From stones that sing to an ancient underground world, today we look at “Places On Earth
That Seem Scientifically Impossible”:
10. Petrifying Well
This unique wonder is located near Mother Shipton’s Cave in North Yorkshire, England.
It is the oldest tourist attraction in the country to charge a fee for entrance and has
been open since 1630. Anything dropped inside the well is turned to stone. But, don’t
worry! It isn’t because Medusa is down there; it is due to the water’s high carbonate
and sulfate contents. The minerals within the water encrust whatever is put inside;
but, the effect isn’t instantaneous. For example, it can take three to five months
to turn a teddy bear to stone. When the Petrifying Well was first discovered, people stayed away
because they thought it was magic. However, later on, people began visiting the well often
to shower in and drink the water, which they believed had healing powers. Nowadays, people
are told not to drink the water because it contains so many minerals. Although it isn’t
available yet, there will soon be Pagan wedding packages available; so, couples can enjoy
the bewildering effects of the well while they tie the knot, hopefully setting their
relationship in stone.
9. Hessdalen Lights
These striking orbs of light can be seen over a 7.5-mile-long central Norwegian valley.
They are also called the Hessdalen Phenomenon, and the reasoning for their existence is unknown.
The lights appear during daytime and nighttime, below or above the horizon, and their colors
are generally yellow, red, or white. They can last for mere seconds or more than an
hour. They also change their speed; so, they’ll move very quickly at times, slowly at other
times, and sometimes they’ll remain still, hovering in the air. Reports of these lights
have been made since around the 1930s. The Hessdalen Lights were very active from late
1981 to the middle of 1984 when they were spotted about 20 times every week. However,
for about eight years now, they are only witnessed 10 to 20 times per year. There are several
hypotheses for why this phenomenon takes place, including an underground natural “battery,”
an effect of plasma, and some have even said they are misperceptions of planes, celestial
bodies, headlights, or simply mirages. Nevertheless, these lights remain a mystery.
8. Devil’s Kettle
This strange attraction is located in Judge C. R. Magney State Park in Minnesota, USA.
The Devil’s Kettle is a unique waterfall that splits in two over a rock formation,
causing half of the Brule River to enter a giant’s kettle, or sizeable pothole, in
which it disappears underground. For a long time visitors dropped various objects, like
sticks and ping pong balls, into the hole, and never saw them reappear further downstream.
So, Devil’s Kettle remained a mystery. However, various experiments done in 2016 that came
to light a year later, concluded that more than likely, the vanishing half of the water
reconnects with the Brule River just underneath the falls. The disappearance of visitors’
objects is said to be due to strong currents at the base of the waterfall, which would
be able to hold down the items until they become crushed. Even though studies give a
plausible explanation for the Devil’s Kettle, it remains a sight worth seeing.
7. Catatumbo River
This river is located in Venezuela and is known for its lightning storms that occur
between 140 and 160 nights per year. They last for about 10 hours at a time, and lightning
strikes up to 280 times every hour! However, the lightning only happens where the river
flows into Lake Maracaibo. These storms are most likely caused by winds that traverse
the lake and marshy plains in the surrounding area, and they occur at different times every
year. The lightning is also commonly referred to as the Lighthouse of Maracaibo because
it can be seen from miles away. Agustin Codazzi, an Italian geographer who lived until the
mid-1800s, said that the position and continuity of the lightning could guide navigators like
a lighthouse.
6. Gruner See
Gruner See, or Green Lake, is located in Styria, Austria. The Hochschwab Mountains surround
the lake, and it gets its name due to its rich green hue. During the winter months,
Gruner See is only 3 to 7 feet deep, and the area around it is used as a park. However,
when the snow melts during springtime, the lake rises, making it about 39 feet deep;
because of the tremendous change in depth, the water engulfs the surrounding park. Divers
like to take a dip in the water around this time because it has the appearance of a lost
or alien world. There are a bridge and a bench underneath the lake during the spring as well
as walking trails and even some trees. But, if you’re looking to jet ski on Green Lake,
then you’re out of luck; watersports haven’t been permitted in Gruner See since the beginning
of 2016.
