The eye sees what it wants to see. So when users of Google Ocean discovered a grid-like terrain feature on the seabed near the Canary Islands, the hypothesis quickly emerged that it could be the fabled lost city of Atlantis.
Bernie Bamford, 38, of Chester [England] who spotted the "city", compared it to Milton Keynes, the new town built on a grid design. "It must be man made," he said.
Well yes, and no. The thing is the size of Wales, which should have been a tip off. No modern metropolitan area even comes close, which should have been a fairly obvious clue that the lost civilization theory was full of holes. For a street or boulevard to be visible at this scale, it would have to be hundreds if not thousands of meters wide. This did not occur to Mr. Bamford and other adherants of "Atlantis Found".
Now, alas, Google reveals the grids are an artifact of undersea mapping, not evidence of ancient civilization on a massive scale.
"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."
Ah, but hope springs eternal. Perhaps when Google Mars makes its debut, even a rank amateur will finally be able to spot those canals.
Comments