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People Share The Strangest Unsolved Mysteries They've Ever Come Across

People Share The Strangest Unsolved Mysteries They've Ever Come Across
Photo by Kamil Feczko on Unsplash

The first book I ever remember giving me was a massive blue book about Unexplained Mysteries. It was, in no way, age appropriate and is absolutely to blame for my lifelong obsession with the unexplained.

It's also why I know that my birthday (October 4) has seen more than its fair share of "weird stuff that probably involved aliens happened today."


In 1957 a tadpole-shaped "object" passed over a city in Northern Japan; it rained threads like spider silk shortly after. Something similar happened on Oct 4, 1971 in Monterey, CA. Witnesses saw three "ships" and the strands fell from the sky as the ships darted away. Locals call the strands "angel hair."

On Oct 4, 1967 Nova Scotia saw "The Shag Harbour Incident" where a UFO reportedly crashed into waters, prompting investigation by government and military officials.

(My brother would like me to add my birth in 1982 to the list of potential alien activity on that date.)

Reddit asked:

What is the strangest mystery that is still unsolved?

and honestly, UFOs raining spider silk to celebrate my birthday like some M. Nyght Shyamalan remake of Rapunzel and the lanterns is the least weird thing in here.

Cabin Attack

The 1987 "Cabin Attack" in Luther Michigan - An apparent attack by the cryptid known as the "Michigan Dogman" - another mystery all by itself.

In June of 1987, a group of teens/young adults went up to Luther Michigan to stay the weekend in a Cabin at the camping grounds there. Sometime late at night/in the early morning hours, they reported an apparent attack by a massive animal that tried to break into their cabin.

The cops came, and one of them (I forget his name) ended up describing the Cabin as having scratch and bite marks around the doors and windows. He was particularly surprised about the windows' damage - because they were over 7 feet off the ground. He also described dog tracks (confirmed NOT to be bear tracks) that were between 6 and 8 inches across.

This attack happened shortly after an April fools joke song came out called "The Legend," created by Traverse City DJ Steve Cook. Cook released the song on April 1st, 1987, thinking that it would just be a lighthearted joke about sightings that were recorded here and there in rural Michigan since the late 19th century. Little did Cook know, however, that people would NOT take it as a joke, as they started ringing in to the radio station non-stop, telling Cook and those around them that this was not a joke - this was something they had seen with their own eyes.

"Somewhere in the north-woods darkness, a creature walks upright. And the best advice you may ever get is: Don't. Go out. At night."

- Hail_Boognish

Dry Run

This is my favorite weird and barely known one:

Back in 2013 an unknown group assaulted a power substation in California. By all appearances it was pretty sophisticated: scouted firing positions, all casings wiped of prints, they targeted transformers so they'd take time to overheat before triggering any alarms, also knew exactly when the police would arrive.

No suspect or motive to this day, they also cut some fiber optic cables in a vault nearby. Conspiracy types think it was a dry run by Russia or possibly China to see how effective an attack like that might be.

- ohshawty

On A Farm In Norway

Ok so, I guess we dont truly know if its solved as the court thinks they are right, but pretty much everyone else doesn't so it counts.

The Orderud case is one of the most infamous murder cases in Norway.

Three people were found killed in the house next door. Kristian Orderud (80), Marie Orderud (83) and their daughter Anne Orderud Paust (47), were all found killed in the student housing on Orderud farm.

Anne worked for the government and her husband Per was a consulate. Prior to the murders (Per died in May 1999 before the murders), Anne's car had been fitted with explosives, and the couple had also found explosives outside their apartment in Skillebekk, which according to experts could have blown the whole building up.


After this, Per got a job in New York and the couple lived there for a few months, returning to their residence in January 1999. Around May 15, law enforcement received an anonymous phone call where someone said Anne and her parents would be killed soon. Law enforcement never found out who this was (I'm a little unsure of this phone call is true or made up).

As for the murders, police were certain it had to be someone close to the family, since they knew when Anne would be at her parents' farm. The police's main theory was/is that Anne was the main target.

The police also believed that since the victims did not attempt to escape or call the police after the break in, they most likely didn't feel threatened by whoever was there. Kristian was lying in bed when he was killed, and while he was old and impaired, police found it telling that he was still in bed when he was killed.

This was not a burglary; nothing was taken from the victims or the house.

Early on, Marie and Kristian's son Per and his wife Veronica were suspects. They lived in a separate house on the same property as Per's parents. Per and Veronica were more or less in charge of the farm, completing all tasks necessary to keep the farm up and running. Since Per was in charge of the farm, he strongly felt he was entitled to buy the farm from his father, making him the owner. His father disagreed, and the two battled it out in court. Per handed in evidence showing that his father had signed a document that said Per would be the owner of the farm, however it turned out Per had forged his father's signature in order to make the outcome of the case go in his favor. Because of this, Per and Veronica were suspects.

