Abstract <p>The article describes the history of discovery and scientific research of a unique natural object: the Patom Crater in Eastern Siberia. The geological structure of the crater and the evolution of scientific ideas about its origin, from the fall of a meteorite to endogenous factors, are considered. Results of the gravimetric survey and magnetotelluric sounding are presented. In the gravitational field, the above-ground structure of the Patom Crater coincides spatially with a negative anomaly with an intensity of 0.6 mGal. In the vertical distribution of density inhomogeneities, an extensive zone of decompaction is distinguished, from which narrower channels rise, one of which, directly under the crater, reaches the Earth’s surface. In the geoelectric section, subhorizontal layers of limestones and graphite-rich sandstones and subvertical tectonic zones, along which thrust fault displacements of rock blocks occurred, are distinguished by lower electric resistance. A gaseous cryogenic hypothesis of crater formation is put forward. At the initial stage, a subvertical permeable zone was formed as a result of outbreak of gases. The above-ground structure of the crater followed later as a result of meteoric waters entering the frozen fractured zone.</p>