In this mysterious world, some places are beyond our imagination. While natural wonders like Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon are some of the world’s best known for their size, the world we live in is full of mystery, and even some things science still can’t explain.
Nature doesn’t always do things by the book, and there are some creepy, strange, and seemingly impossible places to prove it. Here are 10 mysterious places that exist around the world, and scientists cannot explain their existence.
1. Kawah Ijen
The Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia is known as the blue volcano. Unlike other volcanoes in the world that glorify red lava, Kawah Ijen lava has an electric blue color. The volcano itself is dormant, but at night a neon blue substance spills on one side, flowing like a river of lava.
This phenomenon is because the sulfur explodes inside the volcano. The heat causes the sulphuric gas trapped inside to accumulate and escape, causing the blue flames to fire up to 5 meters into the air. Sometimes gases can liquefy and continue to burn the rest of the way down the slope, so people often mistake them for lava.
2. Cauldron of the Devil
This waterfall is divided into two and is popularly known as the Devil’s Caldera. One side of the waterfall continues to flow into the river, while the other falls into a deep, dark hole and disappears. Researchers have yet to determine where the flow is reconnected as pigments, ping pong balls, and other objects thrown into the devil’s teapot do not reappear.
For years, visitors to the park marveled at the magic of this disappearing waterfall, and sometimes even drop objects into the waterfall in the hope that they would be able to follow its flow line. Since there is no way to determine the channels through which water can pass, it has been considered too unsafe for people to explore.
3. Lights of Hessdalen
In Norway, there are white, yellow, and red floating lights at night over the Hessdalen Valley that stay for seconds or sometimes more than an hour. The lights, in turn, move at an incredible speed and others slowly, seeming to float in the air.
Although lights have been reported since the 1930s, the 1980s had the most frequent sightings, with reports as many as 20 times a week. Tourists flocked to the mountains from all over to try to catch a gigantic ball of light the size of a car.
4. Bermuda Triangle
This mysterious triangle is the area between Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico, also known as “The Devil’s Triangle,” or “Hurricane Alley,” which has instilled fear in people for years. While many ships frequently pass by and commercial and private aircraft routinely fly, there is a time when they simply seem to disappear.
Some people believe that the disappearances are linked to the lost city of Atlantis, and believe that it lies deep in the tropical cyclone-rich zone. Others think that magnetic anomalies can confuse compasses in the area, causing the loss of boats.
5. The doubletree
Between the cities of Grana and Cosorzo in Italy, there is a unique view. On one side of the road, surrounded by its uniqueness, is a large mulberry tree with a cherry tree that grows in the center of it. While parasitic tree growths caused by seeds falling from birds have occurred before, they tend to be quite small before they die and to be pushed out of the tree that houses them.
Both trees are fully formed, and the branches are more than five meters in diameter. The cherry tree seed sprouted roots that pierced through the hollow trunk of the mulberry tree and reached under the ground, now becoming a fully formed doubletree.
6. The petrifying well
In North Yorkshire, England, one of the oldest tourist attractions in the UK is the petrifying well. It is composed of tuff and travertine stone, which gives all objects that touch the well’s water a stone appearance after several months.
For many years, the petrifying pit was believed to be sorcery on the part of Mother Shipton, as it was well known and often blamed on her in her time for anything tragic and dark. People have left their hats, stuffed animals, toys, and other items in the well, only to return three to five months later and see that they are hard as a rock.
7. Underwater Park
Near the Hochschwab Mountains in Austria, there is a beautiful park with benches and walking trails that can be explored in the middle of summer and autumn. But during the spring seasons, it is necessary to have diving equipment. The mountains of Hochschwab are covered with dense snow during winters, and when they melt, the park’s lake doubles in size and drowns the park.
If a person swims during the spring, they may encounter bridges and benches in the water. The waters of the lake begin to recede in mid-summer when the park becomes accessible again.
8. The Gate to Hell
For all horror lovers looking for thrills, Derweze, Turkmenistan is home to one of the most terrifying and hellish tourist destinations on the planet. Derweze is rich in natural gas, and the gas crater at Hell’s Gate was the product of a miscalculation. In 1971, Soviet geologists made a mistake when they accidentally struck a cavern filled with natural gas while drilling.
The ground collapsed, leaving a large hole 70 meters in diameter. As a safety precaution, geologists decided to burn the gas and thus avoid the discharge of poisonous gas. To their surprise, the fuel they hoped to burn in one day is still burning today, which has earned them the name of “The Gate of Hell.”
9. Sea of Stars
The beaches of Vaadhoo in the Maldives become a sea of stars at night due to the spectacular bluish-white glow that shines along its shores. This glow seems to reflect the starry sky at night, and one will definitely feel lost in the magic and charm of seeing this phenomenon.
Scientists say that the glowing capacity of water comes from a chemical reaction called bioluminescence. The Sea of Stars contains a type of phytoplankton called dinoflagellates. When scientists investigated the organisms, they found a cell membrane that reacts to electrical impulses, causing dinoflagellates to illuminate the water.
10. The Rainbow Mountain of Peru
It is covered with wide lines of pastel blue, intense red, green, pink, and yellow. There are currently no scientific explanations for this phenomenon. Often known as Vinicunca or Montaña de Siete Colores, Rainbow Mountain is a colorful peak in Peru. It is extremely difficult to achieve, but the strenuous effort is worth it. The scenery from the top of the mountain will dazzle you.
It also serves as a testament to how spectacular geology can be, as each layer represents a different mineral composition. From lavender to garnet and gold, it is believed that this colorful mountain is holy and sacred, and is a place where many locals gather for daily praise.
