A gigantic and crater-like hole has appeared in northern Russia in the Yamal peninsula - a region appropriately named the "end of the world."

But don't panic just yet. Alien life forms hell-bent on Earth's destruction are probably not burrowing into the core as we speak. Instead, experts are suggesting that this giant hole is just a very large example of a very natural phenomenon.

The hole - estimated to be over 250 feet wide - was spotted by helicopter pilots as they flew over the "end of the world" on Tuesday. One pilot was quick enough to whip his camera out, and now videos of the mysterious hole are sweeping across the internet.

"We can definitely say that it is not a meteorite. No details yet," a spokesman from Yamal's branch of the Emergencies Ministry told The Siberian Times, who first reported the story.

It was later revealed that no one has yet been able to determine the hole's depth. Coloration of the surrounding crater indicates that it is made of up-heaved soil, and the pit itself looks to be a nearly clean-cut circle - details certainly mysterious enough to draw droves of conspiracy theorists out of the woodwork.

However, despite how badly some may want a colony of mole-men to be surfacing, experts are already dismissing it as nothing more than an over-large geological phenominon called a pingo.

Chris Fogwill of the University of South Wales told the Sydney Morning Herald that a pingo is a block of ice that has formed in the frozen arctic ground. Given the right conditions, the ice can push through the Earth, rupturing on the surface, where it will quickly melt away. What is left is a very deep hole and a ring of fresh dirt from the upheaval.

"It's a remarkable land form... and this is obviously a very extreme version of that," he said.

Still, accoridng to the Times, Russian experts have been dispatched to investigate the hole for themselves, worried that the geological phenomenon is the result of an explosion caused by pressures on natural gas reserves in the region - a consequence of climate change and accelerated snow-melt.

Fogwill expressed his approval of this investigation, even if it's just to be sure.

"If there's been any interaction with the gas in the area, that is a question that could only be answered by going there."

*Note* Videos of the hole are quickly being pulled from YouTube due to copyright claims, but you can still view the raw clips via LiveLeak.