A világ 10 legtitkosabb helye

The Top 10 Most Secret Places on Earth

During summertime, so it’s customary to daydream about amazing places to visit. Here’s a list of places you certainly won’t be vacationing at any time soon! Nevertheless, they hold interesting secrets and stories.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway

You never know when a nuclear apocalypse is just around the corner, but the global seed bank on the Arctic island chain of Svalbard might be part of preparations for such a scenario. The vault is 150 metres deep in the side of a sandstone mountain, and it’s created to store 4.5 million types of seeds, in extreme cold and low humidity. If the apocalypse comes, rebuilding can start from here, but until then, the vault is the most securely guarded seed bank of the world. Sadly, no trips are allowed for anyone except a handful of appointed researchers.

Area 51, Nevada, USA

There has been a lot of buzz around Area 51 lately, but it has been the focus of curious minds for long. Deep in the hot Nevada desert, Area 51, also known as Groom Lake, has been used for U.S. Air Force experiments, but its exact purposes are unknown. According to famous conspiracy theories, there could be crashed alien spaceships inside. A recent Facebook event has encouraged people to storm the place and find out – but given the government’s licence to use deadly force here, it might not be a fun trip.

00

North Sentinel Island, India

They say we live in a global, interconnected world, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any spots “off the map”. North Sentinel Island is a small island in the Bay of Bengal whose residents are estimated to have inhabited it for 60,000 years. Untouched by modern technology, they violently oppose any contact with the outside world: when outsiders approach on boats, or even if helicopters fly by to help after a disaster, they shoot arrows and attack any visitor, whether researcher, tourist, or government official. Today, the Indian government bans anyone from entering the island.

Vatican Secret Archives, Vatican

The 85 kilometres of shelves deep inside Vatican headquarters hold truly ancient, unique, and significant items. The library guards personal documents of every pope from the 8th century onwards, as well as treasures like the papal bull excommunicating Martin Luther in 1521, letters from Michelangelo and Abraham Lincoln, or even a 12th-century bull initiating the Fourth Crusade. No-one but the very top ranks of the church can enter, but researchers can apply to view documents – and the only truly secret documents are those that are younger than 75 years old.

Royal Air Force Menwith Hill, England

If you felt like RAF Menwith Hill is a remnant of Cold War spy networks, you wouldn’t be too far from the truth. This top-secret military base in North Yorkshire, with its giant radar domes, is considered the largest surveillance station in the world. It was built in the 1950s to keep an eye (or ear) on the Soviet Union, but it is still in use today and said to help in the wars against terrorism and drug trades. Many also believe it has connections to ECHELON (or the Five Eyes), the international spy network of the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Heard Island, Australia

Australia is often considered a remote spot itself, but Australia’s most remote island, on the way to Antarctica, is truly hidden from the world. It takes seven days to reach Heard Island by boat from the Australian mainland, and its volcanic mountains (one affectionately called Big Ben) are covered in fog for about 360 days of the year. The island is home to some of its own animal species and unique glaciers, with astonishing scenery and wildlife. Given the required permit for any visitors and the 4000-kilometre boat journey, Heard Island remains a unique, untouched piece of nature even today.

Mezhgorye, Russia

During the Cold War, the small town of Mezhgorye was built as a home to nuclear missiles. Despite its size, however, it could hold big secrets. Today, Mezhgorye is a closed town, off-limits for the public. No-one knows for certain what the town or its surroundings hold, but being in the Ural Mountains, there could be bunkers in the sides of nearby Mount Yamantau, as well as a possible military base or automatic missiles with remote control. In any case, Russia claims the place is used as a mine, a treasure vault, and an emergency bunker for the country’s most important officials.

Ni’ihau, Hawaii, USA

Why is there a place called “The Forbidden Island” among the friendly islands of Hawaii? Unfortunately, you can’t find out yourself. Ni’ihau is the smallest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands and could serve as a tourist paradise, but visitors have been illegal since 1915. The only residents are about 130 natives who pay no rent, use no telephones, have no running water, and have no shops on the island. Children take canoes to a nearby island to go to school, power is from solar energy, and groceries are transported from one island over. The Coast Guard ensures no-one arrives without an invitation.

Moscow’s Metro-2, Russia

Russia’s capital city has had a wide network of underground tunnels for centuries – today, it is said there might be as many as 15 levels under a downtown street. To prepare for a possible Cold War catastrophe, the KGB allegedly built its own secret metro lines, connecting government buildings, the government airport, key strategic locations in the city, and even Stalin’s personal dacha. Rumours vary as to what happened to Metro-2 after Stalin’s death, but there is significant interest and mystery even today, and adventurous exploration attempts every now and then.

Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA

3200 cubic metres of concrete, 450 cubic metres of granite, 750 tons of reinforced steel, and who knows how much gold and precious metals – the US Army post in Fort Knox is one of the most significant and most secure vaults in the world. The Fort is known to hold a big part of the country’s gold reserves, worth around $175 billion in total. However, there are rumours that besides (or instead of) the gold, there could be military secrets and other treasures hidden inside. We do know it held the Holy Crown of Hungary after WWII! But we probably won’t find out what’s in there today.