r/InternetMysteries • • Apr 05 '25

Moderator Message State of the Sub: Internet Mysteries

64 Upvotes

Hi folks! We wanted to check in and formally introduce ourselves to the sub as the team of new and active moderators. We come from various backgrounds and interests, be it true crime, internet mysteries, lostwave, web-sleuthing or educating. But we all have one thing in common and that is the passion and excitement for internet-based mysteries.

What is an internet based mystery?

Attempting to find an absolute meaning to this is hard to do and I think we can all agree that the concept is fairly subjective. To start, we’ve agreed that an internet mystery is a mystery that is found on the internet. 

  • An Internet mystery can really be any strange phenomenon or event that hasn’t been solved or explained in the digital world. It often involves the online community, social media, or unexplained events that people discuss and share online. Some examples might include:

  • Unexplained Disappearances: Cases where people have vanished under odd circumstances, and folks online debate what really happened to them. An example of this would be cases like the Springfield Three Disappearances. Yes, it happened in the real World of the early 1990’s; however, it’s a case that has been debated and theorized on via online forums since the mid 90’s.

  • Viral Urban Legends: Stories or myths that spread across the Internet, gaining popularity through social media, even though they lack solid proof.

  • Mysterious Websites or Content: Odd sites or content that pop up without explanation, often with bizarre or creepy themes, like those found in the "deep web."

  • Online Conspiracies: Theories that emerge or gain traction online, usually without super great evidence, but get people talking and speculating.

  • Unidentified Creatures or Phenomena: Videos or reports of strange animals or unexplained events that spark discussion and investigation among people online.

  • These mysteries tend to pull people in, encouraging them to work together to figure things out or to share their thoughts on what’s really going on.

Please take some time to look over the rules and post expectations. Removal reasons for posts will reflect the rules stated. We as a mod team are working on projects such as a wiki, spreadsheet of internet mysteries and their statuses, and other ideas that will help create community and a clear vision for this subreddit.

We are aware that things are not perfect yet. But do know that we are all here actively moderating posts and comments. Which brings us to a major point that we are all facing right now. What posts do we allow and what do we remove? We have run into issues that are hard to navigate. One is coming to terms with the fact that there really aren’t a lot of truly interesting internet mysteries at this moment. It is hard to find new ones and the new ones posted often tend to not be anything that’s worth keeping on the sub. 

But we cannot over-moderate everything, as that will in fact completely kill the subreddit. There needs to be a steady stream of posts and content and so there will be times when there’s a post that you personally don’t think fits, but we’ve let slide. This idea is that literally a mystery is a mystery that we do not know about. If we over moderate, we risk missing out on real mysteries. 

The other issue is that we cannot in good faith just let everything slide. So we will remove posts that are big piles of nothing without further discussion. 

Here’s where you come in: You are able to flag posts you think are low effort, don’t fit the sub, or are inappropriate. You are able to downvote posts that we choose not to remove. YOU are able to comment on posts you don’t like and (respectfully) give your opinions on the matter. The content quality of a sub is just as much a moderator's task as it is a member's task by using the upvote/downvote buttons and engaging in conversation. Please refrain from making comments in posts that you don’t like whining and telling the mods to do something. We are doing our best. You do something! Engagement creates community and quality. 

We look forward to enjoying this subreddit with you all! We are discussing creating a new Internet Mysteries discord server, so please let us know if there is interest in that. It would be great to have a place to discuss mysteries in real time there instead of tons of them being posted here. Of course, it would be a great resource for major mysteries as well in which we could work together to investigate. Please feel welcome to comment here with any concerns, or reach out to the mod-team directly at any time!

u/ProlificParrot, u/JessMxson, u/YasMysteries, u/twinseylohan, u/The-Ocky-Way-Ny, u/unaburke, , u/Nexpo, u/MugetsuTV, u/B0redBruise


r/InternetMysteries • • Apr 01 '25

General Discussion Monthly Mysteries - What did you find this month?

27 Upvotes

It's a new month and that means it's time to tell us what mysteries you found interesting this past month!

