Amazing Discoveries In The Most Unusual Places

Location: Watford, England
Year Discovered: 2019
Est. Value: $40*

In Watford, England, demolition workers were tearing down an old bar when they made an interesting discovery in the chimney area of the structure. This unsettling folklore surprise came in the form of a witch bottle that was filled with glass shards, fangs, and an unknown substance. It was believed that the bottle was from the 1800s. It was probably put in the bar as a witch-baiting measure. That makes sense given that the Witch of Saratoga was born on this Watford property. The Witch’s original name was Angeline Tubbs, and she moved to Saratoga, New York in 1761. There, she made a business by reading fortunes and crafting witch bottles to frighten away rivals.

Location: Yuigahama Beach, Japan
Year Discovered: 2014
Est. Value: Unknown

Humans are concerned when dead animals wash up on the coastlines since this could indicate an issue with the water’s purity. Who knows what an enormous, eight-foot Lego man represents? A Japanese surfer spotted this possible sign of doom. The Lego man was dressed menacingly in a t-shirt with the words “No Real Than You Are” on the front. Instead of blaming extraterrestrials, it seems that a mysterious Dutch artist by the name of Ego Leonard is responsible for this enormous Lego. Believe it or not, this is far from the first time such a big Lego has washed ashore. This artist, according to his website, originates from a “virtual world.”

Location: West Sumatra, Indonesia
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: Unknown

Conservationists came across the largest flower bloom in the world while exploring a remote jungle in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Rafflesia tuan-mudae is the name of the flower species, which is renowned for its enormous, elusive blossoms that bloom for only one week towards the conclusion of the plant’s life. The largest Rafflesia ever recorded, this enormous flower has a diameter of 3.6 feet. The flower has flesh-colored petals with white dots, making it simple to identify. The flower itself belongs to the “corpse flower” kind of flora, which means it smells like a dead body, hence this unfavorable description is accurate.

Location: San Juan Capistrano, California
Year Discovered: 2012
Est. Value: $850*

When Sharknado debuted in 2013, everyone made fun of it, but it appears that Thunder Levin ultimately had the final laugh since perhaps his films weren’t so fictitious after all. A year before the release of those films, no less, a shark actually did drop from the sky and land close to the 12th tee of a golf course in California. The two-pound leopard shark fell onto the turf, shocking the San Juan Capistrano Golf Course staff. As it turned out, a bird dropped the leopard shark by accident and transported it from the ocean where it was discovered to be alive. The puzzled fish was placed in a bucket of salt water by cart attendants, who then transported it to Baby Beach where they released it back into its natural environment.

Location: Cenote Angelita, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: N/A

It might sound a little paradoxical to find a river in the ocean. After all, the ocean is only made up of water. Be prepared for a surprise, though, as divers off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula found an underwater river concealed by a deadly gas cloud. The river originates in the enormous sinkhole known as Cenote Angelita. This river apparently empties into the ocean 90 feet below the surface. Hydrogen sulfide, which would quickly kill anyone attempting to breathe it in, was blanketing the area around it. Petrified trees and even a little skeleton are present in the poisonous cloud, adding to the atmosphere’s eerie feel. Perhaps the ancient Mayans had a point when they claimed that the Cenote Angelita was a portal to Hell.

Location: Oranjemund, Namibia
Year Discovered: 2008
Est. Value: $13 million*

The Namibian Desert is arguably the last place you would think to look for a ship. However, it’s true that’s where the Bom Jesus’s remains were discovered. This Portuguese ship sank off the coast of Namibia five centuries ago, and it hasn’t been seen since. The Bom Jesus reappeared as the waves along the shoreline subsided. It was carrying valuables including gold and copper ingots when it sank in an intense storm while en route to India. The ship was found by diamond miners, who then informed Namibia’s government, which dispatched a team to recover the debris. On the Bom Jesus, thousands of coins made of pure gold and tens of thousands of pounds of ingots of copper were found, nearly all undamaged.

Location: Estonia
Year Discovered: 2000
Est. Value: $6 million*

A wonderful piece of history was buried for years in Lake Kurtna Matasjärv before being discovered in 2000 by Kasper, a young Estonian. Kasper retrieved his parents after spotting a weird marking and a nearby rope. The town as a whole soon became involved in the vast excavation that followed. A Soviet-built T34/76A tank that had surfaced from the depths was waiting at the other end of the rope as a somber reminder of the past. Kasper made an accidental discovery. Nobody is quite sure why the tank is where it is or how it got there, though.

Location: Paris, France
Year Discovered: 2004
Est. Value: $5,000-$10,000* (Cost To Build)

In the middle of France is a maze called the Paris Catacombs. When the city needed a better place to keep the dead, the Catacombs were constructed. So, starting in the late 1700s, Paris decided to empty bodies into five stories of underground tunnels. This discovery is even more unsettling given that context. In one of the Catacombs’ previously unexplored caves, Parisian police conducting a training exercise in August 2004 uncovered a fully-equipped movie theater. An amphitheater made of terraces carved out of the rock housed a full-sized movie screen, projection equipment, and a selection of thriller and noir movies. The movies weren’t objectionable or illegal; it appears that someone just wanted to build a spooky, private theater.

Location: Shropshire, England
Year Discovered: 2010
Est. Value: $10,000-$50,000* (Cost To Build, Adj. For Inflation)

This strange discovery appears like it might be the start of a horror film. Pat and Diane Farla were hosting a Good Friday party in Shropshire, England when one of them made the decision to finally peek behind the six-foot-long rectangular plate on their wall. They had owned the house for three years, but—believe it or not—they had never looked behind there. They found a hole after removing the plate that led them to a tiny, underground chapel. The fact that the cellar-like structure contained pews and a cross indicated that it was religious in nature. Authorities think that congregations fleeing religious persecution during one of England’s many religious wars may have used this underground chapel centuries ago.