Whether naturally occurring or human-made, some phenomena on Earth are so perplexing that they leave even scientists scratching their hands. From strange lights that illuminate the night sky to creatures thriving under confounding circumstances and fields of giant, perfectly round stone spheres, take a mind-binding journey to eight places with mysterious phenomena.
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Plain of Jars, Laos
Few visitors find their way to the remote plains of Xiangkhoang Plateau in Laos. But if you do venture into this arid region of Southeast Asia, you’ll find thousands of enormous, ancient stone jars dotting the landscape. They sit scattered across the land like a giant’s forgotten crockery. The urns date back to the Iron Age, when their makers used a combination of clay, dung, sandstone, and sugar to create them before baking them in huge kilns.
Some jars also have artful reliefs carved into them, showing off the skill of the creator. What’s most baffling about the jars, though, is how they got to the plateau in the first place. Some of the giant jars weigh as much as 10 tons and measure nearly 10 feet tall.
So how were the jars transported to the empty landscape from the quarry, which is more than six miles away? Scientists can only speculate about their purpose. One group of archaeologists believes the jars may have been giant urns commemorating the dead. There are other theories and legends too, but unexploded bombs in the area pose a threat to those seeking to reveal the mystery of the jars. As a result, the Plain of Jars - which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019 - remains, for the most part, an archaeological mystery.
Eternal Flame Falls, New York
Everyone knows that fire and water don’t mix, but one particularly mysterious place in western New York seems to prove otherwise. Eternal Flame Falls in the Shale Creek Preserve baffles geologists with its juxtaposition of fire and water. Visitors to the 35-foot waterfall can peer beyond the falls to a small, flickering flame hidden in the caves behind the water. Scientists initially believed that, as was the case with other “eternal flames,” hot rocks releasing natural gas deposits from under the ground started the fire.
Researchers from Indiana University, however, found that the rock under the waterfall wasn’t hot enough to form the necessary pockets of natural gas to keep the flame burning. So, what’s keeping the eternal flame flickering behind the falls? No one has a scientific explanation for it, but legend gives credit to local Native American tribes, claiming they lit the flame thousands of years ago. Geologists still hope to identify the cause in the future and unlock the fiery secrets of this mysterious place. In the meantime, you can see the watery flame for yourself by taking a half-mile hike to the falls inside Chestnut Ridge County Park.