THE GREAT ATLANTIS HOAX: ANOTHER MEDIA FIASCO

[Loki]

From: Peiser, Benny [B.J.Peiser@livjm.ac.uk]
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 6:56 AM
To: cambridge-conference
Subject: CCNet: THE GREAT ATLANTIS HOAX: ANOTHER MEDIA FIASCO

CCNet 148/2004 - 15 November 2004
THE GREAT ATLANTIS HOAX: ANOTHER MEDIA FIASCO
----------------------------------------------
In recent years, radical environmentalists have called upon the media to abandon all balanced science reporting because impartial journalism would give sceptics too much credibility. The media's Atlantis debacle is a clear and disturbing indication where uninhibited science journalism could end once the shackles of even-handedness and scepticism are shaken off for good.
--Benny Peiser, 15 November 2004


An American researcher claimed yesterday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east Mediterranean Sea. Robert Sarmast says that sonar scanning of the seabed between east Cyprus and Syria revealed man-made walls, one as long as two miles, and trenches at a depth of 1,500 meters. "We have definitely found the Acropolis of Atlantis," he affirmed, adding the site was 50 miles south-east of Cyprus.
--Press Association, 15 November 2004

It is a miracle we found these walls as their location and lengths match exactly the description of the acropolis of Atlantis provided by Plato in his writings.
--Robert Sarmast, Associated Press, 15 November 2004


People who dismiss this have not really done their homework, sceptics don't really understand. To understand the enigma of Atlantis you have to have good knowledge of ancient history, Biblical references, the Sumerian culture and their tablets and so on.
-- Robert Sarmast, Reuters, 14 November 2004

Serious archaeologists tend to place the search for Atlantis within the realm of fantasy. This latest theory should be taken with a very large pinch of salt. Archaeologists only work with hard evidence. There is no evidence whatsoever to give credence to this hypothesis and we have no intention of investigating it.
--Despo Pilides, Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 28 September 2003

(1) SWALLOWING THE GREAT ATLANTIS HOAX: THE INEVITABLE DEBACLE OF UNBALANCED SCIENCE REPORTING
Benny Peiser <b.j.peiser@livjm.ac.uk>

(2) U.S. RESEARCHER SAYS FINDS ATLANTIS OFF CYPRUS
Reuters, 14 November 2004

(3) AMERICAN SAYS LEGENDARY ATLANTIS IS FOUND
The Guardian, 15 November 2004

(4) LEGENDARY LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS FOUND - CLAIM
Press Association, 15 November 2004

(5) LOST ATLANTIS 'FOUND NEAR CYPRUS'
The Daily Telegraph, 15 November 2004

(6) THE FLIMSY BASIS OF MEDIA HYPE: 'ATLANTIS EXPEDITION UNCOVERS STARTLING NEW EVIDENCE'
Cyprus Atlantis Expedition Press Office, 15 November 2004

(7) THE DISCOVERY OF ATLANTIS: THE STARTLING CASE FOR THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS
http://www.discoveryofatlantis.com/

( GLOBAL MEDIA FALL FOR ANOTHER ATLANTIS HOAX
Google.com, 15 November 2004

(9) REALITY CHECK: 'THERE IS NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER' SAY PROFESSIONAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS
The Daily Telegraph, 28 September 2003

(10) REALITY CHECK: REFLOODING OF MEDITERRANEAN OCCURRED 5.4 MILLION YEARS AGO
Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia

(11) WHY ATLANTIS IS EVERYWHERE: ITS ALL IN THE MIND (NOT ON A MAP)
Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia

(12) AND FINALLY: WHY THE SEARCH FOR ATLANTIS WILL ALWAYS LEAD TO ITS DISCOVERY:
The Skeptic's Dictonary

======
(1) SWALLOWING THE GREAT ATLANTIS HOAX: THE INEVITABLE DEBACLE OF UNBALANCED SCIENCE REPORTING

Benny Peiser <b.j.peiser@livjm.ac.uk>

It was bound to happen again. After this summer's media headlines about 'UFO crash caused Tunguska disaster', the mainstream media (MSM) has fallen once again for a scientific hoax and swallowed every word of it hook, line and sinker. This morning, the world's chief media outlets (Reuters, AP, AFP, PA) to name just the major press agencies report that Robert Sarmast, an American architect and amateur explorer, has discovered the mythological island of Atlantis off the coast of Cyprus.

Of course, the 'discovery' of Atlantis has been announced thousands of times. The latest one is not entirely new either. Mr Sarmast, "a self-proclaimed mythologist" (The Daily Telegraph), published his theory more than a year ago. At the time, he predicted that his next expedition would actually discover the lost island: "This is going to rewrite the history books. We are set to make the biggest archaeological discovery of all time." And bingo, the self-fulfilling prophecy has become a much celebrated media reality reported around the world!

Mr Sarmast claims that images taken by deep water sonar scanning 'indicate' man-made structures, including a 3-kilometer-long wall at a depth of 1,500 meter. However, his selective interpretation is nothing more than the blinkered reading of very ambiguous and unconvincing images. Anyone with a critical eye can pick out that these images are far too vague and uncertain to be regarded as compelling evidence for any man-made structures.

Mr Sarmast's scam was roundly rejected last year by Despo Pilides, an archaeologist at the Department of Antiquities in Cyprus: "This latest theory should be taken with a very large pinch of salt. Archaeologists only work with hard evidence. There is no evidence whatsoever to give credence to this hypothesis and we have no intention of investigating it."

The unreserved dismissal is not only due to the lack of *any* empirical evidence. The very foundation on which the hoax is based is completely bogus. According his theory, Mr Sarmast claims that the Mediterranean basin was 'flooded in a deluge around 9,000 BC which submerged a rectangular land mass he believes was Atlantis...' The problem is: there is no evidence whatsoever for any large-scale flooding of the Mediterranean basin at that time. In fact, the break of a once existing barrier at the Strait of Gibraltar that separated the Atlantic Ocean form the Mediterranean Sea occurred some 5.4 million ago - and not at the end of the ice age!

