If you are not busy.......need something to read while taking a shit/dump/crap/turd/turkish delight(shite)winnie....winnie the pooh/mister magoo/#2.....however........here is something to keep you busy .....enjoy....
Valuable Discoveries Found In Unexpected Places
We’ve all made some unexpected discoveries before. Maybe you found $20 in a coat pocket you didn’t use, or you stumbled upon a surprise family heirloom in your basement while cleaning. Just like your findings, the discoveries on this list all came by surprise. They range from weird to invaluable, encompassing everything in-between.
Many of these discoveries are the stuff of Netflix documentaries and movies. While some of these findings were the result of pure luck, others came from hard work and determination. Hopefully, this list inspires you to keep your eyes open and indulge your curiosity. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find something awe-inspiring, too.
1. Underground Pyramid Found in Bolivia
Location: Tiahuanaco, Bolivia
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: Unknown
Tiahuanaco in Bolivia and its historical ruins have led to quite a few discoveries, and excavations have continued for years by both private companies and the government. In 2015, one of the most shocking findings at Tiahuanaco was an underground pyramid. Archaeologists discovered it with the use of ground-penetrating radar.
They also found monoliths within the pyramid. Excavations into this belowground pyramid are still ongoing. Tiahuanaco was once home to ancient South America’s most important city. The city spanned 231,000 square miles, and finds from this massive historical site have included stone monuments, palace ruins, sculptures, and more. Since 2000, Tiahuanaco has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
2. ‘Witch Bottle’ Discovered in English Chimney
Location: Watford, England
Year Discovered: 2019
Est. Value: $40*
Contractors who were demolishing a former pub in Watford, England stumbled upon an unusual discovery in the chimney section of the building. This creepy, folklore surprise was a witch bottle, stuff with an unidentified liquid, teeth, and shards of glass. The bottle was thought to date back to the 1800s.
It was likely placed in the pub to ward off witches. Considering that this Watford property was the birthplace of the Witch of Saratoga, that makes sense. Angeline Tubbs was the Witch’s real name, and she relocated to Saratoga, New York in 1761, where she made a living reading fortunes and making witch bottles to scare off the competition.
3. Giant Lego Men Wash up on Beaches Around the World
Location: Yuigahama Beach, Japan
Year Discovered: 2014
Est. Value: Unknown
Humans worry about dead wildlife washing onto the shores, as that could be a sign of a problem with the water quality. Who knows what a gigantic, eight-foot, ominous Lego man means? This potential portent of doom was discovered by a Japanese surfer. Forebodingly, the Lego man was wearing a t-shirt that said, “No Real Than You Are” on the front.
Rather than blame aliens, it appears that the man behind this gigantic Lego is a mysterious Dutch artist named Ego Leonard. This artist, according to his website, comes from a “virtual world.” Believe it or not, this is far from the first time such a gigantic Lego has washed ashore. These behemoths were also found on beaches in Siesta Key, Florida, and Topanga Beach, California.
4. World’s Largest Flower Found in Jungle
Location: West Sumatra, Indonesia
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: Unknown
While venturing through a remote jungle in the West Sumatra region of Indonesia, conservationists discovered the largest flower bloom in the world. The species of flower is Rafflesia tuan-mudae, which is known for its massive, elusive blossoms that bloom for just one week at the end of the plant’s life span.
This mammoth flower had a diameter of 3.6 feet, making it the largest Rafflesia ever documented. The flower is easy to spot, as it has flesh-colored petals covered in white spots. This unflattering description matches the flower itself, as it is part of the “corpse flower” type of flora, which means it smells like a dead body.
5. Shark Found In Middle of Golf Course
Location: San Juan Capistrano, California
Year Discovered: 2012
Est. Value: $850*
We all mocked Sharknado when it came out in 2013, but it seems as though Thunder Levin got the last laugh in the end, as maybe his movies weren’t so fictional after all. A shark did fall from the sky (a year before those movies came out, no less), landing near the twelfth tee of a golf course in California.
The San Juan Capistrano Golf Course workers were stunned when the two-pound leopard shark dropped onto the turf. As it turns out, the leopard shark, found alive, was carried from the ocean by a bird that accidentally dropped it. Cart attendants put the confused fish into a bucket of salt water and drove it to Baby Beach, where they released it back into its rightful habitat.
6. An Underwater River Found in the Ocean
Location: Cenote Angelita, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: N/A
Finding a river in the ocean might seem like a bit of an oxymoron. After all, isn’t the ocean all water? Well, be prepared to be surprised, as divers discovered an underwater river hidden underneath a cloud of toxic gas off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
The river’s source is the Cenote Angelita, a massive sinkhole. Apparently, ninety feet beneath the surface, this river flows out to the ocean. Surrounding it is a blanket of hydrogen sulfide that would instantly kill anyone who attempted to breathe it in. To make the scenery even creepier, petrified trees and even a small skeleton are located in the noxious cloud. Ancient Mayans believed the Cenote Angelita was a gateway to Hell, and perhaps they had a point.
7. Long-lost Ship Found in Namibian Desert — with Gold Aboard
Location: Oranjemund, Namibia
Year Discovered: 2008
Est. Value: $13 million*
When you think of places where you’d find a ship, the Namibian Desert is probably last on your list. But, believe it or not, that is where the remains of the Bom Jesus were found. This Portuguese ship disappeared five-hundred-years ago when it sank off the coast of Namibia. As the coastline waters receded, the Bom Jesus reemerged.
When it sank in a fierce storm, it was on its way to India laden with treasures like gold and copper ingots. Diamond miners discovered the ship and alerted the Namibian government, who sent out a team to dig up the wreckage. Two-thousand pure gold coins and tens of thousands of pounds of copper ingots were discovered on the Bom Jesus, almost all intact.
8. Secret Underground Theater Found in Paris Catacombs
Location: Paris, France
Year Discovered: 2004
Est. Value: $5,000-$10,000* (Cost To Build)
The Paris Catacombs are a labyrinth located in the heart of France. The Catacombs were built when the city needed a better location to store the dead. So, Paris chose tunnels, five stories underground, into which they emptied bodies beginning in the late 1700s.
That background makes this discovery extra eerie. In August of 2004, Parisian police doing a training exercise discovered a fully-equipped movie theater in one of the Catacombs’ formerly-uncharted caverns. Terraces were cut into the rock to form an amphitheater, in which projection equipment, a full-sized cinema screen, and a variety of thrillers and noir films were found. The films were neither offensive nor banned; it seems as though someone just wanted to set up their own creepy, private theater.
9. Family Discover Ancient Chapel Hidden Under Their House
Location: Shropshire, England
Year Discovered: 2010
Est. Value: $10,000-$50,000* (Cost To Build, Adj. For Inflation)
This unusual discovery seems as though it would be the beginning of a horror movie. In Shropshire, England, Pat and Diane Farla were having a Good Friday party when one of them decided to finally look behind the six-foot-long rectangular plate on their wall. Believe it or not, they hadn’t looked behind there in the three years they’d owned the home.
After pulling the plate away, they discovered a hole that led them to a tiny, underground chapel. The cellar-like contraption had pews and a cross, confirming that it was of a religious nature. Authorities believe that this underground church could have been used centuries ago by congregations fleeing religious persecution during one of England’s many religious wars.
10. A 1,000-Year-Old Viking Ship Found Buried on Farm
Location: Edoy, Norway
Year Discovered: 2019
Est. Value: $545,000*
A team of archaeologists using ground penetrating radar discovered something unusual buried on a farm in Norway. They found that, below the surface of the frigid earth, there was a ship that dated back to either the Merovingian or Viking Period. The ship was only buried two feet below the ground.
The archaeological team was there for a totally different expedition, and they pretty much found this ship by mistake. It was part of a burial mound from one-thousand years ago. Their deep-radar technique was the same one used to find the GJellestad Ship, also located in Norway.
11. Couple Finds 50-year-old Safe Hidden in Kitchen Wall
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: $52,000*
A couple in Phoenix, Arizona were renovating their kitchen when they discovered a strange safe hiding behind the wall of their kitchen. When they opened, they found not only $50,000 and liquor, but also the directions to a treasure hunt.
The $100 bills were joined by a bottle of bourbon from the 1960s. The last item in the safe was A Guide for the Perplexed by E.F. Schumacher, a novel published in 1977. Passages were outlined in the book, which came with a map of Arizona and a Bingo card with numbers outlined. So far, the couple has yet to crack the complicated set of clues.
12. One-Of-A-Kind Qing Dynasty Vase Discovered in Attic
Location: Paris, France
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: $19 million*
When homeowners in France were sorting through their attic, they spotted an ornately decorated, beautiful porcelain vase. The vase had gone unnoticed for years, but, when the couple saw it, they had it taken to Paris for a Sotheby’s appraisal.
Sotheby’s discovered that the vase was an original work of art from the Qing Dynasty, and they appraised it at $590,000 to $825,000. But, this hidden treasure would go on to sell for far more than its value, as an auction buyer scooped it up for a winning bid of $19 million. This piece must truly have been one-of-a-kind to fetch that price.
13. Two Brothers Find $15m Painting in Wall
Location: Arlington, Vermont
Year Discovered: 2006
Est. Value: $15.4 million*
Two brothers were going through their father’s home in a postmortem excavation when they discovered something surprising hidden within the walls. It was an original Norman Rockwell painting. But, this Rockwell matched the one hanging on the wall just a few inches away.
As it turned out, the brothers’ father was hiding the pricey original from his ex-wife during a divorce. He hid the real Rockwell in the wall, putting up a convincing fake in its place. There it hung for years until the father passed away. Later at a Sotheby’s auction, this painting, titled “Breaking Home Ties,” sold for $15.4 million.
14. Missing Original Mark Twain Script Found in a Trunk
Location: Hollywood, California
Year Discovered: 1991
Est. Value: $1.5 million*
This priceless literary artifact was lost for over a century before it was discovered in a trunk in an attic in 1991. The 665-page document was written by hand by famous author Mark Twain. This copy of Huckleberry Finn deviated widely from its original source text, shaking up what we thought we knew about modern literature.
The Mark Twain Project at U.S.C. said that they “believed” the manuscript would never be found, as Twain himself had sent it to Buffalo, New York, where it vanished. The owner of the trunk was the granddaughter of one of Twain’s close friends, and she immediately turned it over to Sotheby’s for authentication.
15. Terracotta Warriors Discovered in Pit Around Secret Tomb
Location: Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Year Discovered: 1974
Est. Value: $4.5 million per warrior*
In 1974, Chinese workers building a well discovered thousands of terracotta clay figures dressed for battle. The Terracotta Army, as it is now known, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a designation it received in 1987. The Army was found near the mausoleum constructed for Qin Shi Huang, the first Chinese emperor.
