Throughout human history, there are numerous cases when people simply disappeared forever without explanation. It is really scary when one person disappears, but it gets even more scary when large groups of people disappear suddenly and forever. In fact, in history there are several of the most mysterious disappearances of hundreds or even thousands of people, and in some cases entire cities, whose inhabitants have gone somewhere, leaving behind only minor clues about what happened to them. Apparently, they simply ceased to exist. What is hidden behind these stories, and what forces could make the crowds of people disappear? Here we take a look at some of the most famous mysterious mass disappearances in history, in which large numbers of people appear to have almost disappeared into thin air.and who left behind unsolved mysteries.
Perhaps one of the most talked about mass disappearances took place in the cold north. In northern Canada, in the midst of relentless icy and piercing winds on the rocky shores of the distant Lake Angikuni, there was once an Inuit village. At the time, it was a fairly prosperous fishing village with a population of up to 2500 people who made their living on the outskirts of civilization. It was here in November 1930 that a fur hunter named Joe Labelle came across the snow and ice. He wanted to seek refuge after a difficult snowshoe journey. Labelle must have been to this village before, since he relied on a warm welcome.
However, in the village of Labelle, no one welcomed as they used to. It was rather odd as it was a bustling, developing village. His cries were answered only by the howl of the wind. Labelle cautiously made his way into the village, which greeted him with deathly silence. He walked past emaciated sled dogs frozen in the snow, as if they were starving to death. I looked into several snow-covered shacks where local residents lived, and saw that personal belongings and weapons remained intact. There were bowls of food on the tables, and pots of charred food hung over the embers in the hearths. There was no sign of a struggle or anything out of the ordinary, except that there was not a soul in the entire village. It seemed that they had to return at any moment. However, all the villagers simply disappeared.
When Labelle returned to civilization, he immediately reported this to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which launched an investigation into the matter. They found this abandoned village, in which even the warehouses remained untouched. Police also found frozen sled dogs tied to a tree, as well as devastated sacred graves. There were no tracks in the snow that could tell where the people had gone. The Mounted Police confirmed Labelle's report that all the villagers had disappeared, taking only their outerwear with them. Residents of nearby settlements reported to the police that they had observed strange lights in the sky over this village in the days before Labelle appeared there. It is highly likely, though, that these eerie details could have been added later.
The history of the disappeared Inuit village has the status of a legend in the world of the unexplained, especially in cases of strange disappearances. The problem is that it is not known how much truth in this story, and how much is embellished or fabricated over time. There seems to be very little truly reliable data or information that could shed light on this strange story. In the absence of any specific information, the disappeared village will remain just a horror story, surrounded by questions, the answers to which we will most likely never know.
The village on Lake Angikuni is not the only settlement that has mysteriously gone missing. There is another mysterious story of the disappearance of people in the colony on Roanoke Island. In 1587, the first permanent English colony in the New World was established on the island. A strip of land 12 km long and 3 km wide was located off the coast of the present American state of North Carolina among the barrier islands called the Outer Banks. About 120 settlers led by John White, including men, women and children, despite the hardships and long sea voyages, landed here to start a new life.
The settlers faced unpredictable weather, lack of food supplies, and indigenous tribal hostility. In the end, White was forced to return to England to load the ship with the things necessary for the colony. According to him, he said goodbye to friends and family who remained on the island and sailed over the horizon. White originally planned to return to the colony in three months, but faced unforeseen difficulties. There was a war between England and Spain. Each ship was engaged in military battles and White's own ship was confiscated. White was only able to return to the island after three years.
When White finally arrived in Roanoke, no one met him. When he and his team disembarked, he did not find a settlement. The houses were dismantled and demolished, and there was no trace of the settlers. It looked like the village was razed to the ground. During the search, several strange clues were found and the word "Croatoan" hastily carved on one tree and the letters "CRO" on another. There were no signs of a struggle. They just disappeared.
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White suggested that the carved words meant that the settlers could have moved to the southern island of Hatteras, which was home to a tribe of friendly Croatoan natives at the time. Indeed, prior to his departure three years ago, he instructed the settlers that if they were ever forced to leave the island due to an attack by hostile natives or a natural disaster, they would have to carve the name of the new place on the tree, along with the Maltese cross. There was no cross next to the words found, and this remained a mystery to White. He decided to go to the island to the Croatoans, but refused this due to bad weather and the mutiny of the crew. As a result, White was forced to return to England, never to return. The fate of the settlers, among whom was his daughter and granddaughter, remained unknown.
There have been many theories as to what happened to the vanished colony on Roanoke Island. Some believe that the settlers were killed by aggressive natives. Others believe that they were knocked down by a mysterious disease, but not a single body or grave was found. Someone thinks that they died during a hurricane or when trying to return to England and died at sea. And it is quite possible that the settlers actually moved to Hatteras Island and assimilated with the locals. In the centuries that followed, random clues arose that might clarify what happened to the colonists, but no answer was ever found.
