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
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 – Hartland Cemetery
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.
River Raisin Massacre – A Bloody Disaster
This series of battles fought around Monroe, Michigan, were some of the bloodiest during the entire War of 1812 and afterward, inspired the battle cry, “Remember the Raisin,” for the remainder of the war. Some even think that the spirits of this event are still wandering the place they took their last breath.
Largest Christmas Store in the World? It’s in Michigan.
If you grew up in Michigan, chances are you made one, or many, family trips to Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland.
Gravity Hills in Michigan
Gravity hills exist all over the United States and have fascinated people with their ability to seemingly bypass the laws of physics as we know them. When something as heavy as a car should be going downhill, it appears to move up hill at these mysterious parts of the planet. But are they really all that mysterious?
Tragedy at Italian Hall – Michigan’s Worst Christmas 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 Banker Who Became A Bank Robber
As William Treadwell sat behind his desk at People’s Bank in Hudson, a small community in southern Michigan’s Lenawee County, he mulled over the opportunity that presented itself. It was January 1864, and area governments were depositing huge amounts of money, the proceeds of year-end taxes their citizens had paid the previous month.
The Unsolved Mystery of the Robison Family Murders
No one had seen the Robisons for several weeks, but family members had told acquaintances that they were planning a trip out of town, so their absences hadn’t alarmed anyone.
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.
The 1994 Lake Michigan UFO Sightings
Beginning on March 7, 1994, a UFO flap took Lake Michigan’s coast by storm. Every county along Lake Michigan’s shoreline had reports about UFOs flying in.
How to Report a UFO Sighting in Michigan
What happens when you see something in the sky that’s unexplained? Tell the experts.
The Mysterious Paulding Light
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.
The Mystical Keweenaw Vortex – Is it Real?
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.
The Mysterious Michigan Relics
In the late 1800’s, farmers and laymen alike were migrating to different areas of Michigan and claiming their newly acquired parcels of land. These common folk were unaware of the amazing discoveries that would soon be unearthed from the many ancient mounds that dotted the landscape. Farmers destroyed many of the mounds while preparing their lands for crops. In the meantime, other citizens were digging into the mounds out of pure curiosity.
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.
Detroit and the Death of Harry Houdini
When Harry Houdini stepped onto the stage in Detroit’s Garrick Theatre on October 24, 1926, he was about to begin the last performance of his career — and his life.
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.
The Michigan Dogman and Encounters
The Michigan Dogman is one of the most popular cryptids in Michigan. Have you seen one?
The Michigan Jersey Devil
“Some years ago in northern lower Michigan, I saw a strange creature fly over my car with wings that were bat like. You could see veins through them and everything.”
The Saginaw Bay Water Monster
The lakes of Michigan are never short on fantastic stories about water monsters.
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, 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.
Does Bigfoot Live in Michigan?
Reports of the hairy, 7 to 9 foot ape-like creature are in no short supply in Michigan’s past or the entire United States and Canada for that matter.
Hatchet Man Road
The legend states: A fellow in the 80’s built a fallout shelter beneath his home for his family. Paranoia growing greater, he took his family down there to live. At some point he lost it and killed his entire family with a hatchet and thus the road got its nickname: Hatchet Man Road.
Michigan’s Bearded Lady – Grace Gilbert
One of the era’s most popular bearded ladies hailed from Michigan and is, in fact, buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in the northern Michigan community of Leetsville. That woman is Grace Gilbert.
Strange Creature Seen Along Lake Michigan in Norton Shores
Something caught our eye near the tree line and we both stopped in our tracks as this creature emerged from the underbrush.
Is there a Michigan Stonehenge on Beaver Island?
Could the stones on Lake Michigan’s Beaver Island really be an ancient stone circle similar in function to Stonehenge?
Reynolds Cemetery and the Unsolved Crouch Murders
For decades, people have gathered every year on the night of November 21 at the Reynolds Cemetery in Jackson, Michigan, hoping to see the reunion of two lost souls. Gathering might not be as common as it once was in the past, as creepy neighbors with shot guns and the police are a few of the factors that keep the curious ghost hunters away from the cemetery these days. So be warned.
The Shoe Tree Legend of Michigan
The shoe tree story is pure legend at its finest because there’s nothing haunted about some old shoes in a tree. It’s a little creepy, but doesn’t automatically generate ghosts. But try telling that to someone who claims that their car wouldn’t start when they were near a shoe tree and other bizarre occurrences that are said to happen by these roadside oddities.
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…
The Stearns Bayou Water Monster
Decide for yourself if it was just blurry vision of some early 20th century party people, or if there really was a water monster lurking in the depths of the bayou.
Solar Obliteration Technique to See UFOs
Can you learn to see strange objects in the sky with this technique?