During the investigation, police also looked into Veronica's half sister Kristin Kirkemoe and her then-boyfriend Lars Grønnerød (died in 2019). Supposedly, Lars provided the guns for Kristin, who then gave them to Veronica. Said gun went off in Per and Veronica's house when Kristin showed it to them, and left a mark in their coffee table. A trajectory of this bullet confirms this story, which was told by Kristin.


During the police's investigation of the crime scene, one officer (randomly) found a mustard yellow knitted sock with two white stripes behind the house. The police has tried to identify who it belongs to and where it came from for years, but no luck.

The court concluded that Per, Veronica and Kristin executed the murders, and that Lars provided them with guns/weapons. All four were sentenced to prison, but have been released since then. Per and Veronica are still together and maintain their innocence.It has been almost 20 years since the killings. The forest between the home and Orderud farm has grown denser, and it is no longer possible to see the student housing on the neighboring plot.

People have applied for reopening of the case.

- jek999

Post It

Giphy

An unknown group of people broke into an FBI building, and no one found out who they are. But the best part of the story is, they did it by leaving a sticky note that said "Do not lock the door tonight."

They just stuck the post-it note to the front door and it worked!

- WhaddaFuc

They revealed themselves after the statue of limitations was up. I was just reading about it I'm surprised they weren't thrown in jail anyways

- Cameron4200

Weren't these the people that leaked the info that the government was trying to blackmail MLK into committing suicide? COINTELPRO. I thought I read somewhere recently that some of the people involved came forward.

- wazli

Perseus

Who was Perseus?

From 1943 to 1946, the Soviet Union had a high level spy in the Manhattan Project. Codenamed Perseus, this spy was a scientist at the White Sands missile testing site in NM, and the main research facilities in Los Alamos. Perseus saw pretty much the entire Project start to finish, giving the Russians everything they needed to get to work on their own bomb.

The fact that they were able to do so within 4 years of the end of WWII when their nations was still devastated is proof positive that Perseus helped a great deal.

And to top it all off, Perseus was never caught or positively identified.

- tossingthisaway999

A Double Homicide In India

What happened to Arushi Talwar, a 13 year old girl in India is also quite unsolved. A 13 yo girl was murdered in her home at night with her parents sleeping through it in the same home. The domestic help was initially the suspect, but his body was discovered the next day making the case a double homicide.

I still think about the poor girl not getting a closure!

- enthupattani

Tromp Trouble

What on Earth happened to the Tromp family.

So it's this Australian family who owned a berry farm. Somehow Mr and Mrs Tromp and their three grown kids developed the belief that they weren't safe and they needed to flee their farm without cell phones or anything traceable (credit cards, etc).

It sounds like the oldest son wasn't fully sold on whatever it was that led them to flee. He brought his phone, but eventually it got tossed from the car. He ended up bailing first and taking a train home.

From there the rest of the family slowly separated and suffered various degrees of emotional breaks. The two girls stole a car. Somehow they got separated and one made it home, but the other was found on the floor in the backseat of some guys car in a catatonic state. (he spotted her after he started down the road).

Eventually the parents were found wandering around aimlessly. Fortunately they were all ok physically but WTF happened? Was someone actually after them? Were they delusional? As far as I know the family hasn't released any updates and by all accounts they just returned to regular life like nothing happened.

- HysteryMystery

That sounds a bit like ergot poisoning. It's a grain fungus that caused widespread problems in the middle ages. It has physical symptoms but it can also cause hallucinations.

There's some thought that it might have been responsible for accusations of witchcraft and visions of angels. LSD is derived from it.

- coalila

Someone might have dosed them all on a lot of acid? Or even possibly a naturally occurring hallucinogen.

But if you want to get a small group of people to all do something very stupid together? Hallucinogens seems to be the way to go.

- AnyNamesLeftAnymore

Beale

Haven't seen this one in here yet: The Beale Ciphers

It's a set of three ciphertexts purporting to give the location, amount, and ownership of a treasure buried in Bedford County, VA. The second cipher (listing the contents of the treasure) was decoded in the 19th century using the Declaration of Independence as a key, and the inventory is worth somewhere on the order of $43mil today.

There is considerable debate about whether or not the whole thing is a hoax. It does seem that the yet-undeciphered first and third ciphers encode an intelligible text. There was some speculation that Edgar Allan Poe May have authored the ciphers, but that theory, sadly, has been debunked.

- archimago23

Mad Axeman Demands Jazz

The Mad Axeman of New Orleans ran rampant in 1918 and 1919. He murdered six people (usually those of Italian descent) with axes or straight razors. In March of 1919, he sent a lengthy letter from "Hottest Hell" that was pretty nonsensical. But the most relevant paragraphs read:

"Now, to be exact, at 12:15 (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is:

I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people. One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it out on that specific Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe."

There were no murders that night because every dance hall in NOLA was filled to capacity.

- LMN17

Tragic Mustache Loss

Giphy

3 lighthouse workers with impeccable mustaches traveled to a remote island on December 7th, 1900 for a lighthouse shift that should have lasted for two weeks. When a boat arrived to pick them up, they were gone. No trace of the bodies, and the lighthouse was strangely locked.

