Antarctica is the sixth continent of our planet. The coldest and harshest place on Earth. Almost 200 years have passed since the Russian navigators Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev discovered this continent. But the mysteries that the ice cover of Antarctica holds beneath it have not yet been solved. Some people believe that other life is hidden in the continental mass of ice. Others are confident that answers to questions about the origin of the Earth are stored there.
It is possible that each of the inquisitive researchers of Antarctica is right in his own way. There is no other way to explain the series of mysterious events, partly documented, that took place here in the mid-20th century. And these events are still the main secret of the sixth continent of our planet.
In 1959, the Soviet expedition that founded the Mirny polar station in Antarctica sent an expedition of eight researchers deep into the continent to reach the south magnetic pole. Only three returned. According to the official version, the cause of the tragedy was a severe storm, severe frosts and engine failure of the all-terrain vehicle.
In 1962, polar explorers from the United States went to the South Magnetic Pole. The Americans took into account the sad experience of their Soviet colleagues, so they equipped 17 people for the expedition, already on three all-terrain vehicles and with constant radio communication support. No one died on this expedition, but people returned on one all-terrain vehicle. They were all on the verge of insanity. The researchers were unable to explain anything clearly and they were immediately evacuated to their homeland. 
Much later, Soviet polar explorer Yuri Korshunov, in a conversation with a reporter, tried to tell what happened with the expedition of the Mirny station. Korshunov was one of those who survived the trip to the magnetic pole. According to the polar explorer, the group was attacked by luminous flying objects resembling disks. An attempt to remove the anomalous phenomenon ended in failure. The photographer and camera were destroyed by a beam sent from a flying object. Those who began to repel an attack from the air with hunting rifles also died. The reporter failed to publish this story.
Meanwhile, Korshunov died. And only recently the revelations of the Soviet polar explorer became known to the Americans. They immediately connected this story with another Antarctic expedition sent from the Norfolk naval base in 1946. It was a very strange expedition. It was fully funded by the Pentagon and even had the military name “High Jump”. The expedition was commanded by the famous polar explorer Admiral Richard Byrd.
Admiral Byrd has a powerful naval group under his command. An aircraft carrier, twelve surface ships, a submarine, more than two dozen airplanes and helicopters, about five thousand personnel. Agree, this is an unusual composition for a scientific expedition. Indeed, the expedition included only twenty-five scientists. The rest are military. Among them are almost four thousand Marines.
Before going to sea, Admiral Byrd declared at a press conference: “My expedition is of a military nature!” Although he did not mention the details, some journalists suggested that Bird's mission was to search for and eliminate a top-secret Nazi base located somewhere in the southernmost latitudes.
This was the time when the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition were actively discussing the mysterious disappearance of the surviving party functionaries of the Third Reich after the surrender of the German army. And also the loss of gold reserves and high-tech developments of Nazi Germany. Different versions have been expressed. To the point that the Nazis could have hidden somewhere in Antarctica, where they had built secret shelters in advance.
At the end of January 1947, an American expedition approached Antarctica and began conducting aerial reconnaissance of the mainland in the area of Queen Maud Land. Several hundred aerial photographs were taken in the first weeks. And suddenly something mysterious happens. The expedition, designed to last six months, barely reaches the icy continent, hastily winds up and leaves the shores of Antarctica in panic.
The Pentagon is receiving disappointing reports. A destroyer, almost half of the carrier-based aircraft, and dozens of sailors and officers were lost. A member of the emergency investigative commission of the US Congress, Admiral Byrd stated literally the following: “In the event of a new war, America may be attacked by an enemy who has the ability to fly from one pole to another with incredible speed.”
Who put the American squadron to flight? A year and a half before this event, two German submarines from the so-called “Fuhrer convoy” surrendered to the authorities in the Argentine port of Mar del Plata. The tasks of this top-secret compound still remain a deep secret. The submarine crews were interrogated with passion. But it was only possible to obtain testimony from the commander of the submarine with tail number Q530.
Three weeks before the end of the war, the submarine with tail number Q530 left the keel and headed for Antarctica. On board the submarine were passengers whose faces were covered with bandages, as well as relics of the Third Reich. The commander of another boat, U977, Heinz Schäfer, during interrogation, said that a little later he repeated the route of the submarine with tail number Q530. Investigators also managed to find out that German submarines repeatedly went to Antarctica. But why exactly there? 
There has long been a version that there was once a single supercontinent on Earth, Gondwana. It existed about 500 million years ago and united almost all the land located in the Southern Hemisphere. Where did this supercontinent go? Divided into several continents as a result, for example, of geological rupture and rapid shift of tectonic plates. Antarctica is one of these continents. And, quite possibly, it may even be part of Atlantis.
This idea was suggested by Plato. According to his calculations, the size of the missing civilization fits the parameters of Antarctica. In addition, two centuries ago, a map of the Turkish admiral Muhiddin Piri Bey, compiled in 1513, was found, where Antarctica is depicted without ice cover. Piri Bey testified that when drawing up the map he used exclusively ancient Greek sources.