Another interesting story about the disappeared village of Hoer Verde in Brazil. On February 5, 1923, a group of people who arrived in this small village of 600 people found that there was not a soul in it, all houses, personal belongings and food were left in a great hurry. The authorities launched an investigation but were unable to find any trace. The only evidence was the pistol that had recently been fired, and the inscription "No salvation" scrawled on the board. It has been speculated that 600 residents of Hoer Verde fled the village due to attacks by guerrillas or drug dealers, or were abducted by aliens, but unfortunately there is very little evidence for this and the case of the disappearance of the village in Brazil remains an unsolved mystery.
Among the most bizarre mass disappearances is the mysterious disappearance of the Roman Ninth Legion. Formed in 65 BC, the Ninth Legion was the ruthless military unit of the Roman Empire, with some 5,000 of the most experienced and well trained fighters from a wide range of countries. By the 2nd century AD, the well-armed, well-trained army of the Ninth Legion pushed the enemy into the most remote areas, including Africa, Germany, Spain, the Balkans and Britain, and played an important role in maintaining the iron rule of Rome throughout its vast empire. Indeed, at that time, in the 2nd century AD, the Ninth Legion was sent to England to suppress the rebellion of the savage warring tribes of the barbarians. He could assert the might of Romewho suffered huge losses in battles against barbarian hordes and struggled to keep England under his control. In particular, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117 - 138 AD), the Romans lost large numbers of soldiers in bloody battles in Britain. This worried the Roman authorities so much that they even erected a huge wall, called the Hadrian's Wall, to contain the enemy.
In 109 A. D. The Ninth Legion found itself in this maelstrom of hostilities and upheavals, meeting face to face with the enemy in Scotland, which terrified most of the soldiers, with their disfigured faces painted with paints, torn clothes of bear and wolf skins, naked bodies even in the middle of winter. intimidating tattoos, booming drums, and mystical shamans howling prayers to ancient Celtic gods in the midst of battle. These barbarians were ruthless enemies no one had ever met before, but the Ninth Legion marched boldly forward to drive them north. A huge force of soldiers in heavy armor moved forward and no one else saw it. Thousands of people disappeared without a trace.
The mystery of the missing Roman Ninth Legion has become a legend and a historical enigma that has not yet been solved. Of course, there are many theories as to what happened to the Ninth Legion. The most likely assumption put forward by historians is that nothing mysterious happened, just that the legion was sent to other battlefields in Britain or the Middle East, or it was disbanded altogether. Scottish legends tell that the formidable Roman army was massacred in daring guerrilla attacks. According to some rumors that leaked from the battlefield at that time, it was believed that as a result of the battle between the legion and the Celtic tribes, everyone died. However, none of these theories have any archaeological evidence to resolve this issue once and for all. All we know is that,for some reason, all the records of this battle have disappeared, which has since passed into the category of secrets and legends.
The same strange disappearance of soldiers happened in China in 1937. It was during the second Sino-Japanese War, when as a result of the invasion of the then capital of China, the city of Nanjing, by Japanese troops, 300,000 civilians were mercilessly exterminated in 6 weeks. A few days before this tragic event, Chinese Colonel Li Fu Xing was desperate to stop the Japanese invasion by deploying 3,000 heavily armed soldiers at an important strategic bridge over the Yangtze River. Heavy weapons and artillery were deployed on the defensive line, and the colonel himself was expecting an attack at his headquarters.
The next morning, the colonel was awakened by an aide who said that contact with the line of defense had been lost. Frustrated, Li Fu Xing sent a group of soldiers to investigate the situation. When the investigation team arrived at the scene, it became apparent that more than 3,000 soldiers had completely disappeared. Heavy weapons and artillery remained in their firing positions. There was no trace of blood or struggle, nothing at all. It was not clear where they all went. Two sentries at the far end of the bridge were still on duty, claiming that no one had passed them. In fact, several outposts were established in the area, but no one saw the movement of so many soldiers. How could they move quietly and unnoticed without reporting to their superiors and without notifying these guard posts? After the war, some efforts were made to investigate the disappearance of 3,000 armed people, but in the Japanese archives there was not the slightest hint of their further fate. This mass extinction remains a mystery to this day. Given that the Japanese made every effort to cover up their crimes in China during the war, it is very likely that we will never know what happened to these soldiers.that we will never know what happened to these soldiers.that we will never know what happened to these soldiers.
Another strange event took place in China in the following years, when in 1945 a train with several hundred passengers bound for Shanghai from Guangdong never arrived at its destination, and an intensive search was unsuccessful. The only thing that was found during the search for the train was a strange lake, which had not been here before. In November of that year, 100 Soviet soldiers were heading for the train station and inexplicably disappeared along the way. During the investigation, a parking lot halfway and an extinguished fire were found, but there was no trace of where the soldiers had gone.
What is at the heart of these mass disappearances? Is there any rational explanation or is there something much stranger than we can imagine? There are many theories that try to explain these mysterious disappearances, ranging from falling meteorites, UFOs, sudden black holes or interdimensional portals that are trapped by large numbers of people. Will these mysteries ever be solved? Perhaps no one will ever be able to find answers to these questions.