There's the story of the Mary Celeste. It was a ship found adrift in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872 with no one on board. The crew had vanished without a trace. There were no signs of a struggle or piracy. It remains one of the greatest maritime mysteries. And then there was Genghis Khan. He had such a large and powerful empire that his genes are spread across a huge part of the world's population today. It's a strange and unexpected consequence of his conquests.
One of the most interesting weird true stories is the Philadelphia Experiment. Supposedly, in 1943, the US Navy was working on a project to make a ship invisible. According to some accounts, the USS Eldridge not only became invisible but also traveled through time and space. There were reports of sailors being fused into the ship's structure and some experiencing mental breakdowns. Although there is a lot of skepticism around this story, it has captured the public's imagination for decades. Also, there's the story of the Mary Celeste. This ship was found adrift in the ocean with no one on board. The crew had disappeared without a trace. There were signs that they had left in a hurry, but no one knows why or what happened to them.
One such story is about the Dancing Plague of 1518. In Strasbourg, France, a woman named Frau Troffea started dancing in the street and couldn't stop. Then, within a week, around 400 people joined her in this uncontrollable dancing. It lasted for days and days. Doctors had no idea how to stop it. It was a very strange and true event in history.
The most interesting aspect is the element of mystery. Like the strange phenomena that soldiers witnessed which defied normal explanation.
A really strange 'weird but true story' is about a group of people who found a boulder that seemed to be floating in the air. It was actually an optical illusion created by the surrounding terrain and the angle from which it was viewed. But when they first saw it, they were completely baffled thinking it was defying gravity.
There's the story of the Shakers. They were a religious group in the 18th and 19th centuries. Their way of worship was very unique. They would often dance, shake, and spin around during religious services. They also believed in celibacy, which was quite different from the norm at that time, and as a result, their numbers declined over the years.
The story of Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones is quite strange. He saw a valley full of dry bones, and then through God's power, the bones came together, were covered with flesh, and came to life. This vision has many interpretations but is definitely a very odd and thought - provoking story in the Bible.
The okapi is another example. It looks like a zebra - giraffe hybrid, but it's actually related to the giraffe. It has a long neck, but not as long as a giraffe's, and zebra - like stripes on its legs. It lives in the dense rainforests of Central Africa and was only discovered by Western science relatively recently. It's a very elusive and strange - looking animal.
The story of Pompeii is quite remarkable. It was a bustling Roman city that was suddenly buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. People were frozen in time, and their daily lives were preserved under the ash. Another is the discovery of the Terracotta Army in China. Thousands of life - sized clay soldiers were found underground, created to protect the first emperor in the afterlife.
Well, the story of Joan of Arc is quite fascinating. A young peasant girl in France who claimed to be guided by divine voices. She led the French army to several victories against the English during the Hundred Years' War. Eventually, she was captured and burned at the stake, but her story has inspired many throughout history.
There's the story of Galileo Galilei. He was an Italian astronomer who supported the Copernican theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun. This was against the teachings of the Catholic Church at that time. He was put on trial for heresy, but his work was fundamental in the development of modern astronomy. He didn't let the Church's opposition stop him from exploring the truth about the universe.