People Share The Strangest Thing They Have Ever Witnessed That They Still Can't Explain

Stranger than fiction.
That's the theme behind today's burning question from Redditor ReadyPlayer85, who asked the online community: What is the strangest thing you've witnessed that you can't explain to this day?
"I was in a small airport..."
I was in a small airport in Madagascar and I swear to God I saw 500 people get off a plane that should seat no more than 70.
"I was lying in bed..."
I was lying in bed with my girlfriend watching TV. We're the only ones in the house and the shower turned on, like a steady stream not just dripping water. I got out of bed, terrified, walked into the bathroom and turned it off. Had to turn the knob 90 degrees to shut it off.
Never happened before and hasn't happened again and it was a tight handle, not really loose as if its own weight could turn it. Damn ghost plumbers.
"I was walking home..."
I was walking home from the movie theatre with a friend/neighbor of mine. It was about 8:00PM, and the walk took us down some major roads and through the suburbs. 45 minute walk through residential and commercial areas.
We. Saw. Absolutely. NOBODY.
The whole walk, we saw no cars, no people, nothing... well, not quite nothing... we did see the creepiest sh!t ever.
An ambulance, parked outside a house, lights on, doors open, no paramedics to be seen. Just sitting there in silence. The whole thing was like a god damn zombie apocalypse, it was insane! To this day I have no idea what was going on.
"Out and about..."
Out and about on Saturday night, decided to stop at a bar with a friend of mine.
I walk in and go to the bathroom, I come out and he says" lets get the f--- out of here".
I begin to ask why, and noticed there was no one in this bar.
A parking lot full of cars, music blaring, tables with drinks on them. No people.
"I was very young..."
I was very young and woke up in the middle of the night. There was a strange rectangular green light dancing around a dresser. It was only about 6 inches high and 2 inches wide. I was terrified. Something said my name - I heard it very clearly and I hid under the blankets unable up move. A few minutes later my mom in the next room started screaming there there is a ghost in her room. We all calmed down after a while and we never did explain it
Today I don't believe in ghosts or anything like that. But I do believe that something happened that night and I'm not ruling out anything supernatural.
"Me, my brother, and a friend..."
Me, my brother, and a friend were camping once when I was maybe 11 or 12 way out on our 100 acre farm in small town Kentucky. I woke up around 1:30 or so in the morning and could faintly hear a piano being played that sounded like it was coming out of the woods about 100 yards for our campsite. There is not a house or building or anything anywhere near that spot on our farm. So naturally I think I'm just hearing things and decide to try to go back to sleep. Then my brother, who was apparently also awake, sits up and asks me if I hear a piano. We made a dash for the house and never camped out there again.
"When I was younger..."
When I was younger (elementary school) some days I would come home from school and see the shadow of a man in the window of my house. Sometimes I would just notice him in passing, other times I would only see him when I got close and jump back. Every time I tried to see him again he would be gone. Now I don't come home at the same time, so I haven't seen him in about a year. But if I'm home at around 3pm, my dog will usually start barking at that window for no reason. I don't know why I could only see it when I came home at 3pm from outside the house, but it's what happened.
More info: There's nothing in the window tall enough to make the shadow I saw and no one was home most of the time when it happened.
"I was around..."
I was around 6 or 7 when this happened. I was playing in the basement at the time. I had turned around to get another toy and this weird creature popped out from behind one of the red poles that was down there. The pole was thin so it couldn't have been a human as you'd be able see parts of their body from behind it. This thing I was looking at was pretty much just a torso and a head. It was all black and it's eyes were wide open and staring at me. You could see the white around it's soulless black pupils. I didn't look at it for too long as I had sprinted back upstairs a second later.
It scared the sh!t out of me, and to this day I have absolutely no idea what that creature was. Basements terrified me for years after. I could only go into one if I was accompanied by someone, to which I would promptly hold onto them or be in extremely close proximity until we returned upstairs. The fear got better around age 13 so I was only traumatized for 6-7 years.
"My friend lived..."
