An urban legend from the late 1980s claimed that Soviet scientists had drilled so far down they hit hell - and brought back an audio recording of the suffering souls. But it was actually Baron Blood.
The sound of hell - The Generalist Academy Skip to content The Generalist Academy Learn widely Menu About Explore Connect Contact Search for: Search Search Search for: Search By The Generalist Posted on July 12, 2021July 11, 2021 The sound of hell An urban legend from the late 1980s claimed that Soviet scientists had drilled so far down they hit hell – and brought back an audio recording of the suffering souls. But it was actually Baron Blood. Tormod Sandtorv, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Soviet scientists sure do love their holes. The image above is the Darvaza Crater (first mentioned in blue lava). It has been on fire since they set it alight in 1970. That same year, Soviet researchers began drilling a hole, trying to get as far down as possible. That hole, the Kola Superdeep Borehole, is now the deepest artificial hole in the world. It reaches more than twelve kilometres down, nearly a third a way through the Earth’s crust. It turns out that there a few surprises that far down: plankton fossils six kilometres down, and water (!) seven kilometres below the surface. That borehole is very close to the Norwegian border, and not too far north of the Finnish border. In 1989, a small Christian newsletter in Finland published a piece about the borehole. It purported that Soviet scientists had lowered a microphone down into the depths, and the result shocked them to their core. The audio recording was full of screams and shrieks, thousands of humans in agony. The Soviets had found hell. An urban legend was born. A Finnish newspaper picked up the newsletter piece, a Christian journal picked it up, and soon the article found its way to the United States. Tabloids and the Trinity Broadcasting Network republished, rebroadcast, and embellished the story. At some point the action moved from the Kola Peninsula to Siberia. I assume Siberia made for a more compellingly-desolate location. Fast forward to 1998. Art Bell’s paranormal radio show Coast to Coast AM broadcast the recording itself: The recording ran wild on the Internet and really cemented the urban legend. It sounds terrifying. But, of course, it was a glorious hoax. The sounds in the recording are actually taken from a schlocky 1972 horror film called Baron Blood, remixed, looped, and distorted. This video extracts the source: Well to Hell hoaxBaron BloodThe Siberian Hell soundsThe Well to Hell Read more The 101st kilometreSoviet Russia kept undesirables (criminals and political dissidents) away from view by banning them from coming closer than 101km to major urban centres.January 26, 2020Russian hobbitsTolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books have a long history in the Soviet Union and Russia, from illegal translations in the 1960s to a film in the 1980s to an unauthorised retelling sympathetic to the orcs in the 1990s.February 16, 2020Chain across the BalticIn 1989 two million people formed a human chain stretching 675km from Tallinn to Riga to Vilnius.October 21, 2020 Categories: 20th century history, Earth science, Europe, North & Central America, Religion & belief Post navigation Previous Post Previous post:Featured category: PlantsNext Post None of the above Leave a Reply Cancel reply Newsletter Subscribe to the newsletter and receive an email every day (or week) with a new interesting thing. Email Address Subscribe Join 466 other subscribers Follow Facebook RSS feed Categories Arts Architecture Art Fashion & design Film & television Literature Music Theatre History 19th century history 20th century history 21st century history Ancient history Early modern history Medieval history Prehistory Places Africa East Asia Europe Middle East North & Central America North & Central Asia Oceania South America South Asia Southeast Asia The oceans The poles Sciences Animals Astronomy Computer science Earth science Food & agriculture Health & medicine Mathematics & statistics Physics & chemistry Plants Technology Weights & measures Society Economics & business Education & philosophy Games & sport Language Military Politics & law Religion & belief Website Featured category From the archives Updates Archives August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 Scroll Up Loading Comments... Write a Comment... Email (Required) Name (Required) Website