Google Ocean: Has Atlantis been found off Africa?

[Ichingcarpenter]

Source: Telegraph

The network of criss-cross lines is 620 miles off the coast of north west Africa near the Canary Islands on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

The perfect rectangle – which is around the size of Wales – was noticed on the search giant's underwater exploration tool by an aeronautical engineer who claims it looks like an "aerial map" of a city.
The underwater image can be found at the co-ordinates 31 15'15.53N 24 15'30.53W.
Last night Atlantis experts said that the unexplained grid is located at one of the possible sites of the legendary island, which was described by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato.
According to his account, the city sank beneath the ocean after its residents made a failed effort to conquer Athens around 9000 BC.

Dr Charles Orser, curator of historical archaeology at New York State University told The Sun that the find was fascinating and warranted further inspection.
"The site is one of the most prominent places for the proposed location of Atlantis, as described by Plato," the Atlantis expert said. "Even if it turns out to be geographical, it definitely deserves a closer look."

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/google/4731313/Google-Ocean-Has-Atlantis-been-found-off-Africa.html

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[Ichingcarpenter]

1. JUST UPDATED: turns out to be boat mapping lines

The perfect rectangle, which is around the size of Wales, was noticed on the search giant's underwater exploration tool Photo: GOOGLE EARTH

Keen observers had spotted what appeared to be the outline of a vast city on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.
But the criss-crossing lines, located 600 miles west of the Canary Islands, were today explained by Google as sonar data collected as boats mapped the ocean floor.

A spokeswoman said: "It's true that many amazing discoveries have been made in Google Earth including a pristine forest in Mozambique that is home to previously unknown species and the remains of an Ancient Roman villa.

"In this case, however, what users are seeing is an artefact of the data collection process.
"Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor.

"The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data.
"The fact that there are blank spots between each of these lines is a sign of how little we really know about the world's oceans."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/google/4735057/Google-Ocean-Atlantis-found-off-Africa-turns-out-to-be-boat-mapping-lines.html

[brooklynite]

17. Unless....that's what they WANT us to think...

[struggle4progress]

30. If they just keep trying, I feel sure The Telegraph will get a story right some day

[Greyskye]

2. Fascinating - closer photo

On edit: Oops - virtual streets caused by technology LOL!

[DKRC]

3. Wales ~ just over 8000 square miles

Wales - language, currency, statistics, tourism, climate.

The land area is just over 8000 square miles and Wales measures 160 miles long by 60 miles wide. Wales has extensive tracts of high plateaux with mountain ...

www.data-wales.co.uk/wstats.htm

This is huge whether it is Atlantis or not.

[Tab]

8. Not if it's just sonar mapping artifacts.

There are two main ways to do sonar mapping - one is to drag a "fish" behind you (kinda looks like a little missile/rocket), the other is to mount transponders on the front of your ship and then a computer does all the calculation to account for yaw of the ship, etc.

Atlantis is generally thought to be Minoan Crete. This jibes with Plato's description, except for the measurements, which seem to be off by a factor of 10. If you assume it was bad translation, and you correct the numbers (by dividing by 10) it all makes sense in terms of location, point in time, size, etc.

[enlightenment]

11. Santorini, actually.

Crete is still above water; Santorini (Thera) has a big chunk out of it, thanks to that pesky volcano.

[SteelPenguin]

13. Well, Crete would have been Atlantis

Thera/Santorini was the cause...

The theory is that he was refering to Minoan Crete, which was 900 years before his time (rather than the 9,000) he stated, and east of the pillars of hercules rather than west of them...but the theory goes that the eruption of Thera/Santorini in approximately 1500 BC set up earthquakes and a massive tsunami which hit the nearby island of crete destroying the Minoan Civilization (tidal waves sweeping inland destroying all their fleets, and coastal communities).

The Atlanteans and Minoans had alot of cultural similarities too, from high prominence of women, to ritualism around bulls and bullfighting. The dates line up, the minoan civilization ended abruptly, the description of what happened to atlantis by plato (earthquakes followed by being swallowed up by the sea) match.

It's of course just a theory, but it fits better than anything I've ever read.

[ngant17]

35. The Thera location is suspect for several reasons

Plato's description of the area of Atlantis was much bigger than Thera or Crete.

The Minoan region was arid and dry, it does not have "marshes, lakes and rivers".

Plato describes a tree which likely is a coconut palm tree, such trees do not thrive in the Mediterraean region, typically they grow south of the 25th parallel.

Atlantis had an abundance of silver and gold, elements which are not found in Thera excavations.

Plato did say Atlantis was "west" of Gilbralter.

