25 Deeply Unsettling Facts That Will Make You Fear Death, The Universe, And Yourself

1. Mount Everest is littered with dead bodies

“About 200 dead bodies are still on Mt. Everest because it’s more effort and risk than it’s worth to retrieve them. Some of them serve as progress markers for other climbers.” — Phil_Drill

2. We are going to run out of gas in the universe

“Astronomer here! We have about a trillion years until we run out of gas in the universe, and there will be no more stars. From then on the universe will be a dark place, and the black holes will even evaporate away given enough time.” — Andromeda321

3. Pedophilia is a bigger problem than most people realize

“That pedophilia is much more common than you realize.

There is a group in my city that has a ‘to catch a predator’ type thing they do. They have caught 66 people in less than a year. Thats more than 1 per week – and thats just the ones willing to meet in person. That doesn’t count the hundreds that keep it online only (just as bad imo).” — seeking101

4. There are a large amount of deaths due to medical errors each year

“The amount of deaths in the U.S. attributed to medical errors are as high as 98,000 per year. That’s more than a full capacity 737 crashing and killing everyone on board everyday.” — funkysax

5. A nuclear bomb was accidentally dropped over South Carolina 

“A nuclear bomb was accidentally dropped over South Carolina in 1958. Would have made the Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki look like a fire cracker and completely changed US history if it detonated. Then that happened again over North Carolina in 1961, except this time it was two bombs. One of the North Carolina bombs deployed its parachute had its trigger mechanisms engaged- only one low-voltage trigger kept it from detonating upon landing.” — Porkchop_Dog

6. Some people are aware of what’s happening under anesthesia

“The fact the Anesthesia Awareness is a thing. People go under anesthesia for hours at a time for during surgeries. Sometimes (VERY rarely, though) it doesn’t work, however. Some people’s bodies fall asleep but they stay conscious. They feel every cut and shift. Lots of surgeries are 3-4 hours long, which would still be a nightmare, but just imagine you need one of those 15 hour long surgeries and it’s literal torture.” — fidgetspinnster

7. When bodies fall from extreme heights, they don’t splat

“When falling from extreme heights and landing, the human body doesn’t splat, bodies bounce, crushing multiple bones and destroying insides.” — SOSFILMZ

8. Innocent people are placed in jail for crimes they did not commit

“One that’s bothered me over the years is also how often innocent people are put into prison. My father was put into prison for 12 years for something that was later proven to be false and he was cleared of all charges.

The only reason he has a place to live is the shitty 150k the state awarded him (after fighting the system for 5 years) and has land his mother gave to him when she died while he was in prison. He still can’t find much work and is barely living off of what was given to him. Not to mention, he gets taken advantage of by our lovely family members on his side of the family that are heroin addicts and general garbage. I find that nothing else was done for him deeply disturbing.

He continues to pay for something that he never did.” — CAGreyson

9. The universe is expanding

“The universe is expanding. This expansion is actually getting faster not slower. Eventually, space will expand so much that all galaxies will fade from view.” — onetimeforacomment

10. A firefighter was killed on 9/11 by another dead body

“The first firefighter killed responding to the 9/11 attacks was struck dead in the courtyard by a falling body. Two people, killed simultaneously — one on his way in, the other on their way out.” — BerskyN

11. Judith Barsi was brutally murdered by her own father

“Judith Barsi, the orphan girl, Anne-Marie, from the classic movie ‘All Dogs Go To Heaven’ was brutally murdered in a double murder-suicide by her abusive father when she was 10.” — capitancheebz

12. Strangers have thought about murdering you

“Intrusive thoughts:

Have you ever stood on the edge of a train platform and thought “I could push someone into this oncoming train and there’d be nothing they could do about it”?

Or while driving on the highway, thought “I could just swerve my car to the right and kill the family in the minivan next to me instantly”

Many strangers have fantasized about killing you, and you’ll never know it.” — black_fire

13. There are 50 active serial killers in the US

“There may be as many as 30-50 active serial killers in the US according to the FBI. You sometimes hear that people go missing never to be found, right? Here’s some news: some serial killers are good at their hobby and are never detected and caught.” — CherryJimmy

14. In some countries, phones always make shutter sounds so that no lewd pictures are taken

“In Japan, most phone cameras make shutter sounds even when in silent mode to prevent upskirt pictures being taken without consent. The fact that this was enough of an issue that it needed to be taken such actions against is insane.” — MickMicker

15. One of your photos will be used after your death

“Every picture you pose for could be the one used in your obituary.” — BerskyN

16. A nuclear explosion could give you third degree burns across your entire body

“If you are a certain distance from a nuclear explosion, you won’t be killed immediately but instead, you’ll get third degree burns throughout your entire body. This kills your nerves so fast that it’s completely painless.” — shoespop

17. A brain aneurysm could occur at any time

“A brain aneurysm can happen at anytime, to any living healthy person, that will cause instantaneous death, but also has nearly no prior symptoms for detection. So you could just breathe your last breath at any moment in your life and there is nothing to warn you of it.” — orewa_chinchin

18. A man died during 9/11 after listening to poor advice

“There was a young office worker in the second tower hit on 9/11. He took the elevator to the lobby but was convinced by the security guard to return to his office which he did. The second plane hit so he was trapped in his office with no escape. There’s even a recording of him speaking to his father on the phone lamenting the fact he should have just left and not listened to the security guard. He died.” — cisco54

19. A psychotic man raided a tomb and stole a woman’s corpse

“In 1933, a doctor named Carl Tanzler raided the tomb of a female patient with whom he’d become obsessed and stole her body. He lived with the corpse for seven years. As the body fell apart, he attached the corpse’s bones together with wire and coat hangers, and fitted the face with glass eyes. He was only caught when someone saw him dancing with the corpse in front of an open window.” — Mugwin

20. Most of the ocean is still unexplored

“That we only explored about 5% of our planet’s oceans. Like, we don’t have a clue what is down there.” — Johnny_Rei_AMA

21. More soldiers commit suicide than die in the war

“Since 2012 the US Military has lost more soldiers to suicide than to combat or accidents.” — KaneIntent

22. CPR is not as reliable as it looks on television 

“CPR only works 7% of the time outside of a hospital environment.” — SingleLegNinja

23. There are thousands of active missing person cases

“There are as many as 100,000 active missing persons cases in the U.S. at any given time.” — CherryJimmy

24. There are still illnesses that are incurable

“There are a huge amount of illnesses that aren’t curable or even treatable. We have this idea that we go to a doctor, they find out what’s wrong with us and then fix us.

There are many illnesses that make doctors throw up their hands because they don’t even know what is causing us to be unwell, and people are often ill for years, or life.” — BerskyN

25. The Challenger crew knew that they were about to die

“The crew of the doomed Space Shuttle Challenger didn’t die instantly but likely were alive and aware of everything up until the crew capsule hit the water at 207mph.” — CherryJimmy