45 Eerie and Revealing Photos From The Groovy Era

The crew of the Challenger, moments before their final flight on January 28, 1986

This collection of chilling photographs from the Groovy Era shows a darker side to the past than you may already know.

History photos at first glance can appear to offer a pleasant vision of another time and even bring a warm feeling of nostalgia to the soul. However, if you take a closer look at these photos you'll see that they contain stories that are deeply haunting.

These eerie photos are impossible to look away from. Some may break your heart and take your breath away, but each and every one of them needs to be seen to be believed. Warning, these photos and stories are for mature audiences only.  

source: reddit

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger was set to take off with Christa McAuliffe, was a teacher chosen for the flight by NASA’s Teacher in Space" program on board as one of the astronauts. What should have been a crowning achievement for NASA became one of the most horrific events of the 20th century.

Space travel is dangerous, there's no way around it. Astronauts face mortal danger from the moment they strap themselves in to when they return to Earth. Anything can go wrong, and in the case of the Challenger it was a simple leak that did them in.

Referred to as an explosion, the Challenger actually fell apart in a mass of flames that was caused by a seal in the shuttle’s right solid-fuel rocket booster. The seal sprung a leak and hot gas poured through through, collapsing the fuel tank and tearing itself apart, causing the huge fireball that people across the world witnessed.