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From suspicious deaths to unexplained phenomena, some mysteries shake society to its core. Join us as we explore events that sparked massive cultural backlash! Our countdown includes the JFK Assassination, Roswell Incident, Salem Witch Trials, COVID-19 origins, and more unexplained incidents that fueled conspiracy theories and changed how we view authority. Which mystery do you think had the most justified backlash?
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00:00You're a nuclear engineer, Selma, so please tell me how an RBMK reactor core explodes.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at mysterious events that sparked an enormous
00:12cultural backlash. One year ago, Damien Echols told the church's youth minister he had a pact
00:18with the devil and he was going to hell. We will be including mysteries that have since been
00:23answered, provided they were indeed a mystery at one time. Number 20, Jeffrey Epstein's death.
00:29Tell us about that cell, and what do you make of these revelations that there is a minute
00:35missing from the surveillance video, Michael?
00:39When disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his jail cell, you could say
00:44that the world didn't buy the official story. Epstein had powerful connections to politicians,
00:50celebrities, and royalty, which made the timing and circumstances feel incredibly suspicious.
00:54Broken cameras and inattentive guards? Give us a break. Many saw his death as a cover-up to protect
01:01elites from impending exposure, sparking massive online backlash, and memes like,
01:06Epstein didn't kill himself. For many, this wasn't just about one man. It became a cultural symbol of
01:12mistrust in the justice system, the media, and the powerful people who always seem to get away with
01:18everything. They want you very, very closely. Trust me on that. So I just can't buy it. I cannot buy it.
01:26I'm sorry. And I have no horse in this race other than my experience and the fact that I just couldn't
01:31see it happening. Number 19, the clown sightings of 2016. Creepy clowns. It's a phenomenon sweeping
01:37the country right now with thousands of alleged sightings, and now there are reports right here in
01:42Fort Wayne. Imagine walking down a quiet street and suddenly seeing a creepy clown lurking in the
01:48shadows. That's exactly what spread across the world in 2016, when viral videos of killer clowns
01:54began popping up everywhere. Some were pranks, others were hoaxes, but soon reports came in from
02:00schools, malls, and even police stations. The media frenzy only amplified the fear, leading to school
02:06lockdowns and actual arrests of people dressing up to scare others. Parents were outraged, communities
02:13felt unsafe, and a beloved childhood figure turned into a nationwide menace. In the end, the whole ordeal
02:20fizzled out, but the backlash showed just how easily fear and mystery can snowball in the internet age.
02:26This is how about a dozen kids describe the person who ran up and scared them while they were waiting for
02:31the bus this morning at the intersection of Winter and Oxford streets. A scary clown.
02:36It's the latest in a string of reported sightings, and people in the profession say they're worried
02:42these sightings will hurt people trying to make a living by clowning.
02:46Number 18. The Disappearance of the Sauter Children. On Christmas Eve of 1945, the Sauter family's home in
02:54West Virginia burns to the ground. While the parents and some of the children escaped, five kids were never
03:00found. No evidence of their disappearance, no remains in the rubble, just gone.
03:05Investigators declared them dead, believing that the fire could have incinerated the bodies
03:10completely. But suspicious details piled up, cut phone lines, reports of strangers watching the
03:16family, and a photo that was later mailed to the family showing who is purported to be a grown-up
03:22Louis Sauter. The mystery fueled decades of speculation that the children were kidnapped,
03:27and public distrust grew towards officials, who many believed ignored crucial evidence and
03:32simply rushed to close a haunting tragedy.
03:35Number 17. The Tunguska Event.
03:38Well, this is the bad news. The good news is, it's happened before.
03:45And you're still here. The Tunguska Blast, 1908. That should have blown the whole planet off its
03:51axis, but it didn't. It knocked a few trees over. Well, a few tames of thousands of trees over.
03:56Deep in Siberia, a massive explosion flattened 80 million trees across 800 square miles.
