5 Mysterious Events No One Has the Answers To

Here are five mysterious events that seem to escape plausible explanation. From the possibility of a female pope to a paranormal triangle in North America that is rife with disappearances and murder, we count 5 mysterious events no one has the answers to.

5. The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill

On September 20th, 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were returning home to New Hampshire after vacationing at Niagara Falls when they saw a strange sight in the sky. After pulling over to take a look with their binoculars, the couple got nervous and decided it would be best to be on their way. Both claimed to have heard an unusual beeping and then to have found that they had traveled an additional 35 miles with no recollection of the trip. It was only later, after the couple had arrived home that all of the events of that fateful night came to light.

After arriving home, Betty and Barney both began having nightmares and experiencing general anxiety. This went on for several years before the Hills decided that it was time to get some help and find out exactly what had happened to them during their road trip. In 1964, the Hills visited Dr. Benjamin Simon and began to participate in hypnosis sessions in an attempt to uncover what had happened to them.

Both of the Hills recalled a strange craft following them while they were on the road. Eventually, they were taken from their car by apparent alien beings. They were then taken aboard the craft and given medical examinations. According to the Hills, the aliens weren’t cruel to them. Instead they seemed to be quite taken with all of the little details involving the Hills, examining their clothing and even Barney’s dentures. Mental experiments were also performed and skin, hair and nail samples were taken.

During the course of the hypnosis sessions, Betty was even able to produce a star map, stating that the aliens had told her where they had come from. Initially the map baffled astronomers, who didn’t recognize the star pattern, but in 1969, the Zeta Reticuli System was discovered and it was found that Betty’s chart matched the Zeta chart exactly.

The case of Betty and Barney hill is considered to be the “original” abduction case. It is still referred to and studied today. Many of the physical attributes that we associate with aliens – large heads, large eyes, long fingers and grey skin – originate with the descriptions given by the Hills. This case has its fair share of skeptics as well as its firm believers. Some people firmly believe that the Hills were abducted on that long ago night, while others believe that they made up the entire story for their own gain. Still others think that the Hills were simply mistaken, that they were confused by random events and created the story of the abduction to explain those random events.

4. Pope Joan

How hard would it be to conceal not only your identity but your gender in a situation where you were under constant scrutiny due to the high position that you held? Apparently that is exactly what happened during the 800s AD when a woman ruled as the pope for approximately two years.

The first known record of Pope Joan appeared in a 13th century chronicle – the Chronica Universalis Mettensis. In the chronicle, it notes that there was an unnamed pope who was never officially mentioned in the list of Bishops of Rome because the pope was actually a woman who had concealed her identity and gender.

It is thought that initially, Joan disguised herself as a man so that she could safely visit the church in order to visit with a man that she was romantically involved with. During the course of her visits, Joan took a strong interest in religious studies and eventually devoted herself wholly to her education, leading to her being considered a well educated monk. As she gained more respect with church officials, she found herself rising up in the church ranks, and was eventually named Pope John XX.

It is believed that Joan served the people as pope from 853-855AD. Her secret was only discovered when she went into labor during a public church procession. It’s thought that she died a short time later, either due to complications from her pregnancy and delivery, or from the attacks of an angry mob who were outraged that she had posed as such a venerated religious figure.

Over the years, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the reality of Pope Joan. The Church has stated the story of the female pope is nothing more than a legend, noting that there was never a Pope John XX listed, but those who believe in her existence state that the list of Popes were deliberately renumbered in order to exclude Pope Joan from the record and protect the reputation of the Church. Supporters of the existence of Pope Joan go on to say that there are subtle hints in architecture and art found in the Vatican City that support her existence. Supporters of the existence of Pope Joan also point out that there would have been nothing to gain from the creation of a tale of a female Pope, but that the Church would have every reason to want to cover up the scandal that would have surrounded her ability to convince church officials that she was a suitable and prominent candidate for papal consideration.

3. Bennington Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle isn’t the only “triangle” that has a reputation for strange disappearances. Located in southwestern Vermont is the Bennington Triangle, a location that has been connected with five unusual disappearances from 1945 to 1950.

On November 12th, 1945, 75 year old Middie Rivers was acting as a guide for several hunters in the area. As they were returning from the trip, Rivers was separated from the group. Initially, searchers thought that Rivers, who was a seasoned wilderness expert, would soon resurface on his own but this wasn’t the case. Around 300 volunteers continued to search for eight days, but Rivers was never found.

On December 1st, 1946, 18 year old Paula Welden went for a hike along a trail near Glastenbury Mountain. When she didn’t attend her classes on the following Monday, a search party of approximately 1000 people took to the woods and a $5,000 reward was offered. Airplanes were also used in the search, but nothing was ever discovered and Welden was never seen again and her case remains open.

The next disappearance takes a stranger turn. On December 1st, 1949, veteran James E. Tetford boarded a bus to head home to the Bennington Soldier’s Home. Tetford was seen on the bus at the stop before Bennington, but when it pulled up to his destination, Tetford was gone. His luggage was found still in his seat. It seemed that he had disappeared while the bus was driving through the Bennington Triangle.

In October 1950, eight year old Paul Jepson was the next to disappear. He had been seen playing in his family’s truck while his mother attended to some livestock. When she returned to the truck, the youngster was gone. He was never found, despite the incorporation of tracking dogs, which followed his trail to a crossroads before losing the scent. There was some speculation that Jepson’s parents harmed their child and then fed him to the pigs, but no proof of this was ever found.

The final disappearance occurred two weeks later on October 28th, 1950. Frieda Langer along with her cousin had been hiking when Langer fell into a stream. She headed back to change out of her wet clothes, but she never made it to her destination. Of the five victims, hers was the only body found. It was discovered six months later in an area that had been previously searched by volunteers. The coroner was unable to determine a cause of death because there was so much damage to the body.

There are several theories about what happened to the five individuals who disappeared in the Bennington Triangle. Some people think that a serial killer was responsible. Others think that the victims were abducted by aliens or maybe even Bigfoot. Regardless, the Bennington Triangle is yet another location that it might be best to stay away from.

Continue Reading on Next Page: