Zoroastrian Mecca

That is one hell of an eternal flame.

Apparently there was a massive cavern collapse while drilling for gas and the geologist decided that rather than have a huge gas seep (sneaky deadly) they'd light the thing and make a huge fire (obviously deadly). 35 YEARS AGO.

Think of the MCFs of gas that have been wasted. I don't know if different drilling techniques or better knowledge of the subsurface could have prevented it or if it could be put out and the gas captured, but, wow, what a waste gas. Except for the cool pictures.:)