04:03The cause? Probably a meteor airburst, which is when a meteor explodes over the earth rather than
04:09hitting it directly. Of course, other wild theories have been proposed, including, of course,
04:15aliens. At the time, the event was barely investigated, due to the country's political
04:20unrest and its remote location. And by the time scientists reached the site decades later,
04:26most of the clues had vanished. The mysterious destruction became a subject of cultural interest,
04:32with some questioning the seeming lack of interest from authorities. To this day, Tunguska stands as
04:37one of Earth's strangest natural disasters, proving that sometimes nature can rival even the wildest
04:43conspiracy theories. The key point of the Tunguska event is that there was a tremendous explosion,
04:51a great shockwave, many trees burned, an enormous forest fire, and yet no crater in the ground.
04:59Number 16. The Black Dahlia. Listen up. No reporters view the body. Photo men, finish taking your pictures now.
05:08Current men, put a sheet on the body as soon as they're done. The brutal murder of aspiring actress
05:12Elizabeth Short, nicknamed the Black Dahlia by the press, shocked post-war Los Angeles in 1947.
05:20Found mutilated and posed in a vacant lot, her case became one of the most infamous unsolved crimes in
05:26American history. Sensationalist media coverage painted Short as both victim and femme fatale,
05:32sparking outrage at how the press exploited her death for sales. Hundreds of suspects were questioned,
05:37but the killer was never caught. The public backlash wasn't just about the murder,
05:42it was about how society treated women, the failures of the LAPD, and the gross practices
05:48of the press. Decades later, the case remains a chilling symbol of both mystery and tragic injustice.
05:54Investigation of upper half abdominal cavity reveals no free-flowing blood, intestines, stomach,
06:02spleen, liver, all removed.
06:04Number 15. The Momo Challenge.
06:07Well, it's a question parents have been asking themselves the last few weeks. Is the Momo Challenge
06:11an actual internet concern, or is it a digital age urban legend?
06:16A disturbing image of a wide-eyed, bird-like figure called Momo spread online with claims it was tied to
06:22a deadly social media challenge. And as we all know, these supposed challenges are often dubious at best.
06:29According to the rumors, kids were being manipulated into dangerous tasks and self-harm
06:35through hidden messages in YouTube videos. It was a chilling tale, a weapons-esque mystery
06:41in which kids are targeted by some other being. Schools panicked, governments issued warnings,
06:48people attacked YouTube, and parents were left terrified. Of course, it was all a hoax,
06:53and the backlash quickly centered on media hysteria and online platforms spreading misinformation.
07:00It became a cautionary tale about how fast digital rumors can spiral into sheer moral panic.
07:06It's a hoax, an online hoax, but obviously, if a young person was to see this on their screen,
07:13it would be extremely scary and frightening.
07:16Number 14. The Blue Whale Challenge.
07:19This growing trend can easily make its way from total strangers through social media right to teens,
07:23and end in death. It is that serious.
07:26Before Momo, there was the Blue Whale, another viral moral panic that plagued the internet in 2016.
07:33Originating in Russia, the alleged online game manipulated kids and teens into completing
07:3850 increasingly dangerous tasks, culminating in them taking their own lives. The story caught fire
07:45globally, sparking intense fear and backlash among parents, teachers, and lawmakers. Schools issued warnings.
07:51Certain content was restricted by schools and internet providers, and parents heavily monitored their
07:57kids' online activity. Of course, the reports of this game were either extremely exaggerated or just
08:03outright made up. Far more myth than reality. In the end, the phenomenon revealed just how vulnerable
08:10society is to panic and creepypastas.
08:21Number 13. The Hammersmith Ghost Panic. In early 19th century London, reports spread of a ghost haunting the
08:28city's Hammersmith district. Locals described a white-clad figure terrifying residents at night,
08:33believed to be the spirit of a deceased man who took his own life. Fear escalated until an armed
08:39man mistook a white-wearing bricklayer for the ghost and shot him dead. The incident sparked both
08:45outrage and a sensational trial, where the killer claimed self-defense against a supernatural threat.
08:51This did not work, and he was convicted of the murder. The case set a legal precedent in the UK,
08:57and exposed how superstition could quickly spiral into real-world tragedy, fueling backlash against
09:03the atmosphere of baseless hysteria in Hammersmith. Number 12. The Great Smog of London.
