16. Terracotta Warriors Discovered in Pit Around Secret Tomb
Location: Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Year Discovered: 1974
Est. Value: $4.5 million per warrior*
In 1974, Chinese workers building a well discovered thousands of terracotta clay figures dressed for battle. The Terracotta Army, as it is now known, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a designation it received in 1987. The Army was found near the mausoleum constructed for Qin Shi Huang, the first Chinese emperor.
Terracotta Warriors’ Discovered in Pit Around Secret Tomb ©meanmachine77/Shutterstock
The figures are extremely detailed, and they are an entire replica of all of the king’s warriors. There are 8,000 terracotta soldiers in total, and just 2,000 of them have been excavated. The warriors were designed to protect the emperor when he made his journey to the afterlife in 210 B.C.
17. Swedish Scientists Reveal Findings of Deep-Sea ‘Alien’ Hunt
Location: Baltic Sea
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: Unknown
A deep-sea alien hunt already sounds promising, as far as finding something creepy and weird goes. Swedish scientists conducting such an expedition didn’t disappoint when they discovered what many people thought was a spaceship hidden at the depths of the Baltic Sea.
Artist Rendering (right) @Hauke Vagt/Pinterest | Ocean X/Wikimedia Commons
Though the explorers denied that it was a spaceship, they’re not sure what exactly this anomaly is. The Ocean Explorer team’s leader, Peter Lindberg, said it was some “natural geological formation.” According to Lindberg, this strange form wasn’t an alien spaceship, as it was “not made of metal,” a statement to which many people replied, “Who said alien spaceships have to be made of metal?”
18. WWII Plane Found in Jungle with Coffee Still in Thermoses
Location: Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Year Discovered: 1972
Est. Value: $9 million*
The “Swamp Ghost” was a Boeing B-17E bomber that no doubt wreaked havoc in World War II. That is until the plane went down in 1942 in the jungles of Papua New Guinea after being hit by enemy fire. The downing of the Swamp Ghost occurred during a raid on Japanese forces in Rabaul, New Britain.
WWII Plane Found in Jungle with Coffee Still in Thermoses @reggiekelpie/Twitter.com
The plane was left untouched for decades. When it was discovered in 1972, it was well-preserved by the kunai grass and mire. The Swamp Ghost was so intact that there was still coffee in thermoses in the cockpit when it was found. According to some sources, the value of such a well-preserved WWII plane is around $9 million.
19. A Shocking Discovery from 2000-year-old Shipwreck: The Antikythera Mechanism
Location: Antikythera, Greece
Year Discovered: 1900
Est. Value: Priceless
The Antikythera Mechanism is an ancient, two-thousand-year-old astronomical calculator that consists of thirty hand-cut, precise bronze gears. The advanced tool was made by ancient Greeks, and it has taken scientists years to unravel the mystery behind this device, which Cardiff University’s Mike Edmunds described as pricier “than the Mona Lisa.”
A Shocking Discovery from 2000-year-old Shipwreak: The Antikythera Mechanism @biblioteca.lucianblaga.1 | @SocSciclopedia/Facebook
The machine was discovered in 1900 by sponge divers looking through an ancient shipwreck near Antikythera, a small Greek island. Using radiocarbon data, scientists were able to date this clock to 65 B.C. When it comes to its total value, its historical nature makes it nearly priceless. Who can put a number to discovering how ancient civilizations read the skies?
20. Strange Figures Found Along The Alaskan Shore
Location: Alaska, America
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: Priceless
A few years ago, some Alaskans were startled to find a group of haunting figures lingering in the ice and snow on the bleak shoreline of Point Woronzof, near Anchorage. From a distance, they looked like real people in trouble. However, it turned out that the eerie shapes were actually an art installation by Sarah Davies.
The Supreme ©YouTube.com/
Inspired by her own experience with an undiagnosed illness, Davies set up more than 85 different humanoid sculptures that represented the “physical encapsulation of hundreds of unique experiences of vulnerability,” according to Buzzfeed News.
21. A Secret Mummy Found in a Statue
Location: China
Year Discovered: 1990
Est. Value: $80,000*
This ancient, thousand-year-old Buddha statue was valuable enough on its own, but what was hiding inside it shocked researchers in 1990. These historians were running tests on the Buddha idol, as they wanted to restore it to its former, glittering glory. The tests would tell them the best way to go about the restoration.
A Secret Mummy in a Statue @angelhalo2/Pinterest
When conducting an X-ray to determine what the statue was made of, scientists were amazed to find a human skeleton. The statue was not a statue at all—it was a sarcophagus for a mummy. As a result, the scientists decided to leave the burial place as the final resting place it was intended.
22. Abandoned Burger King From the ’80s Found Hidden Behind a Wall
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: $50,000* (Franchise Fee)
The Concord Mall is the oldest mall in Delaware, and it has seen a number of restaurants, attractions, and shops come and go over the years. In the late 1980s, Concord opened a Burger King in the mall, and, in 2009, that Burger King’s reign as a prime mall eatery came to an end.
Forgotten Buger King thtimster/Twitter.com
But, the Burger King was not torn down; it was simply walled over. In the summer of 2022, a photo went viral of the hidden BK behind the wall, and people were amazed at how its vintage aesthetic, in all its 1980s-fast-food glory, was still perfectly preserved.
23. Man Builds Hidden Studio Suspended Under Bridge
Location: Valencia, Spain
Year Discovered: N/A
Est. Value: $1,000-$5,000*
When a lot of us were kids, we built secret forts and hideaways in the backyard or the house. These beloved childhood memories are what inspired Spanish citizen Fernando Abellanas to construct a tiny studio apartment underneath a bridge in Valencia, Spain.
