THE MOST MYSTERIOUS PLACES ON EARTH

Strange things

Who doesn’t love a beautiful mystery? The planet has surreal, terrifying and sometimes completely strange places. And, while many of these mysteries have logical meanings, some remain stubborn and unresolved. Join us for a visual tour from your couch as we explore the science, news, ideas and myths surrounding some of the weirdest sites in the world.

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle - covering about 500,000 square miles (over 1,290,000sqkm) between Bermuda, Miami in Florida and San Juan in Puerto Rico - saw more than 20 planes and 50 ships crash without explanation and some "disappear" altogether. The ideas range from the supernatural proposals to the more logical assumptions of the dynamics of a magnetic compass or powerful waves.

Richat building, Mauritania

The astronauts have been watching the Richat Building - also known as So Sahara - in Ouadane since humans first entered space. Viewed from the International Space Station, a 30-inch (48.2km) wide swirl resembles the eye of a bull or a snail's shell. The geological quirk is believed to have been caused by a meteorite but is now thought to have been once a dome that has eroded over time.

Stonehenge, England

The stone quarry has long been one of the UK's most famous and mysterious places, and historians and scientists are puzzled by how its builders distributed monoliths 5,000 years ago. By 2019, Newcastle University students may have solved the riddle when they discovered that people (not aliens) might be dragging rocks in the area using slices smeared with lard. Find the best photos of historical sites in the world here.

Eternal Waterfalls, New York, USA

It has nothing to do with The Bangles' song, but this (almost) eternal flame. The bright red orange glow behind the dazzling waterfall, in New York's Chestnut Ridge Park, is kept burning by natural methane gas that cuts through cracks in the rock. It is occasionally extinguished with splashes but guests can bring it back to life with light. Find other places you can't believe are in the USA.

Magnetic Hill, New Brunswick, Canada

Cars turn back and, apparently, go up after driving down the so-called “magnetic hill” in Moncton, New Brunswick. But they do not actually disregard the laws of gravity. It is one of the many hills in the world where what appears to be an inclination to climb is, in fact, part of a larger climb. It is an obvious fraud because there is no horizon of vision.

Uluru, Australia

Uluru or Ayers Rock, in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia, has been misleading people for centuries and is a sacred place for the Anangu people, who are thought to have been formed by ancestral creatures that formed the earth. Science suggests that the sandstone monolith began to form 550 million years ago, and that hundreds of years ago erosion and erosion formed its distinctive oval shape. Its red surface is due to oxidation, while the “new” stone beneath it is gray. Check out some of Australia's natural wonders here.

Devil’s Bridge, Germany

Rakotzbrücke is so beautiful that it can rightly be called a fairy tale bridge. But its name, meaning Devil’s Bridge, comes from its supernatural organizations. The escape structure, in the German city of Kromlau, forms a perfect circle with its watery appearance - a clever engineering strategy that some see as foreign.

Green Blue Hole, Belize

Explorers and underwater explorers, including French author and explorer Jacques Cousteau, fell under the world's largest sink sponge, which is about 1,600 feet [304 m] wide and 40 feet [122 m] wide. Its deepest, darkest secrets remained a mystery until the end of 2018, when a campaign team comprising Jacques' grandson, Fabien Cousteau, and Sir Richard Branson shot a video on a submarine, revealing stalactites and "unknown tracks".

Pine Gap, Australia

Oz equivalent to Location 51, this base of satellite surveillance in the middle of the Outback was opened in the 1970s as a partnership between the US and Australian governments. The Cold War spy center initially disguised itself as a space research center, false information that encouraged ongoing conspiracy theories about foreign exploration and cold tests.

Kawah Ijen, Indonesia

This blue sea can look like asking for a swim but you wouldn't want to dive in here - this caldera, built in the crater of the Kawah Ijen volcano, is the world's largest acidic lake. The blue flames that erupt in the air are a source of fascination, although there is a scientific explanation. High levels of sulfuric acid, which gives water its attractive color, fire power when it reaches the air.

Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt

Giza's three tombs of the tombs of the tower make it one of the world's most visible objects. The largest of the three - the Great Pyramid of Giza or Khufu - is the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world and its end. It remains a mystery, however, and scholars continue to teach how such a complex, complex structure could be built without modern tools. Look at the wonders of the ancient world today.

Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand

Ancient Maori mythology says that these stones were lumps or containers of food, washed along the shore from the rubble of a boat that brought their ancestors to New Zealand's New Island. Another theory suggests that they are unusual eggs. Geology states that they built the sediment below sea level 65 million years ago, eventually choosing Boekohe Beach as their home.


Meanwhile, other folk come here to energise themselves at the fluvial channels that run underneath the rock – whatever that means!