# Known unknowns: how many legitimate outstanding secrets/mysteries are there, really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085 "2007-02-06T16:23:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/41 "2007-02-07T09:21:52Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] Is that the island with the tunnels that fill up with water. [/QUOTE] Yes, it [is](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Island). Something strange seems to be going on there, but the amount of effort that had been put _into_ the whole thing is phenomenal. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/42 "2007-02-07T10:24:12Z")
Where’s van Gogh’s _Portrait of Dr. Gachet_? ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/43 "2007-02-07T10:41:50Z")
It’s more of a secret than a mystery, but IIRC, the most famous Chanel perfume (no. 5? ) has a closely held, top-secret formula. Competitors have even put it under electron microscopes, and can’t figure out what they’re looking at. My favorite theory: these old ladies are spraying themselves with weasel vomit. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/44 "2007-02-07T12:33:08Z")
What Jesus was writing in the dirt when He told the crowd that the first one among them who is without sin should cast the first stone at the adulterous woman. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/45 "2007-02-07T13:22:07Z")
[QUOTE=Civil Guy] Um, er… what is this stuff called dark matter (dark energy too, I suppose)? I mean, it does make up a rather sizeable amount of that which _is_… by several accounts… [/QUOTE] The OP said Dark Matter doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/46 "2007-02-07T13:52:24Z")
Any of [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Unexplained_disappearances) count? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/47 "2007-02-07T14:05:48Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] My favorite theory: these old ladies are spraying themselves with weasel vomit. [/QUOTE] And lots of it. 😕 I know **Cervaise** is disappointed about not being able to make genuine oysters Rockefeller, but the Waldorf-Astoria would be glad to send him the recipe for their red velvet cake for only $200. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/48 "2007-02-07T14:21:03Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] I’d love to know what’s under the ice on Europa, too. [/QUOTE] It may be a few more years, but [this is being worked](http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/a2b27dedc9950110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd/4.html). I’ve seen DepthX up close and personal and it is one seriously cool piece of kit. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/49 "2007-02-07T15:48:56Z")
This book might be of interest to the OP. I’m told that very little of it is outdated. [Encyclopedia of Ignorance](http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Ignorance-Ronald-Duncan/dp/0671790870) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/50 "2007-02-07T15:50:12Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Me, I think that’s amazing. What are the odds that in the age of information something like this would still be unknown, even with millions of people basically looking right at it, and a sizeable fraction of those millions actively trying to uncover the secret? Espionage, bribes, chemistry… and the mystery has held. How many of these kinds of things are there still in the world? I don’t just mean things we don’t know, but things regarding which we know where we can look for the answer. The makeup of “dark matter” doesn’t count, but the identity of Watergate’s Deep Throat does. Or, it did, anyway, until Mr. Felt appeared. [/QUOTE] Disappearances of the type mentioned in various posts are kind of a gray area – there are some indications of where to start looking, but the evidence may simply no longer exist (which means that nobody has a chance to be “looking right at it” any more). The one that nobody mentioned yet that comes to mind is the fate of the Amber Room (which presumably required a fair number of people to move to wherever it ended up). ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/51 "2007-02-07T16:32:55Z")
[QUOTE=robardin] Personally I’d love to find out what the deal is with the [Voynich Manuscript](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript). [/QUOTE] Thanks for sharing that link. I’d never heard of this manuscript before and now I’m fascinated, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/52 "2007-02-07T21:55:12Z")
What happened to to the Neanderthals? Did they die out entirely and, if they did, why? Or were they able to interbreed with Cro-Magnon and pass some of their genetic material down to us? Is that child skeleton found in Porugal a true Neanderthal-Cro Mag hybrid? [Neandertal-Cro-Magnon Hybrid? - Archaeology Magazine Archive](http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/neanderkid.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/53 "2007-02-07T22:15:56Z")
Ditto, double ditto, and triple ditto on the Voynich manuscript, and also: Who was the ‘dark lady’ and the unnamed man in Shakespeare’s sonnets? ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/54 "2007-02-07T23:07:23Z")
Heyyyyy…this topic [rings a bell](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=380760). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/55 "2007-02-07T23:31:54Z")
[QUOTE=Intelligently Designed] Was the [Immaculate Reception](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnfbKKvUG9Q) good? [/QUOTE] There’s an equally famous case in soccer - [Geoff Hurst’s “goal” in the 1966 World Cup Final](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_FIFA_World_Cup_Final#Controversial_third_England_goal_in_extra_time). Everybody in England (and Scotland and Wales and probably elsewhere, much to their annoyance) has seen the footage hundreds of times. And though I’m English I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t actually a goal. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/56 "2007-02-07T23:53:29Z")
The identity of Beethoven’s Immortal Beloved? ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/57 "2007-02-08T00:28:04Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] That’s an easy one. The same reason most software source isn’t available – because the owner of the source code wants to control distribution of the program. [/QUOTE] Yea but, If the source code of Windows is more valuable than the Holy Grail and it seems like every two-bit hacker can find a security flaw, why hasn’t the code been cracked? ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/58 "2007-02-08T04:20:36Z")
[QUOTE=DJ Motorbike] What has J.D. Salinger written in all this time? [/QUOTE] That there is a Damn Good Question! The man can write, and writers—WRITE. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2007, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/59 "2007-02-08T04:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > It may be a few more years, but this is being worked. I’ve seen DepthX up close and personal and it is one seriously cool piece of kit. Define “up close and personal”. Are you actually allowed to breathe in the same room as it? I would have thought that, with as thorough as they’re being on that thing to prevent the possibility of contamination, that they wouldn’t let any organic material in its presence, and do all the work with waldoes. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085/60 "2007-02-08T04:42:26Z")
Jackmannii writes: \> I know Cervaise is disappointed about not being able to make genuine oysters \> Rockefeller, but the Waldorf-Astoria would be glad to send him the recipe for \> their red velvet cake for only $200. You got the recipe for only $200? I got cheated. They charged me $500 for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/known-unknowns-how-many-legitimate-outstanding-secrets-mysteries-are-there-really/391085.md?page=4)