09:09It started on the 5th of December. Fog laid a blanket over the London area. The fog and smoke
09:15mixed together in a dark yellow choking mass. For five days in December 1952, London was engulfed by a
09:23smog so thick it stopped traffic, canceled events, and seeped into homes. Though officials downplayed
09:29the crisis at the time, thousands died from respiratory issues, with modern research estimating
09:35between 10,000 and 12,000 deaths. The mystery lay in its severity. Londoners were used to poor air
09:41quality, but never anything this bad. When the truth emerged that coal burning and poor air policies
09:47caused the disaster, public outrage exploded. The backlash forced the government to pass the
09:52Clean Air Act of 1956, reshaping environmental policy in the country. The Great Smog was both
09:59a tragedy and a turning point, proving that ignoring public health for industry could be catastrophic.
10:05The Prime Minister was alone among senior politicians to visit hospitals and respond to the crisis in person,
10:11and was rewarded by cheers and applause by those suffering through the worst smog this city has ever
10:17witnessed. Number 11. The Dancing Plague of 1518.
10:21It started with one woman dancing in the streets of Strasbourg, and soon dozens joined in, unable to
10:38stop for months on end. Known as the Dancing Plague, this mysterious outbreak left people collapsing and
10:44dying in the streets. Theories about the mysterious dancing range from some form of mass hysteria to
10:50ergot poisoning, and at the time, local authorities worsened things by encouraging public dances, believing
10:57it would help people dance it out. It only fueled chaos. The dancing soon elicited some backlash, with
11:04authorities theorizing that the dancers were sinners suffering divine punishment and in need of spiritual
11:10cleansing. The council was eventually forced to ban music and public dancing as a form of penance.
11:16Debate continues as to whether the episodes were caused by real illness or were a social phenomenon,
11:22a kind of extreme case of peer pressure. Number 10. Pizzagate. A North Carolina man arrested in a DC
11:28pizza shop after brandishing a gun, telling police he was there to investigate a conspiracy theory called
11:35Pizzagate. What started as an online conspiracy theory quickly turned into a real-world scandal.
11:41Pizzagate claimed that a Washington DC pizzeria was the hub of a secret child trafficking ring involving
11:48high-profile democratic politicians. Despite literally zero evidence, the theory spread like wildfire on
11:55places like Reddit and 4chan, fueled by partisan mistrust. The situation escalated when an armed man stormed
12:02the restaurant to rescue supposed victims and shot the lock off a door, only to find a storage room.
12:08The backlash was massive. Against social media for spreading the nonsense, against extremists for
12:14weaponizing baseless conspiracy theories, and against institutions for failing to regain public trust,
12:21Pizzagate showed how dangerous viral lies could be, laying the groundwork for many future misinformation
12:27movements. With detectives still on the scene in DC, Pizzagate believers were already
12:32claiming that this real development was just part of a cover-up.
12:369. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
12:39A Malaysia Airlines flight with 239 people on board, including four Americans, has gone missing.
12:46When Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished with 239 people aboard, the world was simply stunned.
12:54How do you just lose an airplane? Despite extensive searches, the plane's wreckage wasn't found for over a
13:00year, and even then, only fragments surfaced. The lack of answers sparked every theory imaginable.
13:07Hijacking, pilot sabotage, secret military operations, and our old pal, aliens. Families of victims
13:15felt betrayed by officials, accusing them of incompetence or cover-ups. The global backlash
13:20targeted not just Malaysia's government, but also aviation authorities at large, who seemed unable or
13:26unwilling to explain what happened. MH370 remains one of aviation's greatest mysteries, and the public
13:33fury that followed showed just how unacceptable silence and confusion can feel in the modern world.
13:39There was a deer in the headlights component to those early news conferences, and you could almost
13:45see them struggling through it, not knowing what they were doing.
13:488. The War of the Worlds Broadcast
13:59It was just a radio drama, but some listeners didn't realize it and had no idea what was going on.
14:05Orson Welles' adaptation of The War of the Worlds aired in a unique news bulletin style,
14:10describing a Martian invasion in realistic detail. Reports claim that some listeners panicked,
14:16believing that the broadcast was real and that the Earth was actually under attack by malevolent aliens.