It the past, Atlantis discoveries used to be treated with a high degree of scepticism and essentially left to the fringe and New Age media. Today, it almost looks as if large sections of the mainstream media have become the new outlets for sensationalist pseudo-science. Radical environmentalists have called upon the media to abandon all balanced science reporting because impartial journalism would give sceptics too much credibility. The media's Atlantis debacle is a clear and disturbing indication where uninhibited science journalism could end once the shackles of even-handedness and scepticism are shaken off for good.

Benny Peiser
Liverpool
15 November 2004

===================
(2) U.S. RESEARCHER SAYS FINDS ATLANTIS OFF CYCPRUS

Reuters, 14 November 2004
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=6806129


By Michele Kambas

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (Reuters) - A U.S. researcher on Sunday claimed he had found the lost civilization of Atlantis in the watery deep off Cyprus -- adding his theory to a mystery which has baffled explorers for centuries.

Robert Sarmast says a Mediterranean basin was flooded in a deluge around 9,000 BC which submerged a rectangular land mass he believes was Atlantis, lying about 1 mile beneath sea level between Cyprus and Syria.

"We have definitely found it," said Sarmast, who led a team of explorers 50 miles off the south-east coast of Cyprus earlier this month.

Deep water sonar scanning had indicated man-made structures on a submerged hill, including a 3-kilometer-long wall, a walled hill summit and deep trenches, he said. But further explorations were needed, he added.

"We cannot yet provide tangible proof in the form of bricks and mortar as the artifacts are still buried under several meters of sediment, but the circumstantial and other evidence is irrefutable," he claimed.

At a news conference in the port city of Limassol, Sarmast provided only animated simulations of the "hill."

Whether and where Atlantis existed has captured imaginations for centuries.

According to ancient Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis was an island nation where an advanced civilization developed some 11,500 years ago.

Theories abound as to why it disappeared, from Atlantis being hit by a cataclysmic natural disaster to Greek mythology which describes the civilization as being so corrupted by greed and power that it was destroyed by God.

Sceptics believe Atlantis was a figment of Plato's imagination.

Sarmast says he was led to Cyprus by clues in Plato's dialogues. Plato's reference to Atlantis lying opposite the Pillars of Hercules -- believed to be the Straits of Gibraltar -- have often led explorers to focus on either the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland or the Azores off Portugal.

"People who dismiss this have not really done their homework, sceptics don't really understand. To understand the enigma of Atlantis you have to have good knowledge of ancient history, Biblical references, the Sumerian culture and their tablets and so on," said Sarmast.

Although the most prevailing story of a world cataclysm is listed in the Biblical Old Testament, several ancient cultures do list accounts of civilizations being destroyed in floods.

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

===========
(3) AMERICAN SAYS LEGENDARY ATLANTIS IS FOUND

The Guardian, 15 November 2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4615283,00.html

By ALEX EFTY

Associated Press Writer

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) - An American researcher claimed Sunday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east Mediterranean Sea, but Cyprus' chief government archaeologist was sceptical.

Robert Sarmast said sonar scanning 50 miles southeast of Cyprus revealed man-made walls, one as long as 2 miles, and trenches at a depth of 1,640 yards.

``It is a miracle we found these walls as their location and lengths match exactly the description of the acropolis of Atlantis provided by Plato in his writings,'' Sarmast said, referring to the ancient Greek philosopher.

The chief government archaeologist of Cyprus, Pavlos Flourentzos, reacted with scepticism, telling The Associated Press: ``More proof is necessary.''

Sarmast, 38, is an architect by training from Los Angeles. He has devoted the past 2 years to trying to locate the lost city described by Plato in his dialogues, the Timaeous and the Critias. He spoke to reporters on the ``Flying Enterprise,'' his expeditionary ship, after six days of taking highly sophisticated ``side scan'' sonars of the seabed.

He said he had chosen the area from data provided by two earlier sonar scans of the east Mediterranean by Russian and French expeditions. His own expedition used more sophisticated equipment, he said.

``We found more than 60-70 points that are a perfect match with Plato's detailed description of the general layout of the acropolis hill of Atlantis. The match of the dimensions and the coordinates provided by our sonar with Plato's description are so accurate that, if this is not indeed the acropolis of Atlantis, then this is the world's greatest coincidence,'' he said.

Tests of that part of the seabed showed it had once been above sea level, he said.

``We cannot yet provide tangible proof in the form of bricks and mortar as the artifacts are still buried under several meters of sediment at a depth of 1,500 meters (1,640 yards), but the evidence is now irrefutable,'' he added.

Asked if the ruins could not be that of another city that sank beneath the waves, Sarmast said the remains match Plato's description of Atlantis so closely that they could not be anything else.

``If you compare it with Plato, you will be astonished,'' he said. ``We hope that future expeditions will be able to uncover the sediment and bring back physical proof.''

Plato wrote of Atlantis as an island in the western sea, which has been widely interpreted to mean the Atlantic Ocean. An earthquake undermined the island and it was submerged. But societies dedicated to finding Atlantis remain.

For its time, Atlantis was a highly civilized nation and in legend it has become associated with utopia. The English philosopher Francis Bacon called his 1627 book on the ideal state The New Atlantis.

Chief government archaeologist Flourentzos said it was possible that Atlantis was near Cyprus.

``The myth of Atlantis has been around for ages and it is generally believed that, if it ever existed, it was somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean - hence its name. But ancient cities and civilizations in the Mediterranean region, such as the Minoan civilization of Crete, have disappeared as a result of major volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. For all we know, Atlantis may well have existed in our region.''

Sarmast said his expedition had cost about a $250,000. The funds came from public donations to his US-based company ``First Source Enterprise,'' which is devoted to the project, sales of his book ``The Discovery of Atlantis,'' and the Cypriot Tourist Organization, which donated $60,000.

