7 Unexplained Mysteries That Humanity Has Yet To Be Solved!

7 Unexplained Mysteries That Humanity Has Yet To Be Solved!

What is it about the unknown that we find so fascinating? In today's age of technology and innovation, it would seem that all the great mysteries have already been deciphered, but in fact there's still a lot we don't know. From mysteries in the ocean's depths, to incredible and awe-inspiring holes in the ground, there's still a lot humanity has not yet uncovered about our world.

1. The Mary Celeste

The Mary Celeste, a British ship built in 1861. In 1872 she was discovered, having been completely deserted. The ship was still in an excellent condition, none of the cargo had been stolen, and there was a supply of food that would have lasted for several more months. The crew's personal possessions were all found on-board, but all the crew members themselves had disappeared-along with one lifeboat. The weather conditions were good for sailing, and the seamen were all strong and able.

What happened? Why did the entire crew abandon ship and disappear? Nobody ever heard from them again so we will never know for sure, but there are many theories. One of the most popular ideas is that the crew abandoned the ship due to the fear of explosion. Barrels of alcohol were amongst the cargo; some of the barrels were made from a more absorbent type of wood and those barrels were found empty. If the wood had been absorbing the alcohol it may have caused a build up of fumes, which the crew might have feared would cause an explosion. If this was the case, then they might have fled, hoping to escape the explosion and save their lives. However, we'll never really know, meaning that this will remain one of the greatest mysteries of all time.

2. The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich manuscript is one of those rare texts that seem to have the wisdom of humanity bound up in it's weathered pages. It's pages are filled with illustrations pertaining to topics such as botany, astronomy and biology, but what's really incredible is that to date no-one has been able to decipher the text on the pages. Update: Apparently 10 words have been deciphered by Stephen Bax, professor of applied linguistics at the University of Bedfordshire, England.

The manuscript was first discovered by Wilfred Voychin, a Polish book merchant who bought it in 1912. It's believed to date back around 600 years, and researchers claim that it's origins are from Northern Italy during the Renaissance. Many cryptographers and code breakers have tried deciphering the text over the years, with no success. It's amazing that only now, hundreds of years after its discovery, a couple of words have finally been cracked. Who knows, maybe this mystery won't remain unsolved for very long!

3. Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370

On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur, heading for Beijing. Some time after take-off, the plane lost contact with air traffic control, before disappearing off the radar completely. All 227 passengers and 12 crew members vanished, along with all traces of the plane itself. Although the plane had dramatically changed direction from its intended route, no distress signals were ever sent.

The search party-which involved numerous different nations-was the largest and most expensive search of its kind, but it has been fruitless. Not a single piece of debris has been found. The story played out like a Hollywood movie, and some of the theories as to what happened are just as far-fetched. They range from a conscious decision on the pilot's part to a government cover-up to - you guessed it - alien abduction! This remains one of the greatest unexplained mysteries of our time-especially in recent history-so only time will tell if we'll ever find out what really happened. The search is ongoing till today.

4. The Ourang Medan Mystery

There are stories that in the late 1940s, a Dutch Ship called Ourang Medan sent out a distress call. The Morse code message said that the rest of the crew - including the ship's Captain-had died. It was followed by another message that simply read 'I die'. A nearby ship called the Silver Star rushed to its aid, but when the crew boarded the Ourang Medan, they found dead bodies scattered everywhere. None of the bodies showed any signs of a struggle, injury or violence, and there were no survivors.

The story behind why an entire crew of apparently able seamen suddenly died became a mystery. There has been some discussion over the fact that the deaths could have been caused by one of several possible toxic gases. Other suggestions have included supernatural, extra-terrestrial involvement. However, there has even been speculation that the ship never actually existed at all-plunging this story even further into mystery.

5. The Overtoun Bridge Dog Deaths

In 1944, in a small Scottish town called Overtoun, a man threw his baby off the side of a bridge, claiming that it was the Anti-Christ. The same man tried to commit suicide at the same spot. Since then, the bridge has been home to one of the most bizarre, mysterious phenomenon ever seen. Since the 1960s, more than 50 dogs have jumped off the side of the same bridge, with many choosing to do so in exactly the same place. A few have even survived the fall, only to return to the top and throw themselves off a second time.

Investigators have put this spooky behavior down to the minks that live on the ground below the bridge. Their scent is very attractive to long-nosed breeds of dog, who apparently try to reach the minks by leaping off the edge. Could this be true, or could the bridge be haunted by the ghosts of a man and a baby, who lure dogs to their deaths?

6. Jack The Ripper

Jack the Ripper was a prolific serial killer who plagued Victorian London. His exact number of victims is uncertain; it could be as few as five or as many as eleven. However, the victims that have been confirmed all appeared to be prostitutes who had their throats cut, torsos mutilated and internal organs removed.

Despite lengthy police investigations, the true identity of the murderer was never discovered, and remains a mystery to this day. There was some speculation that the killer was involved in the medical profession due to an apparently extensive knowledge of human anatomy, but this was never confirmed.

Since the killer's identity remained anonymous, he was nicknamed 'Jack the Ripper' by the media. The name first appeared in a letter to a British newspaper; the letter claimed to be from the mysterious man himself. However, it is widely believed that the letter was a hoax, written by journalists in order to increase hype and speculation around the case. It worked-the name stuck, and so did Jack the Ripper's memory!

7. The Taman Shud Case

The Taman Shud case is one of the most famous and baffling cases of hidden identity ever. It's sometimes referred to as the 'Mystery of the Somerton Man', and it focuses around the death of a man who was found in Adelaide, Australia in 1948. His body was found on a beach; he carried very little in his pockets, and had no money or forms of identification. He did not have a hat, which was unusual for the time, and all the labels had been cut out of his clothes. He had no distinguishing marks, and his teeth did not match any Australian dental records. His identity was and still is, a complete mystery.

However, an autopsy showed signs of poison, which flagged up the idea that the man could have been a spy, especially as it was during the Cold War. The only other clue that police had to go on was a tiny scrap of paper that was hidden in one of the man's pockets - and it's from this that the mystery got its name. Printed on the paper were the words 'Taman Shud', which translates as 'finished'. The scrap of paper was taken from the last page of a very rare book called Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which is all about living life to the full. These two words on a small scrap of paper make up one of the most curious aspects of this mystery, and it's unlikely that we'll ever find out who the Somerton Man really was or why he carried those words in his pocket.