14:22Despite the enduring myth, it never caused widespread panic, but the backlash was still
14:27very real. Some critics accused broadcasters of misleading the public, and some people called
14:33on the FCC to begin regulating radio dramas. The incident became legendary, highlighting both the
14:39gullibility and anxieties of the public. The fear of an alien invasion truly transcends time.
14:45Everybody just relax, okay? We're here now, we're safe, we're going to stay, and in the morning,
14:52Mom and Tim are going to be here, and everything's going to be fine, okay?
14:56Number seven, the origin of COVID-19. A much-anticipated, long-delayed, 120-page
15:02joint WHO-Chinese report into the origins of the coronavirus has landed with a bit of a thud.
15:07More than a dozen countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Australia,
15:12issued a joint statement raising concerns about its credibility and independence.
15:16When COVID-19 swept across the globe in 2020, questions about where it came from dominated headlines.
15:23Was it from a wet market in Wuhan? Was it a secret lab accident? Something else entirely?
15:29With millions of lives lost, people demanded answers, but there were no easy answers to give.
15:34Conflicting reports, political spin, and shifting scientific opinions fueled suspicion,
15:40and the mystery of its origin sparked cultural backlash worldwide. Distrust of governments,
15:46anger at institutions like the WHO, and surging conspiracy theories. The lack of clarity
15:52only deepened cultural divides, with debates over transparency and accountability becoming as
15:58heated as the pandemic itself. Even today, the unresolved questions continue to shape public trust
16:04and political opinion. The 5G theory is also often blamed on Bill Gates. Now that theory is that his
16:11goal is depopulation and the billions he gives to fighting disease and helping schools.
16:16Number 6. The Chicago Tylenol Murders.
16:19Authorities who are conducting an intensive investigation into the poisoning deaths
16:23feel tonight that some progress is being made in the search for the killer or killers.
16:28They are zeroing in on fewer than a dozen suspects.
16:31Imagine buying some over-the-counter painkillers to help ease discomfort, only for them to kill you.
16:36In 1982, several Chicago residents died after swallowing Tylenol capsules that were laced with cyanide.
16:43Known as the Chicago Tylenol Murders, the mysterious event made the public terrified of everyday
16:49medicine. Stores pulled products from their shelves, and panic spread nationwide. Johnson & Johnson earned
16:56praise for their transparent response to the crisis, and new tamper-proof packaging was introduced to
17:02prevent further incidents. Still, the fear lingered, and the case remains unsolved. The backlash wasn't
17:09about the murders so much as it was about the public's vulnerability. If something as common
17:13as Tylenol could be weaponized to kill, what was next? This crime captivated the nation, put the nation
17:19on its ear, and had probably hundreds and hundreds of thousands of households going through their medicine
17:25cabinets to try to determine, do we have poison in our house? Number 5. Chernobyl.
17:29We seal off the city. No one leaves. And cut the phone lines, contain the spread of misinformation.
17:42That is how we keep the people from undermining the fruits of their own labor.
17:47When a nuclear reactor exploded in Soviet Ukraine, the fallout wasn't just radioactive,
17:53it was political. The Chernobyl disaster killed 31 people in the short term, but long term the effects
17:59radiated across Europe, resulting in an untold number of deaths and illnesses. But the biggest
18:05mystery at the time was how bad things really were. Soviet authorities tried to cover the whole thing
18:11up, delaying evacuations, downplaying the danger, and pretending that everything was just dandy. But once
18:18the truth emerged, outrage was global. The backlash wasn't only about the disaster itself, but about secrecy,
18:25incompetence, and the catastrophic cost of hiding the truth. Chernobyl became a symbol of government
18:31mistrust, environmental recklessness, and the chilling reminder of how one accident can alter history forever.
18:38What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth.
18:43The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.
18:51Number 4. The Salem Witch Trials.
18:53There are ten commandments. Do you know any? You have lied to the court. I say you have lied to the court.
19:05Have you not? I may not send a witch. The devil knows that!
