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Human history is notorious for strange events. No wonder there are tons of conspiracy theories surfing around that aim to explain them in one way or the other. Some are totally bogus, others are somewhat debatable.
So when someone posed an illuminating question “What strange events have gotten swept under the rug like they didn't even happen?” on the Ask Reddit community recently, it seemed to have hit a soft spot for many. People shared some of the most incredible events that got totally forgotten, or that everyone pretends they forgot, including an extreme personal data breach on a global scale, an audit that found $8M of taxpayers' money missing, and unidentified snipers taking out cars starting last summer. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Below we collected some of the strangest events that people shared in the thread and it makes you wonder if someone has a solid explanation for each and every one of them.
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#1
Identifying all the rich men who participated in Jeffery Epstein's island.
#2
The leader of Scientology's wife vanished after an argument in 2005, nobody knows what happened to her.
#3
Covid depression Is one of the most predominant factors that most of us have experienced throughout the past 2 years, yet no one talks about it. You know that thing that makes you feel so used up that you download a bunch of apps that you know won’t make you happy? Maybe eat more, sleep more, stay in your house more. Then a war hits and you feel so incredibly useless to the perpetual tragedy that you just shut down. Yeah, that thing.
Jo Choto 2 years ago
I acknowledge that Covid has affected people's mental health drastically. What I feel is REALLY being swept under the carpet is Long Covid, which is affecting a huge number of people with effects that may well be permanent, and many of these people are health workers who were forced into Covid situations without sufficient PPE or vaccinations. Governments are not doing anything about that.
#4
The Phoenix lights. My whole immediate family and tons of people on the street we lived on saw the aircraft come overhead. We all stood there speechless and terrified until it passed then the whole block freaked out. Nobody will ever convince me it was flairs. We all saw the outline and structure of the craft clearly. It was so big and slow it was amazing it was staying in the air. My hair still stands on end even thinking about it right now.
#5
In my hometown, the police chief was accused of having sexual relations with an underage girl. The father of the girl was one of the officers on the force. He was later found passed away near the property of the chief. People believe he was there to confront the chief about the relations. 9/11 happened, and the attention of the public got focused on the nation's tragedy. HE IS NOW THE MAYOR.
#6
Hong Kong protests
adiiantryx 2 years ago
apparently one in seven people in hong kong have been involved in protesting annually at the very least. Yet, governmental and bureaucratic crackdowns have shoved it under the radar. The real problem is the media's non-reporting of such issues because people get 'bored' of it and they're corporations which pander to people.
#7
When the government gave college loan companies money. So the loan companies could forgive some school debt from students. But instead, the companies just kept the money and told everyone that called in they didn't qualify for forgiveness. And the government did nothing about it.
Kimi Tomminello 2 years ago
Betsy Devoss and her band of rip off artists masquerading as a legitimate college loan administrators. The government did something about it- Trump made her his education secretary!!
#8
The metric s**t ton of Covid relief money that was given to companies, that was misappropriated and will never be paid back, and is only marginally being analyzed/investigated.
So it’s all on the US taxpayers
GenericPanda09 2 years ago
Yeah, the British taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill for all the billions that the UK government have written off due to their lack of oversight about who they were handing money over to for covid relief. They're not even trying to solve those crimes even though there's a literal money trail, and as we have a conservative government who don't like taxing the rich, as usual it'll be the poor and disabled yet again paying for their negligence.
#9
Nobody seemed to remember Ukrainian passenger flight being shot down by the Iranian government last year.
#10
Boris Johnson lockdown parties, he was on the verge of being forced out of the office and then, oh there's a war now we've got other stuff to worry about
#11
Mark Zuckerberg created two AI robots for Facebook named Alice and bob, and they started communicating with each other in some unknown language so they had to shut down the program, and still to this day they never figured out what the robots were saying to each other.....
#12
Panama papers
Johnny Rodriguez 2 years ago
The only thing that happened is that the journalist who discovered this is beeing killed..
