The notion of a literal portal to Hell can be found in the art, literature, and legends of many civilizations across human history. Beyond the great epic heroes of Ancient Greece and Rome, where Odysseus and Aeneas both journeyed to the land of the dead, belief in a genuine gate to the realm of Hades is present in cultures as old as Ancient China and Japan and as new as contemporary Pennsylvania. It’s a myth whose appeal is easy to understand, for if there is truly a gate to the world of the dead, than that means there might be a gate out of it as well.

But what if it isn’t a myth? What if such a portal really exists? And what if it is found in Hawaii? Well, you might not want to get too excited, because it doesn’t look like the type of door with both an “In” and “Out” option.

That’s a photo from the U.S. Geological Survey of the West Kamokuna lava flow skylight in Hawaii, which, if you’ll notice, looks like an actual, literal entrance to Hell. One surrounded by the twisted souls of the damned, to boot. Were they forever frozen there trying to flee, or have they been tasked with being its eternal gatekeepers? Whether they are going in or out of this portal, the word “tortured” comes to mind when looking at them, so maybe this isn’t the exact door we humans have been looking for all these centuries.

If you have never heard the term “lava flow skylight” before, they are “openings in the roof above a lava tube, from where the flowing lava flow can be seen.”

So there is a perfectly reasonable scientific explanation for this apparent “portal to Hell,” one that isn’t terrifying, but is instead an example of the beauty and wonder of nature.

Unless it really is a gate for the eternally damned and this is a warning for us all.

You know what? We like the science explanation better.

What do you think this looks like? Journey through the portal to our comments section below to tell us what you think.

Image: Laszlo Kestay, USGS

Every lava death scene in movies is scientifically inaccurate