane Nathalie Laisne and a male friend set off for an abandoned “haunted” house dressed as vampires. It is believed that she was going to film the ghost-hunting session for TikTok.

Her family knew of her plans and were shocked when her body was discovered in an abandoned church. Her blood had been “drained” after she was stabbed with a camping knife. She had two gunshot wounds in her neck and abdomen. By the time she was found, her body was already in a state of decomposition. There were no signs of a struggle.

The local police believe that the ghost-hunting stunt had either gone wrong or that the murder was some sort of “sacrifice.” The male friend was nowhere to be found. Teima Sohaib was, however, eventually tracked down and will face trial for murder, during which the motive will likely be revealed.^[10]