History Main / StockUnsolvedMysteries

!!Stock Unsolved Mysteries that have their own trope pages:

* [[LostRomanLegion The disappearance of Roman legions, especially the Legio IX Hispana.]]

*** The ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[VirginMissingAdventures Missing Adventures]] novel ''The Empire of Glass'' offers an alien-abduction explanation.

Note that sometimes mysteries get solved, or even debunked as not having been that mysterious in the first place. In this case the work either [[HistoryMarchesOn was written in a time before the solution/debunking]], or the writer [[DidNotDoTheResearch didn't get the memo]], or he's just using ArtisticLicense.

*** In the movie ''NothingButTrouble'', it is discovered that Hoffa ended up in the town of Valkenvania, a likely victim of the rather cruel, unusual, and deadly punishments meted out by the local justice system.

!!Stock Unsolved Mysteries that that have their own trope pages:

Depending on the tone and genre of your work, your "explanation" can range from [[ScoobyDooHoax mundane]], over [[PlayedForLaughs humorous]], to [[ETGaveUsWiFi absolutely]] [[AncientAstronauts fantastic]].

Note that sometimes mysteries get solved, or even debunked as not having been that mysterious in the first place. In this case the work either [[HistoryMarchesOn was written in a time before the solution/debunking]], or the writer [[DidNotDoTheResearch didn't get the memo]], or he [[TheyJustDidntCare just didn't care]].

!!Stock Unsolved Mysteries that that have its own trope pages:

** The mystery of the sailing ship ''Mary Celeste'', whose entire crew did vanish in 1872 somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. The [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18718_6-famous-unsolved-mysteries-that-have-totally-been-solved.html current favourite]] realistic theory involves an alchol explosion.

* The exact cause of MonumentalDamage (if not known with certainty), like how the Great Sphinx of Giza did lose its nose or the Venus de Milo her arms.

** ''The Astounding, the Amazing and the Unknown'' by Paul Malmont, in which PulpMagazine sci-fi writers have been tasked by the US Government in WorldWarII with creating {{Death Ray}}s and other such [[WeirdScience miracle weapons]]. RobertAHeinlein creates the experiment as an all-done-with-mirrors (and a model) illusion in order to get an ObstructiveBureaucrat off his back. Unfortunately the crew of the real Eldridge gets drunk, leading the bureaucrat to assume from their vomiting and odd behaviour that the experiment has driven them mad.

** ''The Astounding, the Amazing and the Unknown'' by Paul Malmont, in which PulpMagazine sci-fi writers have been tasked by the US Government in WorldWarII with creating {{Death Ray}}s and other such miracle weapons. RobertAHeinlein creates the experiment as a massive illusion in order to get an ObstructiveBureaucrat off his back.

* In ''AssassinsCreed'', ''every'' weird event and person from Adam and Eve to Jesus to King Arthur to Rasputin to Tunguska are explained by the {{Precursor}} technology left behind which inspired all the religions in the world.

** A [[GermanMedia German novel]] called ''Der Funke des Chronos'' deals with TimeTravel and the Hamburg fire of 1842.

** The mystery of the sailing ship ''Mary Celeste'', whose entire crew did vanish in 1872 somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. This one [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18718_6-famous-unsolved-mysteries-that-have-totally-been-solved.html has been solved]], as stated in the intro, no one cares.

** The Great Fire of London is a plot point in ''TheBaroqueCycle'' by NealStephenson. While it isn't exactly presented as something mysterious, one character (the father of Daniel Waterhouse) firmly believes that this is the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Apocalypse]]. [[spoiler:He dies in the fire and thus never learns his error.]]

* The Various ''StarTrek'' incarnations did a few, be it JackTheRipper, (''[[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]]''), [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell]] (''[[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]]'') or AmeliaEarhart (''[[StarTrekVoyager VOY]]'').

*** HBeamPiper, RobertBloch, LionelFanthorpe, and AvramDavidson, among others, have written stories in which Bathurst was transported to the future or to an AlternateUniverse.

** ''PrinceOfEgypt'' shows the Sphinx getting its nose knocked off.

** A [[GermanMedia German novel]] called ''Der Funke des Chronos'' deals with TimeTravel and the Hamburg fire of 1842.

** A [[GermanMedia German novel]] called ''Der Funke des Chronos'' deals with TimeTravel and the Hamburg fire of 1842.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' is intimately familiar with this trope. For example the disappearance of AgathaChristie was given a supernatural explanation in "The Unicorn and the Wasp".

*** In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode ''The Chase'', the crew were killed by Daleks.

** The new series of ''DoctorWho'' has it as a running joke throughout Season 4. It ends with the revelation that [[spoiler: the vanishing bees were actually aliens who became aware of what the Daleks planned to do to Earth]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' is intimately familiar with this trope. One recent example: the disappearance of AgathaChristie was given a supernatural explanation in ''The Unicorn and the Wasp''.

*** ''J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement'', a short story by Sir ArthurConanDoyle

** In ''TheSimpsons'', Jebediah Springfield is responsible for the damage on a famous GeorgeWashington portrait.

* ''{{xkcd}}'' had a [[http://xkcd.com/950/ strip]] dedicated to this trope, referencing AmeliaEarhart, the Roanoke Colony, Franklin's lost expedition, and Jimmy Hoffa.

*** ''[[OneHundredBullets 100 Bullets]]'' has the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony be the work of [[AncientConspiracy The Trust]], as the colonists refused to cede to the Trust's plans of pulling the strings of the American experiment.