Truth behind mysterious ‘pyramid’ discovered in Antarctica

A pyramid-shaped mass was spotted in satellite images taken over the southern part of Antartica’s Ellsworth Mountain range - here's what it actually is.

Although Antarctica is the continent that's covered in ice and is pretty uninhabitable for humans, there is a viral conspiracy theory suggesting that someone or something managed to build a pyramid there.

And since penguins aren't known for being particularly skilled architects, it leads us to question what the mass actually is and how did it get there?

YouTube/History

A number of bizarre peaks were spotted in the area, with one in particular measuring 2 kilometers square in each direction at its base - a design not totally different to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Naturally, the discovery of this massive object sent the internet into a frenzy, especially given that, as far as we know, humans don't tend to hang out in Antarctica for long given its freezing temperatures, let alone build pyramids there.

After images of the pyramids resurfaced recently, people began to share their theories for the structures, with one user on X suggesting: "This structure belongs to the civilization which existed before the flood. Around 10,000 years ago Antartica was warm."

Another commented: "Illuminati confirmed."

Although the Illuminati would be the ultimate noughties throwback, scientists have previously discovered signs of plant life in Antarctica, which indicated the landscape was once covered in rainforest, with an average temperature of about 55°F (12°C).

This, however, was about 83 million years ago, but it would make the landscape more liveable for anyone who set themselves the challenge of building a pyramid.

There is also another explanation for the pyramid - and sorry to burst your bubble, but it's not a pyramid at all.

After rumours and claims about the structure began to circulate, Irvine geology professor, Eric Rignot, spoke with LiveScience to get to the truth of the matter.

Though the image definitely appears to show a pyramid, Rignot explained: "This is just a mountain that looks like a pyramid."

YouTube/History

The 'pyramid' is actually a feature of glaciated areas known as a 'pyramidal peaked mountain'. They're formed from the convergence of glaciers on the sides of an existing landmass.

Rignot, a professor of Earth system science at the University of California, continued: “Pyramid shapes are not impossible — many peaks partially look like pyramids, but they only have one to two faces like that, rarely four.”

There are some other pyramid-shaped mountains out there to support this point, including Mount Búlandstindur in Iceland, and Bordoyarnes Mountain on the Faroe Islands.

For a second, we thought the illuminati were hiding out in Antarctica!

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