What if Yellowstone’s Supervolcano Erupted?

There are only about 20 dangerous and powerful Supervolcanos in the world, and one of them is in the heart of the United States – Yellowstone National Park.

It has erupted three times in the past, but if it erupted tomorrow, we would experience a volcanic winter and nearby states would face terrifying consequences. In addition, we discuss mysterious noises over Yellowstone Lake and UFO encounters in the area.

Listen now!

Is there a supervolcano sitting beneath Yellowstone National Park?

Could you survive if there were massive volcanic eruptions in the United States?

Is the National Park Service monitoring a large body of magma at the park?

How far could this blast extend if it were to go off?

What is up, Bizarros?! This week we dive in….er, well, maybe we won’t dive in, but we will be discussing the Yellowstone Supervolcano.

What is a Supervolcano?

A super volcano is a volcano that has at one point had an eruption with a volcanic explosivity index of 8, which is the largest recorded value on the index.

So, this is like the Richter scale for volcanoes, essentially.

What Does A Volcanic Explosivity Of 8 Mean?

Basically, the volume of deposits of this super eruption is greater than 1,000 cubic kilometers, which equals about 240 cubic miles.

So, if a volcano can shoot ash beyond 240 cubic miles, it is listed as a supervolcano.

To put this in perspective, that would be enough to bury the entire state of Texas in 1.5 meters (almost 5 feet) of ash and debris.

How does this happen? It occurs when liquid magma in the mantle rises up to the crust of the earth but can’t break through.

That pressure continues building and building, and the magma and molten rock pool grows until the Earth’s crust can no longer take the pressure, and it basically bursts.

It’s been labeled “super eruption.”

The quote, bursting, occurs at hot spots, one of which is – you guessed it – Yellowstone.

I feel like Hollow Earth would be both a terrible and excellent place to be hiding when these massive eruptions happen.

I’m just imagining it filling up with lava from the underground magma chamber, which would be bad, but also, you’d be safe from a major eruption like this, but probably not the seismic activity.

Eruptions of magnitude from supervolcanos can have long-lasting climate change consequences, as huge areas get covered with ash and can threaten particular species with extinction.

The most recent explosive eruptions of a supervolcano were Oruanui in New Zealand, and it happened about 26,500 years ago.

What is Yellowstone, and has it erupted?

This might seem a little obvious, but we also have listeners from beyond the United States who may not know immediately what Yellowstone is.

Beyond being a supervolcano, Yellowstone is a National Park in Western North America; it is mostly in the corner of Wyoming but also extends into Montana and Idaho.

It is believed to be the first national park in the world, let alone the United States.

Yellowstone National Park is a sprawling 3,468.4 square mile (8,983 km2) expanse of woodlands, grasslands, mountain ranges, lakes, rivers, and canyons.

It is known for its extensive wildlife, the super volcano Yellowstone Volcano Caldera, hot springs, Yellowstone Lake, great hiking, beautiful scenery, and probably one of the most popular attractions, Old Faithful – a very consistent geyser that goes off at regular intervals.

What you may not know is under the Yellowstone Caldera (essentially, the cavern in part of the volcano) is a single magma chamber that is 37 miles long, 18 miles wide, and about 5 miles deep. And it’s all full of molten lava.

Has Yellowstone Ever Erupted?

Yes! There have been eruptions 2 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago, and 640,000 years ago.

The one from 640,000 years ago is cited to be the eruption that created the Yellowstone Caldera that we know today.

Its eruption had a volume of almost 2,500 cubic kilometers, well over the required 1,000 to be listed as a supervolcano.

Although Yellowstone’s last eruption was over 2 million years ago, some people think it’s due.

What Would Happen In The USA If It Did Erupt?

Many experts believe the eruption of lava would not be a “wall of death” like the infamous Pompeii eruption.

Some believe it could just be lava flow or a hydrothermal explosion, which is basically like a geyser that shoots up rock fragments.

But others aren’t so sure. They think there will be intense activity and that the eruption will be thousands of times worse, wreaking havoc and burying the surrounding area several feet deep with magma and ash.

Regardless, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have long-lasting consequences and be a death sentence for those that refused to leave the surrounding area of about 250 miles.

