It’s little wonder these strange lagoons remained unknown — to modern scientists, at least. While staying in a tiny high desert village (population 35), the researchers spotted hints of the lagoon on satellite images. They drove until the road ran out, and then traversed on foot, ultimately arriving at the greenish bodies of water.

“In some places, we were sinking up to our knees in salt slush,” Hynek said.

Sounds unknown to me.