9 ordinary-looking photos with a scary story (10 photos)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case, words only add weight to the photos. Here are nine photos that at first glance seem completely innocent, but in fact hide a terrible secret - once you learn their story.





1. American volcanologist David A. Johnston



The photograph shows American volcanologist David A. Johnston, who is comfortably seated on a folding chair. However, on May 18, 1980, just thirteen hours after this photograph was taken, Mount St. Helens erupted, killing 57 people, including Johnston. Johnston was the first to report Mount St. Helens' eruption, radioing his last words: "Vancouver! Vancouver! It's here!" His body was never found, but the wreckage of his trailer was discovered in 1993.

2. Father and daughter in Omagh, Northern Ireland





This photo of a father and daughter was taken shortly before the Omagh bombing on August 15, 1998. The bomb was planted in the red Vauxhall Cavalier pictured here. The explosion killed 29 people, including the photographer. The father and daughter in the photo survived, and the camera was later found in the rubble.

3. Harold Agnew holds the core of "Fat Man"



This photo shows physicist Harold Agnew holding the core of the atomic bomb "Fat Man" that was dropped on the city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. It is inconceivable that a small object in the hands of this man killed 80,000 people.

4. Girl who grew up in a concentration camp draws a “house”



This 1948 photograph by David “Chim” Seymour shows a girl named Tereska, who grew up in a concentration camp during World War II. In 1948, she was living in a home for emotionally disturbed children in Warsaw. Researchers identified the girl in the photograph in 2017. Four-year-old Tereska’s home was destroyed during the Luftwaffe bombing of Warsaw, and she was hit by shrapnel, causing brain damage. While fleeing the bombing of Warsaw with her 14-year-old sister Jadwiga, Tereska went hungry for three weeks while trying to reach a village 40 miles away. From the mid-1960s, she lived in the Tworkow Psychiatric Hospital near Warsaw, where she died in 1978.

5. Lightning Strike



In this photo, Michael and Sean McQuilken laugh at the way their hair stands on end, unaware that they would be struck by lightning just seconds later. The brothers and their sister Mary were on a hike and were at Moreau Rock in California's Sequoia National Park on August 20, 1975. Fortunately, both brothers survived the lightning strike. Michael McQuilken later recalled, “We thought it was funny at the time. I took a picture of Mary, and Mary took a picture of me and Sean. I raised my right hand in the air, and the ring on it started buzzing so loudly that everyone could hear it. I fell to the ground with the others. Sean fell over and was doubled over on his knees. Smoke was pouring out of his back.”

6. Tragedy on the Beach



In the spring of 1954, Los Angeles Times photographer John Giant was in the yard of his beach home when he heard a noise coming from the beach. He grabbed his camera and ran toward the water. There he saw the couple from the photo above, hugging each other. Their 18-month-old son was playing in the front yard but at some point made it to the beach, where he was washed away by a wave. His body was later found a few miles offshore.

7. Explosion on the Gran Can



This photo of the Gran Can was taken on April 16, 1947. The people on the dock are members of the Texas City Volunteer Fire Department, who are trying to put out a fire in the ship's hold. However, the Gran Can was carrying 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate. Just minutes after this photo was taken, the ship exploded, setting off one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in human history. All but one of the firefighters in the photo above were killed instantly, along with about 500 others.

8. A Look of Hate



These pictures from the League of Nations meeting in Geneva in September 1933 show Nazi propagandist and politician Joseph Goebbels before and after he learned that he was being photographed by a Jew. The pictures were taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt (the author of the iconic photograph of a sailor and a nurse kissing in Times Square on V-E Day), a German-American photographer. At first, Goebbels allowed Eisenstaedt to photograph him several times in good spirits. However, when he learned that Eisenstaedt was Jewish, he frowned, and Eisenstaedt captured “eyes full of hatred.”

9. John Lennon's Autograph



This photo shows former Beatle John Lennon signing an autograph for the man on the right. Although signing autographs was common for Lennon, he left this one just six hours before his death on December 8, 1980. The man on the right is Mark David Chapman, who would shoot Lennon just hours later. Lennon is pictured signing a copy of the Double Fantasy album for him.