Man Spots One Of Earth's Nine 'Eternal Flames' Inside New York's Iconic Waterfall

This particular flame, known for its unique setting, is nestled within the Eternal Flame Falls, which is part of Shale Creek Preserve in Chestnut Ridge Park.

The flame caught the attention of Mike Loughran, a man of many talents including fishing, photography, and teaching gym, who captured its beauty in a video. 

This video, showcasing the flame's captivating allure, quickly went viral, amassing over a million likes on Instagram. 

Loughran excitedly shared the clip with the caption: "A rare naturally occurring eternal flame!" 

He elaborated on its significance by noting: "This flame is one of the 9 big naturally occurring eternal flames we have here on earth."

"Some argue there are more, but many refer to the 9 big ones. This flame here is one of the more famous eternal flames due to its location inside of a waterfall."

"They occur because of cracks in the earth that leak a combination of natural gases. They can be lit by a lightning strike or human involvement."

"Some say this flame was lit by Native Americans hundreds of years ago..."

"Makes you wonder how many more are out there that haven't been discovered or have just lost their flame over time… some say there are/have been over a hundred over time!"

Other than the flame in New York, the eight remaining natural flames are spread across various parts of the globe. 

These include Centralia in Pennsylvania, the Jharia Coal Fields in India, the 'Door To Hell' in Turkmenistan, the Olympos valley and national park in Turkey, the Guanziling hot spring in Taiwan, the Lava lake of Erta Ale in the Ethiopian desert, Azerbaijan's Absheron peninsula, and Kirkuk in Iraq.

Delving into the science behind the Eternal Flame Falls' continuous burn, as Mike Loughran explains, the flame is sustained by gas that seeps through the Earth's surface from beneath, stemming from a geological process that is relatively modern in the grand scheme of things.

According to LiveScience, the gas that keeps the New York flame burning is believed to originate from deep, ancient, and extremely hot shale deposits.

Arndt Schimmelmann, a researcher at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, provided insight into the typical conditions needed for such phenomena, stating that the rocks' temperatures usually need to be near the boiling point. 

However, the rocks at Eternal Flame Falls are unexpectedly only as warm as "a cup of tea" and geologically younger than one might assume.

This has led some scientists to theorize that the gas production might involve a different process, possibly stemming from organic molecules within the shale. 

Schimmelmann further speculated that if gas is generated in a similar manner in other locations, it could mean that "we have much more shale-gas resources than we thought." 

This opens up intriguing possibilities for our understanding of geological processes and natural resources.