The mysterious ‘pyramid’ under the Antarctic ice drives conspiracy theorists crazy
- The huge pyramid-shaped mass was seen over the Ellsworth Range.
- Social media users are baffled by the structure, with some blaming aliens.
- But the mysterious object has a logical explanation. Keep reading to know more
Conspiracy theorists have a new focus: a “pyramid” in Antarctica.
Despite the fact that the continent is covered in snow and ice, and has no permanent human population, social media users are convinced that a mysterious triangular structure can be seen on satellite images.
But where did this supposed ‘pyramid’ come from? That’s a question that currently baffles social media users everywhere.
The huge pyramid-shaped mass was seen in satellite images taken in the southern part of the Ellsworth Ridge in Antarctica.
A huge pyramid-shaped mass was detected in satellite images taken in the southern part of the Ellsworth Ridge in Antarctica; the object has puzzled users of social media.
Several strange-looking peaks were found in the area, one of which measured two kilometers in each direction from its square base, a design similar to the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt.
But after images of the ‘pyramids’ resurfaced this week, people began sharing theories about what the massive structure might have come to be.
On Twitter, one user said: ‘Wait, how did they move the pyramids from Egypt to Antarctica?’
Some have suggested that artificial life or the legendary secret society ‘the Illuminati’ are behind the apparent structure, while others attributed the design to humans.
Others have offered even more outlandish ideas, one user wrote: ‘This structure belongs to the civilization that existed before the flood. About 10,000 years ago, Antarctica was warm.
Before you get too hooked on the theory though, the ‘pyramid’ in question is really just a mountain.
The puzzling structure is a feature of glaciated areas known as “pyramid mountain.”
The Ellsworth Range was discovered in 1935, it is more than 400 km long and consists of peaks made of rock.
The mountain range is located in Antarctica on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Marie Byrd Land.
“The pyramid-shaped structures are located in the Ellsworth Mountains, which is a range more than 400 km long, so it is not surprising that there are rocky peaks sticking out of the ice. The peaks are clearly composed of rock, and it is a coincidence that this particular peak has that shape,” Dr. Mitch Darcy, a geologist at the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam, told IFLScience.
It’s not a complicated shape, so it’s not a special coincidence either. By definition, it is a nunatak, which is simply a rock peak that juts out above a glacier or ice sheet. This one is shaped like a pyramid, but that doesn’t make it a human construction.
The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain range in Antarctica and form a 350 km long and 48 km wide range of mountains in a north–south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Marie Byrd Land .
The mountains are located within the Chilean Antarctic territorial claim and were discovered in 1935 by Lincoln Ellsworth on a trans-Antarctic flight from Dundee Island to the Ross Ice Shelf.
The temperature in the Ellsworth Mountains averages around -30°C, and the range only has a short window for visiting, with the best time for expeditions being November through January.
