The Well to Hell
A story spread that Soviet scientists drilling the deepest hole on Earth had lowered a microphone and recorded screams from below.
What was reported
The Kola Superdeep Borehole, in the far north-west of Russia, is the deepest hole ever drilled. Soviet scientists bored more than 12 km into the Earth's crust, reaching their greatest depth in 1989.
That year, a story spread through Christian newsletters and broadcasts in the West: the drillers had broken into a cavern, lowered a microphone and recorded the screams of the damned. An audio clip of the 'sounds of hell' later circulated widely.
Explanations offered
The story was invented and grew as it was retold. No such recording exists from the Kola project, and the audio clip was traced to a film soundtrack. What the scientists actually found was remarkable enough: water deep in the rock, microscopic fossils and temperatures of 180°C.
- When
- Story spread from 1989
- Where
- Kola Superdeep Borehole, Murmansk Oblast, Russia
- Witnesses
- No real witnesses
- Status
- Hoax
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.