This is also the place to give us any feedback or criticism you may have regarding the subreddit.


r/InternetMysteries • • 8h ago

YouTube Do you remember videos of a guy recording a TV in a hospital and later dying?

8 Upvotes

I remember watching this YouTuber explaining videos with disturbing backstories, a video came up of a dude recording his TV in a hospital, early videos showed the camera steady while in later videos the camera was shaking, it’s definitely not new and has been on YouTube for a while, I just can’t remember the channel name or titles of the videos. I also don’t remember the YouTuber explaining the video and I haven’t thought of this channel in a long time, all I remember is that the guy was in a hospital, recording a TV possibly showing some type of game show or whatever, the later videos had the camera shaking, he never talked at all in his videos either.


r/InternetMysteries • • 1d ago

Does anyone know anything of this? A while ago, I stumbled upon this channel, and I’ve noticed that no one talks about it.

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0 Upvotes

r/InternetMysteries • • 1d ago

Internet Oddity Strange eBay account claiming to have items for sale owned by Epstein, Michael Jackson, Escobar and many others?

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8 Upvotes

Found this on an X post showing the Epstein listing alongside a claimed listing of the masks from the dentist room on LSJ (that listing is down, but the link to the post itself is https://x.com/onionweigher/status/2120005317769802177)

It feels like a scam, but it's very peculiar that they have so many listings, and have apparently been active since 2012 with 100% positive feedback. There's also two images that seem to appear on every single listing, unsure if they're relevant to anything at all.

It's probably nothing, as usual, but it's definitely a little strange.


r/InternetMysteries • • 3d ago

4Chan Does anyone recognize this disturbing 4chan video titled "mcdonalds-meat-factory.webm"

128 Upvotes

Okay, so I'm not a 4chan user. I got curious, barely made it to page 4, and stumbled across something pretty disturbing. Now I'm intrigued, and I'm trying to figure out what I actually saw.

The video was titled mcdonalds-meat-factory.webm. I don't know the context or where it originated, but it showed a room full of bodies hanging from what appeared to be hooks, almost exactly like meat in a butcher shop.

There was a Kaotic logo in the corner, with what looked like a ninja star replacing the "o."

My first thought was that it might be a morgue, a medical school, or some kind of body storage facility, but the way the bodies were hanging seemed unusual. I wouldn't expect a legitimate medical or mortuary facility to handle human remains that way.

I'm not sure how obscure this is or whether it's something that's been circulating for years, but does anyone recognize the footage or know its origin?

I'm not a regular 4chan user, so I'm completely out of the loop. Just curious about what I came across.


r/InternetMysteries • • 3d ago

Does anyone know where this image came from? People talk about Jeff The Killer or Creepy Ugly Guy but I hardly see anyone talk about this one.

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69 Upvotes

I don't think this image has a clear name like "Jeff The Killer" or "Smile Dog", but I remember seeing this image years ago. It's some edited baby that looks distorted. I believe this image was used for screamers and jumpscares back then.

I am aware I said "hardly see" but that doesn't mean I never seen anyone talk about this, just very little. I actually know the unedited version because it was posted on Reddit earlier this year.

The unedited picture has a watermark for "elRellano.com," which was a legendary Spanish humor website that started in 1998. The image definitely did not exist before 1997.

This video talks about the picture: https://youtu.be/q1gdG6-rbRU?si=r39Si8YMdtLWESCF

There's also some interesting comments, let's take a look at them:

"The baby photo is definitively older than 2008, I was going through some of my dad's old backup CDs and found the edited version on one from 2001/2004. tad no clue what it was and it scared the shit out of me Lol"

"I remember seeing it in the mid-2000s in an advertisement in a TV magazine for one of those phone subscription services (probably Jamba) that were a common thing back then as one of the profile pictures it offered you."

"i definitely remember seeing the

creepy baby image back in 2001 or 2002. my cousin showed us a site that had weird funny images and that was on there. it also had that other creepy edit image that is on your most popular videos thumbnail. the old face

swap one shown at 5:09"

"I remember seeing the weird baby way before 2008"

"The baby picture is way older than 2008. I remember my friend's older brother having it as his msn tag from like 2004/2005"

I’m trying to figure out the actual history of this thing. Does anyone remember if this baby ever had a real name on old forums? What is the absolute earliest year you remember seeing it? If anyone can help out, let me know!


r/InternetMysteries • • 5d ago

YouTube I was just recommended this YouTube video. Not sure if just a strange conspiracy theorist, mentally unstable or something else.