Assuming it was a full-on catastrophic eruption, here is what we could expect beyond pre-cursor events, such as changing terrain and countless earthquakes.

The magma reservoir underneath Yellowstone is so massive that it would take days or even weeks to empty.

The power of the explosion would be so intense that it would likely shoot huge amounts of ash into the stratosphere.

That means that it would cover several hundred miles with ash that will accumulate around Yellowstone. It was reported that ash from the last eruption was discovered all the way on the East Coast.

So, there would be implications for the East Coast of the United States, but the surrounding states would obviously get the worst consequences.

The surrounding states would experience Pyroclastic flows, which are incredibly fast-moving flows that contain a high-density mix of hot lava blocks, ash, and volcanic gas.

It typically consists of two different parts, the lower section, which is a flow of rough fragments across the ground, and a higher cloud of ash.

This type of ash is described as shards of glass; it is incredibly sharp and dangerous.

If you breathe it in, it can seriously damage and cut up your lungs.

That means people and animals exposed for long periods of time are at major risk. It would contaminate water supplies, too.

Beyond that, it would permanently damage the engines of cars and planes that attempt to operate once the ash has been ejected.

If the ash reaches the stratosphere, as anticipated, it could stay suspended there for years.

Which, beyond creating health hazards, will block the sun, thus leading to temperatures well below what we are used to.

This is called a volcanic winter.

So, not quite extinction-level status, but definitely life-altering and absolutely terrible for wildlife and vegetation.

Considering its effect on plants and animals, it will also significantly impact human food sources.

So, just a recap, lava flow and ash for nearby areas, ash in the stratosphere which could impact energy from the sun and cause colder temperatures, sub-optimal conditions for plants, and kill animals.

Up until this point, we haven’t touched on anything paranormal, but honestly, this stuff is scary because it’s not really an unknown.

I mean, it is, but these are real consequences of something that is likely to happen again sometime in the future and has happened in the past.

Will There Be Signs Before The Giant Eruption?

Will there be signs if there is an imminent eruption? Absolutely. That’s not really the problem; the problem is the interpretation of the signs.

For instance, it’s fair to say that we live in a world of misinformation, right?

So, you have to sift through information as to whether a source saying, “It’s all good” or “Run for the hills. One of the largest eruptions is happening” is credible.

There have been numerous articles that think an eruption is looming. These articles source wildlife inexplicably rushing away from the area, an increase in earthquakes,

But let’s take a look at the expected signs.

The ground rising is one; for instance, Mt. St. Helens started growing about 5 feet per day before it erupted.

Experts believe that the entire caldera, which is estimated to be about the size of Dallas and Houston, would be lifted about 10 feet into the air.

Earthquakes would become more and more common in the area. They would start as short spikes that faded quickly.

As the future eruption loomed closer, the vibrations of these swarming earthquakes would last longer as a continuous vibration.

The final warning sign would be a harmonic tremor, which is a sound like a large organic pipe caused by the vibration.

The good news is that these signs should give people enough time to get as far away from Yellowstone as possible.

But, still terrifying to think about because you never know, right?

Paranormal Events Around Yellowstone National Park

There have been some weird phenomena and UFO stuff in the Yellowstone Area.

The Mysterious Whispers of Yellowstone Lake

It has been reported for centuries, dating back to the Native Americans, that strange noises seemed to be coming from the air around Yellowstone Lake.

Some claim it is hushed whispers, while others claim to hear almost a musical humming or whining.

Others say it sounds like metal cables crashing together, organ music, the sounds of a harp, or swarming bees.

Needless to say, a very strange type of sound to just randomly and inexplicably come from a lake.

The sounds are often heard on windless days, most commonly in the winter, and can last continuously for up to about 30 seconds.

It usually builds in volume and intensity to the point that it is almost deafening sometimes. Then, it ceases at the drop of a dime.

This means this is not some random, distant sound that you have to really focus on.

This can get looouuudd.

Another eerie detail, the sound is reported to almost be moving across the lake. It will travel across the sky, sometimes rapidly, and can change direction.

The first written record of these strange noises was made in 1872. It was during an expedition that was tasked with surveying the park’s region, as this was the year the park was officially established.

Here is a quote from one of the men, F.H. Bradley, on the expedition:

“While getting breakfast, we heard every few moments a curious sound, between a whistle and a hoarse whine, whose locality and character we could not at first determine.”

