The Hotel ZaZa Photo
[ranking: 14]
Status: Super weird
In 2013, a Redditor posted some photos of a hotel room that one of his friends stayed in at the Hotel ZaZa in Houston. Rather than just say, "It's a theme room, chill," the internet did what it does best and speculated wildly about the contents of the room. Some commenters thought the room numbers corresponded to the Skull and Bones secret society, while others assumed the whole thing was a marketing scam.
Vice tracked down someone from the hotel who was about as helpful as the face of a secret society.
Grateful Doe
[ranking: 3]
Status: Solved
Grateful Doe was the name of an unknown body wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt that was found in the wreckage of a car crash in 1995. People eventually forgot about the case and it was deemed unsolvable, that is until Layla Betts, a Redditor and Grateful Dead fan, began researching the case and posting what she found online.
As the case went viral, Betts was contacted by one of Doe's former roommates, who helped her put together the puzzle and learn that Doe's real name was Jason Callahan.
The Homeless Bifid Cipher
[ranking: 7]
Status: Sort of solved
In 2013, someone posted a story on Reddit about a homeless man handing them $50 and a note full of jumbled letters that the internet quickly realized was a Bifid Cipher. Redditors who went down the rabbit hole transcribed names into IP addresses, figured out UNIX codes, and tracked down retired professors, while other users, possibly with less time on their hands, called BS on the whole thread.
Nail Through Wood
[ranking: 1]
Status: Solved
When a photo of a nail suspended in the middle of pillars of wood showed up on Reddit, people lost their minds. It was probably like Nicolas Cage screaming "How did it get burned?" in Wicker Man, but about an impossible nail.
Thankfully, there's at least one carpenter online who helped everyone solve the mystery - see the video for the solution.
The Song
[ranking: 22]
Status: Solved... and groovin'
In 2014, a Redditor heard a song in car commercial and wanted to find out who recorded it. It was a simple enough task that turned into a full-blown mystery when the Redditor realized that other users were searching for the same track.
After a few dead ends, the user was contacted by another Redditor who directed them to Spotify, where the track was streaming. Was it worth it?
Louis CK's Adult Entertainment Doppelg?nger
[ranking: 21]
Status: Solved
This mystery isn't as heavy as the others, but it's still intriguing. While a Redditor was watching some good old-fashioned adult entertainment online (hopefully using her incognito browser window), she noticed a familiar voice: Louis CK.
This mystery was squashed pretty quickly, but you can still dream, can't you?
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