World's 'biggest sinkhole' baffles scientists sparking rumour of crashed UFO site

A mysterious gigantic sinkhole has appeared in Russia - and nobody knows where it came from or how deep it is.

It opened up in the peninsula of Yamal, a place which locals call the 'end of the world'.

At 80 metres wide, the sinkhole is believed to be the biggest ever spotted in the country and could be one of the deepest ever recorded in 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.

Phenomenon: The video was captured by pilots working for a nearby gas firm

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.

Deep: Scientists are set to work out what has caused the hole

"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.

This is not the first time the phenomenon has happened, take at some other sinkholes here.

It's also not the first strange thing to happen in Siberia this week - recently hailstones the size of golf balls forced sunbathers to run for their lives.

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10,000-year-old rock paintings depicting aliens and UFOs found in Chhattisgarh

One of the ancient rock paintings carved on caves at Charama in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district. (TOI photo by Amit Bhardwaj)

CHARAMA (Chhattisgarh): Chhattisgarh state department of archaeology and culture plans to seek help from Nasa and Isro for research on 10,000-year-old rock paintings depicting aliens and UFOs in Charama region in Kanker district in tribal Bastar region. 

According to archaeologist JR Bhagat, these paintings have depicted aliens like those shown in Hollywood and Bollywood flicks. Located about 130km from Raipur, the caves come under village Chandeli and Gotitola. 

"The findings suggest that humans in prehistoric times may have seen or imagined beings from other planets which still create curiosity among people and researchers. Extensive research is needed for further findings. Chhattisgarh presently doesn't have any such expert who could give clarity on the subject," Bhagat told TOI.


One of the ancient rock paintings carved on caves at Charama in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district. (TOI photo by Amit Bhardwaj) 

There are several beliefs among locals in these villages. While few worship the paintings, others narrate stories they have heard from ancestors about "rohela people" — the small sized ones — who used to land from sky in a round shaped flying object and take away one or two persons of village who never returned. 

"The paintings are done in natural colours that have hardly faded despite the years. The strangely carved figures are seen holding weapon-like objects and do not have clear features. Specially, the nose and mouth are missing. In few pictures, they are even shown wearing space suits. We can't refute possibility of imagination by prehistoric men but humans usually fancy such things," the archaeologist said.


(TOI photo by Amit Bhardwaj) 

He added that it is a co-incidence that such ancient images appear to have sharp resemblance to UFOs shown in alien movies. "The fan-like antenna and three legs of vehicle's stand clearly show a similarity to UFO type craft," he said. 

Other archaeologists would also be consulted for further verification. 


(TOI photo by Amit Bhardwaj)