Top 30 UNSOLVED Internet Mysteries

Top-30-Unsolved-Internet-Mysteries

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the weirdest and most unsettling online mysteries that are still unsolved to this day.

#30: 11B-X-1371

The Internet is home to billions of videos– including some that are extremely cursed. While some are clearly just aiming to scare, others seem to have more insidious intentions. 11B-X-1371 depicted a person wearing a plague doctor costume, while a grating noise played in the background. Upon investigation, people found that it’d been littered with hidden ciphers, along with other visual cues that implied there was a deeper meaning. The speculation grew, until some became convinced it was a threat against the United States. However, there are still plenty of skeptics that argue it was all just a marketing ploy. With the supposed creator claiming that the clip remains undeciphered, it's clear that this is one case that won’t be cracked anytime soon.

#29: Mortis.com

Since the web’s early days, there have been sites that have come and gone. While most were standard, some were more baffling. Mortis.com was one of the strangest, due to its name and threadbare appearance. When accessing it, users were met with a simple login prompt. Most people abandoned it right there, but a few were determined to get in. Once they did, they discovered that it hosted several terabytes of data. Considering that it was first created in the late 90s, this was no easy feat. Things only got crazier as the alleged developer was found– only to vanish when pressed for answers. Eventually, Mortis.com was shut down, taking its secrets with it.

#28: The Bridge

Some posts leave a permanent mark online. The tale of one person’s trip to a local structure has unsettled Redditors for years. The poster claimed they and their friends explored the interior of a bridge, leading to the discovery of several unsavory objects– including one that was bloodied. There was an immediate debate between people who insisted they had stumbled across a serial killer’s lair, and those who believed it was all a hoax. The follow-up only made things more complicated. This time, several photos of the bridge’s contents were uploaded, with the items ranging from a large knife to caution tape. The original account ended up being deleted, meaning the truth behind this potential real-life thriller may never be revealed.

#27: 112 Dirtbag

The disappearance of Maura Murray in 2004 rattled her community, and remains unsolved. Seven years after she went missing, a bone-chilling recording was uploaded to YouTube that essentially reignited the search. It was of an older man laughing at the camera, becoming more maniacal by the second. There was no context, but many immediately assumed he was the perpetrator. There was even speculation that his username was a reference to an interview Murray’s father had given, and that he included a map to her body in a now removed clip. The outcry led to him being questioned, but he was ultimately released. Despite that, some people are convinced he was involved, and are still trying to get her family the closure they deserve.

#26: Sad Satan

Horror games have been beloved for a long time– but some are best left unplayed. “Sad Satan” takes scary to a whole new level. Supposedly created by someone on the dark web, its disconcerting content quickly led to it gaining notoriety. The gameplay only consisted of a character walking down a hallway, but it was far from boring. Along the way were random audio snippets, including Charles Manson interviews and disturbing lyrics. The mystery behind it was deep enough– but a subsequent cloned version made it worse. This iteration included several jumpscares, including graphic and potentially illegal images. No one knows who made either variation, leading to a theory that the original was the work of the Youtuber who initially brought it to light.

#25: The 432 Mystery

Let this be a reminder not to click any suspicious links. In the 2010s, random people began receiving random emails with URLs and a note stating they had been chosen. Some were morbidly curious and looked into it, only to be met with pages consisting of creepy messages. Puzzles were periodically uploaded and solved, and some became confident that they had outsmarted the owner. That is, until some of the participants were doxxed, with their photos and even their addresses being published. This made some people even more determined to learn the truth. For a while, there was a subreddit dedicated to solving it. However, it was inexplicably banned, causing the trail to go cold for good.

#24: The Box of Crazy

The name may be self-explanatory, but its origins definitely aren’t. On a forum dedicated to identifying unidentified objects, one person posted something truly mystifying. It was a suitcase filled with drawings, each more unsettling than the last. There were more technical illustrations like blueprints and maps, paired with chilling depictions of aliens and multi-headed deities. Some saw Biblical inspirations, and assumed it was the work of a believer going through a crisis. There were others who believed they were in communication with extraterrestrial beings. Of course, skeptical Redditors dismissed the whole thing as drug-induced or entirely fabricated. Despite the numerous theories, none have been verified, creating an enigma that has lasted over a decade.