#13
There’s a mysterious neurodegenerative disorder identified in 2019 that is ONLY found within New Brunswick. It has symptoms similar to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or “mad cow disease,” but it isn’t caused by prions. They have no idea what causes it. So far, almost 50 people have the disease and 6 have passed away. The youngest affected was only 18. The provincial government is pushing back on research efforts and transparency and has essentially cut aid from federal and international investigation efforts. Since then, they’ve started discrediting patients and their families.
#14
T.I. (rapper) and his wife have serially drugged and r*ped over 30 victims. According to 30+ allegations.
If you google T.I. it doesn't even come up unless you specifically search for it
#16
Who the hell destroyed the Epstein camera tapes
ZAPanda 2 years ago
Are you talking about the jail cell? well obviously whoever killed him wanted to get rid of proof. This is one of those 100% believable conspiracy theories. Imagine what would happen to your currency and economy if they released a list of names of current or past senior politicians or economists who were guilty? Totally not suprising
#17
Over 800 tons of dead sea life including dolphins, washed up in Tampa Bay due to a fertilizer plant spill - never heard about this disaster again.
Jaguarundi 2 years ago
Sorry to disagree, but, the shuttered Piney Point phosphate mine spill is still being actively cleaned up and the stack is still being repaired. The ongoing progress of the cleanup is reported every week or two on the local news and in the Tampa Bay Times. I live here, that's why I know.
#18
The floods on the east coast of Australia super recently, we experienced 1000ml of rain in less then a day, whole towns have been wiped out, there are landslides and people are still missing. There are no supplies, no food, no fuel, no electricity and no water. They are still finding bodies, and there are still people stranded on cliff faces and mountains that could collapse any minute.
If you drive through Lismore NSW right now, everyone’s belongings are all in piles larger then the houses on the street, there is sewage and toxic waste covering thousands of square metres. Civilians have had to rescue people from bridges, off roofs and off mountains, risking their lives while suffering their losses to save others that are in a worse position. Thousands of civilians have been donating their own money, time and resources to help those in need.
Our government has done nothing, and is shadow banning anyone speaking out on social media. The newspapers aren’t covering it even though this is the worse natural disaster Australia has experiences in decades. Deaths are going unreported and the media is not covering anything. People have been screaming for the army and other qualified professionals to help. They have been begging to declare a state of emergency.
It’s taken 6 days for our prime minister to speak on this, and today he posted on Instagram some very staged images of the military “helping”. These photos show the army in clean clothes, pretending to do tasks and pretending to help. The army was literally instructed to go down there, get some pictures and leave. People literally have been taking photos of them getting photos done with ring lights and other professional lighting equipment. When civilians asked for their help they said that’s not our duty and went back to scrolling on their phones.
It’s a disgusting response from our government, and probably the most blatant sweep under the rug I’ve ever seen
#19
The Saudi’s murdered a Washington Post journalist and nothing happened
GenericPanda09 2 years ago
Same as with #70, they're too cowardly to do anything to Saudi because of the defence contracts and the oil. Even more so in a future where Russian oil isn't on the market.
#20
The Apollo 10 turd. It's been half a century and nobody has owned up to the floating turd on Apollo 10.
#21
On November 2 the FEC decided that foreign individuals, corporations, and governments can fund ballot measures in the US because they're "not technically elections". This is a staggeringly big deal that was pretty much immediately swept under the rug.
#22
Starting last summer there have been unidentified snipers taking out random cars on different parts of I-10 in New Orleans and nothing has come of it and nobody’s really talking about it. I mean, gang and drug violence, neighborhood drive-bys, and the occasional Bourbon shooting are one thing to ignore, but interstate snipers? Does nobody find that interesting? It’s still happening.
#23
Equifax lost the personal data of almost every single adult (in the US). This is data we didn't give them permission to access, they simply automatically collect it.
They are still in business.
In September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people.
That's out of roughly 210 million adults at that time.
That's 70% of the adult population whose data was lost.
That's more than likely every single household in the US.