The figures are extremely detailed, and they are an entire replica of all of the king’s warriors. There are 8,000 terracotta soldiers in total, and just 2,000 of them have been excavated. The warriors were designed to protect the emperor when he made his journey to the afterlife in 210 B.C.
16. Swedish Scientists Reveal Findings of Deep-Sea ‘Alien’ Hunt
Location: Baltic Sea
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: Unknown
A deep-sea alien hunt already sounds promising, as far as finding something creepy and weird goes. Swedish scientists conducting such an expedition didn’t disappoint when they discovered what many people thought was a spaceship hidden at the depths of the Baltic Sea.
Though the explorers denied that it was a spaceship, they’re not sure what exactly this anomaly is. The Ocean Explorer team’s leader, Peter Lindberg, said it was some “natural geological formation.” According to Lindberg, this strange form wasn’t an alien spaceship, as it was “not made of metal,” a statement to which many people replied, “Who said alien spaceships have to be made of metal?”
17. WWII Plane Found in Jungle with Coffee Still in Thermoses
Location: Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Year Discovered: 1972
Est. Value: $9 million*
The “Swamp Ghost” was a Boeing B-17E bomber that no doubt wreaked havoc in World War II. That is until the plane went down in 1942 in the jungles of Papua New Guinea after being hit by enemy fire. The downing of the Swamp Ghost occurred during a raid on Japanese forces in Rabaul, New Britain.
The plane was left untouched for decades. When it was discovered in 1972, it was well-preserved by the kunai grass and mire. The Swamp Ghost was so intact that there was still coffee in thermoses in the cockpit when it was found. According to some sources, the value of such a well-preserved WWII plane is around $9 million.
18. A Shocking Discovery from 2000-year-old Shipwreck: The Antikythera Mechanism
Location: Antikythera, Greece
Year Discovered: 1900
Est. Value: Priceless
The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient, two-thousand-year-old astronomical calculator that consists of thirty hand-cut, precise bronze gears. The advanced tool was made by ancient Greeks, and it has taken scientists years to unravel the mystery behind this device, which Cardiff University’s Mike Edmunds described as pricier “than the Mona Lisa.”
The machine was discovered in 1900 by sponge divers looking through an ancient shipwreck near Antikythera, a small Greek island. Using radiocarbon data, scientists were able to date this clock to 65 B.C. When it comes to its total value, its historical nature makes it nearly priceless. Who can put a number to discovering how ancient civilizations read the skies?
19. A Secret Mummy Found in a Statue
Location: China
Year Discovered: 1990
Est. Value: $80,000*
This ancient, thousand-year-old Buddha statue was valuable enough on its own, but what was hiding inside it shocked researchers in 1990. These historians were running tests on the Buddha idol, as they wanted to restore it to its former, glittering glory. The tests would tell them the best way to go about the restoration.
When conducting an X-ray to determine what the statue was made of, scientists were amazed to find a human skeleton. The statue was not a statue at all—it was a sarcophagus for a mummy. As a result, the scientists decided to leave the burial place as the final resting place it was intended.
20. Abandoned Burger King From the ’80s Found Hidden Behind a Wall
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: $50,000* (Franchise Fee)
The Concord Mall is the oldest mall in Delaware, and it has seen a number of restaurants, attractions, and shops come and go over the years. In the late 1980s, Concord opened a Burger King in the mall, and, in 2009, that Burger King’s reign as a prime mall eatery came to an end.
But, the Burger King was not torn down; it was simply walled over. In the summer of 2022, a photo went viral of the hidden BK behind the wall, and people were amazed at how its vintage aesthetic, in all its 1980s-fast-food glory, was still perfectly preserved.
21. Man Builds Hidden Studio Suspended Under Bridge
Location: Valencia, Spain
Year Discovered: N/A
Est. Value: $1,000-$5,000*
When a lot of us were kids, we built secret forts and hideaways in the backyard or the house. These beloved childhood memories are what inspired Spanish citizen Fernando Abellanas to construct a tiny studio apartment underneath a bridge in Valencia, Spain.
Abellanas, a self-taught designer, created his little “fort” with some pretty ingenious engineering. It has shelving, a chair, a desk, and a bed to sleep in. He can even fold the walls up or down to create a more open or closed space. Of all the things you’d expect to find under a bridge, a moveable studio apartment is one of the most surprising.
22. Mysterious Metal Monoliths Appear Everywhere in 2020
Location: Utah, California, Romania, and New Mexico
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: Unknown
2020 was an insane year, and one news story that kept popping up sparked quite a few alien conspiracy theories. In Utah, California, Romania, and New Mexico (prime alien locations), identical monoliths kept popping up. These long, vertical metal slabs stood ten to twelve feet long, and they appeared in these locations without warning.
People were reminded of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and, like the totems in that movie, not much is known about these, which is likely the point. They are inexplicable and beautiful, and no one can decide whether this was an art installation, a government mind control attempt, a weird prank, an alien invasion, or something else.
23. Lavish Third-Century Home Found Under the Streets of Rome
Location: Rome, Italy
Year Discovered: 2017
Est. Value: Unknown
In 2017, excavators were digging underneath Rome to build a new metro line. As Rome is one of the oldest major cities, a lot of interesting things were found. For example, during the digging, builders found the ruins of a fancy third-century home that had been destroyed in a fire.
They also found a 1,800-year-old skeleton of a crouched dog that likely perished in the blaze. The fire stopped the ruins in their tracks, and the home, though charred, was remarkably well-preserved because of the ash. Experts believed that this home belonged to an aristocrat from Celian Hill.
24. Couple Discovers Perfectly Preserved 1961 Fallout Shelter in Their Backyard
Location: Woodland Hills, California
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: $5,400*
The 1960s was an intense time for the world. America and Russia were at odds, and the possibility of nuclear war loomed large on everyone’s mind. Some people even built fallout shelters and bunkers in their backyard. In 2013, a Woodland Hills, California couple discovered such a shelter in their new home.
Though they had known about the bunker when they bought the home, they thought, at the time, that it was just a hole in the ground. When they explored the fallout shelter, they discovered a subterranean time capsule stocked with perfectly-preserved vintage supplies, including food, water, bedding, and more.
25. Farmer Finds 4,500-year-old Statuette of Ancient Goddess
Location: Gaza Strip, Palestine
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: Unknown
While working his land in the Gaza Strip, a farmer stumbled upon a limestone sculpture of Anat, an ancient Canaan goddess. The 4,500-year-old deity was the goddess of beauty, love, and war, according to Canaanite mythology. The farmer, Nidal Abu Eid, told NBC News that he immediately knew the statue was important because it had an “inscription of a snake” on its head.
The goddess, according to the legend, wore the snake as a crown of invisibility and strength. According to some historians, Anat inspired Athena, the Grecian goddess of war, as Athena is also often surrounded by snake imagery.
26. Ancient Roman Coins Found in Japanese Castle Ruins
Location: Okinawa, Japan
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: $10,000-$100,000*
Katsuren Castle, an old imperial building in Okinawa, Japan, was the site of a very strange discovery: ancient Ottoman and Roman coins. Ten of these ancient coins were found in Japan’s southern prefecture, and it was a researcher from Ganoji, Toshio Tsukamoto, who spotted the coins in the ruins.
Though the excavation of Kasturen began in 2013, the coins were not discovered until 2016. Other artifacts found included Chinese ceramics and coins, which were acquired through trading with China. As for the Roman and Ottoman coins, archeologists are stumped as to how those wound up in a southern Japanese castle-like Kasturen.
27. Man Walking His Dog Finds $100,000 Floating Down River
Location: Lincolnshire, England
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: $100,000*
All dog owners have taken their furry canine friend for a walk before, but one dog dad’s walk yielded something totally unexpected. While walking along the Spalding River in the U.K. in November of 2013, one man spotted wads of cash floating in the water.
He called authorities, who then retrieved the money from the Spalding. All in all, the total sum found ended up being $100,000. Some of the cash had water damage, but the majority of the notes were in good condition, according to Lincolnshire Police, who then conducted a forensic examination of the money to see if they could determine where it came from (and to whom it really belongs).
28. La Paz County Sheriff Find Underwater Skeleton Tea Party
Location: Colorado River, La Paz, Arizona
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: $50*
La Paz County Sheriff deputies teamed up with the Buckskin Fire Department in Arizona when the former got a call about possible human remains in the Colorado River. A diver went down with a video camera to inspect, and there, he found two skeletons having a tea party.
The skeletons were fake, thankfully, and they were both seated upright in lawn chairs. One even wore aviators and a bib. The other held a sign that said, “Dream in the River” with a date of August 16, 2014. Was this an art installation? Discarded Halloween decorations? Some type of shrine? We may never know.
29. Atari’s “E.T.” Video Games Unearthed from New Mexico Landfill
Location: Alamogordo, New Mexico
Year Discovered: 2014
Est. Value: $5-$10 million*
This story is a shocker with a lot of twists and turns. In the fall of 1983, video game maker Atari realized that its much-maligned E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial video game was a huge flop. So, Atari decided to do something about its excess inventory, and it secretly buried much of the stock in an Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill.
The “Atari Dump” became the stuff of urban legends, as no one believed that the E.T. game had been that much of a failure. That is, until 2014, when an exploratory dig in Alamogordo revealed that the Atari Dump had been real all along. Atari’s game was so hated that burying millions of copies in the New Mexico desert was the best alternative to trying to sell them.
30. Israel Finds New Dead Sea Scrolls – 75 Years Later
Location: Murabba’at Caves, Nahal Darga Reserve, Israel
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: Priceless
Israel is a common site for religiously-significant, historical finds, but it’s safe to say that no one expected this. During an exhaustive, intensive survey of the Judean Desert, The Israeli Antiquities Authority revealed that it found new fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the first find of its kind in six decades.
These new Scrolls contained pieces of the book of the twelve minor prophets, including Nahum and Zechariah. The new discovery was thought to be part of the Minor Prophets, a scroll found in the early 1950s that contains information about the End of Days. The Scrolls survived for thousands of years, thanks to the hot, arid conditions in which the fragments were found.
31. WWI Soldier’s Love Letters Found Hidden in Wall
Location: U.S.
Year Discovered: 2014
Est. Value: N/A
World War I was an intensely traumatic time for societies all around the world, as the intensity of the weaponry and the death toll made many people believe that Earth as they knew it was ending. All soldiers fighting in the bloody battle had to hold onto were their fellow fighters, as well as correspondences from loved ones back home.
