Unbelievably True Stories

We've all heard the saying, 'Truth is stranger than fiction'. In some instances, this actually proves true.

The following real-life events are excellent examples of this. From killer molasses to dumb criminals, these stories may seem too unbelievable to be true.

- On September 12, 2008 in San Fernando Valley, California, a commuter train carrying 225 passengers collided with a freight train (The incident became known as the Chatsworth Crash). 25 people were killed, and 135 were injured. One of the passengers who had died was 49-year-old Charles E. Peck. He was going to Los Angeles for a job interview, as gaining work in California would enable him to tie the knot with his fiancé, Andrea Katz. His fiancé had heard about the accident on the radio as she was driving to pick up Peck from the station. His parents and siblings were also with her.

For the first eleven hours after the crash, his cell phone had placed numerous calls to his loved ones, including his brother, his sister, his son, his fiancé, and his stepmother. Altogether, they had received 35 calls from Peck. When they answered, though, they only heard static. When they attempted to call him back, it went right to voice mail. His calls gave them hope that he was still alive, although when search crews traced where the calls were coming from, they found his body an hour after the calls ceased.

It was determined that Peck had died on impact. No one was able to figure out how his loved ones had received all those calls from his cell phone during the eleven hours following his death...

- In January of 1919, a molasses tank in Boston burst, causing over 2 million gallons to sweep through the streets. 21 people were killed as a result and 150 others were injured. The explosion was believed to have been caused by the unusually warm temperature (46 degrees) for that time of year, as well as the fact that the tank had been filled to maximum capacity.

Prior to this incident, a similar disaster occurred in 1814 when a brewery tank burst through the streets of London. The 3,500 barrels of beer killed 9 people.

- In May of 1986, a very powerful wind lifted up 13 children in Western China and carried them for 12 miles. They were deposited in sand dunes and brush and were unharmed.

A similar incident in China occurred again in 1992 when a 9-year-old girl, who had been playing in an area near Shanghai, was picked up by a whirlwind and was dropped in a tree top about 2 miles away. She was also not hurt.

- On October 27, 1997, a tug-of-war contest of over 1,600 participants took place at a park in Taipei in celebration of Retrocession Day (the commemoration of the end of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan). Within moments the rope snapped, tearing off the left arms of two men. The gruesome incident had been caused by the rope withstanding more force than it could handle.

The men eventually had their arms successfully reattached.

- In 1991, a 76-year-old man in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania was being transported from a nursing home to the doctor's office for an appointment. When the ambulance attendants left the stretcher that he was strapped to in the parking lot to go talk with some staff members, it rolled away and flipped over, causing a fatal injury to the man's head.

- In March of 1997, a drug dealer in California had attempted to call Mexico. However, instead of dialing 011, he dialed 911. He hung up when the operator answered, but police were dispatched to his home. They seized 42 pounds of marijuana and 2 ounces of methamphetamine. In addition, four men were arrested.

- While on vacation, a woman who was referred to as AB by the British Medical Journal had claimed to hear voices in her head that told her to return home to London immediately. They then told her an address that turned out to be the brain scan department of a hospital and that she request a scan because she had a brain tumor and her brain stem was inflamed, even though she had experienced no prior symptoms.

She eventually did have a scan done, which showed that she in fact did have a tumor and underwent surgery to remove it. AB claimed that after the operation, which had been successful, the voices told her that they were 'pleased to have helped her' and told her 'good-bye'.

- In 1998, Garry Hoy, a lawyer, was explaining and demonstrating the strength of the windows of the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower in Canada to visiting law students (He had done this a number of other times before). During this particular demonstration, one of the panes gave way as he was testing its strength, and he tragically fell 24 floors to his death.