Hidden Studio Suspended Under Bridge @Jason Jose/Youtube
Abellanas, a self-taught designer, created his little “fort” with some pretty ingenious engineering. It has shelving, a chair, a desk, and a bed to sleep in. He can even fold the walls up or down to create a more open or closed space. Of all the things you’d expect to find under a bridge, a moveable studio apartment is one of the most surprising.
24. Mysterious Metal Monoliths Appear Everywhere in 2020
Location: Utah, California, Romania, and New Mexico
Year Discovered: 2020
Est. Value: Unknown
2020 was an insane year, and one news story that kept popping up sparked quite a few alien conspiracy theories. In Utah, California, Romania, and New Mexico (prime alien locations), identical monoliths kept popping up. These long, vertical metal slabs stood ten to twelve feet long, and they appeared in these locations without warning.
Mysterious Metal Monoliths That Appeared Everywhere In 2020 @rossbernards/Instagram
People were reminded of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and, like the totems in that movie, not much is known about these, which is likely the point. They are inexplicable and beautiful, and no one can decide whether this was an art installation, a government mind control attempt, a weird prank, an alien invasion, or something else.
25. Lavish Third-Century Home Found Under the Streets of Rome
Location: Rome, Italy
Year Discovered: 2017
Est. Value: Unknown
In 2017, excavators were digging underneath Rome to build a new metro line. As Rome is one of the oldest major cities, a lot of interesting things were found. For example, during the digging, builders found the ruins of a fancy third-century home that had been destroyed in a fire.
Rome, Italy ©Noppasinw/stock.adobe.com
They also found a 1,800-year-old skeleton of a crouched dog that likely perished in the blaze. The fire stopped the ruins in their tracks, and the home, though charred, was remarkably well-preserved because of the ash. Experts believed that this home belonged to an aristocrat from Celian Hill.
26. Couple Discovers Perfectly Preserved 1961 Fallout Shelter in Their Backyard
Location: Woodland Hills, California
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: $5,400*
The 1960s was an intense time for the world. America and Russia were at odds, and the possibility of nuclear war loomed large on everyone’s mind. Some people even built fallout shelters and bunkers in their backyard. In 2013, a Woodland Hills, California couple discovered such a shelter in their new home.
Couple Discovers Perfectly Preserved 1961 Fallout Shelter in Their Backyard @dailymail/Pinterest
Though they had known about the bunker when they bought the home, they thought, at the time, that it was just a hole in the ground. When they explored the fallout shelter, they discovered a subterranean time capsule stocked with perfectly-preserved vintage supplies, including food, water, bedding, and more.
27. Farmer Finds 4,500-year-old Statuette of Ancient Goddess
Location: Gaza Strip, Palestine
Year Discovered: 2022
Est. Value: Unknown
While working his land in the Gaza Strip, a farmer stumbled upon a limestone sculpture of Anat, an ancient Canaan goddess. The 4,500-year-old deity was the goddess of beauty, love, and war, according to Canaanite mythology. The farmer, Nidal Abu Eid, told NBC News that he immediately knew the statue was important because it had an “inscription of a snake” on its head.
Farmer Finds 4,500-year-old Statuette of Ancient Goddess @BBC.com/Pinterest
The goddess, according to the legend, wore the snake as a crown of invisibility and strength. According to some historians, Anat inspired Athena, the Grecian goddess of war, as Athena is also often surrounded by snake imagery.
28. Ancient Roman Coins Found in Japanese Castle Ruins
Location: Okinawa, Japan
Year Discovered: 2016
Est. Value: $10,000-$100,000*
Katsuren Castle, an old imperial building in Okinawa, Japan, was the site of a very strange discovery: ancient Ottoman and Roman coins. Ten of these ancient coins were found in Japan’s southern prefecture, and it was a researcher from Ganoji, Toshio Tsukamoto, who spotted the coins in the ruins.
Roman Coins Found In Japan @Independent.co.uk/Twitter.com
Though the excavation of Kasturen began in 2013, the coins were not discovered until 2016. Other artifacts found included Chinese ceramics and coins, which were acquired through trading with China. As for the Roman and Ottoman coins, archeologists are stumped as to how those wound up in a southern Japanese castle-like Kasturen.
29. Man Walking His Dog Finds $100,000 Floating Down River
Location: Lincolnshire, England
Year Discovered: 2013
Est. Value: $100,000*
All dog owners have taken their furry canine friend for a walk before, but one dog dad’s walk yielded something totally unexpected. While walking along the Spalding River in the U.K. in November of 2013, one man spotted wads of cash floating in the water.
$100k floating down Spalding River @CNN/YouTube
He called authorities, who then retrieved the money from the Spalding. All in all, the total sum found ended up being $100,000. Some of the cash had water damage, but the majority of the notes were in good condition, according to Lincolnshire Police, who then conducted a forensic examination of the money to see if they could determine where it came from (and to whom it really belongs).
30. La Paz County Sheriff Find Underwater Skeleton Tea Party
Location: Colorado River, La Paz, Arizona
Year Discovered: 2015
Est. Value: $50*
La Paz County Sheriff deputies teamed up with the Buckskin Fire Department in Arizona when the former got a call about possible human remains in the Colorado River. A diver went down with a video camera to inspect, and there, he found two skeletons having a tea party.
La Paz County Sheriff Find Underwater Skeleton Tea Party @Mamamia/Pinterest
The skeletons were fake, thankfully, and they were both seated upright in lawn chairs. One even wore aviators and a bib. The other held a sign that said, “Dream in the River” with a date of August 16, 2014. Was this an art installation? Discarded Halloween decorations? Some type of shrine? We may never know.