mystery

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10 Most Nagging Mysteries of 2011
 10 Most Nagging 
 Mysteries of 2011 
year in review
Dec 31, 2011 10:19 AM CST

10 Most Nagging Mysteries of 2011

From murder mysteries to murky maladies

(Newser) - A lot of big news happened in 2011 ... and some of it only half-happened. The Atlantic Wire took a look at the most frustrating unanswered questions of the year, and keeps its fingers crossed that 2012 will bring new details. Highlights from its list of the year's 10 most...

Tourist Finds Human Leg on Florida Beach

Police mystified by cleanly cut limb

(Newser) - A family visiting St. Petersburg, Florida, got a nasty surprise yesterday, when they stumbled upon a severed human leg that had washed ashore on a small beach tucked behind a waterfront neighborhood. The leg was pale, white, and shaven, bent at the knee and cut with eerie cleanness at the...

English-Speaking Teen From Forest Stumps Berlin Cops

'Ray' says he recently buried his father and is all alone

(Newser) - He says he's been living in the forest for years, his parents are gone, and he doesn’t know where he came from. Identified only as “Ray,” a teenage boy arrived in Berlin’s City Hall two weeks ago and remains a mystery to police. On arrival,...

Hubby Found in Widow's Carefully Tended Garden

Police think he died 14 years ago and was secretly buried

(Newser) - On her rundown, dilapidated property, troubled Ruth Huber Bostic for years cared only for her small flower garden, tending to the violets and hosta plants with great care while talking to herself. Now, more than a year after Bostic passed away at the age of 78, police have found the...

Tiny Village Hum: Strange Humming Noise in Woodland, England
 Mysterious 'Hum' Drives 
 English Village Mad 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 18, 2011 7:40 AM CDT

Mysterious 'Hum' Drives English Village Mad

For two months, the strange sound has been heard from midnight to 4am

(Newser) - They’ve shut off the electricity. There are no factories or busy intersections. And still the English village of Woodland remains at a loss regarding the mysterious “hum” that has plagued the small town from midnight to 4am each night for nearly two months. Residents describe this hum as...

Boy's Foot Washes Ashore in Washington State

It's the second in four months

(Newser) - Police are looking for answers after a small human foot washed ashore near Tacoma, Washington. The foot was still lodged inside a boy’s size 6 hiking boot, and likely belonged to a juvenile or small adult, police tell the AP . It’s the second foot to wash ashore in...

Humans Can't Walk Straight: Scientists

And no one knows why

(Newser) - Here’s a fun game: Take your friends to a parking lot, blindfold them, and tell them to try to walk in a straight line. It’s basically guaranteed that you’ll get to watch them fail miserably and bump into parked cars, says German scientist Jan Souman. He tried...

Publicist's Murder Stumps Cops

Police have few leads on who killed Ronni Chasen

(Newser) - The death of celebrity publicist Ronni Chasen is a real-life Hollywood murder mystery, and police are stumped. Nearly half of the Beverly Hills Police Department is working on the case, the Daily Beast reports, but they have little evidence, no motive, and no witnesses. Chasen was found fatally shot in...

Clues in 1930s Baby-Mummies Case Point to Peter Pan Link

One suspect related to author JM Barrie

(Newser) - Police investigating the two mummified babies found in an LA basement have hit on a curious, but unlikely, person-of-interest. Medical forms found in the same trunk as the bodies refer to a woman named Jean M. Barrie, who was, it seems, a local nurse. But it’s also possible, sources...

Ancient Mystery 'Language' Unearthed in Scotland

What are they trying to tell us?

(Newser) - Carvings discovered on more than 200 stones in Scotland have stumped linguists striving to decipher the ancient code. Some linguists believe the symbols carved by an ancient people known as the Picts are a lost language, and others say the carvings could be drawings with a message rather than writing....

Mystery Investor Buys Every Cocoa Bean in Europe

Who's hoarding all that cocoa, and why?

(Newser) - The supply of cocoa beans sitting in warehouses across Europe could fill more than 5 Titanics, and as of last week it all belongs to one mysterious figure. An anonymous investor sparked intrigue last week when he, she, or they bought 241,000 tons of cocoa—essentially, every cocoa bean...

20 Long-Running Celeb Mysteries

How old is Catherine Zeta-Jones for real?

(Newser) - E! is blowing out 20 candles on its birthday cake this year, and it has one wish: To learn the answers to the top 20 nagging celebrity mysteries.
  1. How old is Catherine Zeta-Jones really? (And Beyoncé, for that matter.)
  2. Murder mystery No. 1: Did OJ kill Nicole Brown
...

Ship Vanishes From English Channel

Secret cargo of drugs or arms may be behind maritime mystery

(Newser) - The Russian navy has deployed warships and submarines in search of a cargo ship that mysteriously disappeared from European waters, the Telegraph reports. The Russian crew of the Arctic Sea, which was transporting a load of timber worth nearly $2 million, reported being attacked by pirates in Swedish waters on...

Plan Could Divine Missing Watergate Minutes, CSI-Style

Archivist pushes plan to uncover lost pages' imprints

(Newser) - A Watergate hobbyist has a plan to discover what was discussed during the 18½ minutes erased from a taped conversation between President Nixon and his chief of staff after the break-in. Phil Mellinger doesn’t want to examine the tape itself; that's been done without success. He says the answer...

SpongeBob at 10: Still Fun, Popular, and Inscrutable

(Newser) - SpongeBob SquarePants is 10 years old, and the “happy nonsense” of the show is “as popular as ever,” Alessandra Stanley writes in the New York Times. What’s more, the wacky, uncynical cartoon has managed to do it “without having disclosed any higher meaning to Bikini...

NY Maple Aroma Mystery Solved

NJ fragrance factory source of mysterious smell

(Newser) - The maple syrup-like smell that pervaded Manhattan at certain times in recent years, puzzling residents and government officials, came from a New Jersey factory, the New York Post reports. After a lengthy investigation, city officials today revealed that the aroma originated at the Frutarom fragrance factory, which produces ester, a...

Lesbian Fiction's Hot New Stars: Secret Service Agents

Security more desirable than love: Thomas

(Newser) - Secret Service agents have become popular protagonists in lesbian romance mysteries because they embody traits readers covet, June Thomas writes for Slate. "They are the ultimate strong, silent type—they fade into the background without hiding, they keep their mouths shut, and they have your back," she...

Mystery Writer Tony Hillerman Dead at 83

Penned police novels infused with Navajo culture

(Newser) - Bestselling author Tony Hillerman died yesterday at 83 of pulmonary failure, the AP reports. He was known for his mystery novels, which featured two Navajo policemen with distinct views on their people, constantly balancing the Navajo world with the Anglo one. A onetime journalist, he found success with Skinwalkers in...

DNA Tests Yield Few Clues on Canada Victims

But authorities say two of the floating feet belonged to one man

(Newser) - Canadian authorities have determined that two of the five feet found floating on British Columbia's coastline came from the same man. The only other information about the mystery victim are his shoe size (11) and brand preference (Nike), and fact that he must have been alive in early 2003 when...

Soldier Held as French Probe Display That Left 17 Injured

Live ammo substituted for blanks; officials say error, not premeditation, likely

(Newser) - French authorities are investigating a military demonstration gone terribly wrong yesterday, the AFP reports, in which 17 people were wounded when a soldier fired live rounds instead of blanks during a demonstration of hostage-situation techniques. The soldier has been detained, but has no history of psychological problems. "The theory...

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