Straight from the pages of a dystopian sci-fi thriller, a fiery 'Gate to Hell' exists right here on Earth.

The ominous sight, known as the 'Doorway to Hell', has been ablaze since 1971 and continues to burn over half a century later.

The Darvaza Gas Crater, or the Shining of Karakum as it's locally referred to, is a flaming sinkhole located in Turkmenistan that has been emitting natural gas for more than five decades now. Legend has it that Soviet geologists accidentally collapsed a natural gas chamber while drilling and consequently set it on fire to prevent the lethal gases from spreading.

What they believed would be a short-lived flame has been burning for over 50 years, which isn't surprising considering Turkmenistan ranks fourth globally in natural gas reserves. Intriguingly, there are no official records of this incident in Turkmenistan due to the country's policy of secrecy, with relevant documents either classified, inaccessible, or missing from archives.

This 'Gate to Hell' is situated near the village of Darvaza in the heart of the Karakum Desert and measures approximately 60-70 meters wide and 98ft deep. Visible from miles away, this blazing pit has become a major tourist attraction for Turkmenistan, reports the Daily Star.

Despite the seemingly inhospitable conditions of this fiery abyss, visitor accounts suggest that there may be signs of life within the crater. The only known human descent into the crater was undertaken by Canadian explorer George Kourounis.

In November 2013, Kourounis ventured to the bottom of the Darvaza Gas Crater with National Geographic to gather soil samples for the Extreme Microbiome Project, aiming to detect signs of life in the crater's harsh environment. Wearing a specialised heat-resistant suit, Kourounis managed to spend around 17 minutes inside the blazing crater.

During this thrilling exploration, Kourounis described their mission as "looking for alien life right here on Earth", given the crater's hostile, methane-rich environment is similar to conditions found on certain exoplanets. Indeed, they discovered signs of life - Kourounis' expedition identified several types of bacteria in the soil from the crater floor.

Recalling the apocalyptic 'Door to Hell', Kourounis said: "It is burning with a tremendous amount of flame like there is a lot of fire down there."

He added: "Day or night, it is clearly burning. You can hear the roar of the fire if you stand at the edge. The heat, if you are downwind of it, is unbearable. There are thousands of little flames all around the edges and towards the centre. It's a very volatile place."

Now, in an unexpected development, after blazing fiercely for more than fifty years, it appears the flames within this 'Gateway to Hell' are at last dying down, though gradually.

During a press conference this June, Irina Luryeva, a director at Turkmenistan's state-owned energy firm Turkmengaz, revealed to the world that the crater was finally beginning to extinguish, stating: "The reduction [in fires] is nearly threefold. Whereas before a huge glow from the blaze was visible from several kilometres away, hence the name 'Gateway to Hell', today only a faint source of combustion remains."