5. The Blue Pond
This striking body of water is located in Hokkaido, Japan. A dam was constructed initially
to guard the town of Biei against the mudflows of Mt. Tokachi, a volcano that erupted in
1988. The Blue Pond is a result of this dam’s construction. The water of Shirahige Falls
picks up colloidal aluminum hydroxide from the cliff as it flows into the Biei River.
This aluminum content is said to be the reason for the pond’s bright blue color; these
particles can reflect blue light exceptionally well. So, the sky’s reflection is very vivid
in Blue Pond. There are also withered trees that stand up straight out of the pond, adding
to its uniqueness. After the winter, when the water is still somewhat frozen, the surface
looks similar to white sand. However, summertime is when the pond is at its brightest blue
hue, which is when tourists are recommended to see it.
4. Ringing Rocks
These harmonious stones are located in Bucks County Pennsylvania in Ringing Rocks Park.
They take up about 7 acres of land, are piled more than 10 feet deep, and are surrounded
by forest. In 1890, Doctor J.J. Ott took picked several stones with different-pitched rings
and, with help from a brass instrument band, he played songs on them for the Buckwampum
Historical Society; people often refer to the event as the world’s “rock concert.”
But, why do these rocks ring? Although the size, shape, and positions of the boulders
change the way they sound, their ability to make this noise is caused by something else.
However, a specific explanation hasn’t yet been made. But, there are some hypotheses,
including the rocks’ densities, their iron content, and internal stress.
3. The Boiling River
This natural wonder is located in the Amazon rainforest in Peru. The river is also called
the Shanay-Timpishka or La Bomba, which means “boiled by the heat of the sun.” Due to
its steaming temperature, local people believed that it had special healing abilities; so,
shamans often used the water in medicines. The river reaches temperatures up to 200 degrees
Fahrenheit and stretches for about 4 miles. The temperature makes the mud around the river
too hot to walk on. The river itself is so hot that if someone were to fall in, they’d
have severe burns within about one second. Unfortunately, some small creatures in the
area meet their doom in this river pretty often. The Boiling River differs from other
steaming streams because it isn’t located near an active volcano. Instead, the reasoning
behind this river’s temperature is said to be due to a fault in the ground, where
the water seeps in and becomes heated underground; it then comes back up to the surface through
various cracks. However, not everything is known about this river’s heat source.
2. Kawah Ijen
This volcano is located in East Java, Indonesia. It is home to a sulfur-mining operation, where
workers cool the sulfur via channeling it through a series of pipes and carry back broken
pieces of the solid material. However, what makes this place unique are the blue flames
the volcano produces. Although many people believe that the lava itself is blue, that
is incorrect. The real reason for these sapphire-blue flames are the high amounts of sulfur in the
area; when the sulfuric gas ignites, this stunning fire is created. However, the trek
to see this breathtaking wonder isn’t very easy. It requires a two-hour-long hike to
get to the outside of the crater, where the sulfur is located, and then takes another
45 minutes to walk down to the bank. People have to be very careful while observing the
blue fire and make sure they don’t get too close; when the ignited gas comes up through
the cracks in the rocky surface it is about 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit, and the fire can
rise to 16 feet high.
1. Movile Cave
This magical place is located in Mangalia, Romania. It is known for its one-of-a-kind
ecosystem, which is high in carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide but doesn’t have much
oxygen. However, creatures still inhabit this strange cavern. For the past 5.5 million years,
life within the cave has been disconnected from the outside world and learned to strive
in different ways. The organisms rely on chemosynthesis, which is a method of converting molecules
containing carbon into organic matter using oxidation as energy, instead of photosynthesis,
during which they convert sunlight into chemical energy. 48 species live inside the Movile
Cave, including spiders and leeches; 33 of those species are only found in the cave and
nowhere else in the world. There is also a species of water scorpion that lives inside,
and it is the only one in the world known to be adapted to a cave.