Welcome back to the new and improved Raven.
Over the weekend, my partner, Dj Johnson, and I recorded our first podcast ever. Fair warning, we are pretty awkward, but you might enjoy our banter.
Our first episode is about the famous Kola Superdeep Borehole, which I refer to as the superdeep butthole because I am 5.
(Source: Wiki)
Located in the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic circle, the Russians set out to create the deepest human-made hole in the world, reaching 40,230 feet or 7.6 miles. In our fantastic little episode, I said it was 9 miles because my math was off- I was right the first time- it's 7.6 miles. Hey, we never claimed to be geniuses here.
Engineers started on May 24, 1970, and continued for nearly 20 years. As someone who can barely focus on something for a couple of weeks, I am impressed.
As deep as this hole is, it only has a diameter of 9 inches- I mean, it's just a borehole. But still, could you imagine if it was wider? That would be terrifying, you're just walking through this abandoned building, and you fall 40,000+ feet into darkness. Fuck.
Anyway, as impressive as this hole is, they only managed to reach 1/3 of the way through the earth's crust.
The project was abandoned, and the hole welded shut. You can get a tour from the old manager of the plant, but that's about it.
The Drill (Source: Reddit)
What would happen if they drilled through to the mantle? Would the earth pop? I am not a scientist (obviously), but digging through the earth can't be a great thing. Maybe that's why it's only 9 inches wide. I don't know; I only spent hours researching it.
The Russians weren't the only people trying to see how deep they could dig. It was the trend of the 70s for superpowers, known as Project Mohole. Mohole stands for Mohorovicic discontinuity, which I was not going to try and pronounce on the podcast, which has to do with the separation of crust and mantle. If you have forgotten 4th-grade science, those are part of the earth; it goes crust, mantle, core. Wooh, yeah, for remembering things.
The United States had their go at digging the deepest hole and held the record with Bertha Rogers in Washita County, Oklahoma, with a depth of 31,440 until June 6, 1979. This project was abanded, and the hole welded shut after scientists blew through 40 million dollars. You know, just some pocket change. Anyway, two years later, the United States went to the moon. Wooh!
A dude named John Steinbeck tried to cheat in the race and discovered a thin spot in the earth's crust in Guadalupe, Mexico. The joke was on him because this was also the deepest part of the ocean, so it didn't work out for him.
Now, if you think that in 2020 we have moved on to bigger and better projects, you are wrong. Japan is currently having a go at digging a big-ass hole. Rumor has it they want to reopen the Kola borehole to continue digging there. I mean, why not? They made it 40,000 feet.
(Source: Atlas Obscura)
So, what was the point? You can't blow through 40 million dollars for the fuck of it- I guess you could but still.
Scientists wanted to figure out how the earth formed and what was up with the crust and the mantle. That was it in a nutshell, but they found way more than they expected.
They found rocks or geological anomalies if you want to sound fancy.
They also found a lot of water, like A LOT of water. Scientists didn't think water could be that deep in the earth, but due to all the strange rocks down there, there's water.
They also found 24 new species of dead single-celled organisms from roughly 2.7 billion years ago.
That blows my mind. The fact that species are found that those depts and that we are always discovering new species. Like I tried to explain to Dj, sometimes I feel like this world is so small, and knowing that there is so much out there to discover is a comfort. As a child, I dreamed of finding new places and new creatures, and it's like that dream never has to end.
There's also a bunch of gases down there. We are talking helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Those working on the borehole said boiling mud would spew from the hole, and the hydrogen and oxygen mixed.
Boiling mud reaching 2,000 + degrees F. Can you imagine? This is why I worry about drilling through the earth.
All the rocks and mud are cool, but what did they really find?
Oh, you know, just an entrance to hell, no big deal.
With all the entrances to hell, I guess it isn't a big deal. Honestly, there are the catacombs in Paris, Hells gate in British Columbia, Seven Gates of Hell in Pennsylvania, New Jersy, and Illinois, and the list goes on.
In the episode, we briefly mention our trip to the Illinois Seven Gates of Hell, if that piqued your interest check out this blog post-https://theravenblog.wixsite.com/theravenblog/post/another-gateway-to-hell
Dutch artist, Lotte Geevan, lowered their microphone into the hole and captured some creepy sounds which mimicked screams. Geevan stated that "Some people thought it did sound like Hell. Others thought they could hear that planet breath."
Inside the borehole (Source: Youtube)
We listened to it before recording, and the "screams" will definitely give you goosebumps. Unfortunately, this recording was a clip from the film, Baron Blood form 1972.
Though it was a hoax, the Kola borehole sparked a bunch of creepypastas.
The borehole later got the nickname, The Well to Hell, and that's when things got a little out of hand. An American Christian radio show called Trinity picked up the story, claiming it was proof for hell's existence in 1989. According to the broadcast, Russian engineer, Mr. Azrakov, managed to drill so far into the earth that he reached hell. Once Mr. Azrakov and his team reached 40,000 feet, they began to have supernatural experiences and find geological anomalies. One of those strange supernatural experiences included a bat-like creature flying out of the hole with a tail on fire, lighting up the Russian sky- a little dramatic if you ask me. Also, the beast would have to fly out of a 9-inch hole, was it a fucking pixie? Ironically I'm listening to The Pixies as I write this.
The Kola borehole inspired the United States Tabloid to print a similar story in 1992. This time it took place in Alaska, and Satan killed 13 miners before being set loose. The miners noted smelling sulfur and hearing screams moments before Satan showed up.
Poor Satan smelled like rotting eggs, probably why the miners kept hearing people scream, "get us out of here." He just wants friends, but he stinks, so no one likes him.
One more note. Apparently, it's common to hear screams if you travel too deep into the earth. Diver, Jacques Cousteau, claimed to listen to cries while diving in the Bermuda Triangle. It scared him so bad he never went in the ocean again.
That's pretty crazy- it was also the Bermuda Triangle, though. Weird shit is known to happen there. During our recording, Dj suggested that maybe there's some sort of magnetic pull there. It's possible. We will definitely have to cover the Bermuda Triangle sometime.
Well, that's all of the notes I had. I hope you enjoyed this strange little story. Dj and I are trying to figure out if you can tour the Bertha Rogers. Keep an eye out; there might be an investigation!
If you got this far, you are amazing. If you got through all of episode one and want another, I am shocked.
We will get better, I promise.
Until next time
-Tye
Always Cite Those Sources:
“13 Places on Earth People Believed Were Entrances to Hell.” io9, October 6, 2013, io9.gizmodo.com/13-places-on-earth-thought-to-be-entrances-to-hell-1441628317.
Ault, Alicia. “Ask Smithsonian: What's the Deepest Hole Ever Dug?” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, February 19. 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-whats-deepest-hole-ever-dug-180954349/.
“The Deepest Hole We Have Ever Dug.” BBC Future, BBC, www.bbc.com/future/article/20190503-the-deepest-hole-we-have-ever-dug.
Edwards, Charlotte. “World's Deepest Hole Dubbed 'Well to Hell' Plunges 40,000 Feet – and Is Only Covered by 'Rusty Soviet Metal Lid.'” The Sun, The Sun, August 29, 2019, www.thesun.co.uk/tech/9786114/worlds-deepest-hole-well-to-hell/.
“Kola Superdeep Borehole.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, July 16, 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole.
“Well to Hell Hoax.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, July 10, 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_to_Hell_hoax.
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