He said the book, published in September 2003, said Atlantis was in the east Mediterranean and his latest sonars confirmed it.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

==========
(4) LEGENDARY LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS FOUND - CLAIM

Press Association, 15 November 2004
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3759015

An American researcher claimed yesterday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east Mediterranean Sea.

Robert Sarmast says that sonar scanning of the seabed between east Cyprus and Syria revealed man-made walls, one as long as two miles, and trenches at a depth of 1,500 meters.

"It is a miracle we found these walls as their location and lengths match exactly the description of the acropolis of Atlantis provided by Plato in his writings," Sarmast said, referring to the ancient Greek philosopher.

"We have definitely found the Acropolis of Atlantis," he affirmed, adding the site was 50 miles south-east of Cyprus.

Sarmast, 38, is an architect by training from Los Angeles. He has devoted the past two and a half years to trying to locate the lost city described by Plato in his dialogues, the Timaeous and the Critias.

He spoke to reporters on the Flying Enterprise, his expeditionary ship, after six days of taking highly sophisticated "side scan" sonars of the seabed.

He said he had chosen the area from data provided by two earlier sonar scans of the east Mediterranean by Russian and French expeditions. His own expedition used more sophisticated equipment, he said.

"We found more than 60-70 points that are a perfect match with Plato's detailed description of the general layout of the acropolis hill of Atlantis.

"The match of the dimensions and the co-ordinates provided by our sonar with Plato's description are so accurate that, if this is not indeed the acropolis of Atlantis, then this is the world's greatest coincidence," he said.

Tests of that part of the seabed showed it had once been above sea level, he said.

"We cannot yet provide tangible proof in the form of bricks and mortar as the artefacts are still buried under several meters of sediment at a depth of 1,500 meters, but the evidence is now irrefutable," he added.

Asked if the ruins could not be that of another city that sank beneath the waves, Sarmast said the remains match Plato's description of Atlantis so closely that they could not be anything else.

Plato wrote of Atlantis as an island in the western sea, which has been widely interpreted to mean the Atlantic Ocean. An earthquake undermined the island and it was submerged.

For its time, Atlantis was a highly civilised nation and in legend it has become associated with utopia. The English philosopher Francis Bacon called his 1627 book on the ideal state The New Atlantis.

Copyright 2004, The Scotsman

========
(5) LOST ATLANTIS 'FOUND NEAR CYPRUS'

The Daily Telegraph, 15 November 2004
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/11/15/watlan15.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/11/15/ixportal.html

By Tabitha Morgan in Limassol

A team of American ocean researchers said yesterday that they were convinced they had found evidence of the lost kingdom of Atlantis off the coast of Cyprus.

The team used the latest sonar technology to create images of the sea bed a mile below the surface of the Mediterranean.

The expedition, led by Robert Sarmast, spent six days at sea surveying the area. "I am absolutely convinced I have found Atlantis," Mr Sarmast said, speaking on the deck of his research ship on his return to Limassol.

"The sonar images showed what appeared to be two straight walls each about a mile long at either end of a flat-topped hill where the city's temples would have been situated."

In addition to these apparently man-made structures the images also showed evidence of two streams that Mr Sarmast said had flowed from springs on the summit. These fed into a trench or canal bed, which seemed to run concentrically around the hill.

According to Mr Sarmast the latest evidence matches exactly the detailed description of Atlantis given by Plato.

"There are about 60 specific points that match Plato's account," he said. "How can you explain away a bunch of coincidences like this?"

Mr Sarmast, 38, from Los Angeles, admits he has no formal academic qualifications to substantiate his claims, which he acknowledges to be controversial. But having spent 10 years studying accounts of the lost city he is in no doubt about the importance of his find.

He says his next step will be to make a three-dimensional computer image from the sonar data before returning to the site for further research.

But Mr Sarmast is not alone in claiming to have found the site of the ancient city. Last June a German researcher produced evidence to support his assertion that Atlantis was once a coastal area of Spain, not far from Cadiz. Other recent theories have located the city near Cuba and off the coast of Devon.

Copyright 2004, The Daily Telegraph

===========
(6) THE FLIMSY BASIS OF MEDIA HYPE: 'ATLANTIS EXPEDITION UNCOVERS STARTLING NEW EVIDENCE'

Cyprus Atlantis Expedition Press Office, 15 November 2004
http://www.discoveryofatlantis.com/press.htm

EMBARGO 00.01am Monday
NOVEMBER 15th.

ATLANTIS EXPEDITION UNCOVERS STARTLING NEW EVIDENCE
Cyprus team claims man-made structures located 1 mile below sea level.

A triumphant Robert Sarmast, American author and expedition co-ordinator of the first Cyprus Atlantis Expedition, is today celebrating at his base in Limassol, Cyprus, following the completion of the first expedition to prove that Plato's lost city of Atlantis lies 1.5km down on the sea bed 80km off the S.E. coast of Cyprus.

The 6 day long, privately-funded $200,000 expedition has confounded or at least confused sceptics by bringing back scientific side-scan sonar data which supports evidence from previous scans of the Eastern Mediterranean revealing man-made structures (including a 3km long wall, a walled hill summit and deep trenches) - plus old river beds - in exactly the formation and proportions that Plato himself described for the Acropolis Hill of Atlantis City in his works of 2,400 years ago.

'We cannot yet provide tangible proof in the form of bricks and mortar, as the artefacts are still buried under several metres of sediment, but the circumstantial and other evidence is now irrefutable - and we hope that future expeditions will be able to uncover the sediment and bring back physical proof' said Robert, whose book, 'The Discovery of Atlantis - the startling case for the island of Cyprus' (Origin Press 2003) has become something of a best-seller in Cyprus - where the tourist industry will certainly be set to gain from this latest discovery.

