Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Like us on Facebook
Curiosmos
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists
No Result
View All Result
Curiosmos
No Result
View All Result

This living crater in Siberia keeps changing shape and no one knows why

This living crater in Siberia rises, sinks, and changes shape—but after 70 years, scientists still can't explain what caused it.

Justin GurkinicbyJustin Gurkinic
March 4, 2019 - Updated on April 18, 2025
in Unsolved Mysteries
Patomsky crater, view from a helicopter. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Patomsky crater, view from a helicopter. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

This living crater in Siberia has left scientists confused for more than 70 years. Known as the Patomskiy Crater, it rises out of the forest like a massive stone mound—and it doesn’t stay still. Its shape changes over time, and no one agrees on what caused it.

A crater unlike anything on Earth

In the dense wilderness of Irkutsk, Russia, deep within the isolated landscape of southeastern Siberia, sits one of the world’s most mysterious geological formations: the Patomskiy Crater. Often called the living crater in Siberia, it rises like a massive stone cone from the forest floor—80 meters tall, 150 meters wide, and weighing nearly one million tons.

This living crater in Siberia keeps changing shape and no one knows why
A close up of the Crater.

Discovered in 1949, the site immediately baffled researchers. The structure resembles no other natural landform in the region. It features a central mound within a funnel-like depression, a shape more reminiscent of artificial or catastrophic impact structures than of known geologic processes. But the strangest thing about it is not its size or form—it’s the fact that it moves.

Over the decades, researchers have recorded subtle but measurable changes in the crater’s shape. Some reports suggest the entire structure periodically swells or collapses, almost as if the ground beneath is breathing. Surrounding trees grow at an abnormal rate, leading some scientists to suggest the presence of underground energy or chemical anomalies.

Related Posts

An artists rendering of what Atlantis may have looked like in the past.

Edgar Cayce’s Vision of Atlantis and Hidden Chambers

January 26, 2024 - Updated on April 8, 2025
Image of Star Wars’ Master Yoda Found in 14th Century Manuscript

Image of Star Wars’ Master Yoda Found in 14th Century Manuscript

April 3, 2019 - Updated on May 3, 2023

No one agrees on what created it

Since its discovery, the origin of the living crater in Siberia has remained a topic of ongoing scientific dispute. One early theory proposed that it formed after a massive meteorite impact, but no fragments or extraterrestrial materials have ever been recovered at the site. Others believed it might be the result of a secret nuclear explosion during Soviet testing, though no radiation has been detected.

Some geologists proposed volcanic activity as a possible explanation. However, the area around the crater is not volcanic, and the structure does not resemble typical volcanic cones or lava domes. In fact, many researchers argue that no known geological process in the region could have formed something like this.

The Russian geologist Viktor Sergeyevich Antipin, from the St. Petersburg Institute of Geochemistry, offered a grounded explanation in 2010. He concluded that the crater likely formed as a result of subsurface geological processes involving gas emissions or rock displacement—not a meteorite or extraterrestrial force. However, he acknowledged that the exact mechanism remains unidentified.

Theories, probes, and a buried mystery

One of the most persistent theories is that a large object lies buried beneath the crater—possibly a high-density iron mass or ancient meteorite. Some estimates suggest this object could be lodged as deep as 150 meters underground. But despite decades of research, no drill has reached it, and no conclusive data has been retrieved.

What keeps fueling public and scientific interest is the crater’s apparent instability. Measurements have shown vertical movement and changes in volume over time. Locals who have lived near the region for generations refer to the crater as “Eagle’s Nest” and often speak of the land as sacred.

While there are comparisons to the 1908 Tunguska event—another Siberian mystery involving a suspected explosion caused by a meteor airburst—researchers believe the living crater in Siberia is much older. Radiocarbon analysis dates its formation to around 350 years ago, predating Tunguska by nearly three centuries.

The debate continues

Researchers from institutions like Irkutsk State Technical University and the Institute of Geosphere Dynamics continue to study the site, but no definitive answers have emerged. While some still argue for a meteoritic origin, others believe the formation could be the result of unknown natural processes.

What makes the Patomskiy Crater so compelling is not just its mysterious origin, but the fact that it continues to evolve. With shifting shape, unusual tree growth, and no clear explanation, the living crater in Siberia remains one of Earth’s most enigmatic natural anomalies—still defying science, 70 years after its discovery.

Share4620Tweet98Share27ShareSend
Justin Gurkinic

Justin Gurkinic

Hey, my name is Justin, and my friends call me Gurk. Why? Becuase of my last name. It sounds like a vegetable. Kind of. I love sleeping and writing. History is my thing.

Related Posts

Analyzing the Controversial Ancient Aliens Theory: Separating Fact from Fiction
Unsolved Mysteries

Analyzing the Controversial Ancient Aliens Theory: Separating Fact from Fiction

April 1, 2023
An artist's rendering of a highly advanced civilization. Shutterstock.
Unsolved Mysteries

Could We Uncover Evidence of a Pre-Human Advanced Civilization Hidden in Earth’s Ancient Layers?

January 17, 2025
The Akashic records are known as an invisible library that holds all the information about us, the past, and the future.
Unsolved Mysteries

10 Interesting Facts About The Akashic Records And How To Find Yours

September 9, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
The Egyptian Cat Goddess Bastet.
Unsolved Mysteries

Baba Vanga’s Prophecies and the Mystery of Bastet’s Tomb

August 29, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
A view and comparison of the Balochistan Sphinx, and Egypt's Great Sphinx. Image Credit: Ancient Inquiries.
Unsolved Mysteries

Is This Really a 12,000-Year-Old Sphinx in Pakistan?

July 31, 2020 - Updated on January 21, 2024
The face of the Great Sphinx of Giza. Shutterstock.
Unsolved Mysteries

3 Confounding Anomalies Concerning the Identity of the Great Sphinx

August 27, 2019 - Updated on January 21, 2024
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Fair Use Notice
  • DMCA / Removal
  • Impressum
  • Contact
  • Fact-Checking Policy
  • Ethics Policy
  • Ownership and Funding Information
  • Impressum
CURIOSMOS.COM

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Unsolved Mysteries
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Cosmic Phenomena
  • Alien Theories
  • Curious Lists