The internet is good, it’s bad, and some days – like when you’re supposed to be working and end up chasing a white rabbit down holes you didn’t know existed – they can seem like a little bit of both.
Get ready, because these 16 people are recalling the wildest rabbit holes they’ve found, and their stories just might have you tempted to go for a tumble yourself.
16. The safety of flying.
I worked in administration at an aviation academy for a few years and decided I’d start listening to aviation podcasts since I didn’t know much about it. I came across a plane crash podcast that talks about crashes in history and how it improved the safety of flying.
I was fascinated by it, and found myself gradually needing to know more and listening to more of the same type of podcasts, watching videos, and listening to black box recordings. It was eerie but interesting at the time.
Now, I regret it tremendously because since then I’ve developed horrible anxiety when flying.
15. No idea why.
YouTube videos of old chainsaw restorations.
No idea why, but I guess that’s why it’s a rabbit hole.
I don’t even own a chainsaw or have a need for one.
14. So addictive.
An Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader. Started with 1 and ended up with a 20+ collection.
13. Roommates beware.
I really enjoy going on a city’s Craigslist, then to “rooms/shared” (or whatever it is for finding a room mate).
Then typing words like “warning” or “beware” in the search to see what kind of horror show nightmare room mate scenarios people have decided to write about.. its usually some juicy headline like “warning!!! Do NOT rent from this woman!!!! She is a PSYCHO!!….”
And after reading it, it’s always a guess to decide who is the actual crazy person, the landlord or tenant. Could be a bitter ex, tenant, or a scam, or whatever.
But it’s an easy way to dive quick into some weird corners of the internet that are filled with drama
12. Not super weird.
metal refining and purification. not that it’s super weird, i just can’t see myself refining gold at home
11. Online reviews.
Speaking of reading online reviews, when I’m bored I’ll search for strip clubs in dodgy cities and then filter by 1 star reviews.
Absolute GOLD MINE.
Enjoy.
10. You need a few clues.
GeoGuessr, a web game that uses Google Street view. They drop you somewhere 100% random in the world, and by just walking around you have to figure out where you are and place a pin on the map to guess.
You can just aim for what country you think you’re in if you want, but I got RIDICULOUSLY obsessed with getting it correct with pinpoint accuracy down to 1 meter. I would sometimes spend like 3-4 hours walking miles and miles around somewhere in the middle of nowhere Africa or Taiwan or whatever looking for enough clues for me to be able to figure it out.
Oh and it’s worth noting this was at the very beginning of the pandemic when I first started working from home, so, yeah, abused it a little…
9. All the way down.
I spent a bunch of time about 12 years or so ago reading about all the details of the titanic, how it sunk, what happened as it was sinking, who died, who survived.
I got into the life stories of the people who died, and what became of the people who survived.
And then I very nearly bought a piece of carpet from the titanic.
8. Sounds legit.
Lo, in the days of web rings I visited site after site related to the conspiracy theory that the Smurfs was a cartoon meant to indoctrinate American children into communism.
Soviet
Men
Under
Red
Father
7. It’s an eerie place.
I went down a rabbit hole about the bodies on Everest…
6. I need to see it now.
Turning old planes into houses! About 10 years ago I found a company that would do it for you.
The wings were decks and the plane was mounted to a pedestal that allowed it to be rotate with the sun!
5. Worth Googling.
Mega tsunamis. Thousand foot walls of water moving at hundreds of mph? It happens more than you would think. The Azore-Gibraltar fault will cause one one day.
There evidence they happened a few times in the Pacific. It doesn’t take a meteor to happen, it could be an underwater landslide (Doggerland), or a large section of a volcanic island shearing off and falling into the ocean (Oahu).
Doggerland is another rabbit hole that is worth googling.
4. Dark and tragic.
Jim Jones and the People’s Temple.
If you don’t know who and what that is I highly suggest you read about it.
3. Dumb and then numb.
Andrée’s Arctic balloon expedition
Dumb, then numb, a$$ thought he could fly a balloon to the North Pole. They had cyanide capsules and all, in case they crashed and were about to freeze to death. Or get eaten by a polar bear during a three month night. He and his assistants somehow managed to do both.
Plot twist: Andree, the worst captain of all time, noticed the balloon was leaking the night before they were about to leave, pumped it up a bit, and said ‘f**k it that’ll do’ .
It did not do.
2. Not the spaghetti sauce!
One time I hooked up with a guy who turned out to be a conspiracy theorist. He thought colloidal silver water could cure cancer and AIDS. I looked it up and it turns out all that stuff is pretty harmless so I let him feed me silver water and electrocute me. It felt nice.
I had a great time learning all about the origins of this particular conspiracy theory. The scientist who popularized it later tried to convince everyone that garlic and onions are a deadly poison and we should never eat them. At that point everyone stopped listening.
I absolutely love the idea that people are willing to hook themselves up to batteries and eat metal but they draw the line at giving up spaghetti sauce.
1. That crazy fandom.
Mechanical keyboards.
I wanted to buy one, so I started researching and watching videos of reviews. I went deeper and deeper, seeing special cables, obscure companies, the tons of switches, etc etc.
I stopped when a youtuber I watched made a video asking her viewers and discord users to stop bullying and harassing her for using some kind of switches or keycaps.
I bought my keyboard and never went back to that crazy fandom.
Yeah, I can see how all of these happened.
I’m just hoping I don’t spend the rest of my day finding out for sure.
