12 Deeply Disturbing Facts We Really Wish Weren’t True

Many cruelties committed during WWII have had far-reaching effects on people across the globe. One lesser-known disturbing act was committed by a once-secret scientific team known as Unit 731. This team acted on behalf of the Japanese government and, alongside the Japanese army, is believed to have bombed Ningbo, China, with plague-infected fleas in 1940.

The Japanese reportedly assaulted China as part of a trial of germ warfare. Bacteriologists say the fleas carried a highly virulent, artificially created strain of the bubonic plague, which took the lives of approximately 109 people.

In addition to the loss of life, the experiment’s lingering effects are still felt by the people of Ningbo. Eight decades later, the pathogens released by the germ bombs continue to return. Not only do some inhabitants still fear a fresh outbreak of the disease, but they have to demolish properties suspected of being infected.

In 1992, during a top-secret US naval program, the Navy picked up on a strange sound coming in at a 52-hertz frequency. After further investigation to try and uncover what was making this noise, they discovered it was a single whale in the middle of the ocean. Nicknamed “52 Hertz,” this whale communicates at a different frequency than any other known whale species. Some scientists believe it may be a hybrid of a fin whale (around 20-hertz frequency) and a blue whale (typically 15 to 20-hertz frequency).

Unfortunately, this whale is the only one found by scientists thus far, which has led many to believe he is the only one of his kind. Even though the 52-hertz whale is biologically similar to other whales, his frequency is completely different, so other whales cannot understand him, even though they can technically hear him.

Often when he has been spotted over the years, he has been alone, and some have dubbed him “the loneliest whale in the world.” While his story has evoked an outpouring of human sympathy, scientists have mixed opinions on whether or not whales are capable of feeling loneliness.

Many Americans might be surprised to learn there’s a 586-square-mile nuclear wasteland in the middle of Washington State. Located in a region of shrub-steppe desert, it’s known as the Hanford Site, and for almost 30 years, the Department of Energy and the US Department of Defense produced tons of plutonium there.

Numerous families, farmers, and Native American tribes were forced to leave this area with little notice in 1943 so the government could produce this plutonium for use in its atomic weapons program. This program created the device that would later bring an end to WWII. It also created an arsenal of weapons for the Cold War, and the plant continued production until 1987, when the site’s last reactor ceased operation.

Yet, these production processes produced significant quantities of toxic waste, both liquid and solid, containing hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials. Many of these dangerous contaminants have leaked into the water and land of the area, including the Columbia River, creating environmental issues that are still under investigation.

Despite a binding tri-party agreement to clean up the Hanford Site, this area in Washington is still unlivable and will likely remain so for the foreseeable future.

A blood transfusion helps replace the blood a person loses during surgery or when they have suffered a serious injury. Although blood transfusions are nothing short of a miraculous invention that routinely saves lives, they can also place a person’s life in jeopardy.

A transfusion of the wrong blood type can cause death, and commonly, people have reported feeling a “sense of impending doom.” Technically, this sense of doom is known as an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction. It usually occurs within the first 24 hours of a transfusion and often during it.

This sense of doom allows people and doctors to know the patient has been given the wrong blood type. Often, this sense of doom is accompanied by a burning sensation at the site of transfusion, fever, back pain, and chills.

Many strange discoveries have shocked and perplexed scientists and doctors alike in the medical world. One particularly unsettling medical phenomenon is the teratoma.

A teratoma is a rare germ cell tumor that can contain immature or fully formed tissues. This means these tumors can grow teeth and hair, with some even able to grow eyes, bone, and muscle.

These tumors can be cancerous and non-cancerous and form in newborns, children, and adults, and they are most common in females. Teratomas are usually found in the testicles, ovaries, and tailbone, but they can grow in other body parts.

In recent years, many pharmaceutical companies have come under fire for their past questionable actions, including Bayer. According to numerous medical professionals and medication recipients, Bayer knowingly sold a blood-clotting medicine made with human blood that carried a risk of HIV.

During the mid-1980s, Bayer allegedly sold millions of dollars’ worth of the medication, Factor VIII concentrate, in Asia and Latin America, which caused thousands of people to contract HIV. This medicine was made from pooled plasma donations from approximately 10,000 people.

At the time, scientific technology was less advanced, so these blood donations couldn’t be tested for HIV, resulting in thousands of hemophiliacs becoming infected. The company continued selling the product after warnings from the CDC about blood products causing increased AIDS cases in hemophiliacs.