One man was excavating his home and found WWI love letters from 1918 in his attic wall. The letters were written by a man named Clement to Mary, his love. Happily the homeowner, Phil Mathies, tracked down Clement’s family, and they confirmed that he did, in fact, end up with Mary after the War.
32. Couple’s New Home Comes With Secret Hidden Room
Location: U.S.
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: $3,000-$10,000* (Cost To Install)
Finding a hidden room in your new home is never a good thing, and, if scary movies tell us anything, you should be wary of such a discovery. One couple was left horrified when their Logan, Utah home unveiled a strange secret room hiding in the lounge. The entryway was located behind a bookcase.
The room was listed on the blueprints of the home, which was constructed in the late 1970s. The concrete room consisted of just one folding chair inside. Theories ranged from the room being a dungeon to being a panic room, with one Redditor saying it looked like the latter. Still, that doesn’t really explain the solitary folding chair.
33. Largest Diamond in the World Found in Arkansas
Location: Murfreesboro, Arkansas
Year Discovered: 1924
Est. Value: $1 million*
When you think of diamond mining, you probably think of African mining. However, in America, there have been some pretty unique finds of these spectacular, valuable jewels. In 1924 in Murfreesboro, Arkansas during an early digging operation, one minor found the largest diamond ever discovered in America.
Later named Uncle Sam, this diamond weighed 40.23 carats. It was white with a pink cast, and it was sold by a dealer in Boston for $150,000 to a private collector in 1971. In today’s money, that makes this diamond worth $1 million. Arkansas State Parks described Uncle Sam as a “one in a billion gem.”
34. Family Finds Bags Stuffed with $1M Lying on Road
Location: Caroline County, Virginia
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: $1 million*
Picking up trash on the side of the road sounds like a very unglamorous hobby, but, for one family, it definitely paid off. While traveling in Virginia, a family saw two white sacks on the side of the road that they believed were garbage. Intent on fixing what they thought was litter, they threw the “trash” bags into the back of their car.
When they opened them, they discovered that it was not a litterbug’s castoffs that they had found—it was one million dollars. The family did the right thing and turned the money over to the sheriff’s office. Alas, the money doesn’t seem to have come from a glamorous or blockbuster-movie-esque source. It allegedly was the property of the post office, and the bags fell out of the truck on the way to the bank.
35. Man Discovers Sprawling Tunnel System Filled With Bats in His Home
Location: Southern Italy
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: Unknown
A homeowner in Southern Italy discovered that his house had a real-life Bat Cave in it, telling his wild story on Reddit. He purchased the two-bathroom, six-bedroom house in 2020. He knew there were a few tunnels, but they were listed as “storage.” On the deed plan, the tunnels were listed as dining rooms.
When the purchaser got the chance to explore, he was amazed at how deep the tunnels went. The subterranean system was three levels spanning thousands of square feet. Unfortunately, many of these underground caverns were infested with bats, meaning that the homeowner had to be careful even attempting to explore this fascinating, creepy find.
36. Man Finds Hidden Attic Full of Valuable Antiques
Location: Geneva, New York
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: $5,000* (Susan B. Anthony Photograph Value)
Talk about a gift that keeps on giving. When David Whitcomb bought a building in Geneva, New York in December of 2020, he planned to use it solely as a law office. It wasn’t until he and a friend began exploring his new buy that they discovered the structure had a hidden attic that was full of valuable, historical antique treasures.
The attic wasn’t in the home’s paperwork, as the third floor had not been used in decades. The attic, as it turned out, was the former workspace of James Hale, a historically significant photographer. In the workspace, Whitcomb found original prints of photos of figures like Susan B. Anthony.
37. Mysterious Earthen Rings Found in the Amazon
Location: Amazon Rainforest
Year Discovered: 2014
Est. Value: N/A
The Amazon holds the distinction of being the largest jungle in the world, and it is home to more than 4,700 different animal species and a whole lot of secrets. There have been things discovered in the Amazon that have defied scientific explanations. The Amazon Rings are one of these unusual findings.
Circular rings, pressed into the landscape of the Amazon, were found in the jungle by aerial view. Researchers determined that these rings predate the rainforest itself. It would be unlikely for ancient peoples to create these rings, as that would harm the Amazon, so the history behind these unusual features is, for now, inexplicable.
38. Ancient “City Of Giants” Uncovered In Ethiopia
Location: Harlaa, Ethiopia
Year Discovered: 2017
Est. Value: Priceless
Archaeologists excavating in Harlaa, Ethiopia came across an ancient city that shed light on the history of trade between Asia and East Africa. These researchers became interested in the site after hearing local Harlaa legends about a “city of giants” that existed there a long time ago.
Locals had come across the city’s ruins and, because the city was constructed out of such large stones, they assumed that the builders were a race of giants. Though no evidence points to such a people, the centuries-old site has yielded findings like rock crystal, glass vessels, glass beads, cowry shells, carnelian, pottery, and more from China, India, and Egypt. These findings led archaeologists to conclude that the ancient city was a major cosmopolitan destination in East Africa.
39. Giant Reservoir of ‘Hidden Water’ Discovered on Mars
Location: Mars
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: N/A
A Chinese space probe called Zhurong landed in Utopia Planitia, a plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars, in 2021. It landed in the same spot that Viking 2, NASA’s lander, arrived in 1976. Zhurong’s mission was to find ancient life, and the craft is still orbiting Mars now.
Data came back from Zhurong that excited scientists and believers in life on other planets. The probe found data that indicated that the Utopia Planitia Basin was filled with water, meaning that Mars was not as cold and dry as investigators once thought. Finding wet minerals indicates that there could be life, whether presently or in the past.
40. American Declaration of Independence Found in Thrift Store
Location: Pennsylvania
Year Discovered: 1991
Est. Value: $2.18 million*
You can find a lot of weird things in thrift stores, and some people are even lucky enough to find items of serious value. That was what happened to a collector at a Pennsylvania flea market. He bought a “dismal” painting for $4 because he liked the frame surrounding the artwork. When he took the art out, he discovered a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
After having it authenticated, he learned that this copy was the first printing of the historical relic. When it went up for auction in June of 1991, it was valued at $1 million (about $2.18 million in today’s money).
41. Couple Finds Medieval Well Under Their Living Room Floor
Location: Plymouth, England
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: Unknown
A British couple was attempting to find out why their living room was not level when they found an amazing discovery underneath their foundation. When they pulled up the floorboards, they discovered a thirty-three-foot-deep well that dates back to medieval times.
After some research, the well was built in the 1500s as part of an aqueduct. Sir Francis Drake built the aqueduct to carry water from Plymouth to Dartmouth. Since discovering the well, the homeowners have covered it with a trapdoor and installed lights to show it off. Let’s just hope this won’t wind up as the plot for the next installation of .
42. Mysterious Safe Discovered in the Middle of a New York Field
Location: Barre, New York
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: Unknown (For Now)
2020 was a year of strange events, and this one definitely makes the list of strange occurrences. In the center of an agricultural field in NY, Kirk Mathes discovered a 600-pound safe. The metal safe would have had to be transported by heavy-duty machinery, though no one knew who put it there, when, or why.
A note attached to the safe read, “If you open it, you can keep what’s inside.” The farmer, Kirk, has no desire to open the safe, as he thinks mystery does a good job of distracting people from the humdrum of their daily lives. When asked who he believes put the safe in the field, Mathes was unbothered, saying he expected that some “jokers” and “wise guys” did it. It’s certainly a question that no amount of Googling will ever solve.
43. $4 Million Chunk of Quartz Found in Arkansas
Location: Coleman Mine, Arkansas
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: $4 million*
If you go to the Smithsonian Museum, you will find an eight-thousand-pound lump of quartz. This one-of-a-kind stone, called the Berns Quartz, was discovered in a mine in Arkansas in 2016, and it is now in charge of welcoming people to the Smithsonian as part of the National Gem and Minerals Collection.
A piece of clear quartz is just $14 on Amazon, but a clear cluster this big is rare and valued in the millions. The cluster likely formed after the Ouachita Mountains started to erode millions of years ago, exposing the Berns Quartz, among other deeply-buried veins of crystals, within the Arkansas mountain range.
44. Stonehenge-Like Structure Discovered at the Bottom of Lake Michigan
Location: Lake Michigan, USA
Year Discovered: 2017
Est. Value: N/A
Archaeologists were looking underneath the waters of Lake Michigan when they discovered something eerie and impossibly cool. Using remote sensors, scientists found a Stonehenge-like structure forty feet below the surface of the waters of Grand Traverse Bay.
We’ve all seen documentaries about Stonehenge on The History Channel, and, to this day, people do not know how the prehistoric structure was built. To find a similar structure underneath the waters of Lake Michigan just adds another layer to the mystery. In addition to this fascinating find, the scientist also discovered a pier from the Civil War and a lot of sunken cars and boats.
45. Nanotechnology Found in an Ancient Roman Chalice
Location: England
Year Discovered: 1950s/1990s
Est. Value: Priceless
This 1,600-year-old Roman chalice is called the Lycurgus Cup, as its scene involves Thrace’s King Lycurgus. While it might seem like a regular, if fancy, ancient drinking vessel, it is actually far more than that. This cup contains the key to technology that could diagnose diseases or identify security biohazards at airports.
The cup looks jade-green when you light it from the front, but it turns blood red when you light it from behind. It took decades to figure out how this cup, which was discovered in the 1950s, could do this, but researchers found the answer in 1990. It turns out that ancient Romans were nanotech pioneers who had used precious metals to alter the cup’s electrons. Far from being a HBO Game of Thrones decorative piece, technology like this could hold answers to both future and historic questions.
46. Giant Stone Sphere Discovered in Bosnian Forest
Location: Zavidovici, Bosnia
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: $3,200* (Iron Content Value)
This ten-foot-wide, 35-ton stone ball has raised a lot of questions for academics as to whether it was formed by a lost civilization or Mother Nature. If the answer is the former, what could these people or aliens have used it for?
The gigantic sphere was discovered in 2016 outside Zavidovici, Bosnia. The prehistoric ball helped earn its discoverer, Semir Osmanagich, the nickname the “Bosnian Indian Jones.” The sphere could be quite valuable, as it likely has a high iron content. If the stone is man-made, then it is the largest structure of its kind in Europe, and it could point to past advanced civilizations that we do not currently know much about.
47. Action Comics #1 Found Hidden in Wall
Location: Minnesota, USA
Year Discovered: 2010s
Est. Value: $176,000*
It’s amazing what people find in their homes when they are renovating them, particularly if the homes were built decades ago. David Gonzales, when renovating his home in Minnesota, discovered a copy of Action Comics #1, which marked Superman’s first appearance in the DC series.
