Bizarre circles have been forming in the grasslands of southern Namibia for years and nobody seemed to know why.

Known as "fairy circles," these are bare patches of land usually surrounded by tall grass that can be visible from thousands of feet above the ground. Locals believed these circles to be the creation of a dragon that lived underground and would breathe fire that bubbled up to the surface, singeing circles into the ground, according to an Amusing Planet report.

In 2013, scientists thought termites were responsible. But that theory hasn't held up.

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Now, a new theory is rising to the top. As AMHQ’s Anaridis Rodriguez explains in the video above, some scientists say the circles are made in patches of ground that are competing for nutrients in this desert landscape.

But not everyone is convinced the mystery has been solved for good.

“I’m sure this is not the end of the story,” ecologist Stephen Getzen tells the BBC.

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A view of the giant hole in Siberia, Russia. (Marya Zulinova, press service of the Governor YaNAO)