25 Creepiest Unexplained Events Captured on Camera

Known by many names, the Marfa lights can be seen at night bouncing, dancing, and fusing into each other near US Route 67 on Mitchell Flat, east of Marfa. They’re said to be about the size of basketballs and come in a variety of colors. Those who have seen the lights believe they are the work of paranormal entities such as ghosts, UFOs, or fairies. According to research, the lights could be atmospheric reflections from campfires or vehicle headlights. Nonetheless, the first sightings of the lights were recorded in 1883, long before the inception of cars. So, what exactly are these lights, and how did they come to be? Could it be a geological action causing electrical activity or glowing gasses? Alien activity? For the moment, the question remains unanswered.

You would think a ghost’s preferred liquor would be a spirit; however, a haunted pub claims to have a ghost that enjoys red wine. Staff at the Carlisle Castle Hotel in Newtown, Sydney, have noticed a succession of bizarre events over the years, with many of them being caught on camera. They’ve witnessed glasses and bottles smash to the ground even though no one was near them. But only one sort of alcohol is the center of these strange incidents – $27 bottles of red wine.

Mr. Bradbury, the owner, believes that if a ghost is behind the incidents, the spirit must have exceptional taste, as only his priciest red wines are targeted. Other strange events include a beer tap seemingly turning on by itself, lights flickering on and off, and weird shadows “dancing” around the room. Several customers have speculated on who might be to blame. One possibility is that it is “Old Peter,” an elderly man who worked in the pub in the early 1990s. Others believe the ghost is Johnny Hoy, Mr. Bradbury’s predecessor.

England is said to be so overrun with ghosts that their existence is no longer worth noticing. Having said that, CCTV cameras filmed one of the most terrifying-looking ghosts in recorded history in 2003. The ghost, dubbed “Skeletor,” was filmed at Hampton Court, a Tudor-era house that used to belong to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. During that winter, security cameras filmed countless weird activities near a specific fire door for three days. 

On the first day, the doors were pushed open from the inside by what can only be explained as an invisible hand. On the second day, cameras filmed the ghost – and on the third day, the invisible hand threw open the doors for the final time. Several tourists reported seeing a spectral figure near the door in 2003. Believers claim the spirit is none other than the palace’s “Grey Lady,” a well-known ghost that is thought to be one of Henry VIII’s wives. 

The A-Team is a group of paranormal investigators who conduct ghost hunts throughout Florida and South Carolina. They have confessed that one spot in Pensacola, FL – has the most exceptional and active paranormal activity. This is most likely due to the building’s age and the events that occurred there. According to the team’s founder, Jill Miller, spirits will continue to linger in the air everywhere there is traumatic psychological and emotional activity. 

In our linked clip, the ghost hunters discovered a malevolent spirit at a house on Pensacola’s East Hill that they captured on their thermal infrared SLS or Strained Layer Super-Lattice camera. The black shadowy figure can be seen walking across the video’s right-hand corner, and the clip can be slowed down to show the figure’s silhouette clearly above Miller’s left shoulder.

Mysterious glowing lights have been reported all over the world, but the light above the train tracks in Gurdon, Arkansas, is special. For one, it appears regularly. So regularly that it has become a part of the local inhabitants’ daily lives. An overload of legends and ghost stories surround the light’s appearance and existence.

One tells of a railroad worker who was hit by an oncoming train and, in the process, getting beheaded. Many believe the light is the worker – still searching for his severed head along the train tracks. Another story tells of a railroad foreman murdered by an employee with a railroad spike or hammer. According to scientists, the light is caused by friction-induced electric reactions within quartz crystals deep underground. The Gurdon Light featured on the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries” and remains a favorite among locals, especially around Halloween.

Spontaneous human combustion has been put forward as the cause of death in hundreds of cases where police discovered people burnt to death – without any form of accelerant. In our footage, a police officer catches fire while standing beside a car. An estimated 200 incidents have been discovered throughout history, and victims are frequently the elderly, sick, or under the influence of alcohol.

Be that as it may, several theories have been proposed to explain the phenomenon over the years. Some say it could be a heart attack combined with a lit cigarette, or it could be due to ketosis caused by alcoholism or low-carb diets, which result in acetone buildup. Maybe it’s mistaken spontaneity or deliberate self-immolation to commit suicide. Some have claimed that it’s immobility due to demonic possession. Maybe it is all of the above – Maybe it’s a combination of the above, or maybe it is simply paranormal power at work. In either case, what a terrible way to go!

