10 Creepiest American Mysteries that Were Finally Solved

10 Creepiest American Mysteries That Were Finally Solved

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at 10 Creepiest American Mysteries That Were Finally Solved.

For this list, we’ll be looking at long-enduring mysteries from the United States that were eventually explained.

Do you find these answers satisfying? Let us know in the comments below!

The Umbrella Man

The assassination of John F. Kennedy is an enduringly popular subject for conspiracy theories, and one of the most popular involved the so-called Umbrella Man. Found in various photos and films, he raised suspicion not only for his use of an umbrella on a sunny day, but for his positioning near Kennedy when he was shot. Naturally, many people began to suspect that he was somehow involved. This remained a mystery for fifteen years. It wasn’t until 1978 that a man named Louie Steven Witt came forward and identified himself as the man in question. And there was no grand conspiracy - the umbrella was a mere symbol of political protest, and he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Carlina White

In 2011, Nejdra Nance discovered that her real name was Carlina White. The story goes back to August 4, 1987, when the 19-day-old White was abducted from Manhattan’s Harlem Hospital. The perpetrator was Annugetta Pettway, who was desperate for a child of her own and raised White as “Nejdra Nance.” The kidnapping remained unsolved for over two decades. And it was White herself who cracked the case. She eventually deduced that Pettway was not her biological mother and later found through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that she was actually the missing Carlina White. A DNA match proved this in 2011, and Pettway served nearly ten years in prison for kidnapping.

The Florida Sinkhole

South of Tallahassee, Florida is the Aucilla river, and inside the Aucilla river is a massive sinkhole. No one wanted to dive into this sinkhole, as, according to scientist Jessi Halligan, it was “as dark as the inside of a cow” with “literally no light at all.” But fortune favors the brave, and Halligan decided to head in. What she found was utterly fascinating. Inside the sinkhole were ancient stone tools and mastodon bones bearing evidence of human activity, indicating that we had been in the southeastern United States at least 14,500 years ago. This is about 1,500 years earlier than had been believed, and with other forms of evidence, it raises major questions about the initial colonization of America.

Pamela Jackson & Cheryl Miller

Back in 1971, teenagers Pamela Jackson and Cheryl Miller were driving to a party at a local gravel pit when they disappeared. Jackson and Miller were driving behind some classmates on their way to the pit. But the driver of that vehicle eventually realized that they were no longer being followed. Despite an extensive search, no evidence of the car or the students was found. It seemed like their vehicle simply up and vanished. In 2004, police reopened the case and indicted David Lykken for murdering the girls but there wasn’t enough evidence to hold the charge. It wasn’t until September 2013 that a drought dried a local creek and revealed the long-rusted car. Authorities believe that the car somehow went off the road and crashed into the creek, killing its two occupants.

The Death Valley Sailing Stones

As if the name Death Valley wasn’t creepy enough, it also hosts one of the eeriest natural phenomena in the country. Found along the smooth valley floor are heavy rocks with clear drag marks trailing behind them. However, there’s no evidence of human activity. So what exactly dragged these rocks across the dirt? Or who? We would love to say aliens. But, like many natural mysteries, there’s a pretty simple answer behind the sailing stones. A very thin sheet of ice forms on the valley floor in the winter, and when this ice melts in the morning sun, the rocks slide across the slippery surface. The ice is thin enough that the sliding rocks make trails in the valley floor. We know, booooring.

The Patterson–Gimlin Bigfoot Film

When it comes to evidence of cryptids, it’s hard to beat the legendary Patterson–Gimlin film. Shot in Northern California in 1967, it shows what is supposedly Bigfoot walking in a streambed. Now, this is admittedly some very good footage, and debate continues to rage regarding its authenticity. But there is just too much proof that debunks it. A costume maker named Philip Morris has revealed that he sold an ape suit to Patterson in 1967. Another man named Bob Heironimus claimed to be the man in the suit. Author Greg Long has found circumstantial evidence alleging that Patterson was a known hoaxer. Even Gimlin claimed “there could have been the possibility [of a hoax]” on the part of Patterson.

The Olympic Park Criminal

Eric Rudolph committed a series a bombings across the southern United States in the late ‘90s, injuring well over 100 people and killing three (one of which suffered an indirect heart attack). His most famous act was the Centennial Olympic Park bombing which occurred during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The bomb went off at 1:20 am, killing two people and injuring 111. The unknown perpetrator remained a fugitive and committed other bombings throughout 1997 and ‘98. Various clues, including a partial license plate, eventually identified the bomber as Eric Rudolph, and he was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. It wasn’t until 2003 that he was arrested while dumpster diving in North Carolina.

The Roswell Incident

You all know the story - in July 1947, a UFO crashed into Roswell, New Mexico, and the government covered it up by saying it was a weather balloon. But did you know that this story wasn’t widely accepted until the late 1970s? For three decades, the American populace accepted the truth - the device really was just a balloon. Now, it wasn’t exactly a weather balloon, and this discrepancy has only lent credence to the conspiracy theorists. Rather, it was a balloon from Project Mogul, a top secret government program that utilized the tools to spy on the Soviets. This fact was officially confirmed in 1994 by the United States Air Force following an inquiry by the General Accounting Office.

The Golden State Killer

For many years, The Golden State Killer went by a variety of different names, including the Visalia Ransacker and the Night Stalker. His crimes lasted for a period of twelve years between 1974 and 1986, in which he committed over fifty sexual assaults and thirteen murders. He even taunted the local police by making obscene phone calls, but despite this direct line of communication, he was never caught. That is, until 2018, when the perpetrator was 72 years old. Through the use of DNA and genetic genealogy, investigators were able to officially identify the criminal as Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer and truck mechanic of California. DeAngelo was finally sentenced to life in prison nearly 50 years after his crime spree began.

The Vampire Clan

“Unsolved Mysteries” is full of creepy tales, but none quite as unsettling as the Vampire Clan. On November 25, 1996, someone entered the home of Naomi and Richard Wendorf and beat them to death with a crowbar. Their bodies were later discovered by their daughter, Jennifer. Suspicion immediately fell to a so-called Vampire Clan led by one Rod Ferrell, as Jennifer’s sister Heather had been friendly with the group. It was said that Ferrell made prospective members drink his blood in order to join the cult. Just a few weeks after the episode aired, the grandmother of a member called the police and told them where the cult was heading. They were apprehended in Louisiana, and Ferrell was sentenced to life in prison.