Barsakelmes Island

The so-called Barsakelmes Island, which literally translates from the Kazakh language – "if you go– you won't come back", remained an island with a length of 23 by 7 km only until the end of the last century. Now, due to the shallowing of the Aral Sea, it is an integral part of the land.

According to legends, people often disappear there, strange light poles and UFOs appear, as well as unusual animals. But most of the legends are associated with various temporal anomalies.

According to local residents, in the past centuries, convict fugitives, having stayed on the island for only a couple of years, got to their aged relatives later... decades. Moreover, participants of modern expeditions allegedly fell into temporary traps (though not so long). Whole artels of fishermen disappeared there without a trace, going to the shores of the island rich in fish.

Locals associate their disappearance with the appearance on Barsakelmes... a prehistoric flying lizard.