Adolf Hitler seized on the idea that the secrets of the Atlantean civilization could be hidden under the ice cap of the sixth continent. The Nazis, as you know, were actively engaged in the search for ancient knowledge and high technology of their ancestors. The leadership of the Third Reich understood that they would not be able to win future wars due to the size of the army. Hence the numerous expeditions of the secret society to Tibet, Latin America and, finally, to Antarctica.
Hitler sent several groups to search for secret knowledge on the icy continent. To maintain complete secrecy of the mission, the researchers used exclusively the submarine fleet. But following the results of one of the first expeditions, the commander of the Kriegsmarine, Admiral Karl Dönitz, declared: “My submariners have discovered a real earthly paradise!” In 1943, at the height of the war with Russia, Grand Admiral Dönitz uttered another no less mysterious phrase: “The German submarine fleet can be proud that on the other side of the world it has created an impregnable fortress for the Fuhrer!”
Not long ago, huge lakes were discovered under a kilometer-long layer of ice in Antarctica. The water temperature in them is +18 degrees. Above the surface there are dome-shaped vaults filled with warm air. There is an assumption that from these lakes, constantly heated from below, real rivers of warm water flow into the ocean. Over thousands of years, they could create huge tunnels under the ice. From the ocean side, diving under the coastal ice, any submarine can easily enter there. It seems that this is what Admiral Dönitz had in mind when he spoke of an impregnable fortress for the Fuhrer on the other side of the world.
Judging by the discovered documents, the Nazis actually planned to create a top-secret training ground in Antarctica. It received the code name "Base-211" or 
New Swabia and, supposedly, already from the beginning of 1939, special ships loaded with mining equipment, railway and construction equipment reached the shores of the icy continent. Scientists, engineers, and highly qualified workers began to arrive there. Why did the Nazis need such a base?
There are different hypotheses. It is possible that the Germans planned to keep the South Seas under military control. Some people believe that they were looking for weapons-grade uranium in the depths of Antarctica. There is also an interesting opinion - a shelter was built there for the elite of the Third Reich in case of complete defeat in the coming world war. At the same time, adherents of the latter version claim that, supposedly, already in the early 40s, the transfer of future residents of Antarctic New Swabia began. Not only scientists and specialists, but also party functionaries and high-ranking government officials. And that some secret productions were sent there.
By the way, immediately after the surrender of Germany, the Americans, who were actively recruiting scientists to work in the United States, were puzzled by the fact that thousands of highly qualified specialists of the Third Reich disappeared without a trace. About a hundred submarines of the German Navy were also missing. Neither people nor boats were listed on the lists of military casualties.
All this could not but alarm the White House. In addition, Allen Dulles's department received interesting information from German submariners captured in Argentina. The version of the existence of a secret Nazi base in Antarctica was increasingly confirmed. This base had to be found and destroyed as the situation progressed. That is why, at the end of 1946, a so-called scientific, but in fact military expedition the size of a squadron under the command of Richard Byrd, set off to the shores of the sixth continent.
But that was not the case. Having barely reached the land of Queen Maud, the expedition was attacked. But by whom? The pilots talked about flying disks jumping out of the water and attacking them, rays incinerating all living things, and strange phenomena of mass mental disorder of people. Isn’t it true that the descriptions of the event have something in common with the story of polar explorer Yuri Korshunov? Only Soviet researchers were attacked on land, and Bird's expedition was attacked at sea.
“They jumped out from under the water like mad and literally slipped between the masts of ships with such speed that the radio antennas were torn by the streams of disturbed air. The whole nightmare lasted about 20 minutes. When the flying saucers dived under the water again, we began to count our losses. They were terrifying." This is the memoir of an expedition member, experienced military pilot John Simson. So what happened? And who could these flying discs belong to?
In the post-war years, intriguing photographs and drawings were discovered in secret Nazi archives. After carefully studying these documents, experts came to the conclusion that German scientists were developing very strange-looking aircraft. The name “flying saucer” appeared in the lexicon later. And then they were called “disks”. The specialists were amazed; there was nothing like this in the world at that time. How did Nazi scientists manage to make such a technological breakthrough? 
Today a lot is known about the developments of the Third Reich in the field of “flying saucers”. However, over the years the questions do not decrease. How successful were the Germans in this? According to some reports, in 1936, an unidentified flying object of unearthly origin crashed near the city of Freiburg. It was discovered and, perhaps, German scientists, with the support of the SS, were able to repair and even test its energy system and propulsion system. However, attempts to copy the device and reproduce the flight technology under terrestrial conditions ended in failure.
The little earlier known inventor Viktor Schauberger builds his “saucer” and calls it an otherworldly aircraft. The device has three parallel disks. During operation, the upper and lower disks rotate in the opposite direction, creating a very strong field and anti-gravity effect. According to the evidence, this structure not only floated in the air, but also changed the structure of time around itself. It is believed that this particular technomagical device became the prototype of future flying discs.
The military department became interested in the project, and later this development, and others like it, were taken under control by the SS and the Ahnenerbe society. Even before the war, hundreds of ancient parchments in Sanskrit, ancient Chinese, and other eastern languages were delivered to Germany from the Tibetan Ahnenerbe expedition. The manuscripts were subjected to careful study. Wernher von Braun, the creator of the first V-cruise and ballistic missiles, said after the war: “We learned a lot for ourselves from these papers.”
