The Enigma — Mysteries & Discoveries

Three fishing boats lay in an Alaskan bay on the night of July 9, 1958. Before the night was over, one would be missing, another wrecked, and a third would carry a father and his young son through an extraordinary escape. The evidence left on the mountainside was almost harder to believe than the survivors’ accounts. A mountainside falls into the water A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck along the Fairweather fault. At Lituya Bay, a vast rockslide plunged into Gilbert Inlet. The sudden impact displaced water with devastating force, sending it up the opposite slope and driving a wave through the bay. This was a landslide-generated tsunami: the falling rock was the immediate trigger for the enormous surge. The steep, confined landscape helped make the event extreme. USGS explains the geological setting . The boats in its path According to the Alaska Earthquake Center’s historical account, Howard Ulrich and his seven-year-old son survived aboard the Edrie . Bill and Vivian Swanson escaped a...

A deserted colony. Rocks that leave tracks across a desert. A waterfall that seems to swallow part of a river. These seven American places have inspired questions for generations—but their stories do not all end in the same way. Some remain subjects of historical debate. Others have scientific explanations that are just as interesting as the legends. Here is what makes each place remarkable, what we know, and what remains uncertain. Explore the seven places: Roanoke Island Marfa Lights Death Valley’s moving rocks Winchester Mystery House Coral Castle Devil’s Kettle Serpent Mound 1. The Lost Colony of Roanoke, North Carolina Imagine returning home after three years and discovering that everyone you left behind has vanished. That's the mystery surrounding Roanoke Island, North Carolina. In 1587, a group of English settlers established a colony on the island. Their governor, John White, returned to England to obtain much-needed supplies. However, war between England and Spain delayed ...