My friend lived in the middle of nowhere. Her house was surrounded by fields without people or homes for miles. One night we were sitting in her barn and we heard footsteps running towards us. We looked outside the barn doors to see a massive blue light glowing in the dark and moving steadily towards us. We hear the footsteps and see the light, but can't see anybody causing it. We freak out and take off running to the other barn and locked ourselves in. For the next half hour we could hear something circling the barn. Eventually it faded away and we ran to the house. I assume it was a person obscured by the darkness and holding a massive flashlight but I don't know why they came after us or what they were planning to do.
"When kiddo was small..."
When kiddo was small, I was awoken one night to what I thought was my kid saying "Mommy". I got up, turned on the hall light so I could check her without blinding her and saw a small girl child push herself away from the bed. I remember thinking it was my kid. Same haircut, same hair color (those were the only distinguishable features I could see in the dim light). Turned on her light, asking why she was out of bed and stopped short cuz she was still asleep and nobody was in the room....
"I've seen a lot..."
I've seen a lot of strange things, but one in particular sticks in my mind. Driving late at night after a school event. I'm taking a few friends home that didn't have cars or rides home.
We're winding through a narrow side street that cuts from one end of a neighborhood to the next one over. It runs uphill. To my left is a large hill, to my right is side streets that lead downhill to more houses.
A teenager comes screaming out of one of the side streets as if the hounds of hell are chasing after him. He runs in front of my car. I slam on my breaks just as he enters the light of my headlights. He looks at me completely terrified, leaning on the hood of my car.
My friends all finally realize why we're stopped and start asking who this guy is. We all start to open the doors to ask him if he's okay. He takes off running towards the hill before we can get out.
He disappeared before he could pass through the other headlight. We freak out, go searching the hill to see if he went up that way. But it's almost straight up and super high. There's no way we missed him. We were looking right at him!
Never could figure that one out. I'd seen other strange things in that same area over the years.
"I am going to preface this..."
I am going to preface this by saying I don't believe in anything remotely paranormal. I awoke one morning this January to find some very strange foot prints in my front yard. There were 4 individual boot prints in the snow, in the middle of my yard. They were completely isolated with none leading to them or away, it had not snowed overnight and wasn't particularly windy such that some tracks may be covered.
I have been wracking my brain as to an explanation but am drawing complete blanks. The only remotely plausible theory is that a very devoted prankster had strung a rope/slackline across my front yard, shimmied halfway across to make a few boot prints, then climbed back and removed the rope. I am 99.9% sure this was not the case of course.... Any ideas?
"I'm fairly certain..."
I'm fairly certain my family has a banshee. Several of my relatives have stated they've witnessed it and I've personally heard it when two of my relatives died.
"For about 6 years..."
For about 6 years, middle school through high school, I would get phone calls when I was in class from an unknown or blocked number. If I answered the call, there was fast breathing and then they would hang up. If I didn't answer the calls, the ensuing voicemail was someone playing elaborate piano pieces (quite badly). It happened maybe once every two months, I just ignored them and eventually it stopped happening. But every time I get a missed call from a number I don't recognize, I think for a split second that the voicemail might be someone playing piano.
"I was walking around..."
I was walking around Bush Gardens one day and I'm just having fun and goofing around, until out of the corner of my eye, I see this middle aged man curled up on the ground. For no reason whatsoever, he starts laughing really loud and intensively. I honestly thought he might pass out, but just as weirdly as he started, he stopped. He then stood up, and started sprinting, and I still wonder to this day where he might have gone after that.
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When it comes to electing a leader, the choice is an easy one if a potential candidate shares the same values as yours.
And while a candidate is fit to lead remains to be seen, we rely on our instinct to choose someone with whom we can relate.
But sometimes, our options are limited and we inevitably go with someone who is the lesser of two evils.
Curious to hear from strangers online about a hypothetical, Redditor Cashmeresquid2309 asked:
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for an openly Atheist presidential candidate? Why or why not?"

Redditors were quick to point out the answer was a no-brainer.
We Already Know The Answer
"Asking Reddit if they'd vote for an atheist..."
"I feel like the answer would be obvious."
– sarahmagoo
Sci-Fi Analogy
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for a Star Wars fan who heckin loves doggos?"
– WitnessChemical
For The Atheists In The Crowd
"Atheists of atheistville, would you vote for an open atheist?"
– nixcamic
Others weighed in with a range of opinions.