Mr. Sarmast and his team will present their new evidence at a press conference on Sunday 14th Nov. at 12 noon on board the EDT expedition vessel 'The Flying Enterprise' in the new port of Limassol, Cyprus, where there will be photo and interview opportunities. In association with Phoenix International, the expedition team boasts members who were involved with the Titanic discovery team, some of whom will be involved with the final image data processing in the UK later this week. Within the next 2 weeks the images will be posted on the expedition website (www.discoveryofatlantis.com) and will also be circulated to world experts in the field of Geophysics - some of whom have already been baffled by previous initial scans of the formations from this particular underwater location.

'It's been a long road to get to this point, but today it is all worth it' said Robert Sarmast, who has spent 9 months, 7 months longer than expected, based in Cyprus, 8,000 miles away from his home-town of L.A., working on raising the money and assembling the team and film crew for this, the final phase of his 12 year task to convince the world that what remains of Cyprus today is just the mountain tops of the old Atlantis peninsula, Atlantis City being submerged by a great flood thousands of years ago. The expedition footage, given the positive result, now looks certain to become the subject of a major international TV documentary in the very near future.

===========
(7) THE DISCOVERY OF ATLANTIS: THE STARTLING CASE FOR THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS

http://www.discoveryofatlantis.com/

What if one of humankind's greatest mysteries could be solved by a single geographical and archeological discovery-the discovery of the actual location of the legendary Atlantis?

What if for the first time in history, the possibility of the existence of the famed island could come alive in 3D maps and models showing a stretch of sunken land one mile below the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean sea? And what if this location and related data correlated with a near-perfect match with Plato's detailed descriptions?

"Discovery of Atlantis: The Startling Case for the Island of Cyprus" is a thoroughly original theory and provides a body of evidence depicting the location of Atlantis-as well as fascinating links to the biblical Garden of Eden, world mythology, and Western history. This book will be the first in a series of books and documentaries that we believe will cause a revolution in our understanding of the origins of human civilization. For if Plato's account of Atlantis is to be believed, author Robert Sarmast has discovered astounding evidence of the sunken isle of Atlantis (or some might call it Eden), a lost land mass that many believe to be the prehistoric cultural source of civilization.

Here again is the keynote of this book: At a location on the ocean floor in the Levantine region of the Eastern Mediterranean, near the island of Cyprus, Sarmast has discovered a site that, simply stated, matches Plato's famed account of Atlantis. Evidence presented in Discovery of Atlantis almost perfectly matches the nearly 50 clues in Plato's descriptions.

We invite you to examine the book description, animation files, 3D models, and media reviews on this site. Many of your questions will be answered in the Question/Answer page but if you have any other requests please feel free to contact us. Most of all, you are encouraged to check the "updates" page regularly to stay informed of our activities as we head toward the expedition phase of this project. We welcome you and hope you will take this exciting journey with us in what may become the greatest archaeological discovery in human history.

============
( GLOBAL MEDIA FALL FOR ANOTHER ATLANTIS HOAX

Google.com, 15 November 2004
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&ncl=http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/34190.htm

I'VE FOUND ATLANTIS: EXPLORER
New York Post, NY - 3 hours ago
Deep-sea explorer Robert Sarmast said his team discovered the famed lost continent earlier this month in mile-deep Mediterranean waters between Cyprus and Syria ...


Legendary Lost City of Atlantis Found - Claim
The Scotsman, UK - 6 hours ago
An American researcher claimed yesterday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east Mediterranean Sea. ...


Team claims to find Atlantis near Cyprus
Washington Times, DC - 7 hours ago
Nicosia, Cyprus, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A team of US researchers have claimed to have found convincing evidence of the lost city of Atlantis ...


New claim on location of Atlantis
BBC News, UK - 9 hours ago
By Tabitha Morgan. American researchers claim to have found convincing evidence that locates the site of the lost kingdom of Atlantis off the coast of Cyprus. ...


Lost Atlantis 'found near Cyprus'
Telegraph.co.uk, UK - 10 hours ago
By Tabitha Morgan in Limassol. The team used the latest sonar technology to create images of the sea bed a mile below the surface of the Mediterranean. ...


Lost city of Atlantis 'found' off the coast of Cyprus
The Scotsman, UK - 10 hours ago
"The list of evidence is truly enormous. The people who dismiss it are people who have not done their homework. This is all based ...


Lost city of Atlantis found?
CNN, GA - 12 hours ago
LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) -- An American researcher claimed Sunday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the bottom of the east ...


Researcher claims locating Atlantis
Al-Jazeera, Qatar - 12 hours ago
A US researcher claimed he has found the lost civilisation of Atlantis in the watery deep off Cyprus - adding his theory to a mystery which has baffled ...


US researcher 'finds' Atlantis
Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand - 13 hours ago
LIMASSOL: A US researcher claims he has found the lost civilisation of Atlantis in the watery deep off Cyprus - adding his theory to a mystery which has ...


Expedition claims Atlantis found
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 17 hours ago
US researcher Robert Sarmast claimed today to have found proof the mythical lost city of Atlantis existed and said it was located under the Mediterranean ...


US researcher says finds Atlantis off Cyprus
swissinfo, Switzerland - 18 hours ago
By Michele Kambas. deep off Cyprus -- adding his theory to a mystery which has baffled explorers for centuries. a rectangular land ...


US Researcher Says Finds Atlantis Off Cyprus
Reuters, NY - 18 hours ago
By Michele Kambas. LIMASSOL, Cyprus (Reuters) - A US researcher on Sunday claimed he had found the lost civilization of Atlantis ...


American Researcher Claims Discovery of Key to Atlantis
Voice of America, DC - Nov 13, 2004
By VOA News. A researcher says the fabled Lost City of Atlantis was located in the Mediterranean Sea. In an interview with Reuters ...