The Marvel competitor’s Action Comics comic books were among its most lucrative, and the earliest versions are now hard to find among comic book collectors. Gonzales’ copy, which he later sold for nearly $200,000, was in better condition than many others out there. Believe it or not, the former homeowners, who constructed the property in 1938, had been using the comic book, along with a host of other papers, as insulation for their walls.
48. Piano Tuner Discovers Gold Sovereign Coins Inside Piano
Location: Shrewsbury, England
Year Discovered: 2017
Est. Value: $400,000-$600,000*
Bishops Castle Community College sent an old piano to a tuner to have it repaired. When the tuner took it apart, he discovered what would later be termed the largest hoard of gold coins ever discovered in Britain. The gold’s former owner had hidden the coins in the piano, never to return to get them.
The Coroner’s Court of Shrewsbury declared the find “treasure,” which meant the College and tuner got to split the proceeds. The 913 gold sovereigns dated from 1847 to 1915, and their total value was estimated at around $400,000 to $600,000. Though fifty people came forward to claim the treasure as their own, the county coroner, John Ellery, believed none of them and ruled the true owner’s identity “unknown.”
49. Man Unearths Haunting Discovery During Pool Dig
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Year Discovered: 2011
Est. Value: N/A
Some people believe that New Orleans is one of the most haunted cities in America, and finds like these could prove those theorists correct. Not all discoveries are of buried treasure—some are more the material of a Halloween tale. While digging in his French Quarter backyard, one man found an old cemetery.
He found thirteen caskets on his block, which is one of the oldest neighborhoods in New Orleans. As it turns out, the homeowner’s neighborhood was the site of the first-ever graveyard back in the 1700s. The homeowner said he expected to find “something,” being that this was the French Quarter; he just didn’t expect that something to be human remains.
50. Hidden Catacombs Beneath the Streets of Indianapolis
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Year Discovered: Late 1800s
Est. Value: N/A
We all know about the Parisian Catacombs, those large, creepy underground systems. But, what people might not know is that there are catacombs all around the world, including beneath peoples’ feet in Indianapolis, Indiana’s City Market.
There is no outside entrance into the catacombs underneath City Market, and the interior entrance is hidden from the public. If you do get through, you’ll see stairs leading to a concrete basement. From there, you can head into the catacombs, where over 140 columns create a labyrinthian underground maze. The brick catacombs can be reached through the basement of the 1800s-built Tomlinson Hall, a four-story, multi-purpose former convention center.
51. 239 Rare Gold Coins Discovered in Walls of French Mansion
Location: Brittany, France
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: $356,000*
Rare gold coins are the classic idea of treasure. When a pirate opens up his treasure chest in a movie, that’s what we all expect to be in there. Usually, these treasure troves aren’t found in walls of manors, but that is exactly what happened in an historic property in Brittany, France.
Construction workers were renovating the manor when they discovered a metal box hidden in the wall. When they opened it, the box revealed 239 rare gold coins that were minted during King Louis XIII and XIV’s reigns. The workers found a cache hidden near a wooden beam, too. The total monetary value of these finds was around $356,000.
52. Couple Finds Stolen ‘Buried Treasure’ in Their Backyard
Location: Staten Island, New York
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: $52,000*
For some of the findings on this list, what seems like buried treasure is actually stolen treasure. In Staten Island, the Emanuels were excited when they found a rotting, rusted metal box buried in their backyard. The couple Matthew and Maria, found the box while they were planting trees.
When they looked inside, they discovered $52,000 in valuables, including $100 bills, diamonds, gold, and jade. Inside the bag was also an address that belonged to the Emanuels’ neighbors. Matthew and Maria went next door and asked them if they had ever been robbed. The neighbors said they had several years ago, and, long story short, the NYPD reunited the robbery victims with their $52,000 in valuables.
53. World’s Largest Pearl Found Hidden Under Bed for 10 Years
Location: Palawan, Philippines
Year Discovered: 2009
Est. Value: $93 million*
What’s under your bed? Most of us have a lot of dust bunnies, as well as some random items that might have slipped under there at some point over the years. One person in Palawan, Philippines found something completely unexpected: a 75-pound pearl that had been lying there for ten years.
The owner of the bed forgot it was there, though he originally stored the pearl, which came from a giant clam, under his bed as a good luck charm. Now called the Puerto Princesa pearl, this 2.2’ x 1’ pearl is displayed in the city hall of the town in which it was discovered. According to NPR, the pearl, which was originally found by a fisherman, is worth around $93 million.
54. Student Buys Flea-market Sofa, Finds Venetian Painting Inside
Location: Berlin, Germany
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: $27,630*
Students often hit up thrift stores as a way to find cheap furniture. One lucky student shopper purchased a pullout couch for just $215 at a store in Berlin, Germany. When she unfolded the couch at her home, she discovered a painting worth around one hundred times that amount.
After having it authenticated, it was determined that the 10” x 15” painting was “Preparation to Escape to Egypt,” created by an unknown artist working with Carlo Saraceni, a famous Venetian painter, from 1605 to 1620. How the painting survived in such good condition was amazing, and it was later sold at auction for nearly $28,000 in Hamburg.
55. Tombstones Found Washed up at the Beach
Location: Ocean Beach, San Diego, California
Year Discovered: 2012
Est. Value: $1,000-$3,000 per tombstone* (Adj. For Inflation)
Well, this is certainly a good way to put a damper on a fun beach day. In 2012, two beachcombers discovered something unusual on Ocean Beach in San Francisco. They found the tombstone from twenty-year-old Emma Bosworth, who died in 1876. Just a month after this discovery, yet another tombstone floated ashore.
This one was dated back to 1890, and it belonged to Delia Prescot, who died at just twenty-six-years-old. The tombstones found their way onto Ocean Beach because San Francisco moved cemeteries within city limits to Colma, CA. During the movie, tombstones were left behind, where they were repurposed into a sea wall. When parts of the seawall broke off, these stones washed ashore to creep out beachgoers.
56. Mysterious Cone-shaped Structure Found in the Sea of Galilee
Location: Sea of Galilee, Israel
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: Unknown
There have been a lot of strange things found at the bottom of oceans, lakes, and other bodies of water. Researchers were testing sonar equipment in Israel’s Sea of Galilee when they found something unusual at the bottom of the water.
The cone-shaped structure confused scientists, as it was massive, stretching 230 feet in width with a height of 39 feet. It was estimated that this giant undersea cone weighed as much as 60,000 tons. The structure is similar to other burial sites discovered nearby, so it could be a ceremonial structure. But, because it is so deep underwater, it is hard to study, though researchers have estimated that the cone is 6,000 years old.
57. Couple Discovers 1950s Suitcase Packed with $23k in Rafters
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: $23,000*
While doing renovations, a couple in Cleveland, Ohio made a valuable discovery worth tens of thousands. They found a suitcase from the 1950s that was jam-packed with cash wrapped in wax parchment paper. The total value of the cash was $23,000. Based on a Plain Dealer tucked in the suitcase, the cash was hidden in 1951.
The anonymous couple, who said that they would be using the cash to pay off their mortgage, had been living in the home for years before making the discovery. He and his wife had been focusing on improving the century-old house, and this renovation task was one of the last items the couple had to accomplish.
58. Mysterious Figures Found Inside an Alabama Cave
Location: Alabama
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: Priceless
For one thousand years, the largest cave art in North America remained hidden. That is, until 2022 when researchers conducting 3D scans found massive Native American cave drawings in the dark, cramped interior of the Nineteenth Unnamed Cave, located in Alabama (the name is kept hidden to keep the cave from being vandalized by thrill-seekers).
The drawings include four humanlike figures in elaborate outfits and an eleven-foot-long diamondback rattlesnake. The true history behind these figures is unknown, though some historians believed that they might depict spirits, as Native Americans regarded caves as sacred portals to the underworld.
59. A Huge, 2000-Year-Old Cat Figure Found Carved into Peru Hillside
Location: Nazca Lines, Peru
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: N/A
People have been cat-lovers for millennia. In Peru, archaeologists were conducting remodeling on a lookout point at the Nazca Lines, a UNESCO heritage site. During this process, they found the faded figure of a cat. At first, the geoglyph was hard to see because it was on a steep slope and had suffered erosion.
Peru’s Ministry of Culture said that they believed the cat outline was at least 2,000 years old, as the style of artwork indicates that it was likely created during the Late Paracas Period. It spans 121 feet long, and its lines are between 12 and 16 inches wide.
60. Treasure Trove of ‘Lost’ Hollywood Posters Found Under Floorboards
Location: Alberta, Canada
Year Discovered: 2009
Est. Value: $600,000*
When people move into a new house, they tend to start doing at least some renovation work. Certain renovations require pulling up the floorboards, and that can sometimes yield a treasure trove. One lucky homeowner in Alberta, Canada found a vast collection of “lost” film posters beneath his feet during his home repairs.
Posters for The Dance of Life, Red Headed Woman, and more were among the hoard. Though the posters had been tucked under the floorboards for years, their colors were still vivid, and they were in near-pristine condition. The total value of the posters was estimated by Heritage Auctions at $600,000.
61. Medical Student Finds the Fabled Forrest Fenn Treasure
Location: The Rocky Mountains
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: $2 million*
Years ago, an antiquities dealer buried $2 million worth of treasure deep in the Rocky Mountains. Forrest Fenn was an unusual man, and he created a treasure hunt that a handful of people died trying to attempt. The former art mogul invited treasure hunters to try to find what he had hidden, and years passed before someone was successful.
An unnamed medical student managed to find the treasure that eluded 300,000 people. The art dealer published his treasure hunt clues in The Art of the Chase, and he said that he was a mix of “sad” and “glad” when the student cracked his code.
62. Two Kids Find a Ferrari Buried in Their Backyard
Location: Los Angeles, California
Year Discovered: 1978
Est. Value: $853,000*
This is a wild story, and it all starts with two boys digging in their yard in California. They stumbled upon a rare 1974 Ferrari Dino GTS a few feet underneath the dirt in their yard. The Dino was crudely wrapped with towels and a tarp, indicating that its former owner meant to exhume it one day.
But, that’s only half the story. As it turns out, the Dino’s former owner hired thieves to steal his own car and dump it in the ocean so he could commit insurance fraud. Instead, the thieves buried the car, hoping to return to pick it up in a plan that never panned out (though the former owner’s insurance fraud scheme worked). The plot of this wacky tale would make for a great movie.
