The size of this hole is so huge that people may come down into it on several Mi-8 helicopters, as they say. The place is situated not far from the largest Yamal gas reserve, a powerful underground stream is heard from the bottom. What you can see around the hole is a forest, the soil around the hole was thrown out. No explosive works had been carried out in the area, so it’s hard to explain why the hole appeared there.
In fact, a team of scientists has been dispatched to study the Siberian hole and take samples from the surrounding region. They are reportedly due to arrive Wednesday. Until then, the mystery continues.
The massive hole, which spans about 262 feet in diameter, was spotted recently on the Yamal Peninsula in Russia, commonly known as the “end of the world,” The Siberian Times reported. The depth of the hole is not yet known.
New video footage shows the mysterious hole surrounded by vegetation in a seemingly remote area. The ground on the outskirts of the hole appears to have been displaced, perhaps by whatever caused the hole to form.
Given the crater’s proximity to a natural gas field, one theory is that the hole formed following an explosion, caused by a mixture of gas, salt and water igniting underground.
So far, local officials have ruled out a space rock as the culprit behind the hole.
“We can definitely say that it is not a meteorite,” a spokesman for the Yamal branch of the country’s Emergencies Ministry told The Siberian Times, adding that there are no further details yet.