Dave P 2 years ago
They legally can access and collect that data under US because they are one of 3 companies authorized by the US Govt to collect data related to credit score and rank you. The Data breach was a big issue, which is now why the NSA helps all 3 companies with their security. And the Data breach was a big deal for the feds because it was partially their fault, and why the FBI went on it full force
#24
When I was in public school there was a year-long fundraiser push to raise $75,000 for a new school running track. Was supposed to be really nice paved track. By the end of the school year, they announced that they had met the funding goal and the track was going to be built. The next year we came back, and the school said that they were fundraising $40,000 for the new school track which would be unpaved gravel. When I started asking where the other money went they kept brushing me off like that never happened. I felt like I was taking crazy pills because all the other kids remembered that we had raised $75,000 for an amazing track, but now it was like the money vanished.
None of the other kids really cared that much, but there was something really fishy going on. We got the track and it was s**t.
#25
Ghislain Maxwell knew many names, yet no one was publicly mentioned
#27
I am pretty surprised how no one really reacted when the Navy, and pentagon said UFOs were real and we don’t know what they are, or have anything that can really match and fight them.
Not saying it’s aliens and UAP instead of UFOs.
adiiantryx 2 years ago
well anything can be a ufo if you don't observe it well. i could potentially shoot a rock in the air and it would be classified as a ufo.
#28
Donald Rumsfeld announcing that the Pentagon had lost $2.3 *Trillion* dollars, the night before 9/11
#29
Facebook experimenting with human emotions, without their knowledge or consent.
adiiantryx 2 years ago
haven't forgotten it really - there is a growing exodus of people away from meta
#30
A bit random. But there was a meteor over Scotland that blazed through the sky, slowed right down, and changed direction. That was pretty weird.
#31
Epstein had to jump through like 3 tiers of a coincidence to commit suicide the way he did. either he was coerced into actual suicide and told when the guards were going on break and when the CCTV would go out randomly, or we are supposed to assume the former. I still don't buy it.
#32
There was a huge scandal involving the UK foster care system. Social workers were getting paid more for each child they placed in foster care. This resulted in 100s/1000s of children being placed into foster care that didn’t need to be. To this day there has been no uproar or anything about it, it got swelter under the rug and unless you were personally involved (myself) then you will more than likely not have any idea about it.
WilvanderHeijden 2 years ago
Or the Rochdale circle of child traffickers who weren't investigated despite several tips out of fear that the police would be accused of racial profiling. In the end nine men were convicted, of whom eight were of British Pakistani origin and one was an Afghan. But that was only after a woman informed the media about their practices and how the police chose to look away.
#33
The Las Vegas shooting. The worst mass shooting in America’s history. Dozens passed away. Hundreds injured. No one has any idea why this random dude stockpiled weapons and went on a mass murder spree. Or why he ended when he did.
We all just collectively went “I guess we’ll never know” and then forgot about it.
Izzy Curer 2 years ago (edited)
I'm sorry, but you don't 'pass away' if you're murdered. You pass away in a bed when it's your time. Saying people 'passed away' when you mean they were killed just sugar coats it, and it really shouldn't be. We should be angry. We should be made to feel the impact of it. Stop trying to be so pc
#34
In my hometown, there was some sort of audit and it found that 8 million dollars of taxpayer money were missing. It's a conspiracy now.
Devon Britton 2 years ago
$8 million.... those are rookie numbers... ~laughs in South African~
#35
Robinhood shutting off the buy button to stop GameStop’s price from climbing
#36
Not necessarily strange but terrifying - since the 80s there has been a group of Christian anti-nuclear pacifists called The Plowshare movement.
They have broken into numerous nuclear arms facilities over the years to peacefully protest and have got into major trouble with many of them receiving multiple prison sentences for their efforts with no intent to stop but the major takeaway from their activities is how shockingly easy it was for them to plan and gain access to these facilities. Sometimes it would be hours before they were discovered by military personnel after gaining access to sites. And it begs the question that if they’re a peaceful protest group what would happen if a terrorist organization were to attempt it? There’s a book about it called Gods of Metal.
