A man was exploring Google Maps when he spotted a strange pit in the middle of a remote area. Curious, he zoomed in and noticed it didn’t look like anything natural. He shared it online, and soon scientists were intrigued by this unusual discovery. After studying the location, they found it was an ancient, massive crater, likely caused by a meteor impact. The pit was way bigger than anyone had expected, and its existence had been completely unknown. This discovery amazed researchers, offering clues about Earth’s geological history and past meteor strikes. Credit: CBC News / YouTube Vox / YouTube Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
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00:00You'd be surprised to find out the life-changing discoveries a person can make just by browsing
00:05Google Maps.
00:07Like this guy, who found a suspicious crater and might've made a major scientific discovery.
00:14In 2024, Canadian Joël Lupon was planning a casual camping trip in his homeland.
00:20He opened Google Earth and zoomed in Quebec's Côte-Nord region.
00:23That's when he saw it, this unusual rounded structure.
00:27The measurement was impressive, 9.3 miles from one point to another, and there seemed
00:32to be a lake next to it.
00:34He was quick to print the screen and sent the image to a French geophysicist to see
00:39if he knew anything about it.
00:41Most times, these images turn out to be nothing, or simply Google Earth watermarks.
00:46But he was surprised when he opened his email and saw the scientist's reply.
00:50The geophysicist said that, judging by the looks of the topography, Lupon could have
00:55discovered a meteor impact area.
00:59Impact areas are really hard to identify.
01:01Since they've been around for millions of years, most of their shapes have been heavily
01:05changed by erosion.
01:07Scientists call these areas impact structures.
01:09They're usually circular, or crater-like, and are made up of deformed bedrock.
01:14It happens when a meteor falls into the surface of the Earth.
01:18Here's the thing.
01:19Since the crater has huge walls around it, these areas are usually mistaken for mountain
01:24ranges.
01:25That's what left the Canadian explorer confused.
01:27But the French geophysicist that analyzed the case gave him hope.
01:32That weird formation in Quebec had been classified as a type of volcanic formation.
01:38After Lupon brought this subject back to the agenda, scientists had to dig a little deeper
01:43to find the truth.
01:45Until this recent discovery, scientists thought the area looked like that due to some volcanic
01:49formation.
01:51This is actually normal, since other things, such as volcanism and sinkholes, can be mistaken
01:56for impact craters.
01:57To verify, they asked for some samples of the site.
02:01This is a more reliable way to fact-check whether a meteor landed there or not.
02:06When the meteor hits the Earth, it brings different types of minerals from outer space.
02:10That's the wonderful thing about impact craters – they reveal a link between Earth
02:15and the outside universe.
02:17By now, scientists have catalogued most of the minerals that are native to our planet.
02:22When they're searching for an impact structure, they usually look for things such as tenite
02:27and chemicite, which can only be found in meteors.
02:30The biggest known impact crater in the world is the Vredefort crater, located in South
02:35Africa.
02:36This big thing was formed some 4 billion years ago.
02:39The asteroid that made it is estimated to have been one of the largest ever to strike
02:43planet Earth.
02:45When the researchers got the results of the site back in Canada, they did confirm that
02:49it contained zircon, a mineral that tends to show areas of impact.
02:54There's no way to guarantee that Laplante really found an impact crater, but scientists
02:59are organizing a research mission over to the area just to make sure.
03:04If it turns out that it really is an impact crater, that's pretty huge news, since the
03:09last discovery was made in 2013.
03:13Another one of these mesmerizing discoveries came from a 15-year-old boy.
03:18William Goddery was also a Canadian and, for some reason, loved looking for long-lost Mayan
03:24cities.
03:25Different from the previous story, William had an intention and a research methodology.
03:30He had studied many books on Mayan civilizations.
03:34He believed that Mayans built their cities in relation to the stars in the sky.
03:38So he opened a book and mapped all the cities that have already been unearthed.
03:43And that's when he noticed something important.
03:46There is an area in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico where archaeologists have unearthed
03:51two Mayan cities.