Not only was the setting normal (meal ready to be served), but there was no fire in the fireplace, and the clock stopped. One of the men kept a log in a diary, and he said that the seas were rough one day, but when monitored, it was actually calm. No one knows what happened to them.

The mustaches have nothing to do with the story at all. I just really liked them.

- unhealthyshoe

Freak wave, almost certainly. Been to Flannen (lovely place) courtesy of a local fisherman who told me all about this 'mystery' and frankly, scared the living heck out of me. I'll share what he told me: most of which checks out with records of the time.

During the search for those quite wonderful missing moustaches the following was noted -

1/ A box over 100 feet above sea level had been wave damaged, and iron railings at the same level had been bent.


2/ The railway lines serving the lighthouse had been ripped out of their concrete settings.

3/ And this is my favourite bit....

There is a nearby cliff over 200 feet high. It was still there, but the grass on top of the cliff had been ripped away. For up to 30 feet back from the cliff edge. Arguing that that was where the wave broke.

The local view is that by freak chance all the keepers were outside and below the 200 feet above sea level mark doing keeper stuff when they suddenly noticed it had gone dark and looked up just in time to see a wave over 200 feet high about to hit them. Probably had time to say something along the lines of 'Goodness gracious me, and now I'll never have time to finish that letter to Martha' and that would be it.

- otterdroppings

Chauvet

My favorite is Chauvet cave. (If you have a chance, watch Werner Herzog's documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams. I think it's still on Netflix.) It has some of the most stunning cave art in the world, which almost certainly had some kind of profound significance, and we don't - and will likely never - know what it is. Moreover, there's evidence that the cave was abandoned for thousands of years and later returned to, only for the returnees to continue to make paintings in the exact same style and, possibly, for the exact same reasons.

There is so much to be seen in these figures. There's a portrait of an animal tossing its head that looks like one of the world's earliest explorations of stop motion or sequential art. When I look at it I can feel the will of the painter, who wanted so much to convey this sort of motion...


There are also the footprints of a boy, who arrived much later to the cave than its original users, whose marks appear to be contemporary with the pawprints of a wolf. It's hard to say now, according to Cave of Forgotten Dreams, whether they walked together, whether they walked 20 years apart, whether they were friends or whether the wolf was stalking the boy. But I read a blog post by a professional hunter and tracker, who looked at the footage of the prints from the film and said that they likely walked together. I wonder what they were thinking. If the boy had some knowledge of what he would find there, or if he was simply exploring a cave and found some of the greatest art in human history.

In Chauvet there is also the solution to a mystery. Until the discovery of Chauvet cave paleontologists were unsure as to whether cave lions had manes. On the cave walls there is an illustration of a cave lion with visible testicles and no mane, settling that debate.

- meradorm

Circleville

THE CIRCLEVILLE LETTERS

In 1976, residents of the small city south of Columbus Ohio began receiving handwritten sinister and graphic letters. Each letter included secret and dark details about their personal lives.

One resident received a ton of letters, accusing her of various unsavory acts. The author warned the resident that he had been keeping an eye on her home, as well as her comings and goings. The resident was horrified and tried to keep the letters a secret until her husband began receiving them.

The attacks on the family continued, with large posters appearing around town spreading rumors about their 12 year old child. One day in 1977, the husband left the house after receiving a call from who he thought was writing the letters. A few minutes later, the husband was found dead at the end of the street dead behind the wheel. The sheriff had ruled it a homicide when he realized that a single shot had been fired before the accident, but there was no evidence that the husband was shot at the site. The sheriff found the husband was twice the legal limit and ruled it a drunk driving accident.

The letters began once again, this time accusing the sheriff of covering up the true nature of the death. The letters also accused the sheriff of mishandling an investigation into the county coroner who had been accused of other grotesque acts.

The harassment continued, this time with signs along the road and in 1983, the original resident who had been accused of having an affair pulled over to remove a sign. During the effort to remove the sign, she discovered a box was attached and inside of it was a small pistol. The gun was part of a booby trap designed to fire when the sign was removed.

Paul Freshour was arrested and given 25 years...but one small problem. The letter writing continued even after Freshour was put in jail.

In a new batch of letters, the author had promised to dig up the grave of a deceased baby and mail the bones to the police in the case of another potential affair turned murder.

Hundreds of residents continued to receive personal letters until 1994 when everything stopped.​

- GeneralMadAnthony

Dyatlov Pass

Dyatlov Pass

Alright, this is my favorite unsolved mystery of all time.

Nine Russian skiers went to Dyatlov Pass, a group of mountains. Yet they never returned. Searchers found their tent, where they had set up camp for the night. The tent that they had set up was ripped FROM THE INSIDE. A little farther away, were the nine bodies, naked except for their underwear. At first doctors thought of hypothermia, but ruled it out. Some of the bodies had injuries, including third degree burns, radioactive clothes, and even a missing tongue. Some theories about what the hell happened include KGB-interference, drug overdose, UFO, gravity anomalies, and the Russian version of the Yeti.

So that's it. There have been more recent theories, but that's it.

- CatUniverse834

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.