After the heat of the space race died down in 1970, on the other side of the world, another ambitious operation was already underway. One of the greatest pleasures we had as children were digging deep holes. In our backyard, at the beach, or even at the National Park. People used to think that if you dug deep enough, you would emerge in China! During the cold war, the Soviet Union took this a bit too seriously and decided to put it to the test.
They decided to dig as deep as they possibly could. This grand scheme was criticized since the expenditure of such a project would run into millions (and remember, the Soviet population was cash-strapped). However, a lingering, curious question did remain. What would they find under such depths? A hidden treasure? Molten magma? Or would they even tunnel into hell? Turns out weird things did indeed occur.
The Deepest Hole on Earth
Drilling began on 24 May 1970 using the soviet heavy machinery, Uralmash-4E, a serial drilling rig used for drilling oil wells. The rig had been modified to be able to reach depths of 7,000 meters. In 1974, an updated version, the Uralmash-15000 drilling rig, was installed onsite, named after the new target depth set at 15,000 meters.
On 6 June 1979, the world depth record held by the Bertha Rogers hole in Washita County, Oklahoma, United States, at 9,583 meters, was broken. In October 1982, the first hole reached 11,662 meters, and the second hole was started in January 1983 from a 9,300-metre depth of the first hole.
In 1983, the drill passed the initially set 12,000 meters in the second hole, and drilling was stopped for about a year for numerous scientific and celebratory visits to the site. Multiple studies were also conducted to understand the rock formations and the history of the earth.
However, taking this extended break proved to be disastrous. On September 27, 1984, after drilling to 12,066 meters, a section of the drill string twisted off and was left in the hole. This meant that the work so far had to be abandoned. Drilling was restarted in September 1986 from 7,000 meters from the first hole.
By 1989, the 12,000 mark was again surpassed, and the drills reached the depths of 15000 meters in 1993. However, further hindrances were on the way. The main issue was the lack of funds for further innovations in the drill. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, drilling proved to be a costly affair with little to no return on investment. Furthermore, after reaching the depth of 15000 meters. The drill in the third hole broke down again.
To make matters worse, the higher-than-expected temperatures at this depth and location, 180 °C instead of the expected 100 °C, prove that drilling deeper was unfeasible and illogical. The unexpected decrease in density, the greater porosity, and the unexpectedly high temperatures caused the rock to behave somewhat like plastic, making the drill seem like its churning clay. All of these reasons caused the Kola Superdeep Borehole to cease all operations in 1994. By 1995, the area was sealed, and the project shut down.
Allegations and Rumors
Even though the official explanation provided by the state was taken for granted by media worldwide, conspiracy theories and mysteries soon arose. According to many, the true reason the Kola project was abandoned had nothing to do with the collapse of the Soviet Union. It has something much more sinister. The Kola Superdeep Borehole, while drilling, had inadvertently drilled into hell.
The theory states that after years of drilling, the drill broke into a cavern, miles beneath the earth. And when heat proof recording system was lowered, the researchers heard the screams of the tortured souls in hell. The project was quickly abandoned, and the men sealed the site shut before rushing out of the Kola Peninsula.
The story is believed to have originated in Finland and has since made its way around the world, reaching the United States in 1989. However, other versions of the tale state that further studies were conducted in the newly discovered hell, but all hell broke loose (pun intended) when the demons started rushing out.
Though the exact reason behind the Kola Superdeep Borehole shutting down may never be released, we can only wonder if the claims have any substantial basis after all.