#23: The Button

Reddit has gained a reputation for its annual April Fools day activities. While many have become iconic, one in particular somehow ended up being an odd social experiment on mob mentality. The Button was simple– a timer would count down, and people would click it. Then, they were assigned a color based on whatever number the clock was left on. A digital caste system was formed, with plenty of infighting between the various flairs. Eventually, the timer reached zero without a single click, bringing the months-long project to an end. Afterwards, many questioned why it’d caused such a frenzy, and why the administrators let it continue for so long. It remains one of the strangest unexplained instances of contemporary tribalism.

#22: Chip-Chan

Streamers may have been popularized on Twitch, but the concept has been around much longer. Some have been live since the earlier days of the net, including one woman known as Chip-Chan. She became well-known after people stumbled onto her content and were left with more questions than answers. Rather than interact with viewers, she simply slept on camera. Over time, it became clear that she never stopped filming. Chip-Chan insisted she was imprisoned and controlled by a device in her ankle. Those claims paired with her declining health caused several viewers to try and get her help, with no results. The lack of intervention led her audience to wonder if it was the case of a mental disorder, or something much darker.

#21: Mariana’s Web

By now, the existence of the Dark web is well-known. However, there may be another hidden layer, consisting of some truly unnerving things. Getting there is no easy feat, but those who have been successful claim to have seen a side of cyberspace they had never experienced before. It’s allegedly the home to a vast array of confidential information, belonging to individuals and larger entities. Not much is known around this mystical area, but apparently, users need a deep knowledge of quantum computing to even get close. Whether it’s real or not, the thought of so many important and private secrets potentially falling into the wrong hands is terrifying to think about.

#20: “Kanye Quest 3030”

In 2013, a bizarre game called “Kanye Quest 3030” was released for PC. Players controlled Kanye West and fought other rappers like Eminem and LL Cool J in “Pokémon”-style battles. However, this was merely a front for the so-called “real game.” If the player typed the word “ascend” into a dialogue box, they were taken to a freaky secret area. This segment of the game asked players for their personal information and contained a QR code that, if activated, would supposedly pull the user’s IP. Some people believe that this game was created by a cult known as Ascensionism and that it served as a recruitment tool. Others think it’s a weird alternate reality game. Either way, it’s super creepy.

#19: GhostNet

There’s a reason this thing is called GhostNet. Uncovered in 2009, GhostNet refers to a massive cyber spying operation that targeted over a thousand computers in over a hundred countries. Emails bearing sketchy attachments were sent to high-profile targets like foreign embassies and government offices. When opened, it would give the spies control over the computers. The command infrastructure was based in China, but no conclusive link to the Chinese government was made and the country denied any and all involvement in the attacks. To this day, no one knows who, exactly, was responsible. They’re as invisible and intangible as a ghost.

#18: Anonymous

A movement like this seems like something you’d only see in movies– and yet, it’s 100% real. Since the early 2000s, a hacktivism collection known as Anonymous has proven to hold real power online and in real life. Starting on 4Chan, they quickly became one of the most prominent groups of the modern era. Their targets have ranged from corporations to entire governments. Using voice modulators and masks resembling a widely beloved character, they’ve wreaked havoc and fought for important causes. There’s no known leader or objective, and those involved are instructed to not reveal their identities. While their presence has slightly waned in recent years, they’ve remained one of the most elusive aspects of the Internet as a whole.

#17: Unfavorable Semicircle

YouTube can be a weird place, and it’s filled with some puzzling videos. Beginning in April of 2015, a user called Unfavorable Semicircle began uploading some very strange videos. These didn’t have proper titles or descriptions, and they were very abstract in content. Nothing about them really made sense, and the videos ranged from just a few seconds to eleven hours in length. The channel quickly caught the attention of internet sleuths and even the BBC, who reported on it in 2016. In a shocking turn of events, Unfavorable Semicircle was suspended by YouTube shortly after the BBC piece had been published and has never been heard from again.


#16: The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet

There are millions of songs out there. Some are bound to get lost. “The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet” refers to a tune that once aired on the German radio station NDR. Some time in the early 80s, a man known only as Darius S. recorded the song off the radio alongside other popular singles of the time. Darius digitized his cassette playlist in 2004, but that song from the ‘80s was long forgotten. It was Darius’s sister, Lydia, who began using the internet to search for the mysterious ditty, but to no avail. The search has continued since 2007 and is now a bonafide web phenomenon. Unfortunately, no one has been able to crack the case of the mystery track.


