Tsarichina

Tsarichina is a village in western Bulgaria, located in Kostinbrod Municipality north of Sofia. In 2021 the village had 72 inhabitants.

The Tsarichina Hole
The town is known for its alleged paranormal activity. In the early 1990s, it was nicknamed "Bulgaria's Area 51" due to the local "Tsarichina Hole". This hole was dug by the Ministry of Defence of Bulgaria, who excavated an area in the center of the village during a project active from 6 December 1990 to 19 November 1992. A group of psychics convinced some influential military members to start an excavation. As the secret "Operation Lightbeam" commenced, the psychics changed their opinion on what to find in Tsarichina several times. They were looking "for a creature – a "yellow-haired monkey", a "Biblical personage", a "hermaphrodite extraterrestrial that would disprove Darwin's theory of evolution and would reveal humanity's extraterrestrial origins", or the hidden treasure of Tsar Samuil. After digging a 160 m long tunnel at a depth of 70 m without finding anything for two years, the project was abandoned due to "financial concerns", and the hole was sealed with concrete. Allegedly, one psychic committed suicide during the excavation and one involved officer killed himself after the end of the project.

Locals and foreign investigators reported the town had become a location for paranormal activity, starting when the digging began. Many have reported seeing strange lights and some Ufologists claimed to have been hit with a "beam of powerful light" over the course of their investigation. During the two year dig more than one local claimed to have heard voices from a paranormal entity they associated with the hole. Famed clairvoyant Baba Vanga was cited as reporting that a non-human entity existed in the hole during a visit to the village.

Conspiracy theorists' speculation about the event varied, some citing rumors claiming the military excavated a triangular object of unknown origin. Many theorizing it was extraterrestrial or of protohuman origin.

A 2007 bTV documentary on the Tsarichina project, revealed that most of the military documents surrounding the event had disappeared from government archives or had since been destroyed.

Triumph is an upcoming film about the location.