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America's Most Mysterious Places

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Mel's Hole — Manastash Ridge, Washington

The Mystery: The nine-foot-wide bottomless hole and former dump site on Mel Waters's former property near Ellensburg, Wash., is awash in mystery, which includes its professed ability to "re-animate" dead animals. Some speculate the opening is actually a tunnel, giving rise to the "Hollow Earth" theory first proposed by astronomer Edmond Halley (of comet fame) in the 17th century. The most pressing secret: Where does the hole lead?

Fact: Waters - who has since moved - reported sinking a fishing line some 15 miles into the pit in an attempt to find the bottom. He never found it. He also claimed the abyss would shoot black rays and could bring animals back to life; a neighbor tossed a dead dog into the hole only to have it return, alive, from out of the woods. Some believe the discovery is a blow hole for Mount Rainier, but no one knows how to account for the high strangeness.

The Lake Michigan Monster — Lake Michigan

The Mystery: Locals and cryptozoologists have long believed there's an enormous prehistoric creature living in the second largest of the Great Lakes. Sightings from around its shores - Cross Village, Harbor Springs, Northport - date as far back as 1817 and tell of a 60-foot serpent or "sea panther," as local Native Americans referred to it (because of its catlike head and lizard body), that likes to emerge at dusk.

Fact: While the beast, if it truly exists, is thought to be a land-locked plesiosaur. Similar sightings have also occurred in the other northernly lakes, including Lake Champlain - home to Champy-and Lake Erie, where proclaimed creationist Carl Baugh discovered a carcass of a three-foot long "baby monster" in the early 1990's. He had the creature, probably a burbot, stuffed and placed on display at the (now-closed) L and D Bait and Tackle shop near Cleveland.