About 45
"What's funny is how many of them would probably say no, even though they voted for Trump and would do so again. Say whatever else you want about him, but I seriously can't understand how anyone could genuinely believe Trump is a Christian. He's so obviously faking it and is undoubtedly the most atheistic president we've ever had or are likely to have for a long time."
"This is a guy who's never even so much as read the Bible or attended church, who told a conservative radio host his favorite Bible verse was 'an eye for an eye', who told evangelical interviewers that he's never asked God for forgiveness because he's never done anything wrong, and who routinely commits all 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth) without remorse."
– empfindsamkeit
From A Different Perspective
"Not an american but interestingly according to this survey on 1006 people from 2007, being atheist was the worst thing you could be as a candidate (of the things asked) with only 45 % of people saying they'd vote for one."
– ilovecatfish
An atheist candidate isn't necessarily a big strike.
Double Negative
"I wouldn’t not vote for someone just because they were atheist."
– HabitualEnthusiast
Credibility First
"This is it. If they’re running on platforms I support with a history to back up those campaign promises, I don’t care if they belong to the church of the flying spaghetti monster. They could literally be a member of the satanic temple and I, an actual practicing Christian, would give less shi*s than a constipated sloth."
"Edit: yes, I realize the Satanic Temple does not actually worship satan. I used it for that purpose. The Church of Satan has some…problematic views and I probably would not vote for someone who literally holds a platform of eugenics."
– Phoenix_of_Asclepius
Some view the role of religion in politics as important.
It Depends
"Religion can be relevant: I would have strong reservations about voting for a Scientologist, even if I agreed with the policies they proposed. I would have strong reservations voting for a member of an apocalyptic cult or, possibly worse, a follower of the (highly heretical) 'prosperity gospel,' which unfortunately includes more and more so-called 'evangelicals' — I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but it's not because he was an evangelical."
"It depends on the role: I'd probably be more flexible with a legislator than an executive (mayor, governor, president), as their character is IMO more important than for a legislator and their policy stances somewhat less important relative to a legislator."
"Satanic temple — well, that's just an organized group of atheists and humanists with an intentionally inflammatory choice of name. They're generally fine people."
– alyssasaccount
A Bad Rap
"The Satanic Temple is an excellent organization that every decent person should be able to respect. A Church of Satan member, not so much."
"There's a huge difference between them!"
– StarsEatArtBooks
And Redditor boganvegan said it best.
"Better an open atheist than a fake Christian."
It all boils down to trustworthiness. Without full transparency, how could anyone put their faith in a candidate who spews nothing but lies?
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Being home alone isn't always the most tranquil thing.
No one is there to help or protect you.
And things that go "bump" in the night... sometimes they do more than bump.
Redditor ag9910 wanted to hear about the times home felt like an unsafe place to be. They asked:
"What is the scariest, strangest, most unexplainable thing that has happened to you while home alone?"
I'm always freaked out when I'm home alone. Lights on. Yeah, my electric bill is high.
Dorothy?
"I dreamed the front door blew open at the exact time the house alarm went off... I hopped up and sure enough, the front door was open. No intruder."
fatowl
I See You
"Not home alone but only one in right side of the house. Went to my mom's bathroom to wash my hands and saw a pair of feet behind the half open door. Laughed and said 'very funny Ma, I see you.' then finished up and left. Bumped into my mother in the kitchen unpacking, nobody else was in the house. I'm glad whatever was behind the door didn't peek out."
SatanWithFur
“It’s Doug!”
"One night I had forgotten to lock my apartment door and woke up in the middle of the night. My bedroom door was about 2 feet from my front door, as you walked into the apartment. First a big dog ran by, then a person. Holy crap I was so scared and I screeched 'Who is it?!?!!'"
"A man said 'It’s Doug!' As I was thinking to myself, who the f**k is Doug, he said 'oh, crap.' He turned around to go back out the front door saying 'Sorry.' I asked 'Didn’t you have a dog with you?' He said 'Oh, yeah. Hey, c’mon!.' He left, his dog ran out after him and I locked my front door."
"Edit: glad you all thought this was funny, because I did too, once my heart quit trying to beat right out of my chest! The next day the girls at work thought I was crazy for not being upset, but eh, done is done. Peace!"
scarletohairy
Confused...
