Quoted from PRAVDA.ru

The Beloye Lake in the Vachsky District of Russia’s Nizhni Noggorod region disappeared overnight last spring. Researchers speculated the lake’s disappearance to karst collapses. However, skeptics ruled this out because the collapse would have happened gradually.

Reactions varied with the villagers. One immediately blamed the US, stating that we have special technology to vacuum up water. Another villager blamed extraterrestrials.

Where did the water go?

According to researchers, this isn’t the first time Beloye Lake has vanished. In 1600, a church stood on the land, which appeared solid. Then, one day, the church was sucked underground. Two decades later, a lake suddenly appeared where the church used to be.

Senior research fellow with JSC Anti-karst and Coastal Guard Vladimir Tolmachev says that return of the lake is a natural phenomenon akin to a huge bathtub.

‘When we want to pour water out of the bath we take out a stopper and the water goes out. As for the lake, the water easily flew away as some hollow appeared in the karst layers. Now, a huge stopper is forming of sand and clay there. So, it is highly likely that the lake will come back.’

It’s all a matter of when and where.