#15: Grave Robbing for Morons

Could we have a genuine body snatcher on our hands? Some people certainly think so. “Grave Robbing for Morons” is a famous VHS tape of unknown origin. It depicts a young man holding a human skull and giving detailed instructions for robbing graves. No one knows where the tape came from, who is in it, or even if it’s genuine. The man in the video calls himself Anthony, and some people believe it could be Anthony Casamassima, who was arrested for pillaging graves in the late ‘90s. Others believe it’s a hoax made by a bootlegger known as Screws. Real or not, the video is supremely creepy.


#14: The Heaven’s Gate Website

Heaven’s Gate was a small American cult that was made famous in March of 1997 after 39 members of the cult took their own lives in order to “ascend” to a new plane of existence. A few of the members who survived have since been given the task to preserve their group’s legacy digitally. Heaven’s Gate’s website remains in operation and, as much as it is a glorious time capsule back to ‘90s web design, it also proclaims messages about leaving “this world.” No one really knows who runs the website, but all signs point to a couple named Mark and Sarah King.


#13: Alex from 4Chan

Spend about two minutes on 4chan and you’re bound to come across something disturbing. But, this probably takes the cake. In April of 2013, a post was made providing coordinates to an industrial area of Tennessee. Accompanying the coordinates was a piece of text claiming that a “prize” was awaiting those who visited. After users joked about going, the OP provided unsettling pictures of what looked like human remains and a body bag. A user calling himself Alex then visited the location and documented his frightening progress, but he abruptly stopped posting after hearing someone approaching. Maybe Alex was real and met a tragic fate, or maybe it was all just an elaborate hoax concocted by the original poster. Who knows?


#12: John Titor

We all want to believe in time travel, and John Titor may be proof of its existence. A user named TimeTravel_0 posted on the Time Travel Institute and Art Bell BBS forums in the early 2000s. They claimed to be a time traveler from the year 2036, describing the workings of a time machine in detail and even making various predictions about the future. The most elaborate was an American civil war that would break out in 2005 and lead to World War III. The posts were eventually traced to a Florida lawyer named Larry Haber, and it’s now believed that both Larry and his brother Richard were the men behind John Titor. Still, even a likely conclusion is not certifiable proof, and the enticing posts remain a mystery.


#11: The Elevator Game

It seems like every other month the kids are participating in a new trend. One dating a while back was called The Elevator Game. This trend originated in Korea and was said to bring its players into another dimension. The ritual game comes with a specific set of rules and instructions, like going to specific floors in a building and refusing to speak to the mysterious woman who supposedly eventually enters the elevator. The game gained popularity after the death of Elisa Lam, as some people theorized that she was participating in the game. Though this might just be some glorified creepypasta, one thing is for sure: it was popular enough to get a movie adaptation!


#10: The Jack Froese Emails

It’s one of the greatest and most popular ghost stories of the 2010s. Jack Froese contacts his friends and family from beyond the grave through the modern miracle of smartphones. Froese passed away in 2011, and people started getting strange emails shortly after. These emails were of a very personal nature with inside jokes and things that only Froese would have known about, including a dream his cousin had about him. Numerous theories have been put forth regarding the source of the emails, like scheduled sending and even Froese’s mother posing as her deceased son. Either way, his friends and family were happy to hear from him, and that’s good enough for us.


#9: Publius Enigma

For this internet puzzle, we’re going back to 1994, which makes this one of the earliest viral internet mysteries. At the time, Pink Floyd was on their Division Bell World Tour, and a user by the name of Publius posted a cryptic riddle relating to the band’s album on a fan forum. On July 16, Publius wrote on the forum that he would prove his authenticity in person, and two nights later, the words “Enigma Publius” were briefly spelled out in the stage lights at a Pink Floyd concert. Band members David Gilmour and Nick Mason claim that it was all a marketing stunt by the record company. Regardless, the riddle itself has never been solved. Then again, maybe it was never intended to be.


