It’s not Halloween just yet, and we don’t mean to scare you…but BOY are there are some super spine-chilling unsolved mysteries from our town! Not always the case of ‘who killed who?’, these are fascinating puzzles that remain, even after hundreds of years, with a big ‘?’ next to them. Amazing! Prepare to be BAMBOOZLED! (And probably to not want to walk by yourself in the dark again…)
1. Jack the Ripper
Some think this man, William Belcher, is a likely suspect… [Express]London’s (possibly the world’s) greatest unsolved mystery is the identity of notorious serial-killer, Jack the Ripper. Since terrorising 19th century London by committing brutal murders in the East End, countless experts have poured over the crimes (which are too gruesome to go into…) and still no one has ever convincingly unmasked this deadly demon of Whitechapel.
2. The St Pancras Walrus
[Atlas Obscura]Found in 2013 buried in a mass grave (of people) that had been used throughout the 19th century, this 4m walrus skeleton has baffled historians for quite some time. Bearing in mind that back then, walruses would have been pretty much sea monsters to people, (and that it would have had to be shipped over from the arctic), the fact that there are no records of it at all is an enigma! What on earth was it doing here?!
3. The Hanging of Roberto Calvi.
[Quantum Prophecy]Known as God’s Banker due to his work with the Vatican, Robert Calvi was found hanging from Blackfriars bridge on June 18th, 1982. In his pockets were 5 bricks and thousands of pounds in cash. Initially believed to be suicide, it has since been established that he was in fact assassinated. BUT BY WHO? Calvi’s name had been discovered on a list of members of a Masonic Lodge (along with 48 MPs, two cabinet ministers and the heads of all 3 intelligence agencies), known as Propaganda Due or P2. P2, it has been revealed was the ‘frati neri’ or ‘black friars’, and it is believed that Calvi was the victim of a Masonic ritual slaying. But, really…WHO KNOWS?!
4. Spring-Heeled Jack
[Urban Ghosts]Dubbed Spring-Heeled Jack by the media, this mysterious Jack was first documented in 1837 (before Jack the Ripper), when a girl claimed she had been attacked on Clapham Common by a leaping figure with claws that was dressed in black. Sounds scary? It gets worse… A few years later, Jane Alsop reported an attack by a similar figure, but who had flung off his disguise, presenting ‘a most hideous and frightful appearance’ which had red eyes and breathed white and blue flames. We wonder what these women actually saw?!
5. The Natural History Museum Mystery Bug
[National Geographic]The Natural History Museum in London has 28 million bugs on record. So, when the iconic museum‘s entomologist (insect specialist) happened upon an unidentifiable species of insect whilst eating his lunch in the grounds, it came as quite a shock. There was absolutely no record of where the insect came from or what it was…
