America’s Most Mysterious Places

America’s Most Mysterious Places

Racetrack PlayaDeath Valley National Park, Calif.



The Mystery: People have long scratched their heads over the “Sailing Stones,” which mysteriously move across the sandy playa’s surface on their own, leaving visible tracks in their wake.



Fact: Given that these rocks chart a new course once every three years, it’s no wonder no one has ever seen them in motion. Some theorize that, in winter, wet clay and strong winds—which can reach speeds of up to 90 mph—are to blame, but no one is 100 percent certain what causes this curious natural (or unnatural?) phenomena.

Mount ShastaRedding, Calif.



The Mystery: This stunning snow-capped peak in the Cascade Mountain range, 60 miles south of the Oregon border, has long been considered one of the planet’s great “cosmic power spots,” luring everyone from Native Americans to Buddhist monks and hippies. Its sacred slopes are home to a potpourri of mysteries: spontaneous altered states; UFO sightings; crystal caves; encounters with Ascended Masters; underground military bases; even the rumored home to Lemurians, surviving members of a sensitive super-race some believe existed 12,000 years ago during the time of Atlantis.



Fact: A chance encounter with a strange group of warm, seemingly enlightened people in Shasta Valley inspired James Hilton to author the classic 1933 novel Lost Horizon, a tale about the idyllic community of Shangri-La. Others claim similar real-life experiences, but the mountain’s sheer natural beauty is inspiration enough for most

Skinwalker Ranch Uintah Basin, Utah



The Mystery: Its name may be a tongue-in-cheek twist on filmmaker George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch, but this 480-acre compound in northeastern Utah is the site of many unexplained — and harrowing — incidents: roaring underground noises, the appearance of menacing blue orbs, attacks by shape-shifting beasts, and evidence of animal mutilations.



Fact: Purchased in 1994 by a couple looking to raise cattle and quickly put on the market two years later, the area—according to local Native American folklore—is legendary for its dark energies. The ranch is now managed by the National Institute for Discovery Sciences, a paranormal research organization.

Oregon Vortex Gold Hill, Ore
The Mystery: Measuring 165 feet in diameter and known for producing intense feelings of vertigo, this curious site in southern Oregon has attracted visitors since the 1930s. Here, balls roll uphill, brooms stand on end, and people appear to grow and shrink inside its centerpiece, a former gold mining outpost called the House of Mystery.



Fact: Whether caused by gravity anomalies, a concentration in the Earth’s magnetic fields, or paranormal presence, the Vortex’s strange phenomena is well documented, and animals still refuse to enter its sphere. Native Americans referred to it as Forbidden Ground.

The Paulding LightPaulding, Mich.



The Mystery: For more than a century, on clear nights, unidentified spheres of light appear like clockwork on the horizon of this four corners town. To date, there’s no logical explanation for the luminescent red, white, and green balls that dance on the edge of the forest, but they are rumored to be the ghost of a railroad brakeman who met his fate on the tracks.



Fact: Locals and the curious regularly line up by the dozens for the bizarre light show; the Michigan Forest Service has even posted signs guiding sky-gazers to the best viewing spots

Coral CastleHomestead, Fla.



The Mystery: Made from 1,100 tons of megalithic-style limestone boulders — some heavier than the Pyramids’ and bigger than those at Stonehenge — this unusual structure, located 25 miles south of Miami, was built from 1923 to 1951 by a single man, a diminutive Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin, as an homage to the love of his life who left him on the eve of their wedding. But how did he do it?



Fact: Leedskalnin claimed he knew the secret to the Great Pyramids’ construction, and was once witnessed levitating stones. Other construction details—no mortar, precision seams, impossible balancing acts—have also stumped scientists for decades.

Sattva SanctuaryTrout Lake, Wash.



The Mystery: At the base of Mount Adams lies an incredible hotbed of UFO activity: a wooded ranch-cum-spiritual retreat owned by James Gilliland. The founder of Enlightened Contact with ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence and the Self-Mastery Earth Institute has been hosting seekers at “the ranch” since 1986. Thanks to so many unexplained light shows, almost no one leaves disappointed.



Fact: Countless visitors to the consciousness-raising compound, including many prominent scientists, report staggering UFO eyewitness accounts: documented sightings, sounds, even alleged contact of the third kind. One wave included as many as 50 unidentified craft. The curious public is welcome Monday through Thursday to conduct its own sky-watches. (Reservations: 509-395-2092.) Coincidentally, it was after seeing a UFO near Mount Adams in 1947 that pilot Kenneth Arnold first coined the term “flying saucer.”

Ringing Rocks ParkBucks County, Penn.



The Mystery: Deep in the woods in this 128-acre park is a large field of mysterious boulders that, when struck, sound like bells, as if they are hollow and made of metal. Each summer, hundreds of visitors flock here, hammers in hand, to perform their own "rock concerts."



