Scientists investigating what caused a massive crater in Siberia

A crater in northern Siberia thought to be 262 feet wide has caught scientists off guard, and questioning just how the enormous hole came to be.

Aerial footage of the crater in the Yamal area was posted online last week, and scientists from the Center for the Study of the Arctic and the Cryosphere Institute of the Russian Academy of Scientists headed to the site on Wednesday. As NPR reports, it looks as though rock and earth exploded from the inside of the hole, and it could have been caused by a gas explosion (Yamal is home to the largest natural gas reservoir in Russia), a meteorite, or an eruption of underground ice. The internet, of course, is convinced it's the work of aliens.

Before the mysterious crater appeared, The Siberian Times says Yamal — which translates to "the end of the world" — was most famous for being home to birds, reindeer, and wooly mammoth fossils. --Catherine Garcia

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