In 1892, a biology professor named Edwin Linton wrote:

“It seemed to begin at a distance [and] grow louder overhead where it filled the upper air, and suggested a medley of wind in the tops of pine trees and in telegraph wires, the echo of bells after being repeated several times, the humming of a swarm of bees, and two or three other less definite sources of sound. It appeared to be a rather indefinite, reverberating sound characterized by a slight metallic resonance.

After that, Captain Hiram Martin Chittendon of the Army Corps of Engineers wrote of the mysterious sounds in a journal of the park titled Historical and Descriptive, which was published in 1895. Chittendon was an engineer who was tasked with building bridges and roads within the park. His own description of the phenomenon is as follows:

The reports continued into the 20th century, when geologist and chief naturalist of the park, Clyde Max Bauer, also wrote of the noises in 1924, which he had heard on several occasions and described as sounding like the hum of bees which would rise slowly from the distance, pass overhead, and then fade rapidly off into the horizon.

A friend of Bauer and photographer, Jack Haynes, also experienced the noises and said it was unlike anything he had ever heard before. The two were so enthralled by its haunting, ethereal quality that they deemed it “the music of the lake.”

Reddit Encounter With The Whispers Of Yellowstone

So about two years ago, I was in Yellowstone with my parents and my younger sister. We started the trip with all of the touristy stuff, like Old Faithful.

But we wanted to explore the wilderness more and found this hike to Artist Point, which is supposed to overlook this beautiful waterfall and the Yellowstone Grand Canyon, a few miles or so up north of Yellowstone Lake.

This isn’t a typical paved path for hundreds of tourists to use all day, every day. It had a faint dirt path, in some places, no path at all. Before beginning the hike, we were warned by park rangers to be wary of roaming bison and bears.

Bison surrounded us; it was beautiful and slightly scary. If you get too close to bison, they could maul you.

Eventually, we got to a clearing, a ways off from a stream that the path crosses over. Suddenly we all heard a large, overbearing sound. Each of the four of us heard something different.

Instinctively, I thought it was a car engine turning on. My dad thought it was a chainsaw as if someone was cutting down trees nearby. My mom thought it was grumbling or an animal growling, such as a bear. My sister thought it was a stampede of animals, and the noise was the thousands of footsteps.

The noise was so distinct to me; it shocked me how differently everyone else heard the noise. Then I realized I must have been wrong, too.

There is no way any cars could get out there on the mountainside with random geysers and countless roaming animals all around and thick brush.

The only thing we could agree on amidst all the arguing was how unsettling it was and that we needed to hightail it out of there. We never finished the hike, although I think we were close to the end. It has been two years, but the sound still sticks around with me. Recently I did research about the Yellowstone Lake “whispers”, which have numerous encounters that sound similar to ours.

However, once again, we were miles from the lake. Is this another encounter of the lake “whisper” phenomenon, or was it something else?

Theories

There are those who believe that the sounds could be produced by the lost souls of drowning victims or the restless spirits of long-dead Native Americans of the area.

A meteorologist in 1930 claimed that perhaps it was emanating from the air above the lake.

He said the warm air sitting above the cooler air upon the lake’s surface could be causing a “sound mirage” and amplifying or distorting sounds off in the distance – such as geysers.

UFOs In Yellowstone

There is a video of a potential UFO flying over Yellowstone in 2017.

It starts from the left side of the screen and travels across. 

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/862791/UFO-Yellowstone-Volcano-eruption-aliens-supervolcano

UFO Sighting – 2002

I think it was 2002 because it happened between the time I was forced out of med-school and I took a job as a janitor at Yellowstone.

So for the location, it was this little hole-in-the-wall “village” called Tidewater in Oregon. Which itself is a hole in the wall for this small town on the coast called Waldport.

I was at my parents’ second home. Now normally, it’s extremely cloudy there.

But I was laying in bed and looking out the window, and I saw a lone star in the sky, despite the overcast during the day.

Now I’m looking at the star for at least an hour, maybe two hours.

I should point out that the star was entirely stationary this whole time. No movement whatsoever.

Then the star splits into the stars, and they move in a triangular formation, which they hold for about 15 minutes before all three just shoot up vertically into the sky.

