Locals were left in a frenzy when a massive hole in the middle of a busy lake appeared overnight. They had never seen such a thing, and while officials tried to calm the public, rumors began to swirl.
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Some went straight to demon worship, even calling the hole “devil’s; others looked to science for an explanation. A year went by, and no one was any wiser as to what caused the spot to appear until one YouTuber helped solve it all.
Lake Berryessa
The hole at Lake Berryessa looked like it came straight out of a science fiction film and appeared almost overnight. The perfectly symmetrical hole didn’t look natural in any way, and at first, glance felt like someone had intentionally dug it out.
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Authorities were just as stumped as locals, and while it didn’t look like the hole was causing any harm, in-depth research uncovered that the last time the hole appeared in 1997, it took an innocent woman’s life!
First On The Scene
Word of the ominous hole soon spread and reached YouTuber Evan Kilkus, who was one of the first to reach the lake. The minute he saw the crater from afar, he was instantly captivated.
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He spent the first day asking around and hearing all the wild theories, pagan worship, aliens, government conspiracies, and religious ones. Evan was left more confused than before. It seemed like the more information he got from other people, the further away from the truth he went.
Frequent Visitor
Kilkus was a Californian who had visited lake Berryessa for years but never had he seen anything like this. Not at Lake Berryessa or anywhere else during his travels. This was a mystery that Evan was ready to solve.
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His personal connection with the location provided him the drive to find out how a uniform home appeared overnight in the middle of a busy lake and began swallowing gallons upon gallons of water – without anyone having any idea about it.
Small But Strong Following
While no one in the community around Lake Berryessa had heard of Evan before, he had gained a small yet strong following on Youtube. He loved technology and had mastered capturing scenic nature shots with his drone.
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So naturally, he decided to set out, drone in hand, to see what was happening with this mysterious hole. But unfortunately, Evan’s first attempt at this wasn’t as straightforward as he had expected. Authorities had cordoned off the area, and no one could get close enough, let alone be allowed to fly a drone around the hole.
Support
Before Evan decided to find creative ways to view this mysterious hole, he needed to confirm if his fan base was even interested in finding out more about this anomaly. So, he quickly posted about the whole situation online and was overwhelmed with the response.
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Thousands of people poured in, just as, curious if not more about the hole in the lake, and urged Evan to do whatever he could to solve it. Driven by his fansYouTuberutuber became sure that he needed to solve this mystery.
Finding Another Way
Since he wasn’t allowed to get close to the hole, Evan decided to find another way. The young man spent ages pouring over maps and fine-tuning his drone’s signals to ensure it could fly smoothly over the lake without any technical difficulties.
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After days of research, YouTuber prepared himself for a trek. He had found it online on some obscure blog and didn’t even know if it would get him close enough to the hole, but he had no other option, so Evan packed his drone and a few other essentials.
Drone
The way to the spot where Evan could use his drone but straight forward, but after a few attempts, he finally reached it, and it turned out it was well worth the trek. Finally, there was nobody around, and Evan was free to fly his drone.
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He was able to get on top of the ominous-looking hole and was sure that a closer look would give him more clues to where and why this hole had appeared. So, slowly, he inched his expensive drone closer and closer.
Drone Footage
Evan had only seen the hole from afar, but now, through his drone’s camera, he got his first glimpse at the sheer size of the hole. And he understood why so many locals had called it the “devil gate.”
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Just as he was on top of the hole, recording every second, his drone screen suddenly began to fl, and something was disrupting the drone’s signals! If Evan tried to fly it any further, he would risk having his expensive equipment lost to the hole forever!
Anxious
While Evan was closer than ever to finding more information about this hole, he had to pull back. And as his drone safely flew back towards him, he sighed with relief and only then realized that he had been holding his breath for ages.
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The YouTuber couldn’t wait to go home to review the footage, so he quickly pulled out his laptop right there and then and began rewatching ever and thoroughly looking at every frame, hoping to find something!
Man Made
When he was done reviewing the footage, he understood the gravity of the situation at this moment; he held the proof of solving this mystery in his hands. However, Evan also realized this hole might have been blown out of proportion!
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His drone confirmed that this hole wasn’t created by the devil but was manmade! And while it wasn’t anything he had seen before, at least his footage proved that there shouldn’t be any fear attached to the finding.
Severe Drought
California had been suffering from a massive drought for decades. It had devastated the local ecosystems and economy alike. And despite many attempts by scientists to reverse the situation, it was only the arrival of plentiful rain that finally helped.
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After years upon years of arid, dry, and parched land that year, that area of California finally restored itself to its natural state. However, along with this glorious rain came the mystery of the hole.
Not Alone
Evan researched more into California’s weather patterns to prove his theory; he used his footage, measured the hole’s area, and figured out it stood at a whopping 72 feet. This number corresponded precisely with his research and proved to him that he was on the right path!
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But the YouTuber was not alone anymore. Thanks to his social media posts, more and more people came and began looking into the mystery. Evan, who had spent the most time researching it, worried that someone else would beat him to it. But he needed to be sure before he publicly revealed his theory.
The Dam
To get more proof, Evan decided to fly his drone around other parts of the lake to see if he could find any more clues about why this was happening. But unfortunately, while he had made an initial assumption, he couldn’t find more information.
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But as he flew the drone casually over the dam, not expecting much, Evan was caught off guard! He witnessed something like a giant drainage area. It looked, to him, like a massive pipe was draining water at the foot of the damn. Then, all of a sudden, it clicked.
Slipway
The giant hole everyone had been astonished by was a simple slipway, a manmade drainage system. And now Evan had all the proof. His drone had finally solved this year-old mystery!
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Slipways are added into lakes to control the water levels, but it turns out that since California had been in drought for so long, even the local authorities had never seen the slipway in action!
7th Largest Lake
Lake Berryessa is the 7th largest manmade lake in California, created by the nearby Monticello Dam. As mentioned already, this famous lake lies between the Vaca Mountains and is frequently visited by thousands of tourists yearly, especially attracting waterskiers and jetskiers.
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And, of course, the spillway is a huge safety hazard to anyone visiting the lake. And it was Evan’s youtube video, which earned millions of views, finally explained what was happening at the lake. But unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time the spillway had opened.
Tragedy
In 1997, local swimmer Emily Schwalek was enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon at the lake; 20 minutes into her swim, witnesses heard Emily scream for help but couldn’t locate her anywhere.
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Within 5 minutes, she was under the water and never seen again. Authorities rushed to the scene and concluded that Emily was sucked down the eight-foot-wide 200-foot drop! And despite searching for her body for days, they couldn’t locate her.
Dark History
It took more than a week for her lifeless body to be discovered, and it was determined that she had drowned. Unfortunately, despite such a horrible history, the locals forgot the spillway’s memory.
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And while Emily was remembered, the details of how she drowned became fussy. Finally, when Evan showed the video and explained it as a spillway, everyone connected the two things.
Mystery Solved
So yes, the mystery has been solved! And after knowing the history of the spillway, you would think that people would stop visiting the lake, but it has been the exact opposite.
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More people than ever visit the lake, hoping they will see the slipway, which caused such chaos for over a year and resulted in the loss of a local woman! Thanks to Evan and his research, hopefully, the spillway will be made safer to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.
The Naked Truth
To get the full scope of the size of the spillway, here is a picture of it without any water surrounding it. While this looks rather unassuming, locals now know the power of it and make sure never to swim close to it.
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While a spillway is meant to help save lives, this one did the exact opposite and taught authorities a sharp lesson on educating locals and tourists alike on lake safety. We send our thoughts to Emily and her family!