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A mysterious unexplained cater has appeared in northern Siberia that has sparked an urgent expedition.
Aerial images of the gas rich region where the hole was discovered is up to 80m wide in Yamal, a peninsula jutting into Arctic waters whose name translates as “the end of the world.”
Speculation of what has caused the phenomenon include rumours of a crashed UFO, a meteorite hitting the earth, global warming or a sinkhole caused by collapsing rock.
But experts are confident that there is an scientific explanation for the crater, which is large enough to fit several Mi-8 helicopters into it.
An expedition has been organised by the Yamal authorities, and will include two experts from the Centre for the Study of the Artic and one from Cryosphere Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
They plan to take samples of soil, air and water from the scene and will be accompanied by a specialist from the Emergencies Ministry.
A spokesman for the ministry’s Yamal branch ruled out a meteorite but said it was too early to say what cause the gigantic hole in the earth.
“We can definitely say that it is not a meteorite. No details yet,” said a spokesman to the Siberian Times.
The footage was captured by pilots working for a gas company in the area and shows a deep tunnel structure with soil around the hole that looks like it has been thrown out of it.
Originally thought to be a fake, the hole has allegedly been established as a real phenomenon and is thought to have been formed around two years ago.
Agencies/Canadajournal
