These 13 Unexplained Photographs From History Are Seriously Weird

A picture tells a thousand words, apparently. But what if the picture needs more than a thousand words worth of explanation? Too bad. You only get a thousand.

Pictures like these, for instance, need at least a thousand-and-fifty words as they are some of the most controversial and inexplicable photographs of all time…

1. The Battle of Los Angeles

Published in the Los Angeles Times on February 26, 1942, this photo is thought by some to be proof of extraterrestrial affairs on Earth. It shows numerous searchlights searching for the same thing.

Just three months after America joined WW2 (after Pearl Harbour), over 1,400 shells from anti-aircraft guns were fired at the mystery, round, pale orange ball of light as it moved silently through the sky, unaffected. People dismissed it as “war nerves” but, to this day, no one has a valid explanation.

2. The Black Knight Satellite

Taken by U.S. astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station in 1998, the Black Knight Satellite has been baffling people for decades. Nikola Tesla apparently picked up repeating radio signals off of it in 1899, strange radio signals have been reported coming from it in 1930 and, in 1954, a retired Naval Officer told newspapers that the U.S. government had been aware or the satellite orbiting Earth for some time - this was before there were any man-made satellites.

It soon picked up serious media attention as both the U.S. and the Soviet Union believed each other to have owned it. Still today, no one (who’s telling anyone) has any idea what it is.

3. The Cooper Family unwanted dinner guest

In the 1950s, the Cooper family moved into their new house in Texas. To mark the occasion, they decided to have a picture taken celebrating (albeit tamely). When they had the photo developed, they were shocked to see a body hanging from the ceiling (as there was no body in the house).

Some believe that there was an issue in the printing process -splicing two pictures accidentally- whilst others genuinely believe that this is documentation of a haunting… of course some think it was a hoax or, as an incredible double bluff, an actual dead body.

4. The ghost of Freddie Jackson

Royal Air Force Air Marshal Sir Victor Goddard released this photo from 1919 of his squadron on the occasion of the air mechanic Freddie Jackson’s funeral.

Freddie died when he walked into an air-plane propeller but,after looking at this photo, the squadron instantly recognised the face that appears behind the man at the back row, fourth from the left’s head as his.

Some put this down to double-exposure but “Freddie” isn’t wearing a hat like the rest…

5. The ghost of Hampton Court Palace

In 2003, the fire alarms at Hampton Court Palace went off as a fire escape has been opened. When security officers went to investigate said door, they saw that it was closed and there was no sign of anyone having been there.

However, when they checked the CCTV footage, they saw something no one could explain. The doors seemed to fly open on their own admission with no one around but, shortly later, a hooded figure (nicknamed Skeletor) walked from the building into the doorway and closed the doors.

6. The Hook Island Sea Monster

In 1964, Robert Le Serrec and his family bought a boat and went on holiday for a few months on Hook Island in Stonehaven Bay, Queensland, Australia. thy were floating around (as you might) when they noticed something that resembled a huge snake in the water. They estimated it was 30 feet long but, as they edged closer, it made no attempts to advance on them.

With this in mind, Robert got into the water (idiot) and moved closer. He chose to inspect it underwater where he realised it was far bigger than he had previously imagined. That’s when it opened its mouth and started moving which led Robert the cowardly lion to run (swim) back to his boat.

When he got back, he saw that the creature had gone…

Just a side note, when an octopus or squid or whatever inks, is it like that or not nearly as much? Cheers.

7. The McMinnville UFO

Back on 11th of May, 1950, Evelyn Trent saw something from her’s and her husband’s farm, not far from McMinnville, Oregon. She called her husband, Paul, who quickly got his camera to document the UFO.

This picture was picked up by the local paper before Life Magazine got a hold of it and made the photo famous. Since then, photography experts have confirmed the picture’s validity, stating that whatever is in the picture, was there when it was taken and nothing was added in later.

Even so, no one knows what the photograph is really of. An extraterrestrial craft, a government experiment, a plate? Your guess is ad good as mine… my guess is Superman… your guess is probably better than mine.

8. The Phoenix Lights

In 1997, on two occasions in the same day, numerous lights were seen flying/floating over Phoenix, Arizona. At 7:30 PM, a triangular formation of lights was seen flying over the city and, at 10 PM, hundreds of photographs and videos were taken of a group of stationary lights floating over Phoenix.

The air-force initially had no comments but later said that it was a training exercise where multiple flares were dropped. Eyewitnesses confirmed this but some still disagreed.

Claims came in that it was in fact one huge, v-shaped aircraft so big that it blocked out the stars above. Even a former Air Force captain, said, “I’m a pilot and I know just about every machine that flies, […] it was bigger than anything that I’ve ever seen. It remains a great mystery.”

11. The Skunk Ape

The skunk ape is the name given to a creature similar to the (equally mythical) Sasquatch. There have been reports of the creature exclusive to the American (surprise surprise) Southeast from as early as the mid 19th century. The reports say that the creature is huge, hairy and able to flee quickly with its footprints measuring 14 inches long.

In 1997, the myth was brought back to life as multiple sightings were reported in Florida as well as photographs taken that were promptly dismissed as fakes.

Then, in 2000, a woman sent photographs of an “escaped ape” to Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department after it had been stealing apples from her garden. She had no idea of the Skunk Ape myth and just assumed there was an ape on the loose…

12. The Solway Firth Spaceman

On May 23, 1964, Jim Templeton, a firefighter from Carlisle, Cumberland, in England took his wife and daughters to a green on the coast. He took a three pictures of one of his daughters, Elizabeth, without incident and sent them to Kodak to be developed.

When he got the photos back, however, he was shocked to see a strange figure in the background of the second picture - one that didn’t appear in either of the other photos. He confirmed that no-one else was around so it couldn’t have been a passerby.

The photos were sent to many photograph experts as well as Kodak but they all came back with the same results - there were no issues with the photos or the camera. Kodak offered a reward of a year’s free film to anyone who could crack the case but, since then, it’s still not been claimed.

13. The Tulip staircase ghost

In 1966, Reverend Ralph Hardy from British Columbia took a photo of a spiral staircase in the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. He was there with his wife standing beside him at the time.

When he got the pictures developed, he noticed that there appeared to be a cloaked figure climbing the stairs with both hands on the railings. He and his wife confirmed that no one was around at the time and, not only that, but, the staircase was also closed with a rope saying “no admittance” - so there you have it, ghosts are unruly.

Experts everywhere, like in the other cases, have all come to the conclusion that the image had not been doctored.

Creepy, right?

Maybe not. There probably is an explanation for all of the pictures so before you get into the comments going “how can you believe this shit!!!11!!!1 n00b!“, I don’t, it’s just interesting, so don’t.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!