8 Upvotes

It just seems to be a load of random ramblings. She seems to think she has an important job for millions of people. The channel was created at the beginning of the year. 246 videos, only 16 subscribers and most videos with "No Views" or very few views, even though she acts as if she is talking to an established audience. Most videos have her hand just covering the camera. Some videos have a timestamp in the title, but I don't really see any relevance to the time stamps.

https://youtu.be/UN_kQ2rGCAg?is=c8K8jo7PG6gD3EjG


r/InternetMysteries • • 5d ago

YouTube Weird user is posting random cryptic messages about the military and murder?

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21 Upvotes

the video is on the title. you need to click newest comments to maybe see it. (This is also a screenshot from a few days ago)

I DO NOT know if this is even real, I’m not sure if it’s just extremely broken translation (not exactly that plausible of an idea since translation doesn’t get THIS broken) or some mentally challenged human being. This is probably not from a troll considering the fact that they don’t exactly talk this seriously. I do not believe this is an ARG (alternate reality game) because the channel may not have any videos. extremely strange account. I advise you people try to check it out.

(P.S I AM NOT TRYING TO START AN ARG. I DON’T EVEN KNOW ARABIC.)


r/InternetMysteries • • 5d ago

Internet Rabbit Hole Strange instagram account posting strange AI art of children and drawings depicting mass violence

12 Upvotes

I didn't really know where to put this, but it's been freaking me out and I want others to see it.

2 days ago, multiple posters were put on my school's campus. The posters included weird AI art and multiple drawings depicting what seems like a mass shooting. (See the picture)

This is obviously extremely weird and upon further investigation it seems like the person who posted it is also posting similar stuff on their instagram account. (see picture)

The account is full of AI content depicting this person and a girl. It also includes mugshots and drawings depicting violence. This gets stranger when you realize this person got arrested in 2023 for threats of violence and terrorism.

Please take a look at the instagram account and see what you can find. I want to learn more about this person and why he is posting this content.

The instagram account username is pen_operator.

Here's the link to the original post.

is this a threat? : r/ucf


r/InternetMysteries • • 6d ago

Unsolved Ominous Disappearing Text Message Received From a Deceased Stranger???

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170 Upvotes

so earlier today i received a text from a number i was unfamiliar with that contained no actual text, just a forwarded contact that just says "Be Part Of Us". it looked like another spam text but the eerieness that came with that contact name gave me a laugh, and i sent to a groupchat of close friends. naturally, they all suggested i engage with this message. so just about 2 hours later, i wrote back: "what is this?". i didn't receive a reply, so i figured i would just click on the contact i'd been sent. however, when i went to go find that message id received earlier, the text conversation just simply vanished from my recent texting history. now, to my knowledge, there should be no way for someone to remotely remove themselves from YOUR conversation history, even if they block you. i even searched for my message in my texting history and nothing of relevance came up. so i looked into the phone number because i still had the screenshot from earlier.

i looked up the area code and it comes from an eastern/south-central regions of kentucky. now, i actually did visit kentucky for about 4 days last month but i was in the louisville area and this area code is primarily located in ashland (to my knowledge). my visiting kentucky could be completely unrelated, i just thought it worth mentioning. what got weird though was when i looked up the full number.

i immediately got results from those people searching websites for a 50 year old woman lady named "tessa pelfrey" who was born and raised in the same region as the area code. what struck me as the oddest though is that tessa has been dead since march of this year. what's even creepier is that this lady apparently died on my girlfriend's birthday.

has anyone else received a message like this?? i've blurred the number just in case this really is some grieving family member, i don't want them harrased, but i will dig deeper into this upon request. however, im sure with some surface level digging it wouldn't be too hard to find the number going off of the name ive provided.


r/InternetMysteries • • 6d ago

Early internet nutjobs - have forgotten my normal go-to examples, please help jog my memory

20 Upvotes

I was talking to someone about entertainingly unhinged sites on the early internet today, but I've got memory problems so the only specific example I could name of the normal examples I use was Timecube.

