Anomaly•Registry
Category

Mass and Collective

Episodes affecting many people at once, documented at the time by those who tried to stop them.

26 records

Records in this category

See the whole register
Record Case Date Status
AR-0035 The Dancing Plague of 1518 Crowds in Strasbourg danced for days. Later accounts say some died. Mass psychogenic illness is the leading reading. 1518 Partially explained
AR-0036 The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic Contagious laughing and crying among schoolgirls. A classic mass psychogenic case. 1962 Later explained
AR-0037 The Mad Gasser of Mattoon Reports of a gas-spraying prowler, widely attributed to collective hysteria. 1944 Later explained
AR-0038 The Le Roy Tic Outbreak Teenagers in upstate New York developed tics, diagnosed as conversion disorder. 2011 Later explained
AR-0092 The War of the Worlds Panic The night America panicked. Contemporary ratings show almost nobody was listening. 30 October 1938 Debunked
AR-0093 The Halifax Slasher A phantom attacker terrorised a Yorkshire town. Scotland Yard found the wounds were self-inflicted. November 1938 Later explained
AR-0094 The Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic Thousands reported damage to their windscreens. The damage had always been there; people started looking. March to April 1954 Later explained
AR-0095 The Monkey Man of Delhi A creature attacking people in the night. Injuries were real; the creature was not. May 2001 Later explained
AR-0096 Koro Epidemics Waves of men convinced their genitals were retracting into their bodies. Hospitals filled. Major epidemics 1967 to 1985 Later explained
AR-0097 Gloria Ramirez Emergency staff collapsed while treating a dying patient. The chemical later blamed was never detected. 19 February 1994 Partially explained
AR-0098 The Pokemon Shock Six hundred and eighty-five children were taken to hospital after a cartoon. Photosensitive epilepsy, then spread. 16 December 1997 Later explained
AR-0099 The Kalachi Sleeping Sickness A Kazakh village where people fell asleep for days. It was carbon monoxide from the mines below. 2013 to 2015 Later explained
AR-0100 The Salem Witch Trials Twenty people executed on spectral evidence. The medical explanations for the afflictions remain disputed. 1692 to 1693 Partially explained
AR-0106 The Great Moon Hoax In 1835 a New York paper reported bison, one-horned goats and winged humanoids on the Moon, credited to Sir John Herschel. None of it was real. 1835 Debunked
AR-0113 The Amityville Horror A family fled a Long Island house after 28 days and sold the story as true. The murders there were real; the supernatural claims failed every check. 1975 to 1976 Debunked
AR-0120 The Cottingley Fairies Two cousins photographed fairies in 1917 and Conan Doyle presented them as genuine. In 1983 they admitted the fairies were paper figures on hatpins. 1917 to 1920 Debunked
AR-0127 The Surgeon's Photograph The 1934 photograph of a long-necked monster in Loch Ness, credited to a London surgeon. In 1994 it was shown to be a model on a toy submarine. 1934 Debunked
AR-0134 The Mothman Sightings Two couples near Point Pleasant reported a winged, red-eyed figure in 1966. A crane and an owl were proposed. The bridge fell to a cracked eyebar. 1966 to 1967 Partially explained
AR-0141 The Beast of Gévaudan An animal, or several, killed about 100 people in southern France from 1764 to 1767. The Beast was shot twice. Both kills were taken for wolves. 1764 to 1767 Partially explained
AR-0148 The 2012 Phenomenon The world was to end, or be transformed, on 21 December 2012. The two known Maya inscriptions that name the date predict nothing of the kind. Predicted for 21 December 2012 Debunked
AR-0155 Spring-heeled Jack A figure blamed for frights and assaults near London in 1837 and 1838. Two attacks were real. The noble suspect and an early victim were added later. 1837 to 1904 Partially explained
AR-0162 The Fox Sisters The Hydesville raps of 1848 launched spiritualism. In 1888 Margaret Fox showed how she made them with her joints; in 1889 she retracted. 1848 to 1889 Debunked
AR-0169 The Curse of Tutankhamun Lord Carnarvon's death in 1923 made the pharaoh's curse a press sensation. He died of an infected mosquito bite; a 2002 study found no curse effect. 1923 Debunked
AR-0198 The Hollinwell Incident Around 300 collapsed at a children’s band contest. 259 went to hospital. The report was filed away. 1980 Later explained
AR-0199 The June Bug Epidemic Sixty-two mill workers fell ill after a suspected bug bite. Both studies called it hysteria. 1962 Later explained
AR-0200 The Bélmez Faces Faces kept forming in an Andalusian kitchen floor. Four lab analyses found no paint. 1971 to present Partially explained

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