5 Greatest Unsolved Enigmas of Humanity
Some
discoveries shed more light on the events of the past, while some
others baffle scientists and raise new questions about the history of
humankind. Here are five of the most puzzling and unexplained mysteries in the world which are yet to be solved.
1. The Bimini Road
Many said that those were the ruins of an ancient world civilization, others were convinced that it was a unique natural phenomenon. However, none of them can ignore a prophecy made in the early decades of the twentieth century.
A famous prophet and healer of that time, Edgar Cayce, made the following prediction in 1938: “A part of the ruins of the Lost Atlantis will be discovered in the sea around the islands of Bimini… “.
There were others who claimed to have seen pyramids and ruins of
buildings on the sea floor near Bimini, but the only confirmed discovery
is the Bimini Road, whose origin still troubles scientists.
2. The Voynich Manuscript
The Voynich Manuscript was named after Polish antiquarian Wilfried M. Voynich, who found it in an Italian monastery in 1912. Perhaps, it is the most mysterious book in the world history. This is a book of mysterious pictorial content written in an incomprehensible language. Scientists estimate that it was written centuries ago (approximately 400 to 800 years ago) by an anonymous author who used an unknown writing code…
From its pages, it is possible to understand only that it probably served as a pharmacy book (it appears to describe certain aspects of medieval and early medicine), as well as an astronomical and cosmological map.
Even stranger than the writing language are the images of unknown
plants, cosmological charts and strange pictures of naked women in a
green liquid.
Dozens cryptanalysts have tried to translate it but no one managed to. Many came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, an elaborate hoax and the encrypted words were random and had no meaning, while the images belonged exclusively to the realm of fantasy.
Today the Voynich Manuscript is kept in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, and nobody has managed to decipher a word so far.
3. The Piri Reis Map
The Piri Reis map was accidentally discovered in 1929 in a Turkish museum, and since then, no logical explanation for its illustrations has been found.
In 1513, Turkish admiral Piri Reis designed the map of the world
which included Portugal, Spain, West Africa, Central and South
Atlantic, the Caribbean, the eastern half of South America and a part of
Antarctica.
It is believed that there were also the North America and the rest of
the eastern half of the world in the pieces of the map that were probably destroyed over the years.
The point is that this map is so accurate in detail that it raises a question: how could an admiral of the 16th century design the entire Earth without the possibility of aerial observation? How is it possible to separate the continents and coasts in their correct distances without the knowledge of the method of Azimuthal projection or spherical trigonometry required for mapping? And how did he design the Antarctic that had not been officially discovered at that time?
4. The Nazca Lines
The geoglyphs of the Nazca culture located in Peru are
among the world’s biggest mysteries both because of the manner as for
the reason of their creation. These are approximately 13,000 lines forming 800 designs covering an area of 450 square kilometers. They were created approximately between 500 BC and 500 AD and look as if they had been designed by a giant hand.
These lines depict shapes, animals, plants and geometric designs and the strange thing is that they virtually have no actual construction purpose, since they are visible only from the sky. Scientists estimate that perhaps the Nazca had in possession a large hot air balloon or kite that helped them design.
Many say that this is an airstrip built for aliens. Others go even further, saying that the lines were designed by aliens. More popular (and more plausible) explanation is that the Nazca made these designs for their gods in the sky, but no theory has been yet confirmed.
5. The Shroud of Turin
Although the Vatican has affirmed that it is not authentic, the Holy
Shroud remains an unsolved mystery for humanity. It is a shroud with an
imprinted image of a bearded male adult on it. Throughout the fabric there are signs of blood, which shows that this man was probably crucified and then his body was covered with this piece of cloth. Understandably, many believe it is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ which covered his body after the Crucifixion, as the weave of the fabric refers to the epoch he lived in and the signs of blood confirm the death in the same manner as that of Christ.
Some other scientists believe that the shroud was created much later, between 13th and 14th century. Even if it is a coincidence and not the burial cloth of Christ, the mystery remains: what happened to the real shroud that covered his body after the Crucifixion?