The Thread of Credible Anomalies

[JuniperWoolf]

Once or twice a month during my internet perusal, I find at least one comment that goes something like this:


Waah! Waah! Science ruins fun, there's no mystery anymore!

So, I decided to make a thread to say no sir, that's not true. Science has found many bizarre things which can't be explained yet, and they're even more mysterious because of how goddamn hard we humans have tried to solve them. Real mysteries. We can post some here. If you find any, go ahead and list them. If you think that you can debunk any of those listed, that'll just add to the fun.

Okay, so here's my first one:

Weird Ocean Noises

Some people here may or may not have heard of The Bloop. Here's a quick overview, courtesy of wiki:


The Bloop is the name given to an ultra-low frequency and extremely powerful underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1997. The source of the sound remains unknown.

So basically, there was an insanely loud noise recorded (really, really, really loud - microphones picked up the same noise from 3000 miles apart) in the middle of the Pacific which doesn't match any possible sound. Theoretically with what we know about the ocean and geographic events, no explanation holds up. Here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU-A49E1bvE) where you can hear it, and you can also hear some weird looking guy give you the purveying scientific opinion. Basically, the only honest answer is: "**** if we know," which is just brilliant, fantastic, wonderful!

Furthermore, while it is the most famous, The Bloop is not the only unexplained ocean sound:

-There's this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDT1WWJpa9U&feature=related) one, loud enough to be heard from off the coasts of Greenland, Iceland and the UK, dubbed Julia.

-There's this little mystery, The Train (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-Eihpmsz7w&feature=related), which was detected in the same area.

-There's this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqYLFtIrq1Y) little number named Slowdown.

-There's The Whistle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykzokPv17pg).

-And finally, we have Upsweep (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe8HMUXP7es&feature=related). This one is the weirdest in my opinion, and my personal favorite:


The source level is high enough to be recorded throughout the Pacific. It appears to be seasonal, generally reaching peaks in spring and fall, but it is unclear whether this is due to changes in the source or seasonal changes in the propagation environment.

So to make a long story short, we are aware of six extremely large and loud independent ocean events for which we have not even the faintest idea of an explanation. Awesome you say? Slightly terrifying you say? Yes, yes it is.

[MystyrMystyry]

Cool thread idea!

They're certainly weird and eerie noises. William Shatner featured them on his show (and if there's one person fit to try to describe them it's him - or Spock). I downloaded and put a back beat to them (not as interesting as you might imagine - they're stranger in isolation).

So any theories about them Juniper? Tectonic plate shift or something? I think I prefer not to know (Earthquakes shiver me timbers).


I'm becoming quite fascinated by the space abnomilies like really big black holes. There's one Hubble's observed thousands of times the size of Groogue (the one at the centre of the Milky Way). It shoots out electro-radiation a thousand lightyears into space from its poles. Actually I can't remember how many lightyears, but it's definitely in the lightyears - and even one lightyear is pretty close to incredible. I suspect the radiation keeps on going so it could be millions or even billions of lightyears.

Phenomenal.

[Lokasenna]

Ooh, nice idea for a thread!

I've always had something of an interest in out-of-place artefacts.

Probably the most famous is the Baghdad Battery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery). The debate continues to rage as to whether they are in fact batteries, but the nonetheless they are beyond doubt nearly 2,000 years old, and nothing else like them has ever been found. Furthermore, modern reconstructions of them do work as batteries.

The Coso artefact (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coso_artifact) is another interesting case: it is a perfectly identifiable spark plug from a 1920s model Ford car. What's strange about it is that it was found encased in a rock that geologists reckoned to be at least 500,000 years old. Again, the debate rages as to how the heck it got there, but it's certainly an intriguing mystery - none of the scientists can seem to come to any agreement on what could of caused it. Unhelpfully, the artefact has disappeared - but if it was a hoax, it was one that has never been satisfactorily explained.

And my favourite: the Antikythera device (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism). The authenticity of this device is beyond dispute - all we want to know is what the hell it was doing there. It is an astronomical clock of incredible complexity and sophisticated design from around 100-150 BC - and some 1,400 years ahead of its time. No similar artefact has ever been discovered, nor anything from the classical world of remotely similar technological advancement. Models of it have been built, and they work. It really is a complete mystery.

