Mysterious Places

A day trip at Coral Castle

There are mysterious places in the United States where the strange and the unusual happen.  Here is but a few:

Roanoke Island: is an island in Dare County on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States. It is known the abandoned settlement as "The Lost Colony." The island was named after the historical Roanoke Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English exploration. In 1587, the English again tried to settle Roanoke Island. John White, father of the colonist Eleanor Dare, and grandfather to Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World, left the colony to return to England for supplies. He expected to return to Roanoke Island within three months. Instead, with England at war with Spain, all ships were confiscated for use of the war efforts. White's return to Roanoke Island was delayed until 1590, by which time all the colonists had disappeared. The settlement was abandoned. The only clue White found was the word "CROATOAN" carved into a tree. Before leaving the colony three years earlier, White had left instructions that, if the colonists left the settlement, they were to carve the name of their destination, with a Maltese cross if they left due to danger. "CROATOAN" was the name of an island to the south (modern-day Hatteras Island), where a native tribe friendly to the English was known to live. Colonists might have tried to reach that island. However, foul weather kept White from venturing south to search on Croatoan for the colonists, and he returned to England. White never returned to the New World. Unable to determine exactly what happened, the fate of the people is become a source of legend

Mystery Spot: This popular tourist attraction located outside of Santa Cruz, California, opened in 1941.

The operators of the small optical illusion site (which is about 150 feet in diameter) claim at that location the laws of physics and gravity do not apply and provide a number of illusions in support of these claims, where water seems to flow upwards, people seem to be standing in slanted positions etc.

Even when people are standing outside on a level ground, the slant of the building in the background causes misperceptions as we judge the height of people using the slant of the roof rather than the true horizon

Oregon Vortex: This curious site in southern Oregon has attracted visitors since the 1930s. Measuring 165 feet in diameter and is known for producing intense feelings of vertigo. Native Americans referred to it as Forbidden Ground. 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. The Vortex’s strange phenomenon is well documented, and animals still refuse to enter its sphere.

Note: Both of these attractions are actually tilt-induced visual illusions. This happens when visitors are oddly tilted environment as well as standing on a tilted floor. Inside the tilted room of the Mystery Spot, misperceptions of the height and orientation of objects occur. Still it is neat to experience it.

 Bermuda Triangle: also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an area in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Popular culture has attributed various disappearances to the paranormal or activity by extraterrestrial beings.

The Brown Mountain Lights: This beautiful locations offers one of the most unique mysteries that can still be seen today. A series of ghost lights reported near Brown Mountain in North Carolina. The lights can be seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooks at mile posts 310 (Brown Mountain Light overlook) and 301 (Green Mountain overlook) and from the Brown Mountain Overlook on NC Highway 181 between Morganton, NC and Linville, NC. Additionally, good sightings of the Lights have been reported from the top of Table Rock, outside of Morganton, NC. One of the best vantage points, Wisemans View, is about 4 miles from Linville Falls, NC. There is also a Brown Mountain Overlook on North Carolina Highway 181 that was recently improved with help from the city of Morganton for the purpose of attracting those who visit the area to see the lights. The best time of year to see them is reportedly September through early November.

Ringing Rocks State Park:  In this unique place, located deep in the woods of Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania, 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”. 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.

Mount Shasta: Located right outside of Redding, California, lies this beautiful and stunning snow-capped peak, which is part of the Cascade Mountain range. The mountain located 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 two alien races: The Lemurians, surviving members of a sensitive super-race some believe existed 12,000 years ago during the time of Atlantis and the Reptilians.

Skinwalker Ranch: 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. According to local Native American folklore this area is legendary for its dark energies.

Mel’s Hole: The nine-foot-wide bottomless hole and former dump site on Mel Waters’ s former property near Ellensburg, Washington, is awash in mystery, which includes its professed ability to “reanimate” 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? Waters related that he sank 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. Unfortunately nobody has seen this hole and so it’s not really known if it does in fact exist.

Coral Castle: 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? 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.