Unusual 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. Soviet-Built T34/76A Found In Lake Kurtna Matasjarv
Location: Estonia
Year Discovered: 2000
Est. Value: $6 million*
In the depths of Lake Kurtna Matasjärv, a remarkable piece of history lay hidden for decades until Kasper, a young man from Estonia, unraveled its secrets in 2000. After discovering a strange marking and a nearby rope, Kasper fetched his parents. An extensive excavation ensued, and soon the whole town was involved.
Emerging from the depths, at the other end of the rope was a Soviet-built T34/76A tank stood as a haunting reminder of the past. Kasper’s discovery was one of happenstance. The reason behind the tank’s location, or how it got there, however, is still anyone’s’ guess.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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?”
18. 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.
19. 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?
20. Strange Figures Found Along The Alaskan Shore
Location: Alaska, America
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: Priceless
A few years ago, some Alaskans were startled to find a group of haunting figures lingering in the ice and snow on the bleak shoreline of Point Woronzof, near Anchorage. From a distance, they looked like real people in trouble. However, it turned out that the eerie shapes were actually an art installation by Sarah Davies.
Inspired by her own experience with an undiagnosed illness, Davies set up more than 85 different humanoid sculptures that represented the “physical encapsulation of hundreds of unique experiences of vulnerability,” according to Buzzfeed News.
21. 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.
22. 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.
23. 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.
24. 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.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. 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).
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. 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.
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