11 July 2023 , 14:01
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A mysterious figure lurking around at an abandoned fairground in Chernobyl, Ukraine, has gone viral online, after a TikToker noticed the creepy sighting on Google Maps.
The area surrounding the nuclear power plant that was destroyed in the April 1986 catastrophe has been largely abandoned, after tens of thousands were evacuated.
Before the Russian invasion in 2022, it used to be possible for tourists to visit the zone, and as many as 100,000 people per year travelled the radioactive and deserted area.
TikTok user Arianleonel posted a clip of Pripyat in Ukraine, which once was a thriving city but is now a ghost town in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
The TikToker was looking around the empty fairground on Google Maps (Jam Press Vid)
They were struck by a creepy figure that appeared to look like a person (Jam Press Vid)The video shows him searching around the eerie fairground before spotting something unusual near the decrepit Ferris wheel. He zooms in to reveal a figure which looks like it is wearing a purple jacket and lurking behind a tree.
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His discovery went viral on TikTok with 217,000 views and hundreds of comments. One viewer said: "I imagine the person who went to film everything coming back with 7 arms and 3 eyes."
Another asked: "Here is my question, how did the Google car enter that place?", while a third joked: "Someone from Google put a mannequin there." A fourth put: "Oh my heart stopped."
Social media users were shook by the sighting, and one said their 'heart stopped' (Jam Press Vid)
The area surrounding the nuclear catastrophe has been largely abandoned since 1986 (Jam Press Vid)While humans have been closed off from the area, there are packs of stray dogs living in Chernobyl - many having descended from pets left there during the evacuation. The feral animals have been monitored by scientists since 2017, as part of the Chernobyl Dog Research Initiative.
It's been noted that they are much closer-knit than wild dogs or wolves and blood samples taken show they are genetically different to other canines. The team plans to look closer at the new genetic traits to confirm if such mutations have helped the dogs survive despite the harsh radiation.
It is thought such work could bring fresh insights into how to prevent cancer in humans and protect astronauts in space. Dr Elaine Ostrander, a geneticist from the National Human Genome Research Institute, told the Daily Telegraph: "We don't yet know what, if any, genetic differences might allow dogs to survive in one versus another environment.
"Looking for changes in the DNA that have helped one versus the other population survive is the long-term goal of the study and one we are working towards now." Dr Ostrander explained that the study "could help scientists design ideal protection for those spending significant time in space".