mysteries

'Indisputable Evidence' of Abominable Snowman Found

Hamilton Nolan · 10/12/11 08:27AM

Is the mighty and fabled Abominable Snowman currently, as we speak, right this moment, trouncing around upper Russia, stealing livestock and what not? Well. It's certainly an issue over which experts can disagree.

Miracle Message-in-a-Bottle Unites Old Acquaintances

Lauri Apple · 10/08/11 12:59PM

While walking along the Baltic Sea the other day, Swedish woman Annica Winhagen found a message in a bottle sent 22 years ago by a girl whose mother she'd worked with back in the 1980s. Then Winhagen made fun of the girl's shitty handwriting.

Brooklyn UFO Sighting Caught on Tape: 'Shiiiiit'

Maureen O'Connor · 10/07/11 01:12PM

Updated. Bushwick resident and YouTube user TheFallGuy53 was minding his own business, sitting on his front stoop, when suddenly, an apparition of light. A UFO, lurking in the north Brooklyn sky!

Did the New iPhone Break the Internet?

Adrian Chen · 10/05/11 10:26AM

When Gawker started experiencing technical issues yesterday, we thought Anonymous might have snuck into our server room and poured Doritos into all the machines. Well, it turns out lots of big websites had outages yesterday.

Book: Puffy Had Tupac Killed, Suge Knight Had Biggie Killed

Hamilton Nolan · 10/03/11 10:38AM

Internationally famous rap star Tupac Shakur was shot dead in an extremely public fashion in 1996. Internationally famous rap star Biggie Smalls was shot dead in an extremely public fashion in 1997. Still, no one has ever been charged with their murders. That is some bullshit. However! A new book from a former LAPD investigator on the case has very interesting story to tell.

Are Nicolas Cage and John Travolta Undead?

Seth Abramovitch · 09/29/11 12:08AM

There were those who laughed off a recent eBay listing claiming to offer a Civil War-era photograph of Nicolas Cage (he went by Jack Mord back then, but that was probably just an anagram) for the cool asking price of $1 million. "Personally," the seller wrote, "I believe it's him and that he is some sort of walking undead/vampire, etcetera, who quickens/reinvents himself once every 75 years or so."

Man's Death Ruled a Case of Spontaneous Combustion

Lauri Apple · 09/23/11 06:49AM

Is human spontaneous combustion a real thing? Damned if I know. But some coroner in Ireland has just ruled that a 76-year-old man who burned to death in his home died after catching on fire without external provocation, so according to that coroner, the answer is YES.

Wild Child Wanders Out of Forest: 'I Don't Know Who I Am'

Maureen O'Connor · 09/20/11 03:19PM

A mysterious "forest boy" presented himself at Berlin City Hall two weeks ago. The first words he spoke were English: "I'm alone in the world. I don't know who I am. Please help me." He is believed to be 17, and to have spent the last five years sleeping on the ground in a forest. His identity is a mystery.

Recondite Hot Dog Statue Unnerves Council Bluffs, Iowa

Hamilton Nolan · 09/13/11 04:50PM

On the morning of September 2, Council Bluffs, Iowa residents became concerned. Concerned about the strange man who was lurking across from the school bus stop on Benton Street, dressed as a hot dog. The police arrived. And were SHOCKED.

We Now Know Why Fingers Wrinkle in Water

Maureen O'Connor · 09/12/11 12:45PM

One of the great mysteries of humankind—Why do my fingers get all wrinkly during baths?—has maybe-possibly been solved. Says science: "Much like the tread on a tire, [raisin fingers] improve traction." Sure, that sounds reasonable. Apparently the nervous system controls the wrinkle response, and it has nothing to do with bloating or water absorption. [Well, BrainBehavior&Evolution, Image via Afronova/Shutterstock]

Ron Paul: Rick Perry Did Not Beat Me Up

Jim Newell · 09/09/11 11:02AM

Ron Paul's online army was terrified yesterday to see a Reuters photo from a debate commercial moment in which Rick Perry puts his hand on Paul's arm, points his finger at him, and appears likely to eat his face off. So did Rick Perry beat the crap out of our noble Doctor Congressman while the television cameras were off? According to Ron Paul... no, obviously not.

The Creepy Secret Sex Den and Gynecological Center of Tripoli

Maureen O'Connor · 09/07/11 12:09PM

The legacy of Qaddafi's Libya keeps getting weirder. The new president of Tripoli's prestigious Fateh University recently discovered a mysterious subterranean complex under Green Theater, a center for studying Qaddafi's political manifesto the Green Book. The complex contains a bedroom, jacuzzis, mood lighting… and a fully equipped gynecological operating theater with klieg lights and an observation deck. So that's, uh, creepy. Take it away, horrified new university president:

National Guard Trucks Can Drive Underwater?

Maureen O'Connor · 08/29/11 01:29PM

Wha—? Maybe—? No, I have no idea, I'm not going to bother trying to evaluate. This surreal video apparently shows a pair of National Guard trucks driving down the street in Manville, NJ, fully submerged in water. At the end of the video, camo-uniformed guardsmen climb out the windows and onto the vehicles' roofs. As the increasingly annoying cameraman wonders, "How is that possible?"