Google Earth has revealed some of the most beautiful destinations around the world.
Whilst conspiracy theorists and alien enthusiasts believe they have spotted confirmation of their ideas, more often than not they have a scientific explanation.
A large hole has been spotted in Russia that goes deep into the ground in Mirny, Sakha Republic.
It has been rumoured to be so deep that it can suck helicopters into it due to the vast air strength.
Yet what is behind this bizarre hole in the ground?
Called the Mir Mine, the open pit diamond mine was built in 1957 after Soviet scientists discovered a huge diamond in its land.
However, due to the harsh death conditions in the region, it meant that more than half the year the ground was frozen making it difficult to mine as well as a lot of the equipment freezing.
It can drop to as low as 50 degrees in the winter, and the nearest town is over 150 miles away.
Despite this, in the 1960’s it produced as much as 10,000,000 carats of diamond per year.
Today, it has produced over £10 billion of diamonds, according to the BBC.
Rumours have suggested that helicopters have been sucked into it whilst flying over it.
Measuring 1,722 feet by 3,9000 feet, it is the fourth deepest mine in the world.
It is been reported that the airspace above it is off limits to them after “a few accidents when they were ‘sucked in’ by downward air flow,” according to Atlas Obscura website.
Whilst no crashes have been reported, the air vortex explanation makes sense as the warm air coming from the hole, rising with the cool air above it, could prevent helicopters from getting the lift to fly over and then falling in altitude when flying above it.
The mine was closed in 2004, following the collapse of the USSR in the 1990’s. It was taken over by private companies until it’s closure.
Whilst the open pit mine is no longer operational, underground work still continues.
Last year, water leaked into the mine and trapped 100 workers inside, with four missing workers left unaccounted for when the flooding meant a rescue mission was forced to stop.
Diamond production is expected to fall this year thanks to the accident at Mir Mine.
It isn’t the only baffling to have been discovered on Google Earth.
A mysterious base in Las Vegas, called Area 6 has been spotted just a few miles from the famous Area 51.