Atlantis Hunt Reveals Structures in Sea Off Cyprus
Reuters, NY - Nov 13, 2004
NICOSIA (Reuters) - An American researcher on the trail of the lost city of Atlantis has discovered evidence of man-made structures submerged in the sea ...


US Researcher Claims to Locate Lost City of Atlantis
Baku Today, Azerbaijan - 6 hours ago
A US researcher claims he has found the legendary lost city Atlantis, saying it lies under the seas between Cyprus and Syria. At ...


SEA CITY IS FOUND
Glasgow Daily Record, UK - 10 hours ago
AN expedition to find the lost city of Atlantis claim they have discovered evidence of man-made structures submerged in the sea between Cyprus and Syria. ...


'It's definitely Atlantis'
Cyprus Mail, Cyprus - Nov 14, 2004
By Jean Christou. THE TEAM led by American researcher Robert Sarmast, who believes Cyprus is Atlantis, said yesterday they had found ...


Lost city of Atlantis is uncovered, researcher asserts
The Globe and Mail (subscription), Canada - 3 hours ago
By MICHELE KAMBAS. LIMASSOL, CYPRUS -- A US researcher reported yesterday that he has found the lost civilization of Atlantis in ...


Researcher says Atlantis was near Cyprus
MSNBC - 4 hours ago
LIMASSOL, Cyprus - A US researcher claims to have found the lost civilization of Atlantis in the watery deep off Cyprus - adding his theory to a mystery that ...


US researcher says finds Atlantis
Xinhua, China - 4 hours ago
BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- A US researcher has claimed he had found the lost civilization of Atlantis in the watery deep off ...


US researcher says finds Atlantis off Cyprus
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - 5 hours ago
LIMASSOL, Cyprus - A US researcher on Sunday claimed he had found the lost civilisation of Atlantis in the watery deep off Cyprus -- adding his theory to a ...


Researcher 'finds Atlantis'
News24, South Africa - 5 hours ago
Nicosia - US researcher Robert Sarmast claimed on Sunday to have found proof that the legendary lost city of Atlantis actually existed and is located under the ...


American Says Legendary Atlantis Is Found
Guardian, UK - 9 hours ago
By ALEX EFTY. LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) - An American researcher claimed Sunday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost ...


US researcher says finds Atlantis off Cyprus
Reuters, UK - 18 hours ago
By Michele Kambas. LIMASSOL, Cyprus (Reuters) - A US researcher claims he has found the lost civilisation of Atlantis in the watery ...


Atlantis hunt reveals structures in sea off Cyprus
ABC Online, Australia - Nov 13, 2004
An expedition on the trail of the lost city of Atlantis says it has discovered evidence of man-made structures submerged in the sea between Cyprus and Syria. ...


Expert puts Atlantis on Cyprus coast
Scotland on Sunday, UK - Nov 13, 2004
AN AMERICAN researcher on the trail of the lost city of Atlantis will today announce detailed evidence of man-made structures submerged in the sea between ...


Team claims to find Atlantis near Cyprus
Big News Network.com, Australia - 5 hours ago
A team of US researchers have claimed to have found convincing evidence of the lost city of Atlantis off the coast of Cyprus, the BBC reported. ...


American Claims Discovery of Atlantis
Tuscaloosa News (subscription), AL - 10 hours ago
By ALEX EFTY. An American researcher claimed Sunday to have discovered the remains of the legendary lost city of Atlantis on the ...


American Researcher Claims Discovery of Key to Atlantis
TruthNews.com - Nov 13, 2004
A researcher says the fabled Lost City of Atlantis was located in the Mediterranean Sea. In an interview with Reuters news agency ...


=============
(9) REALITY CHECK: 'THERE IS NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER' SAY PROFESSIONAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS

The Daily Telegraph, 28 September 2003
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/09/28/wnapa28.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/09/28/ixworld.html

By Fiona Govan

It may be the answer generations of experts on the ancient world have been looking for. New research claims that the fabled ancient civilisation of Atlantis is located close to Cyprus.

After nearly 10 years of research using ocean mapping technology and accounts from ancient texts, an American explorer says he has evidence that Atlantis lies beneath the deep blue waters off the southern tip of the island.

Robert Sarmast, a self-proclaimed mythologist and expert on the ancient world, makes this claim in his book, Discovery of Atlantis - The Startling Case for the Island of Cyprus, published last week in America by Origin Press. Mr Sarmast uses maps to show the location of archaeological remains on a sunken strip of land just off the south coast of Cyprus, which he says is Atlantis.

Mr Sarmast said at his home in California last week: "This is going to rewrite the history books. We are set to make the biggest archaeological discovery of all time."

His research, which cost $500,000 (£312,000) and uses data collected by a Russian scientific survey vessel in 1989, was paid for by the Heritage Standard Corporation, an organisation involved in undersea surveys for oil and gas. He now intends to carry out an expedition to explore the sea bed, to find proof of his theory.

Mr Sarmast says the site matches Plato's account of Atlantis, in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written in about 400BC. The description is said to be based on the writings of Solon, who recorded the account told to him by the Egyptians in around 600BC.

Whereas many historians believe that Atlantis is the stuff of legend and that Plato's description is an allegory to praise the values of Athenian society, Mr Sarmast takes a more literal view.

"My discovery will vindicate Plato," he said. "Within his dialogues, Plato provides factual clues as to what Atlantis was like. I have matched all but two of the 45 clues with the area around Cyprus. That's either the biggest coincidence in the history of the world or we have found Plato's Atlantis. Plato's account is so detailed that it is possible to make city plans based on his description. These match exactly the antediluvian maps of Cyprus as discovered through oceanographic mapping."

Mr Sarmast says he has identified many of the areas described by Plato, including a rectangular plain, running east to west, containing a metropolis at its centre.

Central to the latest theory is the fact that the Mediterranean basin suffered a catastrophic flood with the destruction of the Gibraltar "dam" that once closed the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic.

