The gateway to hell is right here on Earth and the only man brave enough to visit has said it's like stepping onto an alien planet.
See it for yourself:
The fiery Darvaza gas crater is located in the desert of northern Turkmenistan and we think it has been burning since the 70s.
Advert
While we're not totally sure on how the crater was formed, we do know that engineers ignited the crater to prevent poisonous gases from spreading - and it's been aflame ever since.
In 2022, president Berdimuhamedow announced plans to extinguish the crater, due to the impact on local air quality.
However, as things stand the crater remains open - and a man named George Kourounis - who is an adventurer and storm chaser - went down there to check it out.
National Geographic, who funded the 2013 expedition, called the crater a 'surreal feature in an otherwise barren landscape'.
Advert
Kourounis also said it felt like stepping on to an alien planet.
"In order to prepare, there was a lot of practice at first. I was wearing: a heat-reflective suit, self-contained breathing apparatus, the climbing harness that I'm wearing," he explained.
"We had to get it custom-made out of Kevlar, because a regular climbing harness would just melt under the extreme heat.
Advert
"I even went as far as to hire a stunt coordinator who does movie stunts for Hollywood films to light me on fire several times, in order to sort of prepare myself for not panicking being up close around flame.
"When you first set eyes on the crater, it's like something out of a science fiction film.
"You've got this vast, sprawling desert with almost nothing there, and then there's this gaping, burning pit."
Advert
He continued: "The heat coming off of it is scorching. The shimmer from the distortion of it warping the air around it is just amazing to watch, and when you're downwind, you get this blast of heat that is so intense that you can't even look straight into the wind.
"You have to shield your face with your hand just standing at the crater's edge.
"Here I am thinking, Oh-kaaaay, maybe I've bitten off a bit more than I can chew."
Kourounis added: "It was—'surreal' isn't a strong enough word.
Advert
"When you take your first step off the edge, and you finally put all your weight on that rope, you're trusting every link in that chain of technology and teamwork.
"When you go out over, looking straight down, it's literally like another planet almost.
"I described it as a coliseum of fire—just everywhere you look it's thousands of these small fires.
"The sound was like that of a jet engine, this roaring, high-pressure, gas-burning sound.
"And there was no smoke.
"It burns very cleanly, so there's nothing to obscure your view.
"You can just see every little lick of flame.
"There were a few moments that I just literally had to stop, look around, and drink in the spectacle of where I was.
"I could see my teammates up on the crater rim, just these tiny specks lit by this fire.
"You feel very, very small and very vulnerable in a place like that."
Topics: World News, Aliens
Anish Vij