A hole deeper than 24,000 meters, equivalent to a quarter of the distance through the thickest part of the Earth’s crust, is likely a hoax inspired by a mine shaft.
On February 21, 1997, Mel Waters, a resident of Washington State, USA, called into the radio show Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell and made some strange claims. Mel said he had discovered a bottomless pit with extraordinary powers. Through a series of calls, his descriptions became increasingly bizarre. The story quickly gained popularity, prompting many to search for the hole. However, the hole was never found, and geologists believe that such a structure cannot exist.
A typical sinkhole. (Image: Poliorketes).
The Story of the Bottomless Pit
Mel did not specify the exact location of the hole but mentioned it was about 14 kilometers west of Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington. According to him, many people were aware of this hole, and locals had been dumping trash there for centuries. The first settlers in the area referred to it as the Devil’s Hole.
In his first call to the local radio station, Mel recounted that his dogs were afraid of the hole and refused to go near it. Curious, he decided to check how deep it was. Mel claimed he measured the depth with a fishing line and a weight but had measured up to 24,000 meters of line without reaching the bottom.
In subsequent appearances on the show on February 24, 1997, 2000, and 2002, Mel made even more unbelievable claims. For instance, he asserted that the hole had the power of resurrection. A neighbor had thrown his dead dog into the pit, and shortly afterward, he saw it wandering in the woods. Although it seemed not to recognize its owner, it was still wearing the collar of the deceased dog.
Mel claimed that the hole could transform certain objects. Metals would change into different metals when close to the pit, while radios emitted strange voices and played music from bygone eras. A cooler full of ice, after being lowered into the hole and pulled back up, suddenly became warm but remained solid and caught fire. Mel insisted that the enormous hole did not create any echoes, and no matter what size object was dropped, it could not be heard hitting the bottom.
Unmasking the Impossible Hole
Mel’s story attracted significant attention, and in 2002, a group of 30 people went to Ellensburg to search for the pit. However, they returned home empty-handed. Local reporters investigating the story could not find any records of anyone named Mel Waters living in the area or owning land in Kittitas County.
Science provides the most convincing evidence that the hole is merely a hoax. Although the Earth’s crust is uneven, it averages 30 kilometers thick on land, potentially reaching up to 100 kilometers in some mountain ranges. Thus, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Mel’s hole would reach about a quarter of the distance through the thickest part of the Earth’s crust.
According to Jack Powell, a geologist from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the hole not only does not exist, but it also cannot exist. He stated that the immense temperature and pressure from the surrounding strata would cause a hole of such size to collapse. Powell suggested that a more reasonable explanation is that an abandoned mine shaft inspired the story. The area had previously had several gold mines, and some mine shafts may have inspired Mel.
Another geologist, Pat Pringle, noted that any fishing line attempting to reach a depth greater than 24,000 meters would break beforehand due to the extreme temperatures. Additionally, Mel’s other strange descriptions, such as resurrected dogs or transforming metals, are scientifically impossible.
