Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – A group of cavers in Oman recently descended the ‘well of hell’, a sinkhole in Yemen that is thought to be a place of evil spirits. Although the cave explorers found no signs of the supernatural, they did make note of some strange discoveries.
The Well of Hell which is officially called the Well of Barhout is located in the eastern province of Yemen, Al-Mahra. Reporting from Newsweek, the well, which is 100 feet wide, has a depth of 367 feet. Recently, the Oman Cave Exploration Team (OCET) went all the way down to its depths to see what they could find. Although known for mystical things, OCET members did not find evil spirits or genies.
“There are snakes, but they won’t bother you unless you bother them,” said Mohammed al-Kindi, a professor of geology at the German University of Technology in Oman.
Scientists also found cave pearls and dead animals. According to local myth, the well was made to imprison evil spirits, some say that the jinn inhabited the well. “Cave pearls are concentric deposits of calcium carbonate that form around a core under falling water. These rings are smoothed by the movement of falling water over thousands of years to form the beautiful pearl shape.”
In June, a Yemeni official told AFP that only part of the exploration had been carried out. The reason is, there is little oxygen and no ventilation in the cave.
“We have visited the area and entered the well, reaching more than 50-60 meters [164-196 kaki] into it,” said Mahra Geological Survey and Mineral Resources Authority Director General, Salah Babhair. “We noticed strange things inside. We also smelled something strange… It’s a mysterious situation.”
He said he had discovered a strange thing and the smell suggested it was a mysterious situation. ScreenRant reported that a strange smell emanating from the well was thought to be a sign of spirits, and was likely from an animal carcass found below.
While the team doesn’t know for sure if they were the first to explore the bottom of the well, Kindi told AFP they found no footprints or other signs of disturbance. He also told the media that the team collected samples from the cave, but had not yet analyzed them.
(rah/rah)
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