Whether it's the cause of a flamingo-colored lake or the source of the gelatinous lumps found on tree branches, nature holds countless secrets that researchers are still trying to unravel.
Some people attributed these unusual phenomena to UFOs or mythical creatures, but scientists turned to physics, genetic research and other scientific methods to develop their theories. Such research has brought us much closer to solving some of these mysteries, but questions often remain unanswered.
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Here are 10 natural mysteries from around the world that scientists still can't fully explain.
Eternal Flame Falls, New York
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Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock
In New York's Chestnut Ridge Park, a flickering fire gives its name to the Eternal Flame Falls. Protected from the flow of water by a rock cavity, it can burn on its own indefinitely – although it sometimes goes out.
This phenomenon is extremely rare. There are fewer than 50 such “eternal flames” worldwide, geologist Giuseppe Etiope told National Geographic in 2024. Combustible natural gas, created when very high temperatures “burn” organic matter, bubbles up from underground, constantly keeping the flames burning. The ignition source may be people, forest fires or lightning.
What makes the New York flame unique is that its source — more than 400 meters below the surface in the Rhinestreet Shale — is relatively low in temperature.
“The traditional hypothesis is that natural gas only forms when rocks are heated above the boiling point of water,” researcher Arndt Schimmelmann told State Impact Pennsylvania in 2013. “But our rock has never been this hot,” he added.
One of the researchers' theories is that minerals such as iron or nickel can act as a flame catalyst.
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European eels, Sargasso Sea
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Joyce Godsey / Shutterstock
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote: “Eels come from the so-called 'guts of the earth', they are born spontaneously in mud and damp earth.”
More than 2,000 years later, scientists knew this wasn't true — but they still had no idea how eels reproduce. Danish biologist Johannes Schmidt tracked the migration of European eels and determined that their spawning place is probably in the Sargasso Sea. Some of them travel over 4,800 km to reach this region of the North Atlantic surrounded by four ocean currents.
This discovery was made over a century ago, and scientists still have questions about how eels travel – how they navigate, along what routes and at what speeds.
Understanding their reproductive cycle is crucial because the number of eels reaching Europe has fallen by 95%. since the 1980s
In 2022, scientists published a study reporting that tagged adult eels do indeed migrate to the Sargasso Sea — perhaps to spawn. Despite many years of research, no one has found adults or eggs there, which leads some researchers to doubt that this is their actual place of breeding.
Things are slippery as an eel – literally.
Savonoska Crater, Alaska
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NPS photograph by Kaiti Critz (public domain)
Flying over Katmai National Park in southwestern Alaska, you can see a lake that looks too perfect to be natural. It is over 480 m in diameter and over 110 m deep.
Melting snow and rain filled the crater, which was formed during or before the last ice age. In the 1960s and 1970s, scientists studying the Savonoski Crater tried to find evidence of a meteorite impact – and while it's possible, retreating glaciers may have taken away any traces of it.
The crater could also have been created as a result of the so-called volcanic maar, or – as University of Alaska Fairbanks professor T. Neil Davis described in a 1978 article – “a volcano that tried but failed.”
When a magma tube hits groundwater just below the earth's surface, steam erupts and a depression is created in the rocks. The maar spews smoke and ash for a while, then calms down as the pressure drops.
Singing sand, China
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In Josephine Tey's 1952 novel The Singing Sands, a police inspector becomes embroiled in an investigation into a mysterious poem:
“Beasts that say,
Streams that stand still
Stones that walk
The sand that sings…”
Although the story is fictional, “singing sand” is real – it can be found in Japan, Egypt and the states of Indiana and California. Many places, such as the Dunhuang dunes in China, have become tourist attractions.
A low, vibrating growl comes from the sand falling from the slopes of the dunes, sometimes so loud that it can be heard from a distance of 10 km. For this sound to occur, special conditions must exist – the appropriate size, shape and silica content in the sand grains, according to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the USA).
But why the frequencies of this noise resemble music remains a mystery, according to a 2012 study.
Fairy circles, Namib desert
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Miriam Park / Shutterstock
For decades, scientists have been intrigued by empty patches in the grassy areas of the Namib Desert called “fairy circles.” They stand out clearly from the greenery of South African vegetation.
Some researchers have suggested that termite colonies eat plants and burrow into the soil, creating a circle that gradually enlarges. However, in a 2022 study, scientists found no traces of insects in the vertebrae analyzed. Instead, they used sensors to monitor the plants' moisture uptake.