[JuniperWoolf]

I love the Antikythera device! It's one of my reasons for living, that such things have been found.


So any theories about them Juniper? Tectonic plate shift or something? I think I prefer not to know (Earthquakes shiver me timbers).

:D Nope, they sound nothing like that. According to the physics of sound, in no possible way are any of them from tectonic plates shifting. No explanation has held much water yet. Some people think a few of the sounds might be Cthulhu. Great, eh?

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Well, I gotta say this is an awesome thread. I've never heard of any of the things listed. I wish History Channel, of one of the similar stations, would make a series about these things, especially the ones Lok mentioned. Fascinating, fascinating stuff.

I would like to say a little on the attitude that "science kills the magic," because I think that's just bull. I think, if anything, it adds to the magic by showing us how vast, complex, and amazing the universe. My mind has never been so blown as it constantly was when I took astrology. When our professor says we are essentially are made of billions-of-years-old space material, I think I uttered an audible Keanu Reeves-esqu "whoooa."

Edit: I did think of one anomaly, and thats the Egyptian pyramids. Now, I'm not not one of those people who thinks it was made by aliens, but I am always astounded by their size and vastness, and it always makes me think, "How'd they do that?"

Edit 2: Was reminded of another one by Bien, which is Stonehenge.

[Darcy88]

http://www.altarcheologie.nl/south_america/Ica%20Stones%20of%20Peru.htm

:lol:

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Meh. I think that those stones are pretty obviously fake.

[Darcy88]

Meh. I think that those stones are pretty obviously fake.

I know. I was kidding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter

Dark matter might qualify as a "credible anomaly." I have difficulty wrapping my head around it. They say it comprises much of the universe's mass and yet it can't be directly observed.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I know. I was kidding.
.

Thank god. :lol: I'm still figuring out your humor, Darcy, in case you haven't noticed.

I never have gotten dark matter either, though. Unless I'm mistaken, the reason it isn't observable is because it's black (or dark), so it's invisible against the blackness if space, no? Weird.

[Darcy88]

Thank god. :lol: I'm still figuring out your humor, Darcy, in case you haven't noticed.

I never have gotten dark matter either, though. Unless I'm mistaken, the reason it isn't observable is because it's black (or dark), so it's invisible against the blackness if space, no? Weird.

I know next to nothing when it comes to physics, but to my understanding they posit the existence of dark matter because they need the gravity of its mass in order to explain astronomical movements. Its like if they saw a bunch of planets orbiting a seemingly empty spot in outer space they'd know that there must be a massive body in that spot exerting a gravitational pull on those planets.

[JuniperWoolf]

The Voynich Manuscript

It's a book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript) that no one has been able to translate, despite the fact that it was written in Europe fairly recently (circa 1500s) at a time when language and writing was quite well established. There has never been another instance of this language being found, and the lettering and sequence isn't related to any others known. It's not as simple as just being someone's "made up language" for a laugh, codebreakers and cryptographers of all varieties and nationalities have taken a crack at this thing, and they don't have the faintest idea. It's illustrated, and a lot of it would seem to be a guide to plants, but the thing is, the majority of the plants that are depicted don't match any known species. Also, the drawings of people are just plain weird.

Take a look at the text:
http://cogitz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/voynich_manuscript_recipe_example_107r_crop.jpg

And look at these depictions of people:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Voynich_manuscript_bathtub_example_77v_cropped.jpg

http://genelempp.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/voynich-script-and-women.jpg

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_13_pg78.jpg

And the plants:

http://www.herbcompanion.com/uploadedImages/Blogs/Contributors/voynich%20manuscript%204.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kl1iFI8Zb1s/TVhYFo9wwAI/AAAAAAAAA5M/S-IJ5uuQNIw/s1600/446px-Voynich_Manuscript_%252832%2529.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Riyha0avNM/Ti2cFzr-pAI/AAAAAAAANTE/ghHBdSvA_c4/Voynich_Manuscript_%252528158%2525292.jpg

[MystyrMystyry]

Darn yer socks Juniper!