I have no idea what I saw, but I figured I’d share because I’ve read a couple of stories here and on r/aliens about looking at what you think is a star and then having it just hightail it out of there.

Reddit Comment About Yellowstone 

I had a sighting a year ago northwest of Yellowstone in hyalite canyon, Montana.

A dark triangle slowly moved across the sky while I was taking astrophotography.

Didn’t even see it until I saw a preview image from my camera of 3 lights perfectly streaked through the sky, and I looked up to see this massive triangle 200-300 feet up, moving over the reservoir and canyon within a minute, passing over the mountains in the east keeping a very steady path.

I’ve been mystified since.

Never believed in Ufos until I accidentally caught one while taking photos at night in my favorite state park that I visit often!

I never see planes there, and there aren’t any facilities with electricity at all. Definitely makes you wonder….

2018 UFO Sighting

I got inspired to post about this because I replied to a comment on r/aliens about someone who described an eerily similar sighting.

The last few summers, I worked at a resort close to the East Gate of Yellowstone. From what I’ve heard, Yellowstone may be a UFO hotspot.

Maybe due to the insane geothermal activity boiling underneath one of the most breathtakingly unique landscapes probably in this world.

There’s just some special sort of energy coursing through those mountains and rivers.

I worked right by the East Gate, so it took 5 minutes to get into the park from where I lived. Friends and I would regularly drive 25ish miles into the park to Sylvan Pass.

A long road that takes you up a few thousand feet of elevation hugging the right side of the canyon carved by the river and mountains. At the top, there’s a parking lot.

It’s actually right across from a little shack-looking thing that actually houses a Howitzer canon; they use it to control avalanches on the pass. An interesting fact about the park.

We headed up there to star gaze one night like many others. It’s dark there. Really dark, need to drive with your brights on in the middle of the road dark. A bit eerie, but at the same time, the darkness provides the beautiful mosaic of the bright stars and the purplish Milky Way galaxy ripping across the whole overhead view.

We are right on the top of the highest point between two mountains on this pass. So almost nothing is obstructing your view of the cosmos.

That night we later bundled in jackets and blankets, even with pillows to lay down on the asphalt. Looked up for a while and noticed something along the outer right edge of the Milky Way.

It looked like a star but was much brighter than any star in the sky. Although, unlike stars, this thing was moving around in all directions at varying speeds.

The best way I could describe its movement is to relate it to the honeybee. The way honeybees buzz around near flowers, up, down, sideways, and landing for a little to move on to the next.

If the thing in the sky was the honeybee, then the Milky Way was the flower.

This thing stayed near the Milky Way. It would eventually drift towards the right but never crossed to the left. It would buzz around all erratically and quickly.

Then stop, slow down, and move in a defined vector only to stop again, then shoot off in the other direction to go back to buzzing around.

We had our cameras; my buddy actually had a pretty decent camera and was taking long exposure shots of the night sky, able to see the Milky Way and the stars quite well.

I tried to record on my iPhone 8, but I couldn’t even make out the colors of the Milky Way.

We tried to get it on his camera after waiting for about 15 minutes waiting for the camera to do its job, but I guess it wasn’t long enough, or the camera wasn’t good enough to catch it.

I’ve always been a skeptic and scientifically minded, but open to any possibility. So I had always hoped to see something but never truly believed until I saw it that night.

We watched for about 45 minutes total, and it never went away it just kept buzzing around doing these maneuvers, then stopping and repeating the cycle.

This is the first time I’ve posted about my experience because I’ve been thinking a lot about it recently.

I guess the question now begs, what/who are these clearly intelligent things piloting these craft, and are they evil or benevolent?

I really think the latter.

If anything, our narcissistic government/ruling elite really just doesn’t want this facade to vanish that we are the all-important and meaningful life this universe and planet were built for.

Is One Of The Largest Volcanoes In The World Going To Erupt Soon?

What do you think, Bizarros?

Is there volcanic activity already happening at Yellowstone? 

There have been previous eruptions; are we due for one soon?

Will there be colossal eruptions that forever change life as we know it?

Or will it be a flow of hot magma and ash that will greatly impact the areas surrounding Yellowstone?

Let us know in the comments.