Fact: While scientists have determined the stones are made from a volcanic substance called diabase, there's no explanation for their unusual ringing properties, nor for the eight-acre field itself, which is situated high on a hillside, not at the bottom, ruling out that it may have been formed by a glacier or avalanche.

Mel’s HoleManastash Ridge, Wash.



The Mystery: The nine-foot-wide bottomless hole and former dump site on Mel Waters’s former property near Ellensburg, Wash., is awash in mystery, which includes its professed ability to “re-animate” dead animals. Some speculate the opening is actually a tunnel, giving rise to the “Hollow Earth” theory first proposed by astronomer Edmond Halley (of comet fame) in the 17th century. The most pressing secret: Where does the hole lead?



Fact: Waters — who has since moved — reported sinking a fishing line some 15 miles into the pit in an attempt to find the bottom. He never found it. He also claimed the abyss would shoot black rays and could bring animals back to life; a neighbor tossed a dead dog into the hole only to have it return, alive, from out of the woods. Some believe the discovery is a blow hole for Mount Rainier, but no one knows how to account for the high strangeness.

The Lake Michigan MonsterLake Michigan



The Mystery: Locals and cryptozoologists have long believed there’s an enormous prehistoric creature living in the second largest of the Great Lakes. Sightings from around its shores — Cross Village, Harbor Springs, Northport — date as far back as 1817 and tell of a 60-foot serpent or “sea panther,” as local Native Americans referred to it (because of its catlike head and lizard body), that likes to emerge at dusk.



Fact: While the beast, if it truly exists, is thought to be a land-locked plesiosaur. Similar sightings have also occurred in the other northernly lakes, including Lake Champlain — home to Champy—and Lake Erie, where proclaimed creationist Carl Baugh discovered a carcass of a three-foot long “baby monster” in the early 1990’s. He had the creature, probably a burbot, stuffed and placed on display at the (now-closed) L & D Bait and Tackle shop near Cleveland.

Well this is a very cool read and I wanted to share, I also wondre if any members have been to any of these places and would like to share some stories? as alwasy I hope you enjoy!


Source

interesting read,
if only one of them was real, this would make world news!

really like to know more about Mount ShastaRedding, Calif.
never heard about that one.....

Originally posted by GondelleX
interesting read,
if only one of them was real, this would make world news!

really like to know more about Mount ShastaRedding, Calif.
never heard about that one.....

Are you sure none of them are real?



Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park
© Adam C. George


[edit on 24-1-2009 by alyosha1981]

There is also the Coral Castle and the Georgia Guidestones

Originally posted by GondelleX
interesting read,
if only one of them was real, this would make world news!

They are real and have made the news just people are more interested in who slept with whom on TV

Having encountered 3 of those (I currently live near Gold Hill Oregon and have lived near Shasta for a couple years and once visited the Coral Castle) and not only find these subjects highly interesting, a thought just occurred to me as i was reading your OP.

Wouldn't it be fun to make it a mission to visit each one of those places in a lifetime? I have added a couple of those as 'must-do missions in life' while reading that, so for that, I very much appreciate that and thank you highly.

reply to post by alyosha1981


Mel's hole doesn't exist... so it's not a 'fact'. One I can think of, there's a hill in Provo Utah I saw on the discovery channel, it's called "Gravity Hill", cars in neutral roll up hill, it's some type of gravity irregularity, perhaps dense rock under the hill, I went to check it out in the 90s, and of all things, it was blocked off, they had it blocked off for the filming of Touched by an Angel, still want to go back and check it out someday.

Thanks for the thread, very interesting stuff.

I keep meaning to stop by the Oregon Vortex on one of my Oregon Coast trips, but I have yet to do so. For now I'm assuming it's probably an optical illusion, but who knows?

Google Video Link

www.oregonvortex.com...

I've driven past Trout Lake too, one of these times I'll have to camp there maybe.

I've been on the so called Gravity Hill in Utah and yeah we literally shut the car off just to make sure the driver (a friend who lived there) wasn't tricking us and then let the car roll from a standstill. The best explanation I can come up with is it's an optical illusion created by the terrain - whereas the usual optical cues that tell the brain something is downhill or uphill are tricked - it's pretty simple.

I've been hiking in the hills surrounding Ellensburg, WA where the supposed Mel's hole is and although I never found the hole. I saw some some pretty strange clouds at sunset there and there seemed to be quite a few wild dogs or coyotes there that masked me on my way out one night.

[edit on 1-2-2009 by verylowfrequency]

i love stories like this. i makes you wanna explore these things and learn more of our mysterious world.

reply to post by verylowfrequency
Mel's Hole caught my attention too. I grew up reading books about these type of places and would enjoy visiting the Vortex area. Mel's Hole seems to be standard made up BS from C2C. I had a look and found there's no evidence or pictures. An interesting challenge to Mel's claims is that of the weight of 15 miles of fishing line and a pound weight. The line would snap under it's weight.