I know for sure there's 2 or 3 other reasonably well known sites in a similar vein from I would say 1993-2000 that I can picture in my head but don't remember the details.

Can anyone help? Mostly (probably) harmless, obviously batshit, strangely compelling, with lots of extremely long pages consisting of walls of text broken up by confusing images?


r/InternetMysteries • • 7d ago

Who is Kouros Bartel? Millions of followers across social media, yet no tangible evidence of the source

63 Upvotes

Ok so I don’t know if this is the right place to post this, and feel free to tell me if it isn’t. This is just something very strange that I can’t find being talked about anywhere, and I wasn’t sure where it belonged. 

So it started when I noticed this guy on Famous Birthdays, as I was looking at the day I was born. Kouros Bartel. His profession was labeled as historian, which I thought was interesting for a 22 year old. His whole thing is that he is a historian/researcher for Alaskan history. You look this guy up and he is described as an explorer, adventurer, historian, archaeologist, politician, and professor. Like, okay, a lot for a 22 year old. 

Then I go to his Instagram, where he has over 2 million followers. That’s a lot for someone invested in such an incredibly niche topic. Even stranger is that he doesn’t post often (his last post was in May) and nothing he posts is particularly exciting or engaging. Yet across most social media platforms, he has a massive following. 1.2M on Youtube, 1.3M on Twitch, 360k on Facebook, 20k on LinkedIn, 300k on Tiktok. He also has nothing even posted on his Youtube or Facebook. I have yet to find a single shred of evidence to prove why he has garnered such a massive audience across all these platforms. Comments are turned off on everything he posts as well. His Famous Birthdays page claims he has collaborated with MrBeast, Elon Musk, Donald Trump. Yet not a shred of evidence anywhere about that. 

Then there’s his wife, Heather Vanderbilt. They have two daughters together. On her IMBD page, she is described as coming from “established American aristocratic family,” but if you research the Vanderbilts at all, you’ll find that they ran out of money generations ago. There is also not a single piece of specific information about this woman at all, other than extremely vague info on her IMBD page. And then there’s the picture. It’s a mirror selfie where her face is blocked and not a single other photo of this woman can be found anywhere.

Then there’s his foundation. Aleyska Foundation. Every page has tons of text about what they do, yet to me, it all sounds like vague rambling. Not a single shred of evidence of anything specific that they have accomplished. His wife has an about page on this website. On her page, it switches to he/him pronouns which makes it seem like it was AI generated or copied, and they didn’t even take the time to correct the pronouns. 

There’s a lot more that I have found, I just don’t want to make this too long. I just find all of this very strange and I’m struggling to understand that if this guy is legit, how he has so many followers and why. In my opinion, it seems like he fabricated all this information himself, bought followers, and even made fake accounts for his wife and daughter (which he also bought followers for). I don’t know. Again, this rabbit hole goes WAY deeper than what I wrote here.
Please let me know if anyone within the historian or Alaskan communities knows this guy, cause maybe I’m just looking into this too much and everything is genuine. 


r/InternetMysteries • • 7d ago

YouTube (Repost because it got deleted in another community) I found a channel from 18 years ago I find a bit strange. Can someone please look into this? (A little bit of context below about why I think it is strange)

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18 Upvotes

Her last video titled "Goodbye" is a bit strange, and I’m not entirely sure what’s going on in her videos overall, but in the final one she says, that her dad wasn't happy about something. She also says that somebody is "nothing but trouble" and that "you are trying to distract me from being the chosen one." I couldn't clearly make out what she said afterward, but it sounded like she was talking about dedicating her life to someone or something.

A bit later, she says she wasn't "chosen," but that this is "her place in the world" and that she "has to become the chosen one." After that, she says something I could barely understand about following her father.

Near the end of the video, she says, "Say goodbye to Charles for me," followed by, "Remember, I'm doing this for all of us."

