FLOATING on Pacific waters lies the world's most expensive island - with a dark history. Despite its year-round sunshine and crystal blue water, no one lives on Palmyra Island. Geographically, the Palmyra is what experts call an Atoll - small islets made up of corals and scattered in the shape of a ring.
The island has a lush interior filled with dense rainforest vegetation - and looks almost like a paradise getaway. And it's always warm, with an average temperature of 30C. Palmyra's coastline stretches up to nine miles - and is made up of one of the most scenic beaches that you would ever see.
Some of them are small, but others stretch hundreds of metres. The place looks like a peaceful escape, seemingly untouched by the rush of the world. What makes the place even more unique is that no one has ever been able to colonise the place.
In 2000, after a series of legal battles over its claim, the US bought the island for £21million - making it the most expensive island ever sold. Palmyra's remoteness makes it a good place spend days in solace. But beyond the seemingly serene paradise lies a darker past that has plagued the island for many years.
The island is known for a string of mysterious deaths of people who once came to the island after being attracted by its scenic beauty. While others have vanished without a clue - and still remain missing to this day. People who have ever been to the island describe it as being filled with a negative aura that hangs heavy in the air.
Legend has it that a pirate once came to this land in search of a hidden treasure and cursed the place when he could not find it. Since then, a string of bizarre events have occurred on this tiny piece of land. A patrol plane once trying to study the size of the island reportedly dropped out of the sky without any reason.
Rescuers who tried to recover the remains of the plane - and the people inside - found no clue of the accident. In another case, a plane that was flying near the island disappeared from the radar without any trace - and was never seen again. The stories have forced people to stay off the stretch of land - apart from scientists who carry out research on the island.
It's not a tourist island - and does not offer any facilities to anyone planning to visit the land even for one night. The few people who have ever visited the place claim to have stayed inside their boats or temporary tents on the beach. Today, Palmyra sits eerily abandoned with just a few scientists visiting for research purposes.
There is a very small number of buildings on the islands, and these are mostly bungalows for the people who work and research here..
