Pilot Francisco Sarabia was flying over a patch of desert land in Mexico when his instruments
started to act increasingly odd.
But that wasn’t the only problem he was facing: his radio equipment was failing too.
Disoriented and alarmed, the man had to make an emergency landing in the middle of nowhere.
Little did he know that this "nowhere" would be later dubbed "the Zone of Silence," and
the mystery behind this place would equal that of the infamous Bermuda Triangle.
If you ever find yourself in a desert, 25 miles (40 km) away from Ceballos, Mexico,
and just 400 miles (650 km) to the south of El Paso, Texas, get yourself ready - you're
in the Mapimí Silent Zone, and some bizarre things might start to happen right away.
As I've already mentioned, Francisco Sarabia discovered the anomalous zone in the middle
of a desert in the 1930s, when something unknown began to interfere with his airplane's routine
operations.
But despite being the first, he wasn't the only one who experienced the inexplicable
activity of the Zone.
In 1964, the state-owned company PEMEX (which stands for Petróleos Mexicanos) sent engineer
Harry de la Peña to explore the desert in that region.
The man had to figure out if it was possible to construct an oil pipeline running to Jiménez,
Chihuahua, in the north of Mexico.
However, this expedition didn't exactly turn out as expected, and the main reason for that
was radio anomalies that affected every single radio in the team.
They simply wouldn't function.
Like, at all.
In fact, Harry de la Peña was the first to give the Zone of Silence its name.
Interestingly, the man was so intrigued by this mysterious area that he kept returning
there to find out more about the anomaly.
He found out that dead radio zones couldn't be mapped because they seemed to wander all
over the place.
No one could explain the phenomenon.
But thanks to the engineer's reports, the Mapimí Silent Zone got its eerie reputation.
On the other hand, weird radio silence isn't the only oddity of the creepy Zone.
Oh no, there are other, even more perplexing mysteries.
Like, what’s that weird trio that locals keep meeting in the Zone?
They’re two men and a woman, all three of them blond, which is already weird for that
region.
Interestingly, every time people see them, they’re wearing bizarre clothing that isn't
suitable for a journey in the desert whatsoever.
The strangers not only speak Spanish as fluently as the locals, but they’re also attractive
and polite, to the extreme.
The story has it that the trio frequents one ranch, and their motive is always the same.
When they arrive, they don't ask for food, money, or shelter.
All they need is to fill their bottles with the water from the well.
Only once, one of the ranch workers dared to ask the visitors where they'd come from.
But all he got in reply was three enigmatic smiles and the words "from above."
But that's not all.
In October 1975, two fossil hunters, Ernesto and Josefina Diaz, headed toward the Zone
of Silence to collect as many rare samples and unusual rocks as they could find.
But this adventure didn't go as smoothly as they hoped, and almost ended in a disaster.
Immersed in their work, the couple didn't notice a violent rainstorm coming toward them
until it was too late.
They tried to escape by jumping into their car and driving away at full speed, but they
weren't fast enough to dodge a flash flood.
The situation was becoming more dire with every passing minute, and the ground around
their vehicle was slowly but surely turning into a boggy swamp that was threatening to
suck them in.
The couple was stranded inside the car and was preparing for the worst.
But then, something inexplicable happened.
When Ernesto and Josefina saw two men approaching them, they thought they were hallucinating.
But no, the men seemed real; tall and well-built, they were wearing identical bright yellow
raincoats and caps.
They promised to free the couple from the trap, and, true to their word, the Diaz's
car was out of danger and on firm ground in a matter of minutes.
However, when Ernesto climbed out of the vehicle to thank the men, they were nowhere to be
found.
Mystery unsolved.
On top of all that, the Zone of Silence is known as a 30-mile (50 km) patch of deserted
land where meteorites come crashing down on an eerily regular basis.
In the 20th century alone, there were quite a number of such crashes, with two of the
meteorites miraculously falling in the same spot, but 16 years apart, in 1938 and 1954.
Eye-witnesses of one of the most impressive falls, in 1969, claimed they couldn't forget
that event for years.
One of them was a man named Benjamin Palacios, who’d been living on the edge of the Mapimí
Silent Zone his whole life.
He woke up at night to find the sky as bright as if it were daytime.
The light could be seen miles away, and it was accompanied by a tremendous noise.
It was so loud that the windows were breaking in the nearby houses.
Then, the meteorite exploded into thousands of pieces that littered the ground for miles,
creating one of the biggest strewn fields known.
And still, there’s even more to the Zone of Silence.
On July 11, 1970, the US launched an ATHENA rocket from the Air Force base in Green River,
Utah to collect more data on how vehicles behaved when they reentered the upper atmosphere.
But here's the thing: the rocket was supposed to land somewhere in the area of White Sands
in New Mexico.
Instead, it went off course and, as if being pulled by some external force, crashed right
in the heart of the Zone of Silence.
Was it a coincidence, or a freaky irregularity?
The US authorities asked for permission to retrieve the rocket debris, and the Mexican
government granted them access to the site.
But in the process, the search party could tell that something was tampering with all
their communications.
That's why it was incredibly difficult to coordinate the work of the teams.
Besides interrupted radio signals, people also had issues with satellite and television
signals.
Some theorists even supposed that strong magnetic fields in the area had somehow created a so-called
dark zone for modern technologies.
It all sounds very, very mysterious, but let's figure out what stands behind these stories.
Understandably, scientists have been trying to explain the things happening in the Zone
of Silence for years.
The most plausible conclusion they've drawn so far is the influence of minerals that are
deposited deep underground.
For example, some scientists are sure that high levels of magnetite and uranium in the
area may be responsible for the lack of radio signals.
Besides, as you remember, the Zone of Silence is covered with debris from the fallen meteorites,
which are usually rich in iron and other metals.
They might be the reason for the Zone's signal anomalies as well.
On the other hand, some experts disagree that the Zone of Silence attracts more meteorites
than any other place on Earth.
They also state that there’s not enough evidence to prove that something paranormal
or unusual is happening there.
As they say, all the rumors about the abnormal nature of the area are exaggerated and ridiculous.
But even skeptics can't deny that there’ve been cases of radio communication loss and
weird signal tampering.
On the other hand, this phenomenon may have another rational explanation: the Zone of
Silence is surrounded by a mountain range which can easily cause interference.
As for the mysterious friendly people strolling through the desert, experts are sure that
they’re nothing but an urban legend created to lure curious souls and develop local tourism.
But even without these stories and blood-chilling legends, the zone is nothing short of marvelous.
Scientists say that the environment of the area is genuinely unique, with its own flora
and fauna species.
For instance, you can find 31 kinds of plants there that only grow in this region, as well
as 75 species of protected animals, including the desert tortoise, which has a vulnerable
status nowadays.
Also, the place is swarming with fossils, which can shed light on the history of the
region.
It’s no wonder that in 1979, the Zone of Silence became a part of the Mapimí Bolsón
Biosphere Reserve, with a laboratory built next to the mountain range Cerro San Ignacio.
Well…Do you know any other mysterious place on our planet?
Let me know down in the comments!
If you learned something new today, then give this video a like and share it with a friend.
But – hey! – don't go silent on me just yet!
We have over 2,000 cool videos for you to check out.
All you have to do is pick the left or right video, click on it, and enjoy!
Stay on the Bright Side of life!