Always on unless main in switched

I have lights and outlets in my house that will not shut off with any one circuit breaker but they will turn off with the main breaker. How is this possible? If they shut off with the main, then they must be tied into the panel somehow yet I flip each circuit individually and they do not shut off unless I switch the main.

I'm with Frank but I'd take a different approach. Turn off all the house breakers but leave the main on. Turn each one on to see if you get power to the outlets (then turn them off before going to the next one). I'll bet you find that the breakers are either shorted together or you've cross connected a load across them.