The Earth's war against humanity took to the eastern Russian front, as a dark pit mysteriously appeared in eastern Siberia.
The thing yawns wide into a splendidly black circle:
Here's what it looks like from the air:
Russia Today soberly observes that:
An urgent expedition was sent to the far-northern peninsula to try and solve the mystery. The team arrives on Wednesday to survey the seemingly bottomless pit...
The seriousness of the find is evidenced by Russia’s Emergencies Ministry being present among the expedition. The Russian Academy of Sciences is also on board, planning to take samples of the soil, air and water from the area, which is big enough to fit several MI-8 helicopters.
This is a fine start for all kinds of terrifying stories. Think "Who Goes There?" or mole people.
A different kind of scary tale comes from scientists looking to understand how the abyss opened up. This one is about climate change:
Another explanation has been posited by Anna Kurchatova from Russia's Sub-Arctic Scientific Research Center. She believes the crater was formed by a water, salt, and gas mixture that ignited an underground explosion, also the result of global warming.
(thanks to Peter Rothman and Derek Bruff)
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