The Door to Hell
The name of the location is a little daunting. It makes you wonder about human nature when
people are more likely to flock to a place with such a title than avoid
it. But apparently we aren’t as wise as
we think we are, and thousands of people visit.
The door to hell is actually more of a pit or hole. And it’s totally man made. In 1971, a drilling platform was built to
seek out natural gas. It is located in
Turkmenistan, and Soviet scientists meant it to allow the use of this valuable
energy source. But the platform collapsed
and the gas started to escape. In an
effort to keep the poison from the atmosphere, scientists set the open crater
on fire. The plan was a controlled and
limited burn that would cease in a short time.
And that was 40 some years ago.
This scientific attempt to control nature and energy
certainly backfired. The result is a 230
foot wide, 70 foot deep crater burning with incredible heat. The light from the flames can be seen at a
distance and spreads up into the darkened sky. It is heat in the desert, a sparsely populated
place.
I’m not sure that this is actually named appropriately. Granted, it’s hot and flaming, but the devil
made no one do it. And it wasn’t due to
some cruelty of spirit. No one meant for
the fire to burn on, and since it is located away from most towns, it hasn’t
really caused any loss of life. It was a
mistake, not an attack, a botched attempt at fixing something.
Perhaps I’ll go with Fiery Folly.
And this is one that I might want to visit one day.
Any other ideas for a name?
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