Google Maps Showed a 'Mysterious Doorway' in Antarctica and Scientists Finally Reveal What It Is
Exploring the world is now just a click away, thanks to the super tool, Google Maps that people now rely upon globally. The easy and simplified virtual access to even some of the most remote parts of the world has given birth to a new trend of searching for strange features on the surface of Earth. Internet sleuths have been at work and spotted an unusual entrance embedded in an ice sheet in East Antarctica. A Reddit user (u/realg00n) went far beyond their way, surveying the snowy landscapes of the South Pole when a doorway caught their attention at the coordinates 69°00'50″S 39°36'22″E.
In a feat to unravel the mystery, the netizen shared the feature, located just southeast of the Japanese research outpost Showa Station, on the internet with the title, “Massive door in Antarctica?” The viral post then spurred several conspiracy theories online. A curious user (u/ricker122598) speculated that it was a “blown-off Boeing door” hinting at a plane crash that had occurred in the past. While another Reddit user (u/kempofight) said it could be a “secret imperial Japanese bunker." Someone else (u/Weak_Crew_8112) even joked about the doorway leading to Big Foot’s vacation home. "Great find. Could be the underground base entrance of some sort. Could be nothing. Excellent find either way,” a person (u/TheForce122) said.
However, hate to be the buzzkill, but Bethan Davies, professor of glaciology at the University of Newcastle, debunked the theory of the feature being a doorway. She hopped on the internet to take a look using the advanced site Google Earth Pro alongside analysis of historical imagery of the exact location. “This feature is in an area of fast sea ice in East Antarctica, just offshore of the coast,” she told the Daily Mail. She further explained that the site is home to a series of islands with shallow water. The doorway-like feature is actually an iceberg that “became grounded and is now stuck and melting out in situ,” Davies clarified. There are several other icebergs in the region.
Professor Martin Siegert of the Graham Institute echoed Davies’ observations and said, “This is simply ice flow around a solid subglacial obstacle, influenced also by melting and re-freezing of ice and by katabatic winds.” The ice in the area is dangerously thin and thus, similar outcrops have been observed nearby. “It's an interesting pattern, but not unusual or surprising glaciologically,” he concluded. Meanwhile, volcanologist and professor John Smellie from the University of Leicester was immensely fascinated by the emerging theories. “What would we do without the conspiracy theorists?” he quipped marking the internet sleuths’ efforts. He noted that the resolution was sub-par but yet was evidently a rocky ridge outcrop that had unburied itself out of the thinning ice.
Smellie also observed that the feature pointed out made only the top of the doorway whereas two parallel snow tails formed the sides of the doorway which indicate the orientation of the wind direction precisely. “I am pretty sure it's just a natural phenomenon and nothing to get excited about,” he remarked while pondering over the door-like appearance if properly imagined. However, this is not the first time online detectives have been set on a mysterious event in the snow caps of Antarctica. Earlier, conspiracy theorists discovered a strange pyramid in a similar fashion that urged scientists to solve the riddle once again. It turned out to be a mountain peak.