#8: Valor por Tamaulipas

Given its high level of journalist assassinations, the country is among one of the most dangerous for those in the press. This makes the work of Valor por Tamaulipas so much more honorable. This was a Facebook page run by… Well, no one knows. They would report on violence in the state of Tamaulipas, with most instances linking back to organized crime. By exposing such people, the administrator (or administrators) were putting themselves at great personal risk. Indeed, one criminal organization offered around $50,000 for information about them and their family. Thankfully, none of their identities were ever revealed.


#7: Oct282011.com

The internet is filled with many haunting and enigmatic websites, and oct282011.com was one of them. The page consisted of little more than a dark screen, some cryptic text that no one understood, plus a phone number. This is where things get really creepy. Those who actually called the number reported a series of unsettling noises, such as strange voices, heavy breathing, loud beeps, and one person even claimed to hear something being dragged across a floor. No one knew what the heck was going on, and October 28, 2011 didn’t amount to much either. That is, unless you count the release of Dreamworks’ “Puss in Boots.” The site was taken down in 2015, leaving behind a ton of questions that are still unanswered.


#6: 973-eht-namuh-973.com

Unlike Oct282011.com, this website is still up and running, so you can explore it to your heart’s content. Fair warning - you might be there a while trying to figure it all out. It’s more like a Russian Doll than a website, with links opening more links that open other links that open…well, you get the idea. The whole thing is super weird, with pages featuring distressing pictures, numerology, and Bible passages. Someone get Robert Langdon on the phone, stat! To this day, both the administrator and the nature of their website are unknown. It’s one of the internet’s finest, and more tantalizing mysteries.


#5: Markovian Parallax Denigrate

This is an all-time classic internet puzzle - and also one of the first. It dates back to 1996, when nonsensical texts were posted to the discussion system Usenet. Every single post had the subject line “Markovian parallax denigrate,” and the messages themselves were filled with even more unintelligible nonsense. It’s not necessarily creepy or troublesome. Just…weird. Many people believe that the messages are spam or some kind of primitive text generator, while others think it was the ramblings of a single troll. Whatever they are, the posts are no clearer today than they were in the ‘90s, and no one has any idea what they are supposed to mean.


#4: Internet Black Holes

Inspiring many epic works of science fiction, black holes, as defined by NASA, are “region[s] in space where the pulling force of gravity is so strong that light is not able to escape.” The name was lent to this strange phenomenon in which web traffic simply disappears. Working much like a black hole in space, an internet black hole sucks in discarded data packets when they can’t reach a router that’s either offline or disconnected. Neither the sender nor the recipient are informed of the delivery’s failure, and the packet of info just up and vanishes from the digital sphere.


#3: Bitcoin’s Founder

Bitcoin - many have heard of it, few understand it. But that’s not the mystery. The mystery lies in the currency’s founder. Or, maybe, founders. Absolutely nothing is known about the person or people responsible for Bitcoin. All we have is the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto and a few alleged bits of personal information, like a Japanese heritage and the alma mater California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. A few people have been put forth as potential suspects, and an Australian computer scientist named Craig Steven Wright has claimed to be Nakamoto. However, many experts doubt his claim. Unfortunately, it’s the best we have at the moment in deducing Nakamoto’s identity.


#2: r/A858

No other mystery has captivated Reddit quite like A858. In the early 2010s, a mystifying subreddit was created that contained nothing but strings of letters and numbers. It soon gained popularity, and many Redditors devoted many hours to cracking the code. Some messages were successfully decoded, but not many. And, unfortunately for the internet sleuths who dedicated countless hours to solving the case, it led nowhere. The subreddit went private in 2016, leaving Redditors stumbling in the dark without answers. No one even knows why A858 was created in the first place but, hey, at least a valiant effort was made.


#1: Cicada 3301

Perhaps the greatest internet mystery of all was derived from where else but 4chan, on January 4, 2012. The post consisted of an elaborate puzzle centered around data security and cryptography. Two more puzzles followed in 2013 and 2014 - both of which were again posted on January 4. While the first two were eventually cracked, the third remains frustratingly unsolved. The puzzles were apparently made to recruit “highly intelligent individuals” for some cryptography-based mission or job. Many people believe it has something to do with government agencies like the NSA or CIA. Others believe that the challenges have a darker source and could be linked to cults or conspiracies. For now, though, it’s all up to individual discretion!


Which secret on the web intrigues you the most? Let us know in the comments below!