"My sister and I were home alone and we heard someone big running up the stairs. The stairs make lots of noise with slight pressure so when there’s someone big on them you can tell. I went out of my room to check but saw no one anywhere and my sister also came out of her room and she asked if that was me I said no and we both looked around to see if there was anyone but found no one in the whole house. We were confused and called our parents and just waited until they got back and that was that."
JtSudbury04
I See You
"I very clearly saw a guy walk into my room. But when I went after him there was nobody there. I checked in the closet, under my bed, everywhere one could hide in my room."
HighlyOffensive10
This is why home video surveillance is key.
"NO"
"My parents were on a road trip, just left, and I sat down at my desk. I thought 'Weekend alone by myself' and a voice yelled into my right ear 'NO' so loud it hurt."
Th4ab
Wild
"I managed to lock myself out of my house on my birthday during a tornado while trying to bring my cats to the basement for safety. I later found out that the tornado was approximately a couple miles or less from me at that exact time. The sky was green and it got weirdly calm and then I could hear what sounded like a train coming before I found an unlocked window to climb through. Wild times."
SilverGnarwhal
Saturday morning in the 80s...
"I wasn't home alone but I was awake by myself one Saturday morning in the 80s when I was around 7 or so. I believe my mom was the only one home because my dad went to the lake to go fishing that weekend, and I'm not sure where my older brothers were, maybe they went with him, idk."
"Anyways, my mom's sleeping in, and I'm in the living room by myself, watching Saturday morning cartoons and making a fort out of sheets and cushions. Something made me turn around and I saw my dad in his pajamas standing in the hallway entrance with his hands on his hips, looking the mess I was making and shaking his head."
"He then turned around and walked into my room, which was just off the hallway entrance. Dude. I didn't even look, I just booked it to my parents room and woke my mom up. I don't remember what happened after that, this was around 35 years ago. And yes, my dad was fine, nothing had happened to him."
smriversong
Get the Bat...
"I was at home by myself on a call with some friends when all of a sudden my dog begins to bark like crazy, which was odd since it was the middle of the night and he's usually sleep. I go downstairs to check on him and find him barking at our hall closet, terrified I grabbed my bat that I keep in my room just in case and open the door. There was nothing out of usual at first at then I look down and notice a familiar looking object at the bottom of the closet."
"It was my mom's necklace she had lost when I was 9, (i'm 15 now just to put in perspective how long it's been). I showed it to my mom at breakfast and she was just as shocked as I was. I still have no clue how it got there or how my dog knew it was in there, definitely one of the oddest occurrences of my life."
SomeRandomIdiot14
Meow
"Many years ago, I was 14 or so, my first night alone in the house when my parents were out. Lying on the living room floor reading, my cat sleeping next to me."
"Suddenly, cat wakes up, stares intently into the dark corner of the room behind me, hair on end, growls and then bolts out of the room and upstairs. I look behind me and see nothing, but follow cat upstairs and hide under the covers. Freaked me out."
LairdofWingHaven
Thank God for alarms. I hate being home alone.
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The human body is still such a mystery.
How much do we really know?
Not a lot apparently. We're learning more all the time.
And most of it is gross.
Redditor BathNo7713 wanted to discuss the ick factor of anatomy. So they asked:
"What is the most disturbing fact about the human body?"
The body freaks me out. But it's all I've got. So teach me some things.
Minutes...
"The fastest killing virus takes around 4 days to kill you. That would be Ebola. Your immune system can kill you in 15 minutes."
will477
'locked-in'
"If your brainstem (the part of the brain that mediates most motor control for all of the body) is damaged, you can get 'locked-in' syndrome. That means you're fully conscious and aware of your surroundings but unable to move or speak. The only muscles that remain unaffected in most people are the muscles that move they eyes and the eyelids."
"You're essentially trapped within your own body with your only way of communication being blinking or moving your eyes It can be caused by toxins, blockage of the basilar artery which is the main artery of the brainstem, or other brainstem damage."
4oodler
Explosions
"Some people suffer from Exploding Head Syndrome, which causes them to hear a loud bang when they wake up."