#38
Every single major news event that's more than a few weeks old....the media only care about the latest headlines to grab attention.
#39
The financial panic of 2008 was triggered by a $550 Billion drawdown of money market accounts in the USA at about 11 AM on Thursday, Sept 15, 2008. It was an electronic run on the banks.
Had they not closed down the money market accounts immediately, the Treasury estimated that by 2 PM that afternoon, $5.5 Trillion would have been withdrawn and the entire economy of the United States would have collapsed, and within 24 hours the world economy would have collapsed.
Who did the initial $550 Billion drawdown? This info was put in the memory hole, and the press does not discuss it.
The Wikipedia article Global financial crisis in September 2008 has only the following sentence: "By the morning of September 18, money market sell orders from institutional investors totaled $0.5 trillion, out of a total market capitalization of $4 trillion, but a $105 billion liquidity injection from the Federal Reserve averted an immediate collapse.[22][23]"
Paul Ellis 2 years ago
Sorry, it was me. I was shopping in Tesco and realised I didn't have enough in my account to cover the cost of my groceries. Sorry.
#40
Shortly after fans held a massive "Beyoncé Mass" worshipping the pop singer, she purchased a large church in Louisianna. Haven't heard anything else about these masses or what she decided to do with the church. But it has always bothered me
What do you think ?
Kesam 2 years ago
The war crimes of George W Bush. All forgotten because Trump was even worse (in other ways).
ZAPanda 2 years ago
Hmm. This seems to mostly be a list of news events which are no longer current, but simply pasting their strings into google brings them up. Some of them, yes, there seems to be no consequence management, but they each have different cases right? Some cases, like Epstein, you first have to confirm you have something more than just one person's accusation, before you arrest them. Other cases, like shot down airliners, there are suspects, but the point is, if it's a country that's' responsible, you can either push them for war crimes at the Hague or you can declare war. Neither prospect is successful if the perps are not easily identified. So the fact that some things are not in the news anymore can be put down to (a) loss of interest (b) lack of evidence (c) low level of importance (d) that investigations are still ongoing. Jumping to "the Elites are covering it up!!!" is just tinfoil stuff. We know that the "elites" do that. However, not always. It depends on the case in question.
Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
Beat me to it, so thank you. It's not that simple. The Epstein case wasn't really over until Maxwell was convicted ---- and will never be over for the victims, for example. It's not a cover-up if it's just that you're not hit in the face with it every day.
Load More Replies... WilvanderHeijden 2 years ago
If you do some fact checking you find that a lot of the items on the list are simply not true or just partially true. But the conspiracy theory lovers will have a great time reading this topic.
Kesam 2 years ago
The war crimes of George W Bush. All forgotten because Trump was even worse (in other ways).
ZAPanda 2 years ago
Hmm. This seems to mostly be a list of news events which are no longer current, but simply pasting their strings into google brings them up. Some of them, yes, there seems to be no consequence management, but they each have different cases right? Some cases, like Epstein, you first have to confirm you have something more than just one person's accusation, before you arrest them. Other cases, like shot down airliners, there are suspects, but the point is, if it's a country that's' responsible, you can either push them for war crimes at the Hague or you can declare war. Neither prospect is successful if the perps are not easily identified. So the fact that some things are not in the news anymore can be put down to (a) loss of interest (b) lack of evidence (c) low level of importance (d) that investigations are still ongoing. Jumping to "the Elites are covering it up!!!" is just tinfoil stuff. We know that the "elites" do that. However, not always. It depends on the case in question.
Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
Beat me to it, so thank you. It's not that simple. The Epstein case wasn't really over until Maxwell was convicted ---- and will never be over for the victims, for example. It's not a cover-up if it's just that you're not hit in the face with it every day.
Load More Replies... WilvanderHeijden 2 years ago
If you do some fact checking you find that a lot of the items on the list are simply not true or just partially true. But the conspiracy theory lovers will have a great time reading this topic.
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