Patomskiy Crater is a huge convex cone with a funnel-shaped recess and a rounded hill in the middle, discovered in 1949 in Irkutsk, Siberia. Several theories ranging from a nuclear blast to a secret gulag mine and even a meteorite strike did the rounds. The cone is 80 metres tall, 10 metres deep and has a diameter of 150 metres. Tests show that the crater is actually 250 years old. It could have been formed by a meteorite. The fact that the crater is ‘alive’ as its shape changes constantly, and that the trees near by grow abnormally fast, adds to the mystery.
Patomskiy Crater
