Mysterious Russian holes: Is Earth becoming perforated?

ould it have been a meteorite? After all, one did explode over Russia last year. Perhaps these holes could have come from pieces associated with that same impact. The presence of ejected material around the rim does not rule that out, as such an impact is known to catapult earth out from the crash location.

But scientists think that they were more likely caused by an underground eruption.

Marina Leibman, chief scientist at the Earth Cryosphere Institute in Siberia, told Andrew Revkin of the New York Times’ Dot Earth section, that she initially thought the first hole was the result of gas drilling. But she quickly found it was not.