Mysterious Michigan

Strange and unusual

 

Mysterious places, odd history, monsters, UFOs, true crime, and other high strangeness.

Strange Stones – The Veiled Lady of Elmwood Cemetery

Strange Stones – The Veiled Lady of Elmwood Cemetery

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Standing tall and imposing at 12 feet in Detroit’s historic Elmwood Cemetery is a stunning Carrara marble stone carved with a floating, veiled woman. The craftsmanship is gorgeous but years of weather wear on the veiled face gave the beautiful stone a slightly spooky vibe. But what is fascinating about this piece is the amount of drama this expensive stone went through to reach its final resting place…

Strange Stones logo - Hartland Cemetery

Strange Stones – Hartland Cemetery

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Have you ever seen a tombstone symbol that made you stop and pause? I LOVE visiting cemeteries and looking at old stones, but when I first saw this downward pointing finger that looked like it was forever chastising Chauncy L. Crouse on his own tombstone, I chuckled and was a little confused.

Historical photo of the brick, two story Italian Hall in Calumet, Michigan

The Italian Hall Disaster

There was no sign of a blaze, no acrid smell of smoke, but in the confusion, crowd members panicked and rushed toward a stairwell that led to the front door. As the first guests hurried down the narrow passageway, dozens, then hundreds, of people clamored after them. The force of all those bodies sent the first guests to the floor.

The Famous 1966 Michigan UFO Swamp Gas Case

The Famous 1966 Michigan UFO Swamp Gas Case

March 14 started a week in Washtenaw County, Michigan that would bring it into the spotlight. UFOs were being spotted by very trustworthy policemen. Radars showed UFOs on their screens. Josef Allen Hynek was sent by the government to investigate. All this led up to one of the best known UFO cases in Michigan — the Swamp Gas Case.

Paulding light

The Mysterious Paulding Light

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Almost every night, strange circular lights of red, green and blue can be seen moving about. The Paulding Light is one of Michigan’s biggest mysteries and is a public spot for everyone to visit. Sometimes the lights seem to follow the power lines nearby. Since the lights were first seen, legends surround the lights.

Keweenaw Vortex Mural Prospector's Paradise

The Mystical Keweenaw Vortex – Is it Real?

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Prospector’s Paradise is a rock and mineral shop that houses all kinds of precious and semi-precious stones for the collector. A literal rock and mineral “Wal-Mart” as their sign says. It’s also home to the mysterious “Keweenaw Vortex”, a place some feel is bursting with natural energy from the planet, possibly because of underground rivers in the vicinity.

Historic sketch of Alexis St. Martin

Alexis St. Martin: The Man With A Hole In His Stomach

Alexis St. Martin lived one of the weirdest lives on record. Not only was he unfortunate enough to have part of his stomach blown off during an accidental shooting on Mackinac Island in 1822, he also spent the next ten years as guinea pig to a doctor who, among other things, dangled bits of food into St. Martin’s unhealed wound to study the effects of digestion, a process that wasn’t well understood at the time.

Sanilac Petroglyphs. Person holding a bow carved in stone

The Discovery of the Sanilac Petroglyphs 

For three days in September 1881, a fire ravaged much of the Thumb area in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The blaze decimated towns throughout four counties, and shot so much ash into the air that people in New England observed yellow skies and experienced twilight levels of darkness at noon. The Thumb Fire ultimately burned more than one million acres and took the lives of 282 people.

Old wood cut of a male mermaid

The Michigan Merman

On May 13, 1782, Vanant St. Germain, a Canadian fur trader, spotted what he believed to be an actual merman swimming in the cold, deep dark waters of Lake Superior. While making a stop at Pie Island in the northern part of the lake, St. Germain spotted the creature and described it as looking “child-like with brownish skin” and having “extremely brilliant eyes.”

Mishipeshu Underwater panther

Mishipeshu, the Guardian of the Sacred Copper

The ancient stories say it lives on Michipicoten Island on the Canadian side of cold Lake Superior and has the magical ability to cause nasty storms. It’s usually associated with more bad things in life than good, such as death and destruction, but as long as an offering was made to the creature, this could perhaps keep it calm if one had to travel by water.

Image of a blurry light representing the Puttygut Bridge ghost light

Puttygut Bridge Mystery Light

If you visit the bridge late at night and sit with your car shut off and windows rolled down, you’ll hear the ghostly sounds of the truck splashing into the water…