63. Couple Finds $10M in Gold Coins Buried in Yard
Location: Northern California, USA
Year Discovered: 2014
Est. Value: $10 million*
A Northern California couple was out walking their dog when they stumbled across an amazing discovery, right in the heart of Gold Country. Buried within the shadow of an old tree were nearly 1,500 gold coins. Though the face value of the coins was in the tens of thousands, many of the mint-condition pieces were so rare that their face value was far higher.
Much like the leprechaun on the cover of Lucky Charms boxes, this couple truly found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The pair chose, understandably, to remain anonymous in the midst of this major news story, as they wanted to avoid an influx of people coming to their property with metal detectors.
64. Cursed Bag of Cash Found in Backyard
Location: Johnsburg, Illinois
Year Discovered: 2011
Est. Value: $150,000*
When Wayne Sabaj discovered a nylon bag filled with $150,000 in his backyard, he had been unemployed for two years. But, was the bag a blessing or a curse? Sabaj turned it over to the police, who told him that if no one else claimed the money by the end of 2012, it would be turned back over to him.
Sabaj’s neighbor, Dolores Johnson, claimed that she’d gotten rid of the cash because it was “cursed.” She died shortly after telling the police about the cash’s curse. Then, Sabaj himself died, followed by his father. Though his lawyer said that no foul play was suspected in his death, conspiracy theorists still claimed that the Curse of the Nylon Money Bag was what killed him (and two other people) in the end. Perhaps we’ll one day see a Hulu documentary tracing the bag back to its wretched origins.
65. Rabbi Finds $98k in Desk He Bought on Craigslist
Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: $98,000*
One rabbi ordered a desk on Craigslist, as have many people done while searching for furniture. However, he got more than what he bargained for when he took the desk apart to get it inside his minivan.
When the New Haven, Connecticut rabbi removed filing cabinets from this secondhand desk, he discovered a plastic shopping bag full of cash. The total value? $98,000. Rather than keep the money, Rabbi Muroff, a ninth-grade teacher at Yeshiva in New Haven, immediately felt the obligation to return the money. Rabbi Muroff said that it was not theirs to keep, and he and his wife, with whom he found it, knew that God would want them to do the right thing and return it.
66. Live WWII Bombs Found in Orlando Neighborhood
Location: Orlando, Florida
Year Discovered: 2008
Est. Value: $10 million* (Cost Of Cleanup)
This find is not exactly one you’d want to have in your neighborhood, as it’s not quite as inoffensive as gold and other treasure. In one Orlando, Florida neighborhood, it was discovered that live World War II bombs were hidden throughout the thousand-home complex.
The complex was once the PineCastle Jeep Range, where WWII engineers tested bombs. The Army Corps had to come in and clean up the bombs in a $10 million endeavor. All throughout the neatly-kept yards in 2008, there were little red flags denoting where the bombs were buried. Many people were, understandably, outraged that the U.S. military allowed properties to be built on a former bomb-testing range without saying anything.
67. Fairy-Tale Treasure Unearthed by Austrian Man Digging in Yard
Location: Wiener Neustadt, Austria
Year Discovered: 2011
Est. Value: Unknown
If this doesn’t inspire you to go digging in your yard, nothing will. In the spring of 2011, one Austrian man was turning dirt in his backyard when he discovered a treasure trove. The trove was full of hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of jewelry, including 200 rings, ornate belt buckles, brooches, silver plates, and more.
Many of the fragments were encrusted with fossilized coral, pearls, and other valuable materials. The objects, when evaluated, were found to be around 650 years old. Though the Austrian government never assigned a monetary value to this treasure, it did call the find one of the “most significant” discoveries of Middle Age treasure in Austrian history.
68. Mastodon Bones Found in New York Backyard Pond
Location: 2000
Year Discovered: Hyde Park, New York
Est. Value: $6,000*
Once upon a time, dinosaurs ruled the earth. To this day, millions of years later, we’re still finding old, gigantic bones from these massive creatures. In Hyde Park, New York, a man named Larry Lozier was dredging his backyard pond when he stumbled upon what he thought was a large, mud-covered log.
When he scraped some of the mud away, Lozier saw a knobby joint. He knew immediately there was something “unusual” there, and he was right. Scientists from across America converged onto Lozier’s backyard, where it was revealed that, underneath his pond, there was a hidden, well-preserved piece of a mastodon skeleton.
69. Amateur Historian Finds Bronze Age Standing Stone in Backyard
Location: Stroud, Gloucestershire, England
Year Discovered: 2001
Est. Value: Priceless
An amateur historian began looking for the Horestone, a Bronze Age Standing Stone, in 2000. The Horestone had first been referenced in the late 1100s, and Stephen Davis began searching for it hundreds of years after it was “lost.”
Davis and his friend, historian Clare Forbes, discovered the Horestone right in Davis’ own backyard. This standing stone marks a Bronze Age burial site that dates back to 2,500 B.C. It is thought that the Horestone has magical properties, which is why it was a relief when Davis found it in perfect, intact condition. Davis said that, even after thousands of years, the Horestone still had the atmosphere of an ethereal “pagan shrine.”
70. Seattle Underground Tour Reveals Abandoned City
Location: Seattle, Washington
Year Discovered: 1889
Est. Value: $8 million* (Cost Of City Damage)
If you’re ever in Seattle, Washington and have the opportunity to take the Seattle Underground tour, you should definitely do so. The interconnecting tunnels beneath Seattle consist of a subterranean series of hallways, corridors, basements, and more. Inside underground Seattle, you can see the ruins of what were once houses, hotels, and shops.
In the mid-1800s, all of these wooden buildings were at ground level until they were decimated in an 1889 fire started by a woodworker who had a mishap at the stove. The Great Seattle Fire destroyed more than 25 blocks and cost $8 million in damage. During the rebuild, the streets were raised twenty-two feet, causing the former city to be buried but not forgotten.
71. Jawbone of Fabled Sea ‘Devil’ Discovered in Russian Lake
Location: Lake Labynkyr, Siberia, Russia
Year Discovered: 2014
Est. Value: Unknown
Lakes can be just fearsome as oceans when it comes to creatures lurking within their depths. In Lake Labynkyr in Siberia, Russia, divers discovered the remains of an unknown “Sea Devil.” Locals first claimed a devil lived in the lake in the 1800s and, in 2013, those claims were validated.
The massive jaw and skeleton were found at the bottom of the lake, thousands of feet below the surface of the freezing water. Divers took a scan of the “Sea Devil,” and that scan didn’t show a ton of detail, so it wasn’t clear whether the devil was a giant fish, reptile, amphibia, or something else.
72. A Garden Doorstep at a Home in the UK Identified as a Rare Sri Lankan Artifact
Location: Devon, England
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: $47,500*
A garden doorstep found at a home in Devon, U.K. was far more than what it appeared at first glance. Homeowners had the doorstep appraised, only to find out that it was not a step at all—it was an ancient moonstone from Sri Lanka.
These Sandakada Pahana were found in temples in the Anuradhapura Period (400 B.C. to 1,000 A.D.) in Sri Lanka. The homeowner said that the stone came with her home, which her family purchased in 1950. The stone, which Sri Lanka hinted (to no avail) that it actually wants back, sold for nearly $50,000 at a Bonham’s auction in 2013.
73. Boy Finds Cheetah in His Garden
Location: Cambridgeshire, England
Year Discovered: 2008
Est. Value: $1,000-$2,000*
Toby Taylor was nine years old in 2008 when he stumbled upon a discovery that led him running to his mom. He found a cheetah in his back garden in Cambridgeshire. He didn’t try to pet it, instead running in and telling his mother, who at first didn’t believe him.
When his mom, Jules, saw it for herself, she dialed the emergency number. As it turned out, the cheetah was an escapee from the Hamerton Zoo. A short time after her 999 call, the police and zookeepers showed up to collect the spotted, speedy feline, who was no doubt confused about how he ended up in someone’s garden.
74. Woman Finds Tunnel System of Crawl Spaces and a Secret Room in ‘Creepy’ Home
Location: U.S.
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: Unknown
This find is definitely material for the next horror movie to hit theaters. In 2021, a woman on TikTok with the username @j_babii shared a series of videos documenting herself finding weird spaces around her rented home, which was constructed in 1959.
These crawl spaces formed a Coraline-esque system around the home. For example, one miniature door at floor-level on the first floor led to a crawl space, which in turn led to a tunnel that came out in the ceiling of another room. Needless to say, @j_babii was understandably freaked out, calling the tunnels “things that don’t make sense” in her home.
75. Couple Finds 66 Bottles of Prohibition-era Whisky Hidden in Walls
Location: Ames, New York
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: $66,000*
Nick Drummond and Patrick Bakker discovered something unusual in their 100-year-old home. The couple found sixty-six Prohibition-era bottles stashed in the walls of the centurion abode. The pair had been told that their house was built by an infamous bootlegger, but, at the time, they brushed it off as a mere local legend.
That is, until 2020 when they made their boozy discovery during a home renovation. Nick and Patrick found the bottles stashed in hideaways accessed through hatches in the floor and walls. Whiskey from the Prohibition Era is valued at around $1,000 per bottle, according to Blacktail NYC, so it appears that the Ames couple was sitting on a whiskey-filled gold mine.
76. Road Workers Find an Ancient Chinese Mummy
Location: Taizhou, Jiangsu, China
Year Discovered: 2011
Est. Value: N/A (Human Remains)
It’s amazing how many ancient, historical relics can be found by mere chance. In March of 2011, road workers in China were hard at work digging a new pass when they discovered the incredibly well-preserved remains of a 700-year-old woman from the Ming Dynasty, which ruled China from 1368 to 1644.
The woman was high-ranking, judging from her form, which was ensconced in a wooden tomb. The woman’s features, from her face to her shoes, have remained in their original condition, and they have hardly deteriorated. Through this discovery, anthropologists have been able to get a true glimpse of what life was like for people in the Ming Dynasty.
77. 11 Venomous Indian Cobras Discovered in Missouri
Location: Springfield, Missouri
Year Discovered: 1953
Est. Value: $1,650*
The Indian Cobra is found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Nepal. The Naja naja is one of the species responsible for the most snakebites in India. The very venomous snake has a painful, powerful bite that can lead someone to ventilatory failure quite quickly.
The last place you’d expect to find the Indian Cobra is in the middle of the U.S., but that is exactly what happened in 1953 in Missouri. Eleven of these terrifying reptiles escaped through the streets of Springfield, keeping residents on their toes from August until October. Several residents ran into these snakes, fighting them off with garden hoes and whatever else was on hand. It wasn’t until thirty years later that it was revealed that a local pet shop owner set these venomous snakes loose.