This substantiates Plato's claim that an epochal flood "swallowed up" the island of Atlantis leaving only the uninhabited mountainous regions above water, and supports the Biblical story of the flood.

Mr Sarmast believes that it will not be difficult to launch an underwater expedition and that the rewards will be great. "It's only a mile down in warm, calm waters," he said. "Compare that with the Titanic which is two miles down in freezing, treacherous waters. That was explored fully 20 years ago.

"What we have here is a whole city, an ancient civilisation, megalithic sites packed full of artefacts. We can expect to find colossal buildings, bridges, roads, canals and stone temples. With no sunlight, heat, oxygen or wind to degrade its remains, Atlantis will be mummified in the cold waters of the deep sea, frozen in time."

Mr Sarmast's claim about Cyprus is, however, just the latest in a long list of suggested locations for Atlantis, including the Azores, the Sahara desert, Malta, Central America and Antarctica.

Cypriot reaction last week ranged from derision to enthusiastic support.

Dr Despo Pilides, an archaeologist at the Department of Antiquities, said: "Serious archaeologists tend to place the search for Atlantis within the realm of fantasy.

"This latest theory should be taken with a very large pinch of salt. Archaeologists only work with hard evidence. There is no evidence whatsoever to give credence to this hypothesis and we have no intention of investigating it."

But in the kafenios, the coffee houses where men pass the time and debate the issues of the day, it was a different story.

Christos sipped his strong, dark coffee as he contemplated the idea. "Of course it's true," he said. "We are Atlantis, we are the oldest civilisation, we are the Garden of Eden. This is a very good thing for Cyprus. We will be more famous than anywhere else in the world."

The tourist industry agreed. A spokesman for the Cyprus Tourism Organisation said: "I don't think we should be hasty in dismissing this idea. Whether it is true or not it can only be a good thing for us.

"People will want to come and visit what could be part of Atlantis."

British holidaymakers in Ayia Napa were less impressed. "I couldn't care less," said one Briton. "If you're looking for Atlantis, I'll tell you where it is. It's on the left before you get to Larnaca . . . the Atlantis Night Club Cabaret. But get there early if you want a seat - it gets quite full."


Copyright 2003, The Daily Telegraph


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(10) REALITY CHECK: REFLOODING OF MEDITERRANEAN OCCURRED 5.4 MILLION YEARS AGO

Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Sea

The geology of the Mediterranean is quite complex, involving multiple periods of drying and re-flooding from the Atlantic Ocean. Sediment samples from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea that include evaporite minerals, soils, and fossil plants show that about 7.2 million years ago in the late Miocene period the Strait of Gibraltar was blocked and the Mediterranean Sea evaporated into a deep basin with a bottom over two miles below the world ocean level. The Sea was reduced to a couple of lakes with varying salinity and probably even dried up, leaving for quite some time a desolate salt basin.

The first solid evidence for this came in the summer of 1970, when geologists aboard the deep sea research and drilling ship Glomar Challenger brought up drill cores containing gypsum, anhydrite, rock salt, and various other evaporite minerals that only form from drying of brine or seawater. One drill core contained a wind-blown cross-bedded deposit of deep-sea foraminiferal ooze which had dried into dust and been blown about by a sandstorm and ended up in a brine lake. These layers were alternated with layers containing marine fossils, indicating the different drying and flooding periods. Other evidence of drying comes from the remains of many (now submerged) canyons that were cut into the sides of the Mediterranean basin by river action when it was dry. The area underwent repeated flooding and dessication over a 700,000 year span. About 5.4 million years ago at the start of the Pliocene period the barrier at the Strait of Gibraltar broke, permanently reflooding the basin.

In the last few centuries, humankind has done much to alter Mediterranean geology. Structures have been built all along the coastlines, exacerbating and rerouting erosional patterns. Many pollution-producing boats travel the sea that unbalance the natural chemical ratios of the region. Beaches have been mismanaged, and the overuse of the sea's natural and marine resources continues to be a problem. This misuse speeds along and/or confounds natural processes. The actual geography has also been altered by the building of dams and canals. The perfect little Sea that geology gave Western history is, in many ways, in great jeopardy.

The Mediterranean was once thought to be the remnant of the Tethys Sea, which formerly girdled the Eastern Hemisphere. It is now known to be a structurally younger basin.

Though the flooding of the Mediterranean happened long before any human being could observe it, it is sometimes referred as a possible basis for the Biblical story of Noah, or even the myth of Atlantis.

Copyright 2004, Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia

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(11) WHY ATLANTIS IS EVERYWHERE: ITS ALL IN THE MIND (NOT ON A MAP)

Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis

There have been dozens-perhaps hundreds-of locations proposed for Atlantis. Some are more-or-less serious attempts at legitimate scholarly or archaeological works; others have been made by psychic or other pseudoscientific means.

The most recent speculation is published in the book "Atlantis From a Geographer's Perspective: Mapping the Fairy Land" (ISBN 0975594605) by Swedish geographer Dr. Ulf Erlingsson from University of Uppsala. It proposes that Atlantis actually referred to Ireland which fits closely in geographic and landmark descriptions. Although Ireland has not sunk beneath the sea, there was a seismic event that caused the Dogger Bank shoal to sink in the North Sea about 6,100 B.C.
The work Toward the Light claims to describe Atlantis, including its exact geographical location.

Geology has demonstrated that no continent such as Atlantis has existed in the mid-Atlantic, so later enthusiasts have placed it in a bewildering variety of places, ranging from Sri Lanka, Peru, and Scandinavia, to the supposed center of the hollow Earth.

This opinion of the geologists refers to the impossibility of a sunken continent and not to a sunken island in the Atlantic Ocean. That island must have been much smaller than Australia, so one cannot call it a continent. Plato has never claimed that a whole continent has disappeared, he only referred to an island, in front of another continent.