2020 was not only the year of COVID. It was also the year the ghosts came out. In 2020, a UK man fled his house after capturing what he claimed was a ghost in his kitchen, a terrifying photograph he later published on the Reddit blog. 

According to the man, he was alone in his house at the time when he heard what sounded like feet shuffling or garments ruffling near his kitchen door. As he took a picture of the door, he noticed a blurry white face staring at him – it took him an additional half a second to notice the two dark eyes. The picture horrified him so much that he immediately found another place to live. We honestly can’t say that we blame him.

Although this unexplained event comes in the form of a recording and not a video – it was too good not to add to today’s list. The Judica-Cordiglia brothers’ recordings were made public in the early 1960s, and one has recently resurfaced on the Internet and gained quite a bit of traction. The recording is said to have captured the final moments of the actual first woman in space and was recorded on May 23, 1961, seven days after the Russians sent her into orbit. According to the brothers, the woman’s mission was to orbit our planet 17 times. The recording captured the last seconds of the terrified cosmonaut’s life after reentry – and we can hear her asking about the rising temperature and trying to find out if she is going to crash.

The brothers’ tapes served as the foundation for the “lost cosmonauts” conspiracy, which claims that several cosmonauts were sacrificed in order for Russia to defeat the US in the space race. Although Russia has always denied these allegations, many believe a Russian cover-up in the form of an “unmanned satellite crash” destroyed all traces of the cosmonaut’s existence.

One of the most devastating and terrifying paranormal experiences can be found in Japan’s Tohoku region. Academics and skeptics have attempted to explain the phenomenon as a simple manifestation of grief, but can the stories from the Netflix series “Unsolved Mysteries” be true? 

A magnitude 9 earthquake struck the coastal city on March 11, 2011, causing a deadly tsunami. Nearly 16,000 people were killed, and over 2500 remain missing. Neighborhoods were destroyed, and families were uprooted. Strange sightings of wandering spirits became more regular over the months and years that followed. Taxi drivers ran meters for phantom passengers who simply disappeared before reaching their intended location, forcing the driver to pay the cost of their trip. There have been accounts of people being possessed by some of the lost souls – substantiated by a local Buddhist monk who has had to perform exorcisms. Most stories focus on these supernatural beings asking for directions or wishing to return home.

Ghostly photos are frequently shared on social media. This was the case with Richard Christianson’s undeniably unsettling photograph, which he took on January 1, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona. “What the hell do you see in this picture for reals?” he captioned it. “Anybody??” The image shows what appears to be an evil angel or a gargoyle strolling an empty street. However, in the comments, many debated whether it was an angel or a demon. Some even said it was proof of the elusive Mothman. A few rational voices tried to speak up, claiming it was plainly a palm tree, but they were drowned out by those who firmly believe supernatural beings roam Phoenix. 

While some of the footage has been disregarded as a bug running across the lens of a CCTV camera, others believe Chuck & Edna’s Maid-Rite eatery may have paranormal inhabitants. Pat Orr, the restaurant’s manager, claims that employees have experienced strange happenings since the establishment opened its doors. The first eerie and unexplained footage caught on camera was a ghostly shadow in the restaurant’s kitchen creeping slowly toward the sink before disappearing. A week later, another video recorded a worker being struck by cups sliding off a shelf. Another stack of cups is observed tumbling sideways – all by itself – as if to discredit the bug idea once and for all.

The events at a Pocatello high school in Idaho have caught the imaginations of ghost hunters all around the world. During the Christmas holidays in 2015, CCTV footage showed a terrifying poltergeist roaming the deserted halls at night. The school was once destroyed by fire, and six people died on its premises – including a young child who drowned in the pool – and has long been haunted by unexplained phenomena. Students and faculty have reported unusual noises, brief murmurs, and an ever-present dark shadow lurking on the auditorium ceiling. 

In the creepy footage, there is flickering as lights switch themselves off and on again just before a strange figure quietly wanders into the corridor before entering one of the classrooms.

In the linked video clip, which actually went viral on social media, a crying ghostly figure can be seen in the trees during broad daylight. Before you scoff at the footage, it is essential to know that according to legend, when the ghost of La Llorona emerges, she wails loudly, abducting infants and drowning them in the river in the hope that the souls of her own sons may find peace. Many are calling the clip the most terrifying thing they’ve ever seen, and one Monitors, Cordoba, Colombia, resident reported being so terrified that they had to move back in with their mother. 

In folklore, La Llorona drowned her sons before killing herself after carrying them to the river. Because her soul was now cursed, she was forbidden from entering heaven until she found the souls of her murdered children. 