78. Turkey’s Newest Ancient Underground City Accidentally Discovered by Workers
Location: Nevsehir, Turkey
Year Discovered: 2019
Est. Value: N/A
In 2019, workers in the Nevsehir Province of Turkey were carrying out an urban renewal project when they discovered something very creepy and unexpected. A 5,000-year-old city measuring 100 acres (five million square feet) was 370 below the ground.
The three-floor city had tunnels, homes, houses of worship, and more. Parts of the city were flooded, which explained the flooding problems that Neveshir had been having. In one of the rooms of this long-lost haven was a small figurine, which anthropologists in Turkey believe was some sort of icon to the former denizens of this underground city.
79. The Williams Enigmalith: A Strange Rock
Location: Unknown (Finder Refused To Say)
Year Discovered: 1998
Est. Value: $500,000*
In 1998, John J. Williams was hiking when he noticed an unusual metallic protrusion sticking out of the dirt. He dug up what was a strange-looking rock, and he took it home, cleaning it. He had it analyzed, and the rock was made from granite, feldspar, and quartz. Williams, an electrical engineer, believed that the rock was around 100,000 years old.
The rock had an electrical component to it that had a weak magnetic attraction, and this device was part of the rock—it hadn’t been welded or soldered. Williams never revealed the precise location of this find, though he did say he found it far from human civilization. His theory? This rock is an ancient alien device.
80. Locomotives Dating Back to the 1850s Found at the Bottom of the Sea
Location: Off The Coast of New Jersey
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: Unknown
We’ve seen human graveyards discovered in unusual places on this list, but a train graveyard is something new. In 2013, archeologists searching through the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New Jersey discovered two trains buried underneath 90 feet of seawater. The steam engines were in good condition, as the salt from the water preserved them for nearly two centuries.
Some believe that the engines were being transported by a ship that sank in a storm. They might have fallen from the barge, or the crew could have pushed them from the ship to prevent their vessel from going down in the stormy sea.
81. Bored Man Discovered 120-Year-Old Tunnel Under His House
Location: Plymouth, Devon, England
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: Unknown
In 2020, a lot of people were stuck in the house and decided to do some DIY projects. Some went well, while others led to a frantic call to a contractor. One man DIY’ing his house in 2020 had an altogether different experience.
He saw that one wall in his house was a different texture than the others, and he decided to investigate. He knocked down the wall and found a 120-year-old tunnel that led beneath his home. When he went through the tunnel, he found paint cans, an old newspaper, random tins and bottles, an old bicycle, and other random items. After consulting with a historian friend, the man surmised that this old tunnel was an elaborate cellar, a common feature of nineteenth-century homes.
82. Secret ‘Creepy’ Tunnel Found While Renovating Shop
Location: Runcorn, England
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: Unknown
Renovations are a gold mine, at least when it comes to finding strange objects and additions to a home or commercial building. In 2022, two salon owners in Runcorn, England were renovating their business property when they discovered a secret room and tunnel hidden behind a staircase.
The mysterious area was full of tiny glass squares, a tarnished mirror, bricks, and a sandstone archway. The salon owner, Adele Young, said she was “amazed and stunned” to find such a strange secret room behind her business. Now, Young says, she believes her salon is “haunted” (and she doesn’t think that’s a bad thing).
83. Boy and His Father Found the Wreckage of a German Plane
Location: Birkelse, Jutland, Denmark
Year Discovered: 2017
Est. Value: $495,000* (Plane Price)
Daniel Kristiansen, a fourteen-year-old student in Denmark, and his father, Klaus, were investigating a nearby field for Daniel’s homework assignment on World War II. According to the Kristiansens’ family legends, an old German plane had crashed near their farm in 1944.
The two set out to find the plane, not expecting that this family legend held any weight. But, they were pleasantly surprised when they discovered a WWII fighter plane, along with a pilot’s uniform, skeleton, and an old wallet with coins in it. The plane itself was a Messerschmitt Bf 109, a warplane the Luftwaffe widely used throughout the Second World War.
84. Gardener Found 2,000-Year-Old 22-lb Lump of Butter
Location: Cavan County, Ireland
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: $59*
Who knows what is lurking in Irish bogs? Many might expect to find some sort of fairy or mythical creature, but one man in 2016 discovered something even more unexpected. He found a twenty-two-pound chunk of butter hidden in a bog in his farm in Cavan County.
The bog butter was buried over ten feet below the mug, and, according to experts, this condiment is 2,000 years old. Not only that, but archeologists say that you could, if you were daring enough, take a bite of this bog butter, as it likely has remained edible and preserved over time. Luckily, no one has asked to spread this on their toast, and this unusual find is now located at the National Museum of Ireland.
85. Lost Boats Discovered Beneath San Francisco
Location: San Francisco, California
Year Discovered: 1920-2017
Est. Value: Unknown
Ships have been important economic and transportation vessels for eight thousand years. As you can imagine, therefore, there is a lot of ship debris hiding at the bottom of the oceans as not all of these vessels met a pleasant fate.
Throughout the years, archaeologists have discovered the remains of ships not in the water, but underneath downtown San Francisco. These ships were once docked in Yerba Buena Cove until they were abandoned during the height of the Gold Rush. Around forty ships have been found so far, with estimates claiming another 35 could be hiding under San Francisco. As the city grew over the centuries, the bay was filled in and the ships were simply filled in with it.
86. German Tourists Find a Caveman Buried in Ice
Location: Fineilspitze, Otztal Alps, Austria-Italy Border
Year Discovered: 1991
Est. Value: N/A
In September of 1991, two German tourists were hiking through the Otztal Alps when they saw a body. At the time, they thought it was the remains of a mountaineer, but, after notifying authorities, it was discovered that the body was actually a natural mummy of a man who had lived between 3350 and 3105 B.C.
He was nicknamed Otzi the Iceman because of where he was found. Otzi is Europe’s oldest natural human mummy (so far), and he is currently displayed in an Italian museum. Interestingly enough, it appears that Otzi did not pass away from natural causes, as an arrowhead was found embedded in him when his body was exhumed.
87. Family Discovered Mysterious Sphere After a Fire
Location: 1974
Year Discovered: Fort George Island, Jacksonville, Florida
Est. Value: Unknown
This is yet another find that has people wondering whether aliens are behind it. In the mid-1970s, the Betz family found an unusual metal orb that they termed the “Betz Sphere.” This enigmatic orb was located in the woods of Jacksonville, Florida, and it immediately made headlines because of its strangeness.
The Betz Sphere was the size of a bowling ball, and it rolled around on its own and made a high-pitched humming noise and vibration. The Betz Sphere soon became a national story, and the U.S. Navy stepped in to analyze the ball. The Navy found that the ball was made of stainless steel, and it determined that it was made on Earth, though it was not military property. A lot of people ignored the Navy, choosing to stick with the way-more-fun theory that aliens placed the ball in the Floridian woods.
88. 100-Year Old Ouija Board Found in The Walls of a House
Location: U.S.
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: $50-$100*
Builders were tempted to run from the home screaming after they made this find in a heating vent in an American home. In 2016, a builder got a fright when he discovered an old Ouija board hidden inside a heating vent behind a wall. The Ouija board was thought to be around a century old.
These boards have been around since 1100 A.D. in China, and they can be used, according to some, to contact the spirit world (or the underworld, if horror movies are to be believed). Whether you’re a true believer or not, you can’t deny this find was super creepy.
89. Fish Discovered on Streets Hundreds of Miles From the Ocean
Location: Yoro, Honduras
Year Discovered: Since The 1800s
Est. Value: N/A
Lluvia de Peces, also known as the Rain of Fish, is a massive storm that occurs once or twice a year in Yoro, Honduras. During this huge storm, tiny silver fish rain from the skies onto the streets of the little town, which is miles away from the nearest body of water.
Explanations for the Lluvia de Peces vary, but the sightings have been confirmed since the 1800s. A National Geographic team observed the phenomenon in the 1970s for themselves, lending credence to this weird event. Some have posited that the most likely explanation is waterspouts picking up the fish, carrying them to Yoro, and dumping them onto the town in buckets of “animal rain.”
90. 15th Century Gold Pendant Discovered Buried in a Field
Location: Hertfordshire, England
Year Discovered: 2009
Est. Value: $350,000*
In addition to the nooks and crannies of houses, open fields are another huge source of unexpected finds. In 2009, a housewife with a metal detector was walking through a field with her son in Hertfordshire, England, when the detector suddenly alerted.
The pair began digging, and they didn’t have to dig far before discovering a pricey find. Hidden four inches beneath the ground was a gold pendant depicting Jesus on the cross. The treasure was sent off to a laboratory, where researchers found it dated back to the fifteenth century. The treasure’s estimated value was around $350,000.
91. Rice Farmer Unearths a Legendary Relic Made From Pure Gold
Location: Shikanoshima Island, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
Year Discovered: 1784
Est. Value: $6,010* (Base Value Today)
Known as the King of Na Gold Seal, a rice farmer found this treasure while working the fields in 1784 on Shikanoshima Island in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture. The seal is made from 95%-purity gold, and it has been designated an official National Treasure of Japan.
The seal was cast in China and gifted by the Han Emperor to a Japanese envoy. How the seal wound up in an irrigation ditch centuries later is unknown. The seal was buried underneath huge, boxy stones that required two people to lift. When it was discovered, the Kuroda Clan, the leaders of the region, immediately kept it until agreeing to donate it to the city of Fukuoka two centuries later.
92. First Tyrannosaur Embryos Discovered
Location: Alberta, Montana
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: $2,000*
This very Jurassic-Park-like discovery took place a few years ago in Alberta, Montana. Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs were some of the biggest in the kingdom, as they could grow to twenty feet in height and run at a speed of seventeen miles per hour.
The first T. rex skeleton was found in the early 1900s. Over a century later, also in the same region, researchers discovered Tyrannosaurus embryos. These fossilized baby dinos provided scientists with an excellent opportunity to learn about young T. rex dinosaurs and their development. Juvenile T. rex dinosaurs are very rare to find, so scientists all around the world were immensely thrilled at this discovery.
93. Man Remodels Bathroom and Finds a Live Missile
Location: St. Francis, Wisconsin
Year Discovered: 2011
Est. Value: $22,344* (V-2 Rocket Price)
William Wittman, a seventy-year-old retiree in St. Francis, Wisconsin, was remodeling his bathroom when he made an unusual discovery in one of the walls. He found a live missile. Immediately, he called his wife to tell her about what he found and she, in turn, phoned the police.
