That was then. In 2016, a team of American and European researchers claimed to have found proof of an ancient Antarctic civilisation. They reported three, precisely shaped four-sided pyramids protruding through the tundra. Online sleuths soon located the Google Earth imaging of these structures for analysis.
Soon, a video by conspiracy theorist team Third Phase of Moon claimed these pyramids were the work of an ancient, long forgotten civilisation, whose existence was finally being revealed to the world.
Since 2009 NASA’s Operation IceBridge Mission has produced images of the polar ice caps to investigate what lies beneath, including those that now appear to prove buried human settlements. Recent scientific discoveries indicate Antarctica may once have been inhabited.
In 2009 a climate science team discovered pollen particles on the continent. They concluded that tropical plants including palm and baobab trees once grew there, with temperatures reaching highs of 21 degrees celsius.
Then, in 2012, researchers from Nevada’s Desert Research Institute collected samples of 32 bacterial strains from East Antarctica’s Lake Vida. This is consistent with theories that the continent was once home to numerous biological life forms. This opens the possibility that human settlements once existed there too.
Journalist Christopher Condon believes that Antarctica could be the ancient city of Atlantis. First discussed in the writings of Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis was described as a cultural centre throughout antiquity, until its obliteration through natural disaster in 10,000 BC. It has never been located.
Furthermore, Native American mythology states their original ancestors, the “Aztlan”, hailed from an unidentified “white island” that was obliterated by a scourge of natural disasters. The pyramid could be part of this legendary historical complex. These claims are also supported by the findings of historian Professor Charles Hapgood. Hapgood theorised that the continent was home to an ancient civilisation, which escaped or perished as natural disasters forced these populations to flee or perish.
Hapgood explained the absence of material evidence for such a civilisation with his theory of crustal displacement. This posits that every 20 to 30 thousand years, the Earth’s entire crust shifts. Allegedly, the most recent shift took place 12, 000 years ago, and moved Antarctica into the Southern Polar Zone. The strength and intensity of this relocation resulted in existing settlements becoming buried under thick layers of ice.
Geological evidence for this theory comes from the natural shifting of the Earth’s magnetic poles, which have not always been in their present day locations.
This purportedly explained the difference in ice sheet thickness between Lesser and Greater Antarctica. According to Hapgood’s calculations, Lesser Antarctica had 40,000 more years to develop an icy crust. Importantly, Hapgood was well-respected amongst his peers.
One of his earliest supporters was Albert Einstein, who petitioned U.S. President Eisenhower to fund research into this theory. Eisenhower left office before he was able to fulfil this request, and the research remained incomplete.
2012 reports that satellite imaging had located a 22 kilometre structure beneath the Arctic ice caps have also fuelled these suspicions. Photographic evidence was initially available on Google Earth. While NASA and the U.S. military have refuted these claims, theorists believe these government agencies are covering up the cold truth.
However, others contest whether or not these “discoveries” are even new. Science journalist Alfredo Carpineti has traced historical sources that mention the same structure, and refer to it as a mountain. It was allegedly first recorded on a 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition.
They ironically referred to it on consequent geological surveys as “the pyramid” due to the shape of its summit.
Hapgood’s crustal displacement is a long discredited scientific theory. Had it occurred, it would have wiped out all animals on Earth as huge landmasses moved across at an implausible 1000 miles an hour. Hapgood’s academic background was in historical research, not in science.
Pyramid formations are hardly unusual in mountain ranges as naturally occurring phenomena. The Antarctic one could very well be a “nunatak” - a mountain peak that protrudes above natural glaciers. There are several noted examples in Antarctica already. Scientists believe these occur when huge glaciers shift over thousands of years, and cover all of a rock formation apart from a single exposed peak.
Human pyramids were inspired by these mountain ranges. For example, the ornate Aztec pyramids were made to imitate soaring peaks because they believed it would protect them from the elements. The world’s largest pyramid - known by the Aztecs as “Serpent Mountain” - represents the legendary mountain birthplace of their peoples.
Crucially, groundbreaking contemporary research by Professor Peter Barrett shows that the continent has been covered in deep ice for at least 15 million years. This is 9 million years before the first human ancestors came to Earth. Therefore, there is simply no way that the pyramid could have been made by modern humans.
The shapes of these Antarctic structures do bear extraordinary similarity to modern man-made structures. But there is no concrete evidence to suggest they are anything other than natural rock formations. More evidence is needed to prove this is the work of an ancient civilisation.
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