Not all geologists deny the possibility of a sunken island in Central America. After the Charles Berlitz book The Mystery of Atlantis, a Canadian Hungarian geologist-topographer's book was published, entitled Atlantis: The Seven Seals. The author, Z.A. Simon, called the attention to these controversies. He included some supporting conclusions of Dr. J. Manson Valentine, M. Dmitri Ribikoff, E. Umland and C. Umland, Robert B. Stacy-Judd, Dr. David Zink, John P. Cohane, Peter Tompkins, Pino Turolla, Captain Alexander, Francis Hitching, James Bailey, Dr. C.J. Cazeau, Dr. S.D. Scott, Brad Steiger and William R. Fix.

The June 1981 edition of Marine Geology shows some radiocarbon dates on mangrove peat, based on the estimate of Broecker and Kulp, listing dates between 5590 and 3680 BC, with connection of the gradual sinking of the Florida-Bimini region. Most recently the rate of the sea level's rise has slowed to 4.5 in (114 mm) per century. Prior to that time it was one foot per century. Near Andros Island, underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau found a huge submerged cave 165 ft (50 m) beneath the surface. There are stalactites and stalagmites in it, that can be formed in the open air only. Marine sediments on the walls of the grotto enabled scientists to estimate its submersion around or after 10,000 BC. The submarine topography of the Bahamian region shown in the huge Russian Atlas Mira by detailed isobaths, catches the attention of a topographer. The sea floor on the northern side of Cuba, Haiti and Puerto Rico indicates a definite system of submerged valleys of ancient rivers, combined with sunken mountain ranges. The "Tongue of the Ocean" at Andros Island is undoubtedly an underwater ravine caused by terrible tectonic forces, surrounded by almost vertical walls, as a "memento" of the catastrophe. The main problem with this theory is that Atlantis was supposed to have submerged rapidly, following an earthquake.
Z.A. Simon offers an "accurate" map of Plato's rectangular island with its given dimensions as 2,000 by 3,000 stadia, overlaying its outline on the suspected ancient irregular shoreline of that traditional island in the Bahamas region. (An Attic stadium corresponds to 177.6 m)
Among those who believe in an historical Atlantis, one common theory holds that Plato's story of the destruction of Atlantis was inspired by massive volcanic eruptions on the Mediterranean island of Santorini during Minoan times. A main criticism of this theory is that the ancient Greeks were well aware of volcanoes, and if there was a volcanic eruption, it would seem likely that it would be mentioned.

Recently, a theory proposed by J.M. Allen has focused attention on the Altiplano in Bolivia. Allen took Plato's physical description of the location of Atlantis and compared it to physical features found in the Altiplano, and he found that they matched Plato's description on almost all counts, but for a factor of 2. Allen reasons that this error makes sense because pre-Columbian South Americans counted in base 20. Another piece of evidence that Allen cites is Plato's mention of a gold/copper alloy called orichalcum that is only found in the Andes. Allen also claims that the very name of the place, Atlantis, comes from two Native American words, atl meaning "water", and antis meaning "copper". Supporters of the South American Atlantis also cite scientists finding evidence of cocaine derived chemicals in Egyptian mummies. Cocaine, coming only from the coca plant found exclusively in South America, is explained as evidence that there was pre-Columbian cross-Atlantic contact that could have led to the tale of a disaster reaching the ears of Plato via Egypt.

This theory has been largely discredited. The presence of cocaine in mummies (among other substances), as claimed by a group of German scientists, are almost completely unaccepted in mainstream archaeology. The altiplano lies 4,000 meters above sea level in a relatively geologically stable area. The supposed canal in Atlantis proved to be not only unnavigable in many places when a group attempted to travel it, but is widely recognized by geologists to be a normal river. The lack of ancient civilization in most of the area was dismissed by Allen with the claim that an Andean temple is a "sacred landscape".

Another recent theory is based on a recreation of the geography of the Mediterranean at the time of Atlantis' supposed existence. Plato states that Atlantis was located beyond the Pillars of Hercules, the name given to the Strait of Gibraltar linking the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. 11,000 years ago the sea level in the area was some 130 metres lower, exposing a number of islands in the strait. One of these, Spartel, could have been Atlantis, though there are a number of inconsistencies with Plato's account.

A different theory by Rainer W. Kühne suggests that the Atlanteans were the Sea Peoples who attacked the Eastern Mediterranean countries around 1200 BC. The city and state of Atlantis were located in Andalucia, 50 kilometers southwest of Seville. Recent satellite photos show two rectangular structures which may be interpreted as the "temple of Poseidon" and "the temple of Cleito and Poseidon".

The geologist Eberhard Zangger has proposed the theory that Atlantis was in fact the city state of Troy (See: The Flood from Heaven: Deciphering the Atlantis legend; Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992, ISBN 0688113508). He both agrees and disagrees with Rainer W. Kühne: He believes too that the Trojans-Atlanteans were the sea peoples, but only a minor part of them. He proposes that all Greek speaking city states of the Aegean civilization or Mycenae constituted the sea peoples and that they destroyed each other's economies in a series of semi-fratricidal wars lasting several decades.

Yet another theory that fits in with geography of 11,000 years ago sites Atlantis in the Antarctic archipelago-technically in the South Atlantic Ocean-where it would have been drowned by the rise in sea level after the last ice age. This theory was first proposed by Rand & Rose Flem-Ath in their book, "When the Sky Fell: in Search of Atlantis." How cold the local climate would have been is a matter for speculation. Troy, Minoan Crete (or possibly Santorini) and other ancient port cities are asserted to be colonies.

British archaeologist Peter James took a clue from Plato's mention of king Tantalus, and investigated the city of Tantalis (also Tantalos) in the province of Manisa, Turkey. In addition to having very similar sounding anagram names, numerous inscriptions and ancient writings from the region matched the Atlantis story. Tantalis, formerly a wealthy city state, was destroyed when a powerful earthquake struck and caused a lake to flood the city.