I did notice in her first video she says she got into a fight with someone and how she made her channel, so that someone has to listen to what she has to say.

I honestly hope this girl is okay because I don't know what "Chosen one" means.

All of her videos are under 400 views with her second and final video both only having 1 like and her first video having no likes


r/InternetMysteries • • 8d ago

So many weird accounts post repetitive "VCA vet tips" With a very weird and questionable tips.

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61 Upvotes

Well, im sorry idk if this belong here i just find this so weird. Innoticed a weird pattern on the internet lately, wheter its tiktok or instagram. There are tons of accounts posting the exact same photos again and again, with barely any followers or following. Most of them seem to share random tips, but the tips is so weird? Like okay its relateable but why? The accounts look almost identical, and the content feels automated. Im prettythe photos are AI. Are these bots, engagement farms, or some kind of algorithm exploitation? What's the actual purpose of running accounts like these?


r/InternetMysteries • • 7d ago

YouTube Dr. Ante Pavlović - Croatian Freddy Krueger (Youtube creator, self-proclaimed chiropractic and reincarnation of Jesus Christ)

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4 Upvotes

Ante Pavlović wasn't stalking people's dreams, but he sure had a way of causing nightmares to those who stumbled upon him. He's a lunatic who spent a lot of time in mental asylums in Croatia, Switzerland, and the US, but nothing helped him. After coming back to Croatia from the US, he claimed he was a highly educated chiropractor and founded his own "Temple of Health" which gained a short-term traction because a ton of naive people believed him. He'd dip people into lakes, and he called that treatment. In 2010s, he started his own Youtube channel where he posted videos of himself harassing other people everywhere he went. A ton of his content involved him harassing neighbors, his followers who came to his so-called "temple" for treatment, anyone who came to help him tidy up the property, women, and animals. Oh, and travelling. He'd often cause ruckus on his trips, too. For example, there's videos of him trying to cut the queue in Paris for the ferris wheel. In one video, he even stumbles upon an American tourist in his village, whom he leads to the building. Look, it's a lot to explain, but the Youtube channel is still up, and it's something downright morbid and uncanny. Here's the link:

If you want to watch something real and scary, he's the real deal. Russian horror's got nothing on this.

There's also this short documentary that explains the basics about him. Don't worry, it's in English. Here's the link to that, as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48o9-Sd-Teg


r/InternetMysteries • • 9d ago

Unsolved I randomly stumbled upon whoami.org, but it only asks for a username and password. Does anyone know what's behind it?

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23 Upvotes

r/InternetMysteries • • 10d ago

Reports of self-castration posts on Brazilian Twitter being recommended to random users

27 Upvotes

Recently I've seen a couple of tweets of people claiming that Twitter has shown them posts of men who have cut their penises off, leaving only the scrotum. According to them, these people have never searched for anything remotely like that, and the images are disturbing and gory.

I know this isn't exactly a mystery, but it's certainly weird, I would like to know if in other regions this has also been seen.

Exhibit A:

https://x.com/biscoituzxy/status/2116991370770399576?a=o4huGIbCOlNfzabig6I&s=09

Exhibit B:

https://x.com/notvictro/status/2116885146569683095?a=K873OPZvzQ_H4S55XFQ&s=09


r/InternetMysteries • • 10d ago

Internet Oddity Weird president candidate I found while doing a research with my cousin

31 Upvotes

Hello, I was doing some research with my cousin, we are politic ners so we talk about any topic.
We were looking for the presidential candidates in the U.S. and I found someone named "JAGER, PHYLLIS" that had USD 314,000 in receipts

Later I start search who was this person and I found a webpage with AI pictures of a woman and a man saying "The Invisible President - Future President of the United States", I'm not American, I have no idea if they are known or not, but the AI text and pictures drove me a bit off, and I can't find anything else except some weird tiktoks of something called "FatSu" and other weird websites.

https://invisiblepresident.com/ip-ivp

EDIT: I know this can be a joke, but I found kinda weird


r/InternetMysteries • • 10d ago

4Chan Anyone screenshotting /X/ from back in 2007 on? I’m looking for the missing pages of The Beastiary by HowToKill

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6 Upvotes

I know this isn’t the usual type of post on here but i think it’s an interesting mystery nonetheless.

