Somewhere in the misty foothills of questionably named Mystic Valley, you’ll find the Crystal Caverns Healing Grotto — a site proudly advertised as “a rare confluence of natural energies, sacred vibrations, and ancient cosmic alignments.” What it actually offers is a damp cave, a thinly veiled gift shop, and an excellent opportunity to question your … Read more
The Mandela Effect is one of the saddest monuments to collective human ego in modern history. It’s the phenomenon where a large group of people misremembers something — and instead of accepting that memory is a squishy, unreliable mess, they decide they’ve stumbled into evidence of alternate dimensions. Because clearly, it’s more plausible that the … Read more
There is a special place in my cold, shriveled heart reserved for the Moon landing hoax crowd — the true believers who, against all available evidence and common sense, have convinced themselves that humanity’s single greatest technological achievement was faked on a soundstage somewhere in the desert by Stanley Kubrick, the CIA, or whichever shadowy … Read more
Area 51 is the world’s most famous military base —precisely because people don’t know what actually happens there. Unfortunately, whenever humans encounter a blank space on the map, they fill it with whatever nonsense makes them feel clever. In this case: alien spacecraft, interdimensional portals, and, depending on which forum you land on, time-traveling lizard … Read more
It’s the oldest trick in the psychic playbook, and somehow people still fall for it. You walk into a palm reader’s tent, a tarot shop, a spirit boutique — whatever they’re calling the con today — and within five minutes, you’re informed that you have “a dark cloud” hanging over you. Bad energy. A generational … Read more
Nothing says “serious paranormal research” quite like a group of grown adults huddled in a dark basement, holding an $28 voice recorder from Amazon, desperately hoping to hear a dead guy say “hi.” Electronic Voice Phenomena — or EVPs, for those who like their pseudoscience to sound technical — are supposed to be ghostly voices … Read more
If you ever feel underachieving, remember: two thousand years ago, a group of ancient Peruvians spent decades carving enormous pictures into the desert floor — and modern humans immediately assumed it must have been aliens. The Nazca Lines — sprawling geoglyphs etched across the Nazca Desert — depict hummingbirds, monkeys, spiders, and a few abstract … Read more
Every town has its quirks. Greenfield, Georgia has the Blessed Gnome. According to the hand-painted sign propped up in Barb Jensen’s front yard (right next to a sun-bleached flamingo and a “God Bless America” wind spinner), this squat ceramic gnome has granted “over 400 wishes” since 2003. The ritual is simple: Rub the gnome’s nose, … Read more
The House of Eternal Echoes claims to be one of the oldest, most haunted mansions in the region. Which, in practical terms, means it’s a crumbling Victorian disaster filled with bad lighting, suspicious drafts, and a marketing team that believes any creaking floorboard is irrefutable proof of spectral activity. For a modest entrance fee — … Read more
Every state seems to have its cryptid. The Pacific Northwest has Bigfoot. Scotland has the Loch Ness Monster. And Florida — bless its humid little heart — has the Skunk Ape. Imagine Bigfoot, but smaller, smellier, and more confused. That’s the Skunk Ape. A creature said to lurk in the swamps and Everglades, staggering through … Read more