19:09In colonial Massachusetts, paranoia and superstition collided in one of history's darkest and most
19:15infamous moral panics. Accusations of witchcraft spread rapidly, fueled mostly by fear, religious
19:22fervor, and a little bit of personal drama. People were gripped by fear, dozens were jailed, and 20
19:28people were killed, most of them women. While people theorized at the time who amongst them were witches
19:34and conspiring with the devil, history has not been kind to the whole ordeal, with the trials becoming
19:40a cautionary tale about mob mentality, injustice, and scapegoating. Centuries later, Salem's legacy
19:47still sparks cultural debate about fear-driven politics, gender bias, and how communities can
19:53turn on their own when gripped by paranoia.
19:56Purge your contempt and give us the name of the man that accused Putnam! You will say it, Corey!
20:01Speak, man! We cannot relent! What say you, Corey?
20:06Ma! Wait!
20:09Number 3. The West Memphis Three and the Satanic Panic.
20:13It appears satanic worship may have played a role in the murders. Since the very beginning of the
20:19investigation, people all around West Memphis have come forward with stories of satanic cults.
20:26In 1993, three boys were brutally murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. Police quickly arrested three
20:33teenagers, accusing them of ritualistic satanic killings, but the evidence was flimsy at best.
20:39With their dark clothing, long hair, and love of heavy metal fueling suspicion more than facts,
20:45the case became emblematic of the broader satanic panic sweeping the United States,
20:50where countless communities feared hidden cults corrupting the youth.
20:54Years later, DNA evidence cast doubt on the convictions, and the men were released.
20:59The real killer has never been found, and the backlash against the case was intense – against
21:04law enforcement, against the justice system, and against the silly hysteria that ruined innocent lives.
21:11It's the Salem witch trials brought into the 20th century.
21:14You know, we can still bring up new evidence. We can still continue the investigations we've been
21:19doing. We can still try to clear our names. The only difference is now we can do it from the outside
21:24instead of having to sit in prison and do it. You know, this has been going on for over 18 years,
21:29and it's been an absolute living hell. Number 2. The Roswell incident.
21:36It did cause a moment of excitement, because no one outside of Project Mogul had seen that
21:42configuration of a balloon device before. The local army probably did overreact,
21:48as they had no idea how sensitive the project or the material was.
21:53One mysterious crash in New Mexico sparked one of the biggest conspiracy movements in the history
21:58of the world. Authorities initially claimed that the crashed object was a flying disc, then quickly
22:04retracted the story, saying it was a weather balloon, but the damage was done. Eyewitness accounts,
22:09the intense secrecy around the crash, and the curiously shifting explanations fueled decades of
22:15speculation about UFOs, aliens, and government cover-ups. Today, the government admits that it was a
22:21crashed military balloon that was part of the top-secret Project Mogul, hence the scattered response.
22:27Regardless, Roswell was the birth of modern UFO culture, and whether you believe in aliens or not,
22:34it left an enduring mark on public trust and anti-government sentiment. Although the mission
22:39was top-secret, the equipment itself was of little value, and the Mogul team deemed its recovery low
22:46priority. Brazil's description of the debris, rubber, silver foil, and balsa wood, and lots of it,
22:55matches Project Mogul perfectly.
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23:13Number 1. The JFK assassination. Few historical moments of the last century are as powerful or as
23:20visceral as the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy.
23:24When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963, the world changed
23:31instantly. Lee Harvey Oswald was blamed, but unanswered questions quickly piled up. The magic
23:37bullet, conflicting eyewitness accounts, missing files, Oswald's own murder, mysterious umbrella men
23:44and babushka ladies. The lore is unending. The Warren Commission declared that there was no conspiracy,
23:50but much of the world remains unconvinced. The mystery of JFK's death fueled decades of speculation
23:57about the CIA, the mafia, even foreign governments. Faith in US institutions was significantly diminished,
24:04and the modern conspiracy theory movement was intensified. To this day, Kennedy's assassination remains
24:10the ultimate American mystery with cultural ripples that continue to shape politics and national trust.
24:16And once you conclude the magic bullet could not create all seven of those wounds,
24:21you have to conclude that there was a fourth shot and a second rifleman. And if there was a second
24:28rifleman, then by definition, there had to be a conspiracy. Do you think the backlash was justified?
24:35Let us know in the comments below.
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