What Do We Really Know About Antarctica?
The sheer vastness of Antarctica is stunning. Despite it being the fifth-largest continent, containing 70 percent of the world’s fresh water in its glacier, it remains largely unexplored – not to mention what lies beneath the ice.
The documented discovery of Antarctica is somewhat ambiguous as far as crediting one particular person, but it has been generally accepted that it occurred around 1820. However, there have been alternative theories positing that the continent may have been discovered centuries earlier by ancient civilizations – possibly influenced by extraterrestrial technology.
1513 Piri Reis Map during the Ottoman Empire
The evidence of an earlier discovery of Antarctica is thought to be found in the Piri Reis Map, created by the Ottomans in 1513 shortly after Columbus’ discovery of the Americas. The map was drawn by a cartographer of the same name who claimed to have drawn the map, not from his own personal knowledge and expeditions, but from more than 20 source maps already available to him in Turkish libraries at the time. He also stated that these maps predated the reign of Alexander the Great (356 -323 BC).
The map was unexpectedly discovered in a library Constantinople in 1929. This map was drawn to such accuracy that it depicted the coastlines of South America and Antarctica within half a degree of longitude.
The extent of their mapping of the continent is seemingly more advanced than early cartographers were capable of creating.
A Warmer Continent
Dr. John Weihaupt, an emeritus professor of Geology at the University of Colorado Denver, was a proponent of the belief that Antarctica was discovered significantly earlier than we’ve been told, though the actual means of discovery, he claims are unknown.
According to some, the Piri Reis map appears to show the subglacial topography of Antarctica during a time of warm weather that harbored life. A study by scientists from LSU and Rice University found deposits of pollen fossilized in layers of sedimentary rock, showing signs of a tundra warm enough for plant growth as recently as 12 million years ago.
However, theories focusing on the Piri Reis Map would suggest a warmer Antarctic climate much more recently.
Pyramids and Odd Structures
The discovery of several four-sided pyramids has ignited another curiosity as to the mysticism surrounding Antarctica. Some claim that the pyramids could be the work of ancient or alien civilizations, while others say that they are simply nunataks —protruding peaks of mountains buried beneath the ice, shaped by erosion. However, the distinctly shaped sides of each face are what alternative theories see as evidence of the pyramids being man-made. An additional dome-shaped structure protruding from beneath the ice has raised further questions and perpetuated the belief of an ancient civilization buried beneath that the Ottomans may have been aware of or contacted.
Google Earth view of Antarctic pyramids
Dome appearing to have multiple cells protruding from ice in Antarctica
Underground Tunnels and Military Bases
An image showing what appears to be several tanks and a downed aircraft have added to the prospect of government military action or secret bases on Antarctica. During WWII there was evidence, some rumored and some confirmed, of Nazi military programs that established bases on the continent, supposedly researching extraterrestrial technology. Conversely, during a naval expedition dubbed, Operation Highjump, Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd is purported to have been exposed to extraterrestrial technology.
Some interpret Byrd’s claim of seeing aircraft that “are able to fly from one pole to the other with incredible speed,” as a UFO sighting, whereas others interpret it as a warning of the possibility of an attack from planes subversively flying over the poles to reach their targets without detection. However, both of these interpretations seem to hint at Nazi activity on Antarctica.
An image appearing to show tanks facing unknown craft
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Doggerland; Sunken Landmass Between UK & Europe May Be Atlantis
A thriving ancient culture that was wiped out by rising waters and a great tsunami—could the real Atlantis have been located between Britain and Europe?
Along the coast of the Netherlands, the ocean has been giving up its secrets. About 10,000 years ago, what is now water, was a landmass filled with flora, fresh game, and from what we can tell, a flourishing civilization. But at the end of the last ice age, glaciers melted, sea levels rose and what remained of this area is believed to have been knocked out by a tsunami.
Dubbed “Doggerland” after a sandbank off the coast of England, archeologists first learned of the potential of the Stone Age civilization there in 1931, when a fishing boat pulled up a barbed antler spearhead. There has been interest in Doggerland since then, but only in the last decade or so has there been intense study using high-tech seafloor mapping equipment, and low-tech citizen archeologists who bring their finds to the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Holland.
Fishermen have found the remains of mammoths, hyenas, lions, as well as pre-historic tools, weapons, and skull fragments. Could this be the Atlantis that Plato wrote about? Some experts disagree…
