Located in southeastern Siberia, towards Mongolia’s border, sits the planet’s oldest and deepest lake. Nearly one-quarter of Earth’s fresh water is contained here. Astonishing depths of over five thousand feet have been measured in certain areas.
A myriad of unique plant and animal species inhabit the frigid territory, many of which exist nowhere else in the world. Scientists estimate this massive basin formed as an ancient rift valley more than twenty-five million years ago.
For centuries, Lake Baikal has been home to a plethora of unexplained phenomena. Locals claim countless peculiar UFO encounters frequently occur within this remote region of Russia. Some theorize an extraterrestrial base is lurking beneath the picturesque exterior.
One of the most bizarre reports occurred in 1982 during a routine Soviet military training dive. While navigating the foreboding aquatic realm, Navy personnel noticed anomalous figures swimming nearby.
Perplexed, they watched in bewilderment as several curious creatures approached them. Despite being stationed at a depth of over one hundred and sixty-four feet, these humanoids wore no modern equipment.
Each donned tight-fitting metallic suits complete with a helmet-like apparatus completely covering their heads. Upon closer inspection, troopers noticed the aliens were nearly ten feet tall. However, the colossal loch-dwellers soon disappeared back into the murky abyss.
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Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (/baɪˈkɑːl, –ˈkæl/,[3] Russian: Oзеро Байкал, romanized: Ozero Baykal [ˈozʲɪrə bɐjˈkaɫ]);[a] is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Republic of Buryatia to the southeast. With 23,615.39 km3 (5,670 cu mi) of water,[1] Lake Baikal is the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume, containing 22–23% of the world’s fresh surface water,[5][6] more than all of the North American Great Lakes combined.[7] It is the world’s deepest lake,[8] with a maximum depth of 1,642 m (5,387 ft),[1] and the world’s oldest lake,[9] at 25–30 million years.[10][11] At 31,722 km2 (12,248 sq mi)—slightly larger than Belgium—Lake Baikal is the world’s seventh-largest lake by surface area.[12] It is among the world’s clearest lakes.[13]
Lake Baikal is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of them endemic to the region. It is also home to Buryat tribes, who raise goats, camels, cattle, sheep, and horses[14] on the eastern side of the lake,[15] where the mean temperature varies from a winter minimum of −19 °C (−2 °F) to a summer maximum of 14 °C (57 °F).[16] The region to the east of Lake Baikal is referred to as Transbaikalia or as the Transbaikal,[17] and the loosely defined region around the lake itself is sometimes known as Baikalia. UNESCO declared Baikal a World Heritage Site in 1996.
