Lost City of Atlantis Found?
For as long as I can remember, I've heard the legendary story of Atlantis. It's a tale as old as time, really. An ancient city with advanced technology lost in the ocean and never to be seen again. Most consider it folklore and flat-out made up. However, could the lost city of Atlantis really exist, and has it been found?
The story of Atlantis came from Athenian philosopher Plato and his works, such as Timeaeus and Critias. Plato said that te city fell into the depths of the sea over a single day and night, and many don't think it was something Plato believed to be real. The story has taken on a life of its own over the last few hundred years and is incorporated into so many articles and media (movies, shows, literature, music).
But do you believe the legend of Atlantis? One man who has done countless research does and he is making a very compelling argument that not only did Atlantis exist, but has been hiding in plain sight.
The YouTube channel called Bright Insight has over 1.1 million followers and in recent years, has made a few videos that go over interesting facts and research that says the remains of Atlantis could actually be in modern-day Mauritania, in a place known as the Richat Structure. It lies in West Africa and is sometimes called the "eye of Africa," because of its bizarre and unique shape that resembles an eye.
The argument that Jimmy (the channel's content creator) of Bright Insight makes is that this structure perfectly matches the description of Atlantis, which say it was made up of rings of water and land, which this structure does and it also contains saltwater deposits based on satellite imaging, which might suggest the ocean once covered this region thousands of years ago when the layout of the continent looked vastly different.
The argument is some cataclysmic event happened here in the past that rose sea levels and destroyed an ancient civilization that could have been Atlantis. That would have been roughly 11,500 years ago -- long before many even consider advanced civilizations to have even existed. But it falls in line with when scientists believe a massive upheaval in the Earth’s climate took place.
Jimmy also explains how the structure is the exact same size (23km) that Plato described Atlantis to be and there’s an opening to the south, as well as mountains to the north, which was also a known description of Atlantis.
I'm not sure we know even close to everything there is to know about ancient civilizations and certain events that happened that long ago, but this definitely goes against what many believe to be facts, although the evidence and research done are pretty interesting. Maybe Atlantis was a real place and the story was fabricated about its layout, origin, and location. That would be more believable than a giant continent falling into the ocean.
Obviously, there is no concrete evidence this was Atlantis and that likely will never be proven. Chances are this legend will continue long after we're gone and we may never know all the facts about our ancient history.
It doesn't hurt to wonder though. That's part of why history is so fun.