Nonetheless, there have been certain exceptions when these myths and legends actually turned out to be true in reality. Sorted from the list of such exceptions, here are the 10 strangest of all myths and legends that turned out to be true.
1. The grandparents of Puebla City in Mexico narrated stories to their children of secret tunnels lying just below the streets of the city that were used during the revolution. The stories were proven right when the “Secrets of Puebla”, the series of 500-year-old secret tunnels, were found in 2015.
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On the Mayo Road in the city, there is a doorway that looks like an entrance to a subway but it actually leads to the ten-kilometer-long underground tunnels that connect a fort to the baroque of the Puebla.
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When the tunnels were discovered after decades in 2015, they were first believed to be a complex drainage system. Only after more excavations were experts led to the conclusion that they were used for secret travel in the 16th century.
Many archaeological antiques were discovered in the tunnels including toys, marbles, kitchen items, guns, bullets, and gun powder. The findings determined that the tunnels could have been used by soldiers during the Mexican liberation, and could have also been used by clergymen and common folks too.
The tunnels were named “Secrets of Puebla” and recognized as a tunnel museum. They are also open for visitors now, after the completion of all necessary research. (1, 2)
2. For years, gay men from the “Gay Village” in Toronto were disappearing. The gay community of Toronto was convinced that there was a serial killer behind the abductions, and after police investigations, it actually turned out to be the case. Bruce McArthur was killing gay men and dismembering them. Bruce was gay himself.
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Bruce had known he was gay since childhood, but he ignored that and also got married to a woman in the 1980s. In his 40s, he left his family in Oshawa and moved to the “Gay Village” in Toronto.
He used to casually hang out in a bar with fellow patrons and never really revealed his darker side to anyone. He worked in the mall for some time and also worked as a landscaper.
Rumors of a killer started spreading in 2010 when a 40-year-old Sri Lankan gay man disappeared. When more people went missing, police finally started investigating in 2012, but the investigations were down after 18 months.
People went missing again in 2017, and it again fuelled the rumors. In December, the police started investigating again and reported that there are no pieces of evidence suggesting a serial killer behind the scenes. The cases were not related, they said.
However, just a month later, it was found out that it was actually a 67-year-old serial killer who committed the murders of eight individuals. Bruce dismembered the bodies of the victims and buried the parts in the properties of his clients for whom he worked as a landscaper. (1, 2)
3. The soil of a local churchyard in Boho, Ireland was believed to cure infections. In 2018, the folklore was proven true when Dr. Gerry Quinn, a renowned microbiologist, found a strain of a microorganism, Streptomyces, in the soil that is used to create antibiotics.
ShareLocal churchyard in Boho, Ireland. Image credits: BBC.com
The tradition of using the soil for curing infections in Boho can be dated back to 1803 and was started by a priest, Reverend McGirr. No writings about the soil and its infection-curing properties had been found until now, but given that the locals still practice the tradition of taking home soil that actually cures them is pretty reliable.
Dr. Quinn, who was first surprised by the superstitions regarding the soil, was equally or perhaps more startled after what he discovered in the research. His curiosity increased by learning the fact that even if the folklore sounds absurd, there must be something to it if it is still practiced in the present times.
It turns out that the microorganism that Dr. Quinn found could kill the top three pathogens identified by WHO as a major threat to humanity. The microorganism was an undiscovered one until it was found by him. (source)
4. The myths say that an island called “Teonimanu” indeed disappeared altogether. It was washed away by the curse given by a man named Roraimenu. The story says that he destroyed the island because his wife, Sauwete’au, went to live with another man on Teonimanu. Science later proved that the island did actually collapse, but that was because of an undersea earthquake that swallowed the entire island into the sea.
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When Roraimenu went on to seek revenge on his wife, he planted two taro plants that were believed to bring destructive waves on the island. According to the tale, eight massive waves hit the island and it sank.
However, in reality, the reason for the disappearance of the island was a sea-floor earthquake. The island had been teetering on the edge of a steep slope under the waters. An earthquake shook this fragile base on which the island was sitting, and a large landslide occurred in the water.
The process also generated a tsunami, and for the people who survived and witnessed the disaster, it appeared like the waves of the tsunami were the reason for the destruction.
The waves became the only logical and possible explanation and the myth of Roraimenu. (source)
5. A 37,000-year-old cave known as “Chauvet-Pont D’Arc” in southern France was inhabited by Neanderthals. In 1994, unusual “spray” wall paintings were found that looked like small fountains. After researching, it was found out that the paintings actually depicted volcanic eruptions, and remnants of those eruptions were found 35 kilometers away from the cave.
The cave is also popularly known as the “cave of the forgotten dreams,” and researchers found the earliest paintings of volcanic eruptions in it. The paintings and the cave itself is thought of as a treasure, both, archaeologically and anthropologically.
In 2012, after collecting and studying the rock samples found 35 kilometers away from the cave, it was concluded that the volcanoes erupted somewhere between 19,000 and 43,000 years ago.
The paintings of lava flowing out of the figures in the cave were not obvious to interpret. It was only after a hypothesis given by the researchers that such interpretations were drawn.
The early men living in the cave could have been possibly witnessing the volcanic eruptions far off from the cave, and the powerful explosives might have inspired them to carve something o the walls to remember it.