I'd just woken up and was staring at that for ten minutes trying to make sense of it.

Certainly weird though.

[KCurtis]

:D Nope, they sound nothing like that. According to the physics of sound, in no possible way are any of them from tectonic plates shifting. No explanation has held much water yet. Some people think a few of the sounds might be Cthulhu. Great, eh?

Those weird ocean sounds were pretty cool to listen to;
Do scientists know all the whale sounds?
Could it be other ocean animals?
Physical structures in the ocean?
The deep ocean has always fascinated me- what is down there?
As one who lives on the ocean, I love everything about it. Anyone who has ever been in the deep ocean or even on a whale watch can surely appreciate the mysteries and wonders of it.
And science is full of questions, it doesn't ruin mystery for me. In school we try to encourage many questions about science, as there are no stupid ones.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

The Voynich Manuscript

It's a book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript) that no one has been able to translate, despite the fact that it was written in Europe fairly recently (circa 1500s) at a time when language and writing was quite well established. There has never been another instance of this language being found, and the lettering and sequence isn't related to any others known. It's not as simple as just being someone's "made up language" for a laugh, codebreakers and cryptographers of all varieties and nationalities have taken a crack at this thing, and they don't have the faintest idea. It's illustrated, and a lot of it would seem to be a guide to plants, but the thing is, the majority of the plants that are depicted don't match any known species. Also, the drawings of people are just plain weird.

Take a look at the text:
http://cogitz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/voynich_manuscript_recipe_example_107r_crop.jpg

And look at these depictions of people:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Voynich_manuscript_bathtub_example_77v_cropped.jpg

http://genelempp.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/voynich-script-and-women.jpg

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_13_pg78.jpg

And the plants:

http://www.herbcompanion.com/uploadedImages/Blogs/Contributors/voynich%20manuscript%204.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kl1iFI8Zb1s/TVhYFo9wwAI/AAAAAAAAA5M/S-IJ5uuQNIw/s1600/446px-Voynich_Manuscript_%252832%2529.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Riyha0avNM/Ti2cFzr-pAI/AAAAAAAANTE/ghHBdSvA_c4/Voynich_Manuscript_%252528158%2525292.jpg

That's pretty ****ed up.

[Lokasenna]

The Voynich manuscript is good fun, though for me the much less known Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnerotomachia_Poliphili) is even more mysterious.

[PoeticPassions]

This is such a great thread idea... There are still so many mysteries left unsolved, and some will probably never be solved! So far I am quite intrigued by the Voynich Manuscript... I am going to gather that this person had a mad, brilliant mind...

The depictions of people are creepy to say the least. But I am guessing that this person really loved plants or something of the sort... there is a fusing of plants and people... Plants growing from people... people underground... It could have been symbolism ... ?

Another mystery is the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony (from Roanoke Island): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roanoke_Colony

Lots of hypotheses and theories but none that has been verified.

[Lokasenna]

I've already mentioned the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, which I genuinely do think is probably the most mysterious book knocking around, but as Voynich is by far and away the more famous, people might like to have a look at the Codex Seraphinianus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Seraphinianus).

It was published in the 1980s by Luigi Serafini, who had it in mind to create a modern equivalent of the Voynich manuscript. The book is written in an unintelligible but coherent script, and appears to be an encyclopedia from another world. As an intellectual exercise, it is fascinating, and perhaps gives us some insight into the thought process behind Voynich.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Sounds like something out of Borges, Lok.

[Lokasenna]

Sounds like something out of Borges, Lok.

It does rather, doesn't it? A real-world equivalent of Tlon...

[Pensive]

I have always been fascinated by the story of Bermuda Triangle and all those missing ships.

[tonywalt]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285450/The-untouchables-FRANCE-How-swarthy-Pyrenean-race-persecuted-centuries-abused-today.html

The cajots were an ethnic(?) group in France of which there is no known origin. There are a number of articles about them on the net.

[LilJoe44]

Could have sworn I saw those diagrams in The Idiot's Guide to Synchronized Swimming.....