In 2002 the italian journalist Sergio Frau in his book Le colonne d'Ercole hypothesized that the Pillars of Hercules could be identified not with Gibraltar but with the Sicily Strait between Africa and the Sicily Isle, so Atlantis was really the Sardinia Isle. A cathastrophical event (with a big wave) eradicated from Sardinia the ancient and still aenigmatic nuragic civilization. The few survivors migrated to the near Italian peninsula, founding the Etruscan civilization, the base for the later Roman civilization.

The modern day legendary Riven, The Seer, proposes Atlantis to be a mid-sized Continental island in the Atlantic Ocean based out of the Amperes/Gettysburg Seamounts that was destroyed in several stages from Asteroid and Meteoric showers combined with a major Transform Fracture adjacent to the Atlantic Ridge. In 1979 a Russian expedition team found traces of a civilization at the Amperes Seamount which was published in the New York Times. The final catastrophe occurring at 6482 BC for the time also of the Great Flood that pushed civilizations into the eastern mediterranean. Later Atlantis controlling its foundations up to Tyrhennia and Egypt from their Lake Tritonis Region no later than 1500 BC. Riven also translated the 10 Kings of Atlantis and the meaning of the name Atlantis into Fatherland and discovered the word Araklum in Etruscan scripts that relates to the mysterious Orichalcum element found in Atlantis. He argues that this battle must have been prior to 3100 BC and that the Narmer Palette and Gebel-Arak knife(4000 BC.), found in Egypt prior to King Menes(3100 BC), is evidence of an earlier foreign Sea-People invasion. His destruction theory is also based on the Eye of Ra Myth, the eruptions of Mt.Hekla and Mt.Vesuvius, the ecliptic alignment of planets on Nov 1,6482 BC, All Saints Day, and the flooding of the Black Sea from the Bosphorous straits opening. He has quite the visual website detailing Atlantis, its location and maps with a list of the Ten kings of Atlantis and links to research sites about Atlantis called Tribes of Atlantis by Riven. The Atlantis story is a retelling by Plato and not a myth as many scholars attest because of Plato and his idealistic philosophies. The Original authors were Solon and Dropides who told the story to Critias elder who told it to Critias junior. Critias detailed the story to Socrates where it was later adapted by Plato. In 570 BC, in the time of Pharaoh Amasis, the extremely elderly Egyptian Priest, realizing the end of Egypt was near, let the secret of Atlantis finally fall from his well guarded lips.

The German Otto Muck tries to confirm his view that Atlantis was in the Atlantic Ocean. Through the impact of a meteor the crust of the Earth ruptured along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Atlantis sunk up to its mountain-peaks, which are now the Azores. A further effect of the impact was a floodwave that many cultures call the Deluge (mythology).

German researchers Siegfried and Christian Schoppe locate Atlantis in the Black Sea: Before 5500 BC there was a great plain in the northwest at a former freshwater-lake. 5510 BC the barrier at today's Bosporus broke due to the rising sea level of the world-ocean. The Pillars of Hercules are identical with the Strait of Bosporus. Oreichalcos means the obsidian stone that used to be a cash-equivalent at that time and was replaced by the spondylus shell around 5500 BC. The geocatastrophic event led to the neolithic diaspora in Europe, also beginning 5500 BC.
Robert Sarmast, an American architect, claims to have definetly found the lost city of Atlantis on November 14, 2004, saying that by using scans he was able to find manmade walls that matched the description of the structures described by Plato, CNN reports.

Copyright 2004, Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia

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(12) AND FINALLY: WHY THE SEARCH FOR ATLANTIS WILL ALWAYS LEAD TO ITS DISCOVERY:

The Skeptic's Dictonary
http://www.skepdic.com/confirmbias.html

CONFIRMATION BIAS

"It is the peculiar and perpetual error of the human understanding to be more moved and excited by affirmatives than by negatives." --Francis Bacon

Confirmation bias refers to a type of selective thinking whereby one tends to notice and to look for what confirms one's beliefs, and to ignore, not look for, or undervalue the relevance of what contradicts one's beliefs. For example, if you believe that during a full moon there is an increase in admissions to the emergency room where you work, you will take notice of admissions during a full moon, but be inattentive to the moon when admissions occur during other nights of the month. A tendency to do this over time unjustifiably strengthens your belief in the relationship between the full moon and accidents and other lunar effects.

This tendency to give more attention and weight to data that support our beliefs than we do to contrary data is especially pernicious when our beliefs are little more than prejudices. If our beliefs are firmly established upon solid evidence and valid confirmatory experiments, the tendency to give more attention and weight to data that fit with our beliefs should not lead us astray as a rule. Of course, if we become blinded to evidence truly refuting a favored hypothesis, we have crossed the line from reasonableness to closed-mindedness.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that people generally give an excessive amount of value to confirmatory information, that is, to positive or supportive data. The "most likely reason for the excessive influence of confirmatory information is that it is easier to deal with cognitively" (Gilovich 1993). It is much easier to see how a piece of data supports a position than it is to see how it might count against the position. Consider a typical ESP experiment or a seemingly clairvoyant dream: Successes are often unambiguous or data are easily massaged to count as successes, while negative instances require intellectual effort to even see them as negative or to consider them as significant. The tendency to give more attention and weight to the positive and the confirmatory has been shown to influence memory. When digging into our memories for data relevant to a position, we are more likely to recall data that confirms the position (ibid.).

Researchers are sometimes guilty of confirmation bias by setting up experiments or framing their data in ways that will tend to confirm their hypotheses. They compound the problem by proceeding in ways that avoid dealing with data that would contradict their hypotheses. For example, parapsychologists are notorious for using optional starting and stopping in their ESP research. Experimenters might avoid or reduce confirmation bias by collaborating in experimental design with colleagues who hold contrary hypotheses. Individuals have to constantly remind themselves of this tendency and actively seek out data contrary to their beliefs. Since this is unnatural, it appears that the ordinary person is doomed to bias.

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