The twenty-inch missile was picked up by the police bomb squad and taken to the St. Francis Public Works Department for detonation. Wittman’s house was once owned by a WWII veteran whose son was an avid memorabilia collector (as well as a Korean War vet). He must have gotten his hands on a live missile and, loath to give it up, hid it in the walls for safekeeping.
94. Whale Fossils Discovered on a Farm 200 Miles Away From the Ocean
Location: Charlotte, Vermont
Year Discovered: 1849
Est. Value: $38,488*
When you think of where you would expect to find the fossils of a sea creature, the obvious guess is buried underneath the bottom of an ocean, lake, or other large body of water. That is why railway workers digging underneath a farm in Vermont were so stunned when they found the fossils of whales in the ground.
The farm itself was 200 miles away from the ocean, and the bones were ensconced in blue-gray clay. The farm owners later sold the bones to a history museum for $1,000 ($38,488 today). It’s likely the whale was buried there thousands of years before, when the geography of the earth looked far different, and many land areas were once water.
95. Australian Wallabies Found in Ireland
Location: County Dublin, Ireland
Year Discovered: 1950s/1960s
Est. Value: N/A
Wallabies are macropods that are native to both Australia and New Guinea. Though native to those areas, they somehow wound up in Ireland, and they are thriving on the remote island off the coast of County Dublin.
The island became the home of these unexpected Aussie natives after a wealthy, well-known family, the Barings, decided they wanted to bring them back to Ireland to raise them. At the time, the Barings’ son, Rupert, had plans to open a zoo, but those plans were made in error. As a result, the wallabies were never caged—they were sent to an island where they now roam free.
96. Lifeboat Found on World’s Most Remote Island
Location: Bouvet Island, Norway
Year Discovered: 1964
Est. Value: $1,000-$30,000*
Bouvet Island is famous for being the world’s most remote island. It is located 944 miles away from Antarctica, as that is the nearest landmass to it. It technically belongs to Norway, but it is truly abandoned.
In an unusual turn of events, in 1964, an abandoned lifeboat was found on the island. Who shipwrecked onto this cold, inhospitable land? The lifeboat is thought to have belonged to a reconnaissance vessel from the Soviet Union. Not much else is known about the story behind this random lifeboat, though perhaps scientists will find out more in the future as an expedition to this uninhabited island has been planned for the beginning of 2023.
97. The Oldest Homo Erectus Skull
Location: Drimolen Paleo Cave System, Johannesburg, South Africa
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: N/A (Human Remains)
While digging through the million-year-old Drimolen Cave System in South Africa, paleontologists discovered the bones of people who lived millions of years ago. The primal cavs have been the site of 900 bones and fossils from early humans, though none as old as the shattered skull discovered in 2020.
Researchers digging through the caverns found a two-million-year-old skull fragment from a Homo erectus. This was hundreds of thousands of years older than other H. erectus fossils found. This was an exciting discovery for scientists, as it provided new insight into just how long humans have been around.
98. $50,000 And 50-Year-Old Whiskey Found Under Floorboards
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: $64,500*
This story has a lot of twists and turns to it, and it begins in a house in Phoenix, Arizona. A couple was renovating their home when they discovered, hidden beneath the floorboards, $50,000 in cash and fifty-year-old bourbon (likely valued at around $14,500).
But, was this find all it was cracked up to be? According to the Independent, the find was “probably a hoax.” Sleuths who looked closely saw clues, like a modern safe and more, that indicated that this could be a “prank” (AZCentral). We’ll let you decide whether you believe this incredible treasure find is real or not.
99. The Baghdad Batteries
Location: Khujut Rabu, Iraq
Year Discovered: 1936
Est. Value: Unknown
The Baghdad Battery was discovered in 1936 in Khujut Rabu, Iraq near Ctesiphon, the former capital of the Parthia and Sasanian Empires, the eras from which the Battery is thought to date. The Baghdad Battery is the name used for a set of three artifacts—a tube of copper, a rod of iron, and a ceramic pot—discovered together.
The National Museum of Iraq’s Wilhelm Konig thought that the object could have operated as some kind of battery, though other scientists rejected that claim. Others believed it may have been an ancient vessel in which sacred scrolls were stored. So far, the true purpose of the 2,000-year-old Baghdad Battery has yet to be revealed.
100. The Discovery of Chris McCandless
Location: Sushana River
Year Discovered: 1992
Est. Value: N/A
While this discovery didn’t hold any value in the traditional sense, it became part of American cultural history. Chris McCandless, a young college grad, decided to travel North America and Alaska in the early ‘90s. Although he did well to travel in various different locations solo, McCandless eventually met his fate in the Alaskan bush.
McCandless eventually set up camp in an abandoned bus he found close to the Sushana River. The events of what transpired next are murky at best, but moose hunters found McCandless’ form in late summer ‘92, having passed most likely due to starvation. The story was later turned into a Hollywood movie starring Emile Hirsch.
101. Eccentric Doctor Hides a Car Worth $8.5 Million in his Dusty Garage for Decades
Location: Northumberland, England
Year Discovered: 2007
Est. Value: $8.5 million*
In his last few years, Dr. Harold Carr was a recluse, and even his children didn’t know what he was up to. The orthopedic surgeon passed away in 2007, and, when his kids began to go through his estate, they found a shocking surprise.
Carr had hidden a 1937 Bugatti 57S Atalante, one of just seventeen in existence, in his garage. The car was valued at $8.5 million. Carr had purchased the vehicle from a Northumberland lord in the mid-1950s, and he kept it in his garage for decades, though he did drive it for a short while in the 1960s.
102. Lost Mural Hidden Behind a Wall in Italian Town Hall
Location: Florence, Italy
Year Discovered: 2012
Est. Value: $100-$400 million*
In 2012 in Florence, Italy, researchers probed behind the walls of the town’s City Hall and made a surprising discovery. They found a mural created by famous Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, revealing yet another masterpiece from the painting legend.
The high-tech project authenticated the sixteenth-century fresco, which has been hidden for centuries without detection. Some believe that the mural commemorates the fifteenth-century victory Florence achieved over Milan at Anghiari, a medieval Tuscan town. Why exactly the Da Vinci mural was frescoed over by Florence is unknown. The fresco, though beautiful, is unfinished, as Da Vinci left Florence in 1506.
103. Mysterious ‘Beach’ Appears in the Middle of the Tunisian Desert
Location: Tunisia
Year Discovered: 2014
Est. Value: Priceless to locals
When you’re in the desert, the last thing you’d expect to see is a beach. And yet, a mysterious oasis randomly appeared in Tunisia, much to the joy of locals. The beach, named Gafsa, was a godsend for people in the drought-ridden region.
Shepherds discovered Gafsa Beach in 2014. Although the murky-green waters were labeled carcinogenic by authorities, locals haven’t been able to resist diving into the lake. Some blame seismic activity that has caused groundwater to emerge, while others disagree. Either way, there’s no denying that Gafsa has been extremely exciting for those living in the Tunisian desert.
104. Couple Finds Old Hot Tub Under Their Living Room
Location: Wisconsin, U.S.A.
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: $8,000-$25,000*
Mark and Jenny Rosman bought their home in 2017, and, when they pulled up the floors during a renovation project, they found a blue hot tub. The two refurbished the hot tub in 2020, and they said that they were “shocked and overjoyed” to find such a random addition underneath their living room.
The Wisconsin couple purchased the home from an elderly woman. The woman hadn’t used the hot tub since she’d gotten older, so she turned the area into an office/sitting room. The Rosmans dug it up, and now they have a $8,000-$25,000 feature for free in their home (though it needs a clean-up).
105. 400-Year-Old Skull Found in Attic of French Tax Collector
Location: Paris, France
Year Discovered: 2010
Est. Value: N/A
Henry IV of France ruled 400 years ago, and he was the father of Louis XIV, a monarch known as the Sun King of France. Henry IV had a tough reign. He survived twelve assassination attempts, only to be felled by the thirteenth when a religious zealot attacked his carriage when it had stalled in Les Halles.
Hundreds of years later, Henry IV’s head turned up in the attic of a French tax collector. It was discovered by two journalists who had heard rumors and clues as to where this French monarch’s head was hidden. Later, the head was given to descendants of Henry IV, likely so that they could bury them.
106. Mystery Hole in UK Garden Leads to Strange Discovery
Location: The U.K.
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: Unknown
A hole in the backyard can be a sign of a foundational issue with the home, so, when Emma and Kevin James of the U.K. found such a blemish, they investigated it. The hole in their garden started as a divot before becoming a chasm when they tried to excavate it.
The couple looked inside and found a set of rusty stairs that led deep underground. Or so they assume, as neither member of the couple is willing to investigate the hole themselves. So far, it remains a mystery, as calls to city officials, utility companies, and even the home’s original builders have turned up empty as to what this chasm is and how it got there.
107. Briefcase, Money, and a Creepy Note Found in Hidden Crawl Space
Location: U.S.
Year Discovered: Unknown
Est. Value: $1,000*
One homeowner on Reddit found something extremely strange in his home. Located in a previously-hidden crawlspace, the homeowner discovered an old briefcase. Inside were watches, money, videotapes, and a weird letter that read, ominously, “Save Yourself” in dripping black ink.
What could this mean? Perhaps the former homeowner was playing a prank on whoever moved in. But, that wouldn’t explain the (real) money. More than likely, this former homeowner was a survivalist or conspiracy theorist, who hid these valuables as a potential “emergency kit” in the event of the apocalypse. Regardless of the reason, this find is very, very creepy.
108. Mysterious Cone Spiral in the Egyptian Desert
Location: Near Hurghada, Egypt
Year Discovered: 1997
Est. Value: Unknown
The Egyptian Desert is vast, and there are likely many things out there that we know nothing about. In 1997, aerial images of a mysterious cone spiral leaked, convincing everyone, once again, that aliens could be real.
Alas, it would later turn out that this mysterious spiral was human-made. A trio of Greek artists created this mural, which is a double-spiral piece of land art. Called the Desert Breath, you can find it near Hurghada along the Red Sea Coast. Though these cones might seem like gigantic, alien ant hills, they are merely a clever, beautiful art installation.
109. Orange Snow Falls Over Eastern Europe
Location: Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: N/A (Weather Event)
It’s safe to say that, whenever a strange weather event occurs, people are quite nervous until an explanation is found. That occurred in Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine in 2018 when orange snow fell from the sky. People documented this radioactive-looking snow, which blanketed towns and resorts.