03:53But on the constellation map, there are three stars.
03:56He thought to himself, could this mean there is a lost city waiting to be discovered nearby?
04:03William Goddery is known to be a science genius and has even won an award for this
04:08constellation theory.
04:10When he noticed that a third city was missing from the 23rd constellation he was examining,
04:15he began to search Google Earth for satellite pictures that could help him solve this mystery.
04:21Advances in satellite tech have shed new light on long-lost Mayan cities such as Tikal.
04:27Located in the heart of the Guatemalan jungle, Tikal is believed to have been the capital
04:32of the ancient Mayan Empire.
04:34He had hopes.
04:35So he reached out to a friend inside the Canadian Space Agency to verify what he had found.
04:41Since he had already won awards for his research, he had friends in high places.
04:46And that's when things got interesting.
04:48According to the images, there was a large square area on the border of Mexico and Belize
04:54that looked like the remains of a city.
04:56William took the images to a remote sensing expert.
04:59They studied the images thoroughly and concluded that the area could be housing 30 buildings
05:05and even a large pyramid.
05:08William named the new city he discovered as Mouth of Fire.
05:12However, his theory was very much contested inside the archaeological community, and many
05:17Mayan experts worked to debunk William's findings.
05:22Experts say that constellation theories are too unscientific.
05:25Renowned anthropologists and astronomers said William's methodology was an act of
05:30creative imagination.
05:32Still, a 15-year-old teen almost found a long-lost Mayan city, which is pretty exciting if you
05:38ask me.
05:41What about these tiny dots that appeared on images of Google Earth?
05:45These strange spotted circles were found in the middle of the Algerian desert.
05:49A YouTuber browsing on Google Earth found these circles and discovered that people have
05:54been debating over their origin for years.
05:57He thought they were a glitch from satellite images.
06:00There are dozens of them, stretching for miles and miles in a straight line.
06:05They're far away from any town, road, or human activity, making it hard to understand if
06:10it was man-made or just a natural phenomenon.
06:14To settle this mystery, he interviewed the people who took Google Earth's pictures.
06:19He found out they were 100% true.
06:22The circles were there in real life.
06:24They appear in multiple pictures from multiple years.
06:28At first, he guessed they were the result of oil activity.
06:32Algeria is a rich area for natural resources, so this made sense.
06:36To find out if the area is worth extracting, companies usually undertake seismic surveys.
06:42They're a way of analyzing the Earth's surface by sending shock waves into the ground.
06:47Depending on how these waves bounce back, you'll know what is located underground.
06:52There was another possibility.
06:55The Sahara is a very dry area of the planet.
06:58The average high temperatures in summer are over 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
07:03To survive there, people need to find ways of accessing water.
07:07So, his second guess was that the circles were a kind of ruin or leftover from ancient
07:12water wells.
07:14But when he talked to an expert, he found out they weren't ancient water wells.
07:18You can see some of these traditional constructions in other cities on Google Earth.
07:23And they look really different from the mysterious circles.
07:26He decided to travel over to Algeria to find out the truth.
07:30He drove 99 miles into the heart of the desert.
07:33And when he gets there, he sees it.
07:36A huge crater dug on the sand, surrounded by 12 smaller holes.
07:41It kind of looked like the ancestor of a modern clock.
07:44There, he found something he couldn't spot on Google Earth – thin metal wires.
07:50When the curious YouTuber and his teams started to dig in the sand, they found old dynamite
07:56and some sardine cans.
07:57Apparently, they were hiding the truth.
08:00The Sahara circles, as they were famously called, were not the historical leftovers
08:05of seismic surveying.
08:07Back at the time when these circles were made, this technology didn't even exist.
08:12But they were sure related to oil exploration.
08:15The dynamite holes were an ancient method of oil searching.
08:18And the sardine cans?
08:20Well, they were left by the workers who were exploring the region.
08:24Another Google Earth mystery solved!
08:27That's it for today!
08:30So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
08:34friends.
08:35Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!