No Explanations Necessary

One of Bengal's favorite books in our house is his sister's battered copy of Seymour Simon's STRANGE MYSTERIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. He loves to read to us from it, never tiring of the tales of The Crystal Skull, the Tunguska Explosion, the ghost ship Mary Celeste and details about mysterious lights in the night sky.

Stonehenge, Sasquatch, and the Mary Celeste were among the big mysteries of my youth. Then there was the question of how ancient Egyptian pyramids were built with such stunning accuracy and the ostensible haunting of the Winchester House in California. Oh, and the Bermuda Triangle--that was a big one. But when it came to alien stories, one of my earliest heroes was Erik von Daniken, who first wrote Chariots of the Gods when I was about ten years old.

I love to puzzle over these mysteries, to try to imagine rational explanations. But it's always more fun to explore the less plausible--if not unbelievable--theories.

What are the mysteries you find hard to let go of?

And what to make of former astronaut Edgar Mitchell's claims that NASA is hiding evidence of alien visits to earth? Is he to be believed? Particularly in light of the fact that some folks find all those we've-visited-the-moon claims to be a little on the dubious side. Can he be trusted?