There is something highly unnerving about the thought that the ground can give way into a gaping void that can swallow trees, cars, structures, and even people. How frightened should you be of sinkholes? While they can be catastrophic, they are not entirely unpredictable.
Category: Features
Long-form articles covering broad topics
Anti-globular convictions: Flat Earth belief explodes in popularity
The flat earth idea vies for the most alternative geological idea out there. But the spookiest part may be the suggestion that the church, scientists, the government, the media, and private businesses are all conspiring to hide the truth from the rest of civilization. Flat earth ideas have gained traction as they have become political.
Strange lights and levitating rocks at Arkansas crystal mine
Spooky Geology examines the claims from the owners of a crystal mine tourist site in Arkansas who say that strange anomalies, including balls of light and levitation, occur on the site.
Devils Tower: UFO Bulls-eye
Devils Tower, a landmark of the Black Hills, isn’t just another chunk of volcanic rock. It is a native sacred place, an icon of cinema and UFO lore, and focus of other ridiculous alt-geo ideas.
Misbehaving lakes: Three water bodies that exhale death gas
In August 1986, approximately 1800 people living in a 15-mile radius of Lake Nyos in Cameroon didn’t live to see the morning, dying by suffocation from toxic gas exhaled from the bottom of the lake. They were warned but didn’t recognize the signs.
The hammer entombed in rock
The London Hammer is an artifact beloved by Creationists because it appears to be a recent object embedded in old rock. While anomalous, it has a normal explanation.
Haunted rocks: The Stone Tape theory
The “stone tape theory” is frequently used as a sciencey-sounding explanation to explain residual hauntings – appearances of images, sounds, and apparitions that do not interact directly with people. The premise is that the rock or building materials somehow record the event and play it back like a film. But they never asked a geologist about it.
Psychometry in geology
Psychometry – the ability to measure the “soul” – was used in the mid-19th century to “read” the history of rocks. One geologists believed it could revolutionize the field as certain sensitive people could receive psychic impressions from objects.
Darvaza: Gate to Hell
The Darvaza crater in Turkmenistan is a pit formed after a mistake by exploratory drillers. Fueled by natural gas, it’s been impossible to extinguish and has been called a “gate to hell”. More appropriately, it’s been a gateway to tourist dollars.
Dowsing: Witching for water
Dowsing (water divining or water witching) doesn’t work any better than chance or through use of surface clues. So why does it still spark heated arguments and create once-skeptical converts even today? Does it still have a place in modern well drilling?
Fairy Stones (natural crosses)
A common twinning habit of the mineral staurolite results in cross-like crystal formations and guarantees it will be perceived as magical. It’s common in Fairy Stone State Park in Virginia.
Leylines: From the old straight track to Ghostbusters
Interest in leylines or leys as paranormal energy pathways has surged in recent times as ghost hunters use the idea of spooky straight tracks to explain hauntings.
Amazing fossils: Death scenes – geologically preserved
Earth processes can preserve exquisite detail and even a dramatic story of animals’ life and death. Several examples of incredible preserved or fossilized remains have been found.
Cracked, baby, cracked: The earth is splitting up with us humans
Ground cracks and long fissures in dry areas can indicate an over-extraction of groundwater. Some view these features as a sign of End Times. At least, its the end of times of easy to access clean water.
A Trip to Hell: Mysterious tunnel system and underground river at Baiae, Italy
The ancient village of Baiae in Italy has secrets. A recent discovery suggests that an underground tunnel system may have served as a Oracle of the Dead and simulated a trip to Hell (Hades), including crossing an underground “river”.
Introduction to Spooky Geology
What is spooky geology about and what content falls into this category? Here is the introduction to this site.