Perhaps the most alarming part is Bayer sold a new, safer version of its blood-clotting medicine to the US and other Western countries, leading some to accuse the company of ethnic discrimination. When doctors noticed the increase in HIV cases amongst hemophiliacs in Hong Kong and questioned the older version of the medication, Bayer assured its distributor there was “no severe hazard” to using the medication, calling it the “same fine product we have supplied for years.”

Bayer defended its decision to sell the older medication in certain countries, saying some customers doubted the efficacy of the new version and certain foreign markets were slow to approve it.

Ancient Rome is well known for its harsh and gruesome forms of punishment. Even so, not many are aware of the “Poena Cullei” punishment that directly translates to “penalty of the sack.” This ancient punishment was reserved for offenses like parricidium, which is the killing of a close relative, sibling, or parent.

In 100 BCE, someone found guilty of such a offense would be placed into a sack with their feet weighted down by wooden clogs. The sack would then be sealed and the offender thrown in the river. However, this practice evolved during the early phase of the Roman Empire, and not in a fun way.

Criminals were later sewn into a leather sack with live animals and thrown into the river, where the animals might eventually feed on the person in the sack while they tried to escape (but couldn’t). Often, the animals added to a sack included roosters, snakes, monkeys, and dogs.

The Philippines was an incredibly valuable ally to the US during WWII, particularly the Hukbalahap, called the “Huks,” a guerilla organization of peasant farmers who fought Japanese invaders in the Philippines. However, after the war, the Huks began to feel marginalized once again and clashed with the American government over their control of the country’s economy.

As the the Cold War was heating up, the Philippines were a valuable asset to the US government, which decided it needed to quash the Huk rebellion as soon as possible. So, the CIA put one of its best officers, Edward Lansdale, on the job. Lansdale was an alleged expert in psychological warfare. He believed the best methods should be based on the sociocultural beliefs of the intended target.

Lansdale’s plan was to play on his enemies’ superstitions, this time in the form of the “aswang.” In Filipino folklore, aswang are mythical creatures that can drain blood much like a vampire. In the 1950s, many rural Filipinos were strong believers in the aswang, so Lansdale plotted an aswang strike.

Following Lansdale’s plan, the CIA offed Huk rebels, drained them of blood, and left their mangled corpses to be found with two puncture wounds to the neck. This not only frightened the Huks, but it also gave townspeople pause about supporting the Huks or their cause. This, combined with other psychological warfare tactics, led the Huks to lose support and eventually surrender.

Despite the fear sparked from films like Jaws or Open Water, sharks are a vital part of a healthy ocean ecosystem. And while sharks assaulting humans is statistically pretty rare, in the fishing industry, humans kill approximately 100 million sharks every year.

That high annual number of deaths has led to an approximated 70% decline in shark populations globally in the last 50 years. All the major fishing countries that use destructive fishing practices have contributed to this decline. Fish aggregating devices, drift net, or even fishing for sport can all be part of the problem.

Of course, hunting specifically for sharks is another contributing factor. While “shark fin soup” is often blamed for the brunt of shark overfishing, it’s far from the sole reason. In recent years, the market for shark meat has rapidly expanded to include oil and cartilage trading. The exchange of these products has contributed to a global market worth nearly $1 billion each year.

With such a high-profit margin, sharks have now become an eagerly hunted commodity. The killing of so many sharks is causing negative ripple effects in ocean environments, so many organizations have begun campaigning to curb this inhumane practice.

For many, climbing Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, is an ambitious bucket list dream. But it’s also an incredibly difficult and treacherous one – not everyone who sets out to conquer this mountain makes it back alive.

Over the years, more than 200 people have perished while trying to climb Mount Everest, their bodies remaining on the mountain. They may have lost their lives to any number of Everest’s perils – falling rocks, lack of oxygen, or falling from dangerous heights, just to name a few. While the corpses may be a deterrent for some, more than 4,000 people have still chosen to undertake the trek, and those who have passed on the mountain sometimes serve as a macabre guide. Retrieving a body from Everest is a difficult endeavor; it costs thousands of dollars and requires six to eight Sherpas to risk their own lives.

“Green Boots,” for instance, was the nickname given to an Indian climber, believed to be Tsewang Paljor, who succumbed in a cave in 1996 after getting separated from his party. All climbers must pass this cave en route to the peak, so Paljor’s green boots have become a marker for how close people are to the summit.

Another climber, David Sharp, passed in the same cave 10 years later, after he stopped to rest, then froze in place. Though more than 40 hikers passed Sharp as he was dying, they were unaware as he was unable to communicate. By the time someone finally heard Sharp making noise, it was too late to save him. While Sharp’s body remains on Everest, it was later moved out of sight at the request of his family.