The world's oldest tree turns 4,847 this year and lives in a top-secret location

Even if people have laid eyes on the world's oldest tree, there's a good chance they didn't realize it. That's because the United States Forest Service keeps all information about the 4,847-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine — including its exact location — completely under wraps to protect it from any potential vandals, loggers, and researchers who may be interested in chopping it down.

The tree, known as Methuselah, is rumored to be located somewhere on a mountain in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, part of Inyo National Forest in California. Even with that hint, searchers would be hard pressed to find the tree, however. The Forest Service refuses to release even as much as a picture of the tree out of fear that may happen.

While it might sound zany to be so protective over a tree, the Forest Service admittedly has good reason. The New York Times reports that the world's former oldest-known tree, an ancient pine in Nevada's Great Basin National Park, got chopped down by a graduate student in 1964:

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Read more about the world's oldest tree — and the possibility of finding an even older tree — over at The New York Times.