Featured Image Credit: Hongjie Han/Getty / Google Maps
Antarctica holds a pretty persistent allure for conspiracy theorists and regular people alike - it's one of those bits of the Earth that's enduringly mysterious.
Now, it's got a new (albeit small) chapter in the long history of conspiracy theories about what could be hidden in its huge frozen wastes - after a Reddit user found an interesting-looking anomaly on Google Maps.
The user realg00n posted two images to a conspiracy theory community on Reddit (where else?) both screenshotted from Google Maps' satellite imagery and showing what looks like a large oblong shape jutting out of the snow.
The first shot is zoomed-out and shows the object near some craggy rocks, while the second is much more tightly cropped to give a closer look at it.
Without any bias, it is indeed an interesting-looking structure, one that could be multiple things, and the post suggests that it's a "massive door", as far-fetched as that might seem.
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The comments under the post are full of people theorizing what it is, too, including some pointing out the structure's proximity to a Japanese research base called Showa Station.
One person commented: "I just love the mystery of Antarctica, wish we know more," while another was firmer in their belief that they knew what was going on: "I bet it's a clone reptile base."
Still, it's further down in the comments that the most rational and most likely correct answer is uncovered, by a more straightforward and detailed response.
A user who seems to know the area said that the perspective of the image was confusing people: "No, it's flat on the ground. It's part of a glacier poking through the ice below. It's pretty obvious."
When the original poster challenged this verdict, though, saying: "That still looks like a door to me," the next response was a bit of a slam-dunk.
The commenter replied: "That's because you're using bias to see what you want to see. Next door there are LOADS of these 'structures' that are actually ice and rock. Also, if that's a door... It's 93 meters tall... And flat on the ground facing towards the sky… But you know, you believe whatever you want to believe…"
That's a comprehensive rebuttal, backed up by another image that clearly demonstrates the so-called 'door' is very near to a debris field of other glacier outcroppings that look pretty similar.
So, while you could still look at the original image and wonder just what it really is, it's hard not to think that the answer is 'ice from a funny perspective', rather than anything that indicates a far-reaching international conspiracy to cover up secret Antarctic bases.
