5 Eerie Historical Events Experts Struggle to Explain

From the mysterious San Francisco ghost blimp to some green children that may have come from an alternate universe, we count 5 eerie historical events experts struggle to explain.

5. The Ghost Blimp

On August 16th, 1942, experienced pilots 27 year old Lt. Ernest DeWitt Cody and 34 year old Ensign Charles Ellis Adams set off from San Francisco on blimp flight 101, on their way to Point Reyes.

It seemed as if the first portion of the trip went smoothly, but an hour-and-a-half after initial take-off, Lt. Cody radioed headquarters to report that their position was four miles east of the Farallon Islands. After a brief standby, he then reported an apparent oil slick on the water. These were the last words ever heard from the crew of flight 101.

An additional three hours passed with no further word from the crew. An additional message was received, but it wasn’t from the crew of flight 101. Instead, a report was given that the blimp had drifted approximately eight miles off course and had come ashore south of San Francisco in the hills of Daly City.

No one was injured in the course of the blimp’s landing in the middle of the street. Daly City officials immediately took action, attempting to free the crew from the derelict blimp, but Lt. Cody and Ensign Adams were not there. Navy personnel arrived on the scene, and an official investigation was soon underway.

There were several unusual findings. The door was found latched open and the safety bar wasn’t in place, which wasn’t a normal in-flight action. The radio was still operational, and there was plenty of fuel. It was also noted that two of the three lifejackets normally stored on the blimp were missing, but crew members were required to wear the vests while flying. A locked briefcase was also still in place. The briefcase contained top secret information but hadn’t been tampered with. It was as if the two crew members had stepped out of the blimp and vanished into thin air.

It was discovered that the blimp had been spotted by several ships and planes between 7 and 11am. Some witnesses even claimed to have seen Lt. Cody and Ensign Adams in the gondola. Numerous theories have arisen as to what happened to the missing crew of flight 101. Navy investigators thought that one of the crew members climbed out of the gondola to make repairs and found himself in trouble. The second officer came out to help and both fell to their deaths. Others thought that the blimp was spotted by an enemy submarine and the crew members were taken prisoner. Ultimately there was no definitive answer. Lt. Cody and Ensign Adams were officially declared dead a year later.

4. The Mysterious Death of Netta Fornario

Netta Fornario, a 30 year old occult practitioner, seemed to be running from something. Late in the summer of 1929, Fornario arrived at Iona, a small Scottish island, laden with enough luggage for an extended stay. She approached Mrs. MacRae, a local landlady who rented rooms to visitors. Fornario settled in and a friendship soon developed between the two.

Netta Fornario belonged to Alpha et Omega, an offshoot of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Fornario had a deep interest in ritual magic, mysticism and divination. She spent most of her days exploring the island that was her new home while her nights were often spent delving into her various occult practices.

This routine went on for several weeks before things took a sudden ominous turn. On November 17th, Mrs. MacRae awoke to find Fornario franticly packing her bags. Fornario told MacRae that she had to leave immediately and return to London because several occult practitioners were assaulting her psychically. Mrs. MacRae didn’t take Fornario’s concerns too seriously at first, but she soon noted that all of the silver jewelry that Fornario was wearing had apparently tarnished black – seemingly overnight.

Fornario flew into a panic when MacRae informed her that no boats went to the mainland on Sundays. She would not be able to leave until the next day. Fornario retreated to her room, but later approached MacRae and told her that she had decided to stay on Iona after all. She then headed out to continue her exploration of the island.

Fornario didn’t return that evening, and it was two days later that her body was discovered. The location where she was found had a large cross cut into the ground, apparently with a dagger that was found nearby. Fornario’s body was positioned on top of the cross, clad only in a black cloak. The doctor who examined her couldn’t definitely determine a cause or time of death, so hestated that she died any time between the 17th and the 19th from either exposure to the elements or heart failure. These determinations didn’t take into account the fact that Fornario had deep scratches on her body as well as the soles of her feet, almost as if she was running from something.

While it’s possible that Fornario got lost in the night and died from exposure, fellow occult practitioners were convinced that she had been attacked telepathically by an unknown individual. The mysterious circumstances of her behavior coupled with the bizarre state that her body was found in leaves many unanswered questions that will never be solved.

3. The Dropa Stones

In 1938, an archeological expedition sent to the Baian-Kara-Ula Mountains on the borders of China and Tibet discovered several caves at the mountain summit. Within the caves were a collection of graves and the walls were decorated with elaborate drawings of the moon, stars, and sun along with sketches of individuals with severely elongated heads. The graves were soon excavated, and the skeletons within were small in stature at around three feet tall, and the skulls were unusually large. Along with the bodies, a collection of stone disks were discovered. Each disk was approximately 12 inches in diameter and had a hole in the center. The surfaces of the disks were etched with two grooves that spiraled out from the center. Amazingly, the grooves weren’t just clean lines. Each one was actually composed of tiny glyphs and carvings.

A total of 716 stones were discovered and they were dated at approximately 12,000 years old. In 1958, the disks were handed over to researcher Tsum Um Nui for examination and interpretation. After studying the stones for four years, Tsum Um Nui claimed that he had deciphered the glyphs and that the story told was of a spacecraft that had crashed near the cave system. He went on to say that the craft had been carrying the Dropa People. Tsum Um Nui published his findings in 1962 but was immediately ridiculed for his work.

The Dropa Stones next found their way into the hands of Russian scientist W. Saitsew in 1968. He conducted tests on the stones and discovered that they were made of granite along with high levels of cobalt and other medals, making it highly unlikely that primitive people would have been able to carve such hard stone.

In 1994, the Banpo Museum in Xian claimed to have destroyed the stones and that they officially didn’t recognize their existence. There was no official record of a tribe called Dropa in the area of the cave formations, or anywhere else in China, but when the stones were discovered, there were two tribes that lived in the area of the caves: The Hams and The Dropa. Attempts to identify the tribes as any other race failed. They weren’t Tibetan, Mongol, or Chinese. These individuals were thin, with large heads and an average height of 4’2″ tall.

There are numerous conspiracies surrounding the Dropa Stones. Most of the names and sources associated with identification of the stones can’t be substantiated. Still, there are photos that prove that the stones once existed, and it’s very strange that government officials would require that they be destroyed. The true identity of the Dropa Stones remains a mystery.

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