Since the dawn of time, the human race has seen mystery and intrigue around every corner. Mysterious events have been put down to the supernatural, the paranormal and even the extra-terrestrial.
One things for sure, there have been a lot of unexplained mysteries over the centuries and with modern technology giving people greater access to photography and previously unexplored parts of the galaxy, there are bound to be plenty more cropping up.
We’ve tracked down some of the most famous alien and monster photographs ever taken to show just how weird and wonderful the world can be.
The Tunguska event (1908)
The Tunguska event has since led to much discussion about asteroid impact avoidance and has helped to spawn a multitude of science fiction films.
In June 1908, a massive explosion happened near the Stony Tunguska River in Russia. The explosion flattened 770 square miles of forest, toppling around 80 million trees and yet somehow resulted in no loss of human life.
It has been theorised that the Tunguska event, as it has been designated, was caused by an air bursting meteoroid but no one really knows for sure. There was no impact crater, so the conjecture is simply that it broke up in the atmosphere somewhere between three and six miles above the Earth’s surface. The explosion is calculated to have been 1,000 times greater than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.
The Tunguska event has since led to much discussion aboutasteroid impact avoidance, a growing fear ofextinction-level eventsand has helped to spawn a multitude of science fiction films.
The Dyatlov Pass incident (1959)
In 1959, in the Ural Mountains of Russia, an experienced group of trekkers died under mysterious circumstances which were never adequately explained.
In 1959, in the depths of the Ural Mountains of Russia, an experienced group of trekkers died under mysterious circumstances which were never adequately explained. Investigators discovered that the victims had cut a hole through their tent and run away from something while wearing minimal clothing despite the temperatures being around -30 degrees Centigrade.
A number of the victims died from hypothermia but some had inexplicable fatal injuries including a fractured skull, major chest fractures and one victim had brain damage despite no visible injury to their skull. Another of the victims was found with major injuries as well as missing tongue, eyes and lips. Several theories have been offered as to what caused the hikers to run and what eventually killed them, but none have been conclusive and their deaths remain a mystery.
Ectoplasm séances (1912)
Fraudsters took to manipulating their audiences with a variety of tricks and illusions aimed at duping them out of their hard-earned cash.
During the 19th and 20th Centuries, spiritualism took a grip on society with many people believing that mediums could help communicate with the dead. Fraudsters took to manipulating their audiences with a variety of tricks and illusions aimed at duping them out of their hard-earned cash.
Strong favourites at the time came in the ability to produce convincing ectoplasm, apparitions and manifestations that couldn’t easily be explained by the average person. In this photo, Marthe Béraud apparently conjures an inexplicable light between her hands and ectoplasm above her head.
The great alien reconnaissance (1952)
In 1952 air traffic controllers from several airports and air force bases near Washington D.C. reported seeing unidentified blips on their radar screens.
In 1952 multiple air traffic controllers from several airports and air force bases near Washington D.C. reported seeing unidentified blips on their radar screens. When questioning local pilots, the controllers were told that a number of “bright lights” had been seen in the sky nearby.
The next weekend, it happened again, this time with a dozen blips appearing on the radar screens. Fighter jets were scrambled to intercept but the jets were unable to match the speed of the unidentified flying objects. These sightings were added to list being investigated by the Government underProject Blue Bookbut nothing further was revealed.
NASA Lunar Pyramid (1972)
This photo was marked by NASA as “blank” but when enhanced appears to show what looks like a pyramid on the moon.
In 1972, Apollo 17’s mission to the moon came back with several photographs from near Geophone Rock. This photo was marked by NASA as “blank” but when enhanced appears to show what looks like a pyramid on the moon.
This later led to many conspiracy theories that NASA was hiding what was really up there.
The Falcon Lake incident (1967)
Another year, another story about a UFO sighting. Stefan Michalak saw an unidentified alien craft land nearby when he was out prospecting for gold and silver.
Another year, another story about a UFO sighting. This time from Manitoba, Canada, where Stefan Michalak apparently saw an unidentified alien craft land nearby when he was out prospecting for gold and silver.
Stefan approached the craft and apparently heard human-like voices muffled by the engines. He went close enough to poke his head inside the craft and saw “a maze of lights” within. He was then startled when the craft took off and injured by a beam of heat that shot from the ship. The heat set fire to his clothes and severely burnt his chest. Doctors and authorities could not explain his injuries and this added credence to his story which he repeated in interviews until his death in 1999.
The Solway Firth Spaceman (1964)
Jim Templeton took several photographs of his daughter, one of which, when developed appeared to show a man in a white space suit standing behind her.
While on a day trip to Burgh Marsh in Cumbria, England, Jim Templeton took several photographs of his daughter, one of which, when developed appeared to show a man ina white space suit standing behind her. Jim swears there was no one else in the shot, but critics claim the photo is likely to be his wife overexposed in the background.
The Hook Island sea monster (1964)
While on a boat trip with his family in the summer of 1964, Robert Le Serrec saw a creature in the Australian waters that appeared monster-like in size.
While on a boat trip with his family in the summer of 1964, Robert Le Serrec saw a creature in the Australian waters that appeared monster like in size. Described as being around 80 feet in length, with serpent-like features and eyes on top of its head, the creature quickly became known as the Hook Island monster.
Manytheories have debunked the photographas being either fake or staged, but the myth lives on.
Bigfoot (1967)
Bigfoot is a legend that dates back as far as 1867 with several people reporting seeing giant, “wild men” wandering the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Bigfoot is a legend that dates back as far as 1867 with several people reporting seeing giant, “wild men” wandering the forests and mountains of the Pacific Northwest parts of the United States and Canada.
In 1967, filmmakers Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin captured the most famous and well-known footage of Bigfoot in existence. Its authenticity has been in much dispute in the decades that followed, but there’s certainly something compelling about it.
The face of Mars (1976)
Here, the Viking 1 spacecraft captured photos of Mars' surface that appeared to show a face looking back at the spaceship from the ground.
Another NASA related mystery, this time centres around Mars and comes thanks to another photo snapped from outer space. Here, the Viking 1 spacecraft captured photos of Mars' surface that appeared to show a face looking back at the spaceship from the ground.
More recent photographs with higher resolution lenses have given a clearer picture o
