Horrifying And Scary Facts About Life And The World That Shouldn't Normally Be True, But Unfortunately Are

“Every single year, there are thousands of people in the US alone who disappear.”

Ayoub

• Published in Interesting
• March 21, 2023

There are many things we ignore about the world we live in. Some facts are so scary and shocking that they could make you reconsider many aspects of your life. 

Sometimes, ignorance can be bliss and being unaware of some characteristics enable you to live a peaceful life without any fears or doubts. Becoming conscious of some secreted facts can change your perspective and alter your mindset. 

We all like to ignore these facts and pretend they don't exist and carry on with our lives as if we still ignore their existence. It's easier not to focus on them; otherwise, it would only lead to paranoia and delusions. 

Some facts about the world are better left unknown. Learning about them is interesting, but they will completely change your perspective.

A Redditor who goes by the username u/DaKoolAidMAN422 made a post on the r/AskReddit subReddit asking the following question: “What is a scary or horrifying fact that shouldn’t be true, but is?” The user received a lot of interesting and scary answers to their question that you won't know how to feel about.

Scroll down to check out the full Reddit post, and scroll a little further to read the comments from the original post.

1. “*Anyone* can have a child.”

We have tests for driving cars, you have to have certain qualifications for multiple professions, and yet there are absolutely no tests, checks, exams, nothing to make sure you're suitable to raise a human being before you bring a thinking, feeling person into the world

Of course, I don't know what the hell such a test would look like, but the existence of abused children who grow up into messed up people who may or may not perpetuate such abuse is just...sad

--AlsoAGun

2. “In 2009 a paralyzed Belgian awoke from a **23-YEARS-LONG** coma, and it was discovered he was fully conscious and could hear everything around him the entire time.”

Like.. What. The. Actual. F!?!? Just imagine lying there not being able to move for two decades but also being aware of your surroundings. That's all kinds of messed up nightmare fuel right there.

BdR76

3. “Since 1978 in the US, the average CEO's pay has increased 937%, while that of the average worker has increased 5.7%.”

DJD119

4. “There is more actual lemon juice in lemon-scented Pledge spray than there is in Country Time Lemonade.”

--jackof47trades

5. “Being gay is illegal in 69 countries.”

In 7 of those countries homosexuality is punishable by death.

--Silverskull291202

6. “The existence of people who believe that the earth is flat, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence that it isn't.”

--asocializer

7. “The final moments of Andreas Prodromou, one of the flight attendants on Helios 522 that crashed in Greece in 2005.”

The pilots failed to flip a switch on the plane that would allow the plane to pressurise itself, not noticing it was switched to manual rather than auto. During the flight, the pressure in the cabin dropped, meaning the passengers and crew were slowly being drained of oxygen, and they soon lost consciousness. Andreas Prodromou managed to find a back up supply of oxygen, and even though he was suffering from hypoxia too, for a while he was the only one conscious as everyone was passed out and slowly dying around him.

As he held a UK pilots license, he entered the cockpit and sat down in the empty captains seat (Im not sure why the captain left his seat) in what investigators believe was an attempt to save the plane, but unfortunately his training was not enough, as he was only trained to fly small planes, not Boeing 737’s like the accident flight. He also called “Mayday” FIVE TIMES into the radio, but because it was tuned to the wrong airport, nobody could hear him. Soon after he entered the cockpit, the plane ran out of fuel, and the engines flamed out, so even if he could’ve flown the 737, there still was nothing he could’ve done. The plane crashed into the hills outside Athens, killing all on board.

Being the only one conscious whilst your colleagues and passengers die around you, not knowing what’s going on, and trying to help but not being able to do anything is just nightmare fuel to me.

--poppunk_snowwhite

8. “A lone pilot was flying in Australia in 1978.”

He reported to air traffic control that he was accompanied by an aircraft above him. When asked to identify the aircraft, he replied "It isn't an aircraft". His plane disappeared, and was never to be found again.

--anon

9. “Google fired two of their leaders in the AI ethics team for publishing articles about the dangers of an AI Google supported:)”

--anon

10. “When you have scurvy, all your old scars and wounds open up, due to the vitamin needed to maintain scar tissue.”

So for me for example, I had my jaw dislocated and my gums cut open from check to check to remove wisdom teeth.

If I got scurvy I would bleed uncontrollably from the inside of my mouth out.

What would be your most horrifying scar?

--Weak_Independence793

11. “Virtually everybody has the capacity to kill, they just haven’t been put under the circumstances where it would be a preferable option.”

--HiNaughtyGirlImDad

12. “Pigs can dispose of a body with relative ease.”

--2-year-old-edgelord

13. “When you get a sunburn, your cells are dying to avoid becoming cancerous”

--SoulsAndSandals

14. “In the NT (Australia) I remember seeing a government warning that crocodiles inhabit the area. ”

Among the few bullet points of advice on the sign, the last one read "If they see you, it is already too late"

--tigger04

15. “How dark the BTS of the Wizard of Oz is. In Judy Garland's(Dorothy) own words "... they had us working days and nights on end.”

They'd give us pep-up pills to keep us on our feet long after we were exhausted. Then they'd take us to the studio hospital and knock us cold with sleeping pills- Mickey sprawled out on one bed and me on another. Then after four hours they'd wake us up and give us the pep-up pills again so we could work another seventy two hours in a row. Half of the time we were hanging from the ceiling, but it became a way of life for us."

--inspectorspacetime95

16. “Snails have thousands of teeth.”

--leaf-sauce

17. “You could die at any moment without any notice and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.”

--ElephantExplosion

18. “Human trafficking makes 150 billion a year in money”

--SalamiMommie

19. “There are more slaves today than there were during the transatlantic slave trade era.”

--anon

20. “An estimated 1.5 billion disposable masks entered the oceans last year, and that's on top of a dramatic increase in other single use plastics.”

--heretobefriends

21. “Antibiotic resistance”

--Ultraviolethead

While these facts are completely terrifying, it's still interesting to know that these things exist in the world and at least have some sort of understanding of the hidden things that are out there. If you enjoyed this list, make sure to check out similar content on our platform.

Ayoub