ToraMix19
"When I was younger I believe I experienced this a few times. Sounds I heard were: about a million people talking and laughing all at once, a train that irl would've been about a foot away from me based on the volume of the sound, and a door slamming loudly."
aliaisacreature
Pain
"Not sure if this is by design, but I totaled my car once, almost completely uninjured somehow. Then I looked down to my right hand which I remember jabbing into my dashboard at 55mph. Luckily (unluckily?) only my pinky took the blow. But instead of a floppy-udder full of bone-sand, my pinky was 0.5 inches long."
"Broke no bones, but instead perfectly stacked my phalanges, or finger bones, INTO my hand. This is fixed by a muscular Russian murse grabbing your pinky with both hands and pulling very hard. God I wish they gave me more lidocaine."
TelevisionOlympics
Functions
"If you have a surgery where they need to move your organs around they might not function for a day as the body assumes that they are dead."
tonythebutcher13
Move things around? You mean that's not fake when it happens on "Grey's Anatomy?"
"The only reason you are not aware of it is because the ambient noise kind of drowns it out because your ears focus on it. If you go to one of those super-silent rooms that absorb all sorts of sounds, it is a really weird way to reacquaint yourself with your body."
Black_Handkerchief
The Mouth
"Idk about the most disturbing but how bad human teeth are. We’d think it’s our sugary and processed diets these days that cause it, but even Otzi the iceman discovered in Italy was found to have terrible teeth, mouth diseases and cavities. It’s odd that even with the most basic of diets our teeth are so bad."
Dorianisconfused
In the bowels...
"I noticed this after my abdominal surgery. When I turned over in bed my guts seemed to fall from one side to the other. Mentioned to my doc and she confirmed it was my bowels rearranging themselves."
squatter_
"Apparently the doctor just throws your intestines back in there higgeldy-piggeldy because there isn't a correct way to pack them neatly."
LostDesigner9
A Quick Burst
"There are a vast number of ways that your body can malfunction and kill you with little or no warning. An aneurysm can go undetected until it bursts and kills you. Getting hit in the chest just the right way can stop your heart. You can encounter an allergen that never previously provoked an immune response that freaks out your body so badly that you die. You literally just never know if your body will just... die."
Unsolicited_Spiders
The body is such a conundrum. Sexy and gross all at once.
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Being overweight comes with numerous challenges.
And not only challenge's to one's health.
Unfortunately, overweight people are far too often a target for judgment and ridicule, often owing to misconceptions.
Even worse, sometimes simply being bigger than other people leads others to assume that they must also be less than or inadequate in general.
Redditor Rude_Guarantee_1479 was curious to hear what people felt is the worst part, or most common misconception about being overweight, leading them to ask:
"What is the worst part about being a fat person?"
Since I'm fat, I must also be stupid.
"For some reason people always assumed I was simple minded/stupid when I was obese."
"Now that I've lost weight people just talk to me like I'm a regular person."- batyablueberry.
No comfort to be had.
"Feeling uncomfortable all the time."- Keithninety.
Not being seen and always being noticed.
"I have a fear that nobody is ever going to fall in love with me because I don't feel visible and I am fat
Also, going to the pool or beach and you have to put on a swimsuit. I feel like a seal stranded on the beach.- mango_0111.
Inadequate clothes.
"My belt trying to stab me in my belly when I sit down."- jimjohn2017.
"Nothing seems to fit nicely or still look nice in your size."- OutlandishnessNo1950.
"The amount of pants you go through."- Cmonredditalready.
"Putting on a shirt, walking into the backroom, seeing how it makes me look, and then never pulling out my favorite shirt ever again."- YeaItsaThrowaway112.
Never feeling good about yourself.
"Feeling guilty while eating your favorite foods, not looking good in photos/clothes."- pissed_at_everything.
Mobility challenges.
"My thighs rubbing and chaffing."
"I'm so raw right now."- HeavyBreathin.
Unwanted nicknames.
"Not the worst part, but the most constantly sh*tty part is constantly being called 'big guy' by every kind of person other than other 'big guys'."- Professor-ish.
As the old saying goes, true beauty comes from within.
And the way someone looks should never be one's first impression.
Nor does anyone need to go through the day facing unwanted judgment when simply walking down the street.
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