Apparently, the cause was sand storms that took place in the Sahara Desert. These clouds of sand made their way to Eastern Europe, mixing with the snow falling in the region. Pictures of the event look strangely unreal, as though they were taken on the surface of Mars during a snowstorm.
110. Alien Creature Found In The Ocean
Location: Gulf of Mexico
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: N/A
The ocean is full of odd creatures and, even after centuries upon centuries of study, only a tiny fraction of sea creatures are known to us land-dwellers. Every few years, humans uncover new (and sometimes monstrous) species of fish.
In 2022, scientists found a weird, insectile creature that is so odd-looking, that they named it “Darth Vader,” after the Star Wars supervillain. It does look a lot like Vader’s helmet, with its body segments, multiple jaws, and compound eyes. Technically, the scientific name for this light-yellow isopod is Bathynomus Yucatanensis, but we prefer Darth Vader, as that seems more accurate for this creepy crawler.
111. A Keith Haring Mural Hidden for 30 Years is Revealed in Amsterdam
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: $3-$4 million*
Visual artist Keith Haring used animated imagery, and his works have become universally recognized over the centuries. Haring’s pop art emerged as part of the NYC graffiti subculture of the eighties, but it quickly became a worldwide phenomenon.
Haring gifted Amsterdam a 40-foot-tall mural in 1986. He painted it while in town for an art exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum. The giant mural was, for whatever reason, hidden behind metal plates for thirty years, but it was unveiled in 2018 to Amsterdam, much to the delight of art aficionados. The mural is, judging from its design, a truly classic Haring.
112. Perplexing Radio Signals Discovered Coming From a Star
Location: Ross 128
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: N/A
What is your opinion on aliens? Do you believe or do you not believe? If you believe, do you hope to make contact, or do you think it’s better that Earth and aliens leave each other alone? If you’re in that latter category, this find will unsettle you. In the 1970s, scientists sent radio waves into space to try and contact aliens.
Years later in 2018, a red dwarf star named Ross 128 began sending back radio signals that were too low to have come from solar flares. Scientists are confused about the signals, and the origin of them has yet to be determined.
113. 1,100-Year-Old Treasure Is Unearthed by Teenagers in Israel
Location: Yavne, Israel
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: $52,600* (Base Value)
Two teenagers in Israel were volunteering at an archaeological dig in Yavne when they discovered gold—literally. The two eighteen-year-olds unearthed 425 gold coins from a clay vessel buried in the earth. When dated, the coins were 1,100 years old.
Based on gold’s price per gram, the coins’ estimated value is $52,600. But, considering their age and historical significance, their actual value is likely far higher. All of the coins are composed of pure, 24-karat gold, and the cache was one of the oldest found from this period (the late ninth century) in Israel. Sadly, the two teens do not get to keep their gold mine.
114. Discovery of Rare Mushroom in Canada is a Biology Mystery
Location: Nechako River, British Columbia, Canada
Year Discovered: 2021
Est. Value: Unknown
Witches’ Cauldron Fungi, so-named because of its distinctive, cauldron-like appearance, is native to Northern Europe. So, when Cynthia Andal stumbled upon two dozen of these fungi in the underbrush in British Columbia, she was shocked.
Found near the Nechako River, this incredibly rare fungus wowed the biological community. Michael Preston, an ecologist specializing in microbes, said that there was no “reported documentation” in British Columbia until this find. How this witchy, Halloween-ish fungus ended up in B.C. is unknown for now. Even in Northern Europe, Witches’ Cauldron is declining, as its natural habitat is threatened. Perhaps it will get a revival in Canada.
115. Body Found Under Parking Lot is King Richard III
Location: Leicester, England
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: N/A (Human Remains)
For many years, King Richard III’s body was lost. No one knew where this infamous, long-vilified English king was buried. That is, until 2013 when his body was found beneath a parking lot. After DNA tests, the bones, which were discovered in Leicester, England, were undisputedly King Richard III’s.
After the Plantagenet’s death in battle, his body was thrown onto the back of a horse, transported to Leicester, and buried in a very humble grave that, centuries later, was paved over and made into a parking lot. Now, the area where this villainous ruler was found is protected by law as the former king’s final resting place.
116. Sunken, 600-Year-Old Buddha Emerges from Water in China
Location: Jiangxi, China
Year Discovered: 2017
Est. Value: $5-$10 million*
Renovation work can uncover some expected things, such as this 600-year-old Buddha statue found in a Jiangxi, China reservoir after water levels fell during renovations. The water dropped dozens of feet while crews were working on a hydropower gate.
A local spotted Buddha’s head, and, later, the entire statue was unveiled. The Buddha statue, which locals are viewing as a great omen, as well as a popular tourist attraction, dates back to the Ming Dynasty, if not the Yuan Dynasty. Additionally, a temple hall, as well as other ruins, was also found within the excavated reservoir, hinting that more exciting discoveries could emerge.
117. Lost $136 Million Caravaggio ‘Found in a Leaky French Attic’
Location: Toulouse, France
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: $136 million*
Michelangelo Caravaggio, known just as Caravaggio, was a famous Italian painter who lived in Rome and was influential to artists like Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, and more. Caravaggio’s works sell for millions on the market, even when they’re discovered in less-than-glamorous places.
This $136 million Caravaggio was discovered in Toulouse, France in a leaky attic. Titled “Judith Beheading Holofernes,” the painting was lost sometime in the 1600s. The authentication process has proven tricky, but the lighting, energy, and execution have led art experts like Eric Turquin to infer that “Judith” could have only been executed by the Italian master-painter himself.
118. The Mysterious Marree Man of Outback Australia
Location: Marree, South Australia
Year Discovered: 1998
Est. Value: N/A
Also known as Stuart’s Giant, the Marree Man is a geoglyph that was discovered in the late 1990s. It shows an indigenous man hunting with some type of stick or boomerang, and this work of art is located atop a plateau near Marree in South Australia.
The figure is 1.7 miles tall and has a permit of 17 miles, which means it takes up a total of 260 acres. Though one of the largest geoglyphs on Earth, the origin of the Marree Man remains a mystery. Legally, it is owned by the South Australian Government, despite legal title action that native claimants took to attempt to assume ownership.
119. A 3400-year-old City Emerges From the Tigris River
Location: Northern Iraq
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: N/A
Drought in Northern Iraq, a Kurdish region, led to a reservoir’s water-dropping rapidly. When the levels sank, an ancient settlement emerged from the Tigris River waters. A team of Kurdish and German researchers excavated the ruins and named them Kemune.
Kemune is Zakihu, a Bronze Age city that was a huge hub for the Mittani Empire (1550-1530 B.C.). The excavation was a race against time, as no one on the archaeological team knew when the waters would rise and rebury this city. Five ceramic vessels with over 100 cuneiform clay tablets were unearthed, among other valuable, historically-significant artifacts.
120. Treasure Trove of Inuit Art Found in Rundown Detroit House
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: $10,000-$30,000*
Before it was colonists, the Michigan region holding the city of Detroit was inhabited by Native Americans, including the Inuit people. Somehow, art from this community found its way into an abandoned, dilapidated house in the city. When new owners bought the run-down home, they discovered a treasure trove of Inuit works of art.
The trove included forty original, signed prints from Kinngait Nunavut artists, including Kenojuak Ashevak, a renowned creator. These pieces are worth thousands, even though some of the prints have wrinkles and tears. Though Detroit is one of the most dangerous, decaying cities in America, this diamond-in-the-rough still emerged in 2020.
121. Buried 17th Century Treasure Found in the Bahamas
Location: Little Bahama Bank
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: $250,000*
The Bahamas isn’t just a place with sandy beaches and turquoise waters—it is also a historically significant location, as the region spent centuries as a hub for traders and sea voyagers. Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, a Spanish galleon, sank in 1656 off the coast of Little Bahama Bank.
It hit its fleet flagship, then a coral reef, and then it sank, scattering its remains throughout the seafloor. For centuries, people tried to locate the Maravillas with no luck. That is, until 2020. An exploration finally found this wreck, uncovering 3,000 silver coins, anchors, amethysts, emeralds, gold coins, and more from the galleon’s wreckage.
122. Europe’s Dry Rivers Reveal Creepy “Hunger Stones”
Location: Central Europe
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: N/A
Throughout the summer of 2022, Central Europe has been rocked by droughts. As the rivers have dried up, “hunger stones,” also known as hungersteine, have been revealed. These rocks are covered in ominous inscriptions that read, “Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine.” In English, that means, “If you see me, then weep.”
The hungersteine mark low levels of water during droughts, warning people of famine and hardship that inevitably followed after such weather events. These hungersteine, along with artifacts like WWII shipwrecks, ghost villages, and Roman encampments, have been some of the many strange finds that this historic drought has revealed to the world.
123. A 4,000-year-old Board Game Uncovered in Oman
Location: Qumayrah Valley, Oman
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: Unknown
For thousands of years, humans have come up with games and other pastimes to entertain themselves. In January of 2022, archaeologists working in the Qumayrah Valley in Oman found a 4,000-year-old board game made of stone.
This rare artifact has gridded markings (potentially indicating fields), as well as holes for cups. It was one of many different finds at the Qumayrah site that shed light on how people lived in the 2,000-B.C.-ish era. The area has been so archaeologically fruitful because it was once a major trade route between multiple Arabic cities, and many people lived there and left settlement traces for us to find, thousands of years later.
124. Pot of Gold Found Under Italian Theater
Location: Como, Italy
Year Discovered: 2018
Est. Value: $400,000*
In 2018, workers were demolishing the Cressoni Theater, an abandoned theater in Como, Italy, when they stumbled upon a shiny, golden discovery. Underneath the theater was a soapstone amphora holding 300 coins, all of which dated back to the Roman Imperial Era of 474 A.D.
The coins were stacked together in rolls. According to Maria Facchinetti, a coin expert, whoever buried the jar there hid it in such a way that, if there was danger, he or she could easily retrieve it. Life must have been easy for this treasure-hoarder, as these coins were not uncovered until centuries later.
125. Rare 17th Century Painting Found Behind Wall of Oscar de la Renta’s Office
Location: Paris, France
Year Discovered: 2019
Est. Value: $1.5-$3 million*
Oscar de la Renta is a famous high-fashion designer who has offices all over the world. While opening a new boutique in Paris, France, contractors found a seventeenth-century painting hidden behind a random wall. The 10’ x 20’ painting featured a marquis and his courtiers entering the holy city of Jerusalem.
The painting was likely created by a court painter working for the French monarch Louis XIV, and it was hidden from Nazi looters who ravaged France during WWII. The painting may have been done by court artist Charles Le Brun, who Louis XIV named the “greatest French painter” in history.
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