We inherited not only knowledge from our ancestors, but also various legends. Some of them have already been debunked. But some are still secrets.
Lake Baikal also has its own mystical mysteries. Not everyone can be solved. For example, local fishermen often talk about mirages - castles, ancient ships and islands that appear above the surface of the lake.
Scientists explain this phenomenon simply: the deep waters of the lake never warm up, remaining cold even in hot summers, and the air above the surface is warm, which creates a resonance. Air layers of different density refract the sun's rays, which is why pictures are formed. Locals call them "holomenitsa". This is a phenomenon on Lake Baikal, in which it is possible to see objects on the horizon that are actually 40 kilometers away.
There are many mysteries associated with the Baikal ice. For example, in the 1930s, specialists from the Baikal Limnological Station discovered unusual forms of ice cover, characteristic only of Baikal. For example, hills are cone-shaped ice hills up to 6 meters high, hollow inside. Outwardly, they resemble ice tents, "open" to the opposite side from the coast. Hills can be located separately, and sometimes form miniature "mountain ranges".
Every year magazines and television publish a lot of information on the anomalous secrets of the majestic Lake Baikal, with a depth of 1642 meters! Basically, these are frequent UFO sightings over a reservoir or nearby settlements. Since ancient times, the territory of Lake Baikal has been and is a source of strength for local shamans and sorcerers.
Researchers have proven that there are strong magnetic deflections near Olkhon Island. Anomalous activity was also detected near Mount Izhimei. In this place, there were inexplicable round holes in the ice of the correct shape.
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On satellite images of Lake Baikal, on the spring ice, you can sometimes see dark rings 5-7 kilometers in diameter. For the first time such a ring was seen in a satellite image taken in April 1999. The ring was located opposite Cape Krestovsky (near the village of Buguldeika).
It is possible that the formation of circles is associated with the emissions of natural combustible gas (methane) from the many kilometers of sedimentary strata of the bottom of Lake Baikal. In summer, in such places, bubbles rise from the depths to the surface, and in winter, "proparins" with a diameter of half a meter to hundreds of meters are formed, where ice is very thin or even absent.
The mysteries of Lake Baikal also include strange zones where radio waves do not pass at all - competing in some way with the anomalous zone of the Bermuda Triangle. In such places, electronic navigators of ships sailing on the lake often fail.
Near Olkhon Island, not only mirages appear, but also a terrible funnel, which forms spontaneously, regardless of meteorological conditions. To see it, you need to move in a southeast direction from the island, about 30 kilometers from it there is a place called the Devil's Funnel. A couple of times a year, it is here, with complete calm, that the elements begin to rage, forming a rotating column of water.
Of course, such a phenomenon could not help but acquire mystical stories. For example, one of the legends says that at this point in space there is a door to the world of the dead from which it is known to be almost impossible to return. Some believe that a huge mythical snake lives in this place, perhaps even the legendary Hydra itself.
Scientists, however, offer several versions of the causes of the phenomenon, and not at all mystical. One of them is based on the assumption of local dips in the bottom of Lake Baikal with the formation of cavities quickly filled with water, which leads to the formation of a whirlpool on the surface.
According to another theory, it is in the place where the funnel is formed that two local counter currents collide. The direction and strength of these currents depends on the time of year and the weather, so that under certain conditions the water flows move strictly towards each other. Such interaction of counter currents can indeed lead to very powerful whirlpools.
Shamans like to gather on the shores of Lake Baikal: Olkhon Island is a kind of focus of this tradition. Every year, congresses of Baikal and Siberian shamans are held here, who conduct various rituals, communicate with local residents.
They call the Shaman-stone cliff near Angara their sacred territory. Since ancient times, the cliff was considered an anomalous place. Legends say that this is the habitat of very strong spirits, namely, the ruler of the Angara Sagan Noyon.