[XemaSab]

36. Yeah, and Florida and Central America

had streets paved with gold and fountains of youth. :eyes:

[SteelPenguin]

40. It's more an inspiration than anything

No place fits the story exactly, which is kind of the point. However what happened to the minoan civilization is very likely one of several inspirations for the story that Plato told. it was Fiction inspired by a true story.

[DKRC]

14. I was thinking in terms of scale.

Just looking at the photo without any reference point the grid pattern could be no bigger than a frying pan. So I Googled Wales for a comparison & it gave me a better grasp of the area this is covering.



:hi:

[MorningGlow]

4. This isn't new

This photo has been kicking around for a long time--certainly predates Google.

I like it. :D

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Thom Hartman mentioned it briefly on his show today

So I just googled to see what the story was about.

[Princess Turandot]

6. There's been an ongoing discussion about this on the Google Earth Community Forum...

which is Google's official GE forum.

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1193720&gonew=1#UNREAD

I'm a beta tester for the app...it was my guess that Atlantis would be 'found' almost immediately when they did the public release. :D

PT

[L. Coyote]

7. I been to Atlantis, Atlantis is a submarine port of mine, and this is NO Atlantis!

:rofl: :rofl: Rolling on the ocean floor laughing!! :rofl: :rofl:

[SoCalDem]

10. reminds me of the devil's tuning fork illusion..n/t

[No Elephants]

28. Now I am ROOFL, too. Thanks!

[Theobald]

9. No it is not Atlantis.

The discussion about this should not be is this Atlantis, but what is this?. Is it man made or is it natural? There are plenty of natural things that look man made and there are plenty of man made things that look natural. Speculating whether or not this is Atlantis is specious at best. There are no buildings or structures or rubble in general to suggest that there were buildings or structures, so all we have is a bunch of lines in the ocean and this paucity of evidence has somehow turned into speculation about Atlantis? Go in with an open and clear mind and you are more likely to find the truth than going in with unsupported and widely speculative ideas.

[Redstone]

12. So, THAT'S where the black helicopters that make the chemtrails come from!

Redstone

[DKRC]

15. sssshhhhhh ...

:evilgrin:

[Javaman]

16. The lost subdivision of Atlanta. nt

[deadmessengers]

39. Naah, no cul-de-sacs.

I think it's the law here that you can't build grid streets - every subdivision MUST be a set of dead ends, with only one or two ways in or out. I wish I were being sarcastic, but I'm half convinced that that's really the case.

[Tab]

18. It's actually Catlantis

a little known knockoff of Atlantis, run by cats, where humans are subservient.

However, when it flooded, the cats went too, as they are not major fans of swimming.

The rumors have "swirled" ever since.

And the cats are still pissed off at their failed attempt to have their own country.

[Tab]

19. Also, just let logic be your guide

What were the building materials back then? Wood? Some variation of concrete or brick or mud?

If it existed 900 years before Plato, fer chrissakes, and was at the bottom of the ocean, it would have long disintegrated and been washed over.

To have that sort of definition, it would need to be some pretty unusual building material.

Pretty sure we're just looking at a sonar mapping artifact. They show up all the time. Not necessarily as poor a job as that, but still...

- Tab

[Blue_Tires]

21. but atlantis had the technology from the aliens...!1!!!!!

including how to cloak themselves!

[wickerwoman]

23. Didn't they use marble?

The Parthenon is 5th C BC.

Not saying that this is Atlantis but marble/block masonry wasn't unknown in the time period.

[Cleita]

37. Stone for monuments has been used back to Neolithic times.

Stonehenge and the temple complexes of Malta are an example.

[Blue_Tires]

20. but i wanted to go way down below the ocean....

where i want to be, she may be...

[MichaelHarris]

22. I can

see Atlantis from my house that's why I have National Security experience

[No Elephants]

29. Is that who I think it

is?

[MichaelHarris]

32. I used to have

a square ass, now however it's more pear shaped.

[No Elephants]

33. Yet, it's so hard to find an adequate variety of pear shaped pants. (And don't think

I haven't tried!)

[MichaelHarris]

34. hahahahahahaha

Doesn't Fruit of the Loom make pear shaped underwear?

[Zhade]

24. No, because there's no such thing.

NT!

[vaberella]

25. Actually its been rurmored Atlantis may be in the Caribbean. n/t

[Codeine]

26. Rumored by idiots

who believe in fairy tales.

[vaberella]

27. I could agree with that. I doubt they'll find Atlantis like Stargate Atlantis' ship or something...

I mean I don't think the whole space ship bullshit is real but probably an advanced culture could be real for all we know. Since many have existed in the past. I believe they found Troy didn't they? So...who knows.

[and-justice-for-all]

31. Sorry kids, Atlantis is a myth...

based on an actual place called Helike.

[fishwax]

38. people actually believe in Atlantis?