The results indicated that the cause of the voids is ecohydrological feedback – in other words, these areas “sacrifice” vegetation to redirect water to where grasses grow.
“Grasses form a circle because it is the most logical structure for each plant to have as much water as possible,” ecologist Stephan Getzin told CNN in 2022.
Other researchers suggest that similar circles in Australia may be the work of microorganisms.
Ferris Cauldron, Minnesota
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For years, curious visitors to Judge C.R. Magney State Park have thrown sticks, ping-pong balls and dye into the Brule River to see where the water would go. The river creates several waterfalls here, including the famous Devil's Cauldron.
Some of the water fell into the hole – and no one knew where it disappeared to. Some thought it flowed underground toward Canada or Lake Superior.
In 2017, hydrologists compared the amount of water above and below the waterfall and found it to be almost identical. In other words, the water doesn't disappear at all – it flows back into the river at the base of the waterfall.
Scientists think they know where exactly it's flowing out, but they're not 100 percent sure, hydrologist Jeff Green said on the Science Solved It podcast in 2018.
What happened to the ping-pong balls? The strong, swirling currents just shattered them, Green explained.
Earthquake lights, Mexico
When a magnitude 7 earthquake struck near Acapulco in 2021, residents of Mexico City, hundreds of miles away, began recording strange lights in the sky on their phones. Blue flashes lit up the sky like lightning.
Not all experts believe in the existence of “earthquake lights,” although they have been reported around the world for centuries. Some scientists believe that the flashes are the result of damage to the power grid or a storm, reports National Public Radio in the US.
Others are studying the phenomenon in hopes that the lights, which sometimes appear before a quake, could serve as an early warning system.
But first they would have to determine why these flashes occur in the first place. A recent research paper examined several possible causes, including leaking methane igniting from static electricity.
Lake Hillier, Australia
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matteo_it / Shutterstock
Off the coast of Western Australia lies the bright pink Lake Hillier. It looks unreal, as if someone poured hectoliters of Pepto-Bismol into it.
Biologists suspect that microorganisms producing dyes are responsible for the intense color. In 2022, researchers analyzed the lake's microbiome and discovered numerous bacteria, viruses and algae. Some produced purple sulfur, others red-orange dyes. Together they create a characteristic pink shade.
The researchers noted that there may be other organisms that affect the color, so further research is needed.
That same year, heavy rainfall occurred, diluting the salinity – also a key color factor. Today the lake has only a pinkish tint, but according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), its intense color should return when the water evaporates again.
Fosse Dionne, France
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Gerald Villena / Shutterstock
For centuries, people have been using Fosse Dionne, drinking its turquoise water without knowing where it comes from. In the 18th century, residents built a laundry around the spring to take advantage of its powerful current, which throws out over 300 liters of water per second.
The spring is located in Tonnerre, France, and flows into a pool whose color changes depending on the weather and other factors – it can be green, blue or brown, said the city's mayor in an interview with the BBC in 2019. Local legend says that a mythical, serpentine basilisk once lived in the depths.
Only about 400 meters of the spring's course are known – further parts include a flooded cave in which several divers lost their lives.
Professional diver Pierre-Éric Deseigne reached previously unknown parts of the cave, but was unable to find the source of Fosse Dionne, the BBC reported in 2019.
Star jelly, everywhere
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Graeme Pearce / Shutterstock
Since the 14th century, scientists and writers have mentioned a strange substance – white, gelatinous lumps that were believed to fall from the sky during meteor showers, leading to the name “stellar jelly.”
What's even more mysterious is that shortly after appearing, the substance usually disappears, as if it had evaporated.
While “star jelly” sounds like something extraterrestrial, its origins are much more terrestrial – although there are many theories about it.
In some cases, the gelatinous mass found in swamps, fields, rocks and even in residential areas or in the Arctic may be frog spawn regurgitated by birds or other animals. Other hypotheses suggest that it is a type of slime mold or cyanobacteria Nostoc communei.e. single-celled organisms forming colonies surrounded by a layer of mucus – The Times of London reported after the discovery of “stellar jelly” in 2024.
Testing of the samples did not identify a single source, suggesting that “star jelly” may be a name covering several different natural phenomena rather than one specific one.
The above text is a translation from American edition of Business Insider