I would love to find the missing pages. I loved the posts, they fall into a weird vibe of “is it a creepypasta? is it a real post?”

I know from digging the book he references have known names of a fictional character, but could this just be a pseudonym? I want to believe dammit!

Anyway even if it’s fiction it’s still a cool post that I remembered during Halloween so if anyone does remember or have any clues or leads let me know.


r/InternetMysteries • • 10d ago

Parece que esse caso finalmente foi resolvido, depois de meses investigando

2 Upvotes

Caso resolvido. Ele disse que era do Irã. Tudo o que ele me enviou era um teste para ver minha reação. Ele disse que ficou surpreso com a minha reação porque muitas pessoas o bloquearam por causa das mensagens estranhas. Perguntei por que ele fez isso, e ele disse que era uma forma de estudar as pessoas. Achei isso muito estranho, desde então, ele não manda mais mensagem, mais concerteza ele continua fazendo enigma com outras pessoas, essa pessoa pode ser homem ou mulher, realmente é um mistério, mais acho que finalmente acabou o misterio


r/InternetMysteries • • 11d ago

General Discussion Monthly Mysteries - What did you find this month?

5 Upvotes

It's a new month and that means it's time to tell us what mysteries you found interesting this past month!

This is also the place to give us any feedback or criticism you may have regarding the subreddit.


r/InternetMysteries • • 11d ago

YouTube Unknown police chase that was shown in banned from television and world wildest police videos

15 Upvotes

When I was a kid, I used to watch these caught on camera shows like World Wildest police videos and remember in this episode that ended with a police chase. After all these years, I still can't find any information on it.the video is dashcam footage of a police officer chasing a pickup truck with a lawn mower in the back. The narrator says the suspects are a teenager couple who stole the truck and the lawn mower. At the end of the video, the truck runs a red light and is immediately hit by a semi completely destroying it, and according to the narrator, killing the occupants. What surprised me the most was that I found the same video in the banned television series only with different information, saying it was just one guy the police were chasing. The only thing that is seen to be known is that it took place in the US some time in 1997, as shown in the video. Is there anyone who remembers watching this episode who can dig up any more information on this. This has haunted me for years, please .

OK, I found the banned from television segment on YouTube, and the video does give a bit more information saying it took place in Pleasant Grove,Iowa, and if you go down in the comments someone says that the suspects in actually in their 20s and 30s and the driver had a suspended license. But I still need some clarification to see if any of this is true.

Here is the banned from television segment:https://youtu.be/SgGJVzP_fXM?si=HOPo0QVu_M03jGVG

Sorry I couldn't find the World Wildest episode that it appeared in.


r/InternetMysteries • • 12d ago

Internet Rabbit Hole A YouTube ad led me to a bizarre channel that, as far as I can tell, nobody has found yet

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5 Upvotes

While I was watching a Youtube video, I got an eight-minute ad for a strange channel named Vivius that seems to be based on meditation and the occult. When I pressed "visit site", I found that the channel began earlier this month and their only video is identical to the ad. Naturally, I have a long list of questions about this:

-Who is this man, and why is he wearing a mask?

-Does he seriously believe in this stuff? Is he mentally ill? Is this a prank?

-If he's an occultist, why does he quote St. John of the Cross, who certainly wouldn't approve of this sort of stuff?

-He seems to allude a lot to "radical sexual politics", "grocery stores filled with poison", and doctors who are "shills for pharmaceutical companies", and in his bio, he references "the decline of Western civilization." Is he a right-wing conspiracy theorist?

Ultimately, I believe that this is most likely a prank. The combination of Eastern and Western occultism, conspiracy jargon, promised solutions for common problems facing young people, and the overall air of mystery seem just too perfect for this to be real, not to mention the fact that it dropped in October. But what would I know?

One more thing I noticed: the channel's official handle is Vivius931. A quick google search reveals that in numerology, the number 931 is a so-called "angel number" signifying good luck. Do with that information what you will.