These paintings are certainly the oldest-known depiction of volcanic eruptions in the entire history of humans. (1, 2)
6. Kangaroos were once considered as “cryptids,” like animals such as Yetis and Loch Ness Monsters. Before we got to know that they kept their babies in their pouches, they were known as the “creatures with two heads.”
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It is very surprising to know that the entire species of kangaroos was classified as mythical cryptids. Given the strange arrangement of keeping its babies in its pouch, that is not unexpected from the people who had the first encounters with the animal.
The first-ever attempt to describe kangaroos was done by Amerigo Vespucci in 1499. He met with the species when he was traveling along the southern coast of Australia.
The explanation given by Amerigo was quite scary. He described it as a monstrous beast that has the head of a fox, the hands of a man, the tail of a monkey, and also an attached bag used for carrying its young ones.
A kangaroo was captured for the first time by Francisco Pelsaert in 1629, but it died on the voyage back to Europe.
Finally, kangaroos gained the dignity of being recognized as a species and not a myth in the 1770s. It was because of the event of its rediscovery by Sir Joseph Banks on Captain Cook’s voyage (source)
7. The “Black Volga” was an urban legend prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s in Poland, which says that vampires in black lavish limousines kidnapped people, especially children. Turned out that the rumors were true and people were abducted from night to dawn in these black limousines. The eyewitness who reported the cases were also found dead soon after.
ShareBlack lavish limousine. (Image is used for representational purpose only.
The car used by the kidnapper had highly polished rims and curtains, like a new one brought directly from the showroom. It was a top-end, luxury automobile in those times. Also, when the car was seen, nobody could tell who was in the driver’s seat.
People soon associated the cases with some kind of evil spirit and vampire that was on its rampage to seek vengeance.
The legend soon was passed onto other Eastern European countries like Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Hungry, and Mongolia.
There are a number of theories behind the motives of these abductions. Besides vampire stories, locals said that kids and teenagers were kidnapped so the kidnappers could drain out all their blood to illegally sell it in the black market, whereas others say the kidnappers sold the victims’ organs.
In 1973, a horror movie, Black Volga, was also created based on these real incidents. (1, 2)
8. Japanese people were abducted by North Korean agents from 1977 and 1983. In the early phases, the news was treated as a rumor and myth, but later, North Korea publicly admitted that they actually did it.
ShareAbduction. (Image is used for representational purpose only)
The Japanese people captured by the North Korean agents mostly lived in the coastal regions of Japan. The news spread across the country in no time, but it was only believed to be a rumor.
The rumor turned out to be a fact when Kim Jong-un himself admitted in 2002 that the North Korean regime had abducted 13 residents of Japan.
The number of people abducted officially recognized by the Japanese government is 17 whereas, it is now thought that hundreds of people were abducted. North Korea claimed that four out of 13 individuals were alive, eight died, and one’s entrance into the country was not confirmed.
The Korean dictator, Kim, apologized for the abductions, but he didn’t reveal the reasons for the events.
Japan is not the only country that faced serial kidnapping. In fact, since 1953, more than 3,800 South Koreans have been abducted by North Korea. (1, 2)
9. The Golden Turtle God found in the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi is believed to appear during rare, opportune moments in Vietnamese history. It is believed that in the 15th century, the turtle appeared and gave a sword to Le Loi, a rebel leader, which he used to lead the rebellion against the Chinese. The sword was taken back by the turtle after the rebellion was over. The scarce appearance of the turtle fits perfectly with the fact that the species is extremely rare and has only been witnessed by ten individuals.
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The endangered turtle, also known as “Hoan Kiem Turtle,” is the largest freshwater turtle in the world and has a giant softshell on its back.
The legends say that the turtle appears only at opportune moments. The very first appearance is believed during the reign of King An Duong Vuong. The 15th-century event in which the turtle assisted in establishing the Le Dynasty is more popular.
In that myth, in the end, the turtle quickly grabbed the sword by his teeth and submerged under the Hoan Kiem Lake. Since then the lake is also known as the “Lake of Returning Sword.”
It could not be made clear whether or not the turtle actually gave the magical sword. The legends have been told for hundreds of years, but in June 1967, the existence of the turtle was confirmed when a fisherman found it and beat it to death with a crowbar. (1, 2)
10. The 4,000-year-old Ancient Indian mythological tales of Mahabharata mention a city of Dwaraka that disappeared in the Arabian Sea, the western coast of Gujarat. The archaeological expeditions of 1963 discovered the underwater city, and it was exactly how it was described in the mythological stories. The intact city is thought to be more than 9,000 years old.
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The city was found 36 meters deep in the waters of the Gulf of Cambay. The conclusion was made that the city was more than 9,000 years old based on the findings that included construction material, pottery, beads, sculptures, walls, and also parts of human skeletons.
The city of Dwarka had been mentioned in various, ancient Indian texts. It is considered as the first capital of Gujarat. The legends say that Krishna summoned magical powers to build the beautiful city but with his death, it sank in the sea and its glory was lost as a myth.
The story of the Dwaraka was alive for years as a legend and its possibility always existed in history which came true after excavations.
The texts say that the city once consisted of 900,000 royal palaces made up of crystal, silver, and emeralds.
The city was well planned with sections dividing the residential and commercial areas with incredible gardens, roads, and artificial lakes. The city disappeared 9,000 years ago because of a big flood. (source)