Jason Asselin was filming a music video along the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan in 2016. After a long day of filming, Asselin and his crew appreciated the sunset, with Asselin documenting a rainbow that had appeared over the lake. He was startled when he noticed something shimmering in the distance and realized he was looking at what appeared to be a giant “ghost ship.” With over 200 shipwrecks in the Lake Superior vicinity alone, many people believe it makes perfect sense for ghost ships to exist in the area. In fact, numerous people claimed to have seen the spirits of sailors off the coast of Whitefish Point when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975.

However, scientists are not convinced. Mark Becker, an associate professor of psychology, believes the sighting was likely just the Granite Island lighthouse reflecting in the setting sun.

This Facebook video is perplexing, if not frightening. When you see the images taken on Vivian Gomez’s security camera, you’ll say, “What the heck?” along with her. In the video, you can see a short, jovial figure, a scrawny frame borne on weak legs, gallivanting along with no reservations. The creature looks like a cross between an elf, a goblin, and an alien and is almost identical to Dobby from the Harry Potter series.

Gomez awoke one Sunday morning in 2019 and checked her black and white monitor for any activity patterns from the night before. At first, she saw a shadow falling across the front door, near the camera that filmed the figure. Moments later, it appeared, casually skipping around the driveway, doing what many spectators referred to as the “chicken dance.” The dancing elf/alien/goblin vanished and was, strangely enough, not captured by the two other cameras on the property.

People have witnessed strange balls of light soaring across the Norwegian countryside for at least a century. Even stranger, the lights seem to change size and move erratically before disappearing. Residents of Hessdalen have seen the lights on multiple occasions. This has piqued the interest of scientists, UFO enthusiasts, and skeptics worldwide. The Hessdalen lights are seen approximately 20 times per year, making filming of the event extremely common.

Scientific ideas compete with others who believe the lights are evidence of UFO activity. The most obvious explanation is that these lights are created by rockets launched into space to study solar winds. But is this all there is to this riddle or is the fact that these lights were spotted before rocket technology indicate that something else is at work here? 

In 2018, another blurry photo and a short video of a monster…camel, we kid you not, were captured. The beast was spotted roaming the streets of Santa Fe, Argentina, and was accused of killing a German shepherd and a pitbull. This small-headed, long-necked beast has been characterized as part animal and half human, joining the legends of Bigfoot, the Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster.

Thousands of viewers commented on the video, primarily expressing their worry that the camel-like creature was real, with one saying he’d seen a similar-looking beast in 2005. Another viewer speculated that it could have been a man who had transformed into a giant dog, while another said he thought the beast was a Chupacabra, a creature from Latin folklore.

On the night of Tuesday, September 25, 2018, security cameras at the Putnam County Aging Agency in St. Albans, West Virginia, captured remarkable paranormal footage. A transport van parked on the premises had its doors slid open at roughly 1 a.m. But no one was inside or outside the vehicle. Only the van appeared to have been affected, with the video showing doors being pulled open by a mysterious force. In the footage, the van shudders slightly when a latch that locks the door inside the vehicle is flipped open.

The following day, the van’s doors were found open, according to Jenni Sutherland, program executive director. Staff suspected a burglary or trespassing incident and reviewed the property’s CCTV footage. This isn’t the first spooky event to frighten the employees of this company, as the spot has a dreary history. The agency is located on the Civil War Battle of Scary site, where 19 soldiers were killed.

Have you ever heard of or seen a phantom car? On December 30, 2019, emergency services responded to a callout from Gray Whale Cove State Beach in California. A witness reported seeing a green Lexus SUV driving off a cliff overlooking the ocean. Officials immediately called in for assistance, got the United States Coast Guard, and a six-hour search for human remains, and vehicle wreckage began. The search was called off later that day when the water became hazardous and the daylight diminished. The only proof of a car plunging over the cliff’s edge was the dashcam footage and tire marks on the sand surrounding the cliff’s edge.

Given that there was no car in the water and no evidence of human remains, suspicions were raised that the footage was faked somehow. However, another witness corroborated the story on January 16, 2020. The car simply vanished.

When this footage was leaked, UFO enthusiasts worldwide had a field day. However, you should hold on to your horses, as none of them actually proves the existence of aliens. It is just confirmation that US authorities are aware of and investigating the phenomenon of UFOs (and appear to have no idea what is happening). This is as close to proof as UFO enthusiasts and fanatics have ever gotten. You have to admit, skeptics, it’s all rather exciting. The leaked clip is pretty incredible. This one just somehow feels more “real.” 

However, as captivating as the video is, it does not prove the supernatural. Instead, it demonstrates that there are phenomena that even the most well-funded and knowledgeable organizations on the planet cannot explain.

The Museum of Shadows in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, lived up to its name in 2018 when its security footage went viral. Although the hospital has seen its fair share of unexplained activity, the scene in the surveillance video footage is nothing short of terrifying. According to museum owner Nate Raterman, it was filmed in the early hours of February 2. 

Despite the fact that nobody is present in the clip, a ball is seen thrown around and rolled on the floor. An invisible hand picks up the ball and throws it across the room, where it rolls to the center of the floor. Nate believes the ball is a trigger object or a plaything for the supernatural and that the mystery ghost could be a child. Given that it was built in 1881, the Museum of Shadows is undoubtedly a haunted building. Once a saloon, it included an upstairs brothel where several people are said to have died or otherwise been murdered.

A paranormal investigator struck gold when a video she shot inside a defunct Welsh mental health hospital revealed an outline of what appeared to be a human. Kayleigh Love came upon the spectral while aiming her camera toward an empty corridor, but the figure vanished when she tried to capture a second image. Love walked home, thinking nothing of it; however, her stomach turned when she saw the tape. She later edited the video by slowing it down to highlight the ghostly phantom. Despite her experience conducting investigations into otherworldly phenomena, Love admitted that what she saw made her feel nervous and on edge. 

She did not specify the mental hospital where her footage was shot, but her description matched a Hospital psychiatric facility in Wales. The institute, located near Talgarth, Powys, opened in 1903 and closed in 1999. Love believes the mysterious figure is the ghost of a past patient who died in a room along that corridor.

A secondary school with a history of strange events acquired video evidence of its resident ghost in October 2015. Deerpark CBS was established in 1821 and is Ireland’s oldest school. The creepy video, which follows what happens after motion sensors are triggered, looks like it came straight out of a Ghostbusters reboot. Lights begin to flicker, followed by a massive crash, and then, right on camera, a pair of huge lockers begins to move wildly back and forth. One of the locker doors is wrenched open with great force, scattering papers and books across the corridor floor. As the clip finishes, a ‘Wet Floor’ sign left near the wall is forcibly knocked over, sliding to the side as if kicked.

While others speculated that it was an elaborate joke, school Principal Aaron Wolfe pointed out that the passageway where it occurred was outside the religion room. He also mentioned that a section of the 200-year-old structure had been experiencing extreme coldness, with female employees feeling it the most.

In 2020, Saundra Gonzales left toys and other small items at the grave of her late two-year-old daughter, Faviola. One morning, she found several toys had gone missing overnight. She asked other families to keep an eye out for unusual behavior. What she didn’t realize was that another family had set up a camera at their murdered son’s grave (close to Faviola’s) to capture vandalists. Their footage didn’t show any vandals – but it did show a little girl walking over to the grave and crouching to look at the toys and trinkets placed there. 

The family gave the footage to a cemetery worker who recognized the girl and promptly called Saundra. When she saw the footage, Saundra burst into tears, claiming that the girl in the footage was Faviola. In one of the video shots, the girl appears to be walking away while holding the hand of a tall man, whom the family that captured the clip claims to be their murdered son.

It may come as a surprise that any case involving the Warrens (of ‘The Conjuring’ fame) would be included on a list like this. At number one, no less! However, the case of Maurice ‘Frenchy’ Theriault is difficult to dismiss as a hoax. Usually, psychological explanations for bizarre behavior, exaggerated reports, and a tendency to believe in the supernatural would make you skeptical about a story like this – but then you see the shocking footage of his exorcism. Frenchy, like many alleged demonic possession victims, had a traumatic childhood. After a particularly horrific abuse incident, Frenchy discovered that he had acquired otherworldly powers. He had increased strength and found that hidden knowledge was suddenly revealed to him; he also had the ability to be in several places at once. 

But during an exorcism performed by Bishop Robert McKenna, things got crazy, and not in the usual snarling and body-contorting fashion. The slow morph of Maurice’s face in the video of his exorcism is extremely disturbing, and the footage is only recommended for a mature audience. The clip oozes evil and has convinced many skeptics that Frenchy was really possessed by a demon. Given that this case occurred in the mid-1980s, many years before the sophisticated CGI technology we have today,  this footage might just be the creepiest unexplained event ever recorded.

If you enjoyed reading about creepy stories like this, check out our list of 25 Disturbing Creepy True Stories.