The deciphering of ancient manuscripts found by the Ahnenerbe expeditions apparently bore fruit. In 1939, the designer of the Focke-Wulf aircraft, Professor Heinrich Focke, patented a vertical take-off aircraft with a saucer-shaped turbine engine. That same year, German inventor and former farmer Arthur Zack began developing an airplane with disc-shaped wings. This device, called AC-6, was created in Leipzig at the Mitteldeutsche Motoren Welke plant.
Testing began in 1944 at Branders Air Force Base. The pilot was only able to lift the AC-6 off the ground. After which the right landing gear could not withstand the loads from the reaction torque of the propeller. Soon the military abandoned the development. At the end of 1942, a combat flying disk called “Okhotnik-1” with a diameter of almost 12 meters took off into the air. It is said that 17 such devices were manufactured before the end of the war. But such statements must be treated with extreme caution. 
According to intelligence data from the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, by the end of the war the Germans had nine scientific enterprises at which flying projects were tested.
The famous researcher of the Antarctic secrets of the Third Reich, David Childress, claims that this was so. He names the date - 1942, when thousands of specialists and workers, as well as pilots, were transferred to the South Pole with the help of submarines. That is, if we further develop the logical chain, then the Nazi Antarctic base of New Swabia is not a fantasy and the production of combat “flying saucers” was nevertheless launched there. And it was these “saucers”, flying out of the water, that attacked the American expedition in 1947. Could this really happen?
It is possible that German settlers who settled in New Swabia made an incredible scientific breakthrough and were able to create more advanced devices capable of conducting active combat operations in any environment. And the resources for this breakthrough were gleaned directly from the depths of the sixth continent. It was not without reason that Plato suggested that Antarctica was the Atlantean civilization hidden by a layer of ice. And this civilization may be a repository of many secrets.
Some scientists believe that the German base in Antarctica still exists. Moreover, they talk about the existence of an entire underground city there called New Berlin with a population of two million people. The main occupation of its inhabitants is supposedly genetic engineering and space research. Indirect confirmation of the existence of the base is called repeated sightings of UFOs in the South Pole area.
Witnesses most often talk about “plates” and “cigars” hanging in the air. It is possible that it was these objects that were attacked by Soviet and American polar explorers who were trying to reach the South Magnetic Pole in the late 50s and early 60s. It can be assumed that the researchers got too close to the place where the underground city is located. And the inhabitants of the base turned on their main defensive resources to stop the uninvited guests.
By the way, in 1976, the Japanese, using the latest equipment, simultaneously detected 19 round objects that dived from space to Antarctica and disappeared from the screen. In addition, scientists have discovered several artificial satellites in Earth's orbit, unknown to whom they belong. The sixth continent continues to keep its secrets. More and more new questions are being added to them, and over the years there are no fewer of them. But hope does not fade that perhaps someday these mysteries will be solved.
SECRETS OF ANTARCTICA
Unique continent
The sixth continent, discovered in 1820 by the Bellingshausen expedition, remains today one of the most mysterious areas of the globe. Antarctica is unique in its geographical location - it has access to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. All time zones are present here.
This is the harshest place on our planet: throughout the year the air temperature does not rise above zero degrees Celsius, strong winds and storms rage here. More than 99% of the continent's surface is covered with an ice shell up to 5 km thick. Thanks to its climate, Antarctica remains the last ecologically clean region on Earth.
This is the only region that does not have an indigenous population. In summer, the icy continent welcomes up to 4 thousand guests, tourists and workers of research stations. Only scientists remain for the winter - about 1,200 people. In Antarctica, there is virtually no political situation in the usual sense. There are no borders, no capital, no visa regime. It is not surprising that this completely unusual situation gives rise to a mysterious halo of myths and legends around Antarctica.
There is an opinion that Antarctica is that same lost continent that both scientists and ordinary people have not stopped talking about for many centuries. An article published in the Italian magazine "Europeo" almost half a century ago reported that American scientists had found traces of a highly developed prehistoric civilization. This hypothesis was developed by the Italian Barbiero Flavio, author of the book “Civilization Under the Ice.” In his opinion, the legendary state of the Atlanteans was located on the site of present-day Antarctica, its climate then was much softer and warmer. The death of civilization occurred 10–12 thousand years ago due to the collision of the Earth with a large celestial body, which led to a displacement of the axis. This explains the middle position of Atlantis between Africa, Asia and Europe in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.
According to research results, the north magnetic pole was previously located in eastern Asia. Antarctica, thus, fell into the same climatic zone with Central America, Mesopotamia, Hindustan and Egypt - the cradles of ancient civilizations. According to Barbiero Flavio, after the catastrophe the Atlanteans moved not to uninhabited lands, but to colonies located in these territories, and brought with them the fruits of a highly developed culture.
Another evolution
Among some scientists, there is an opinion that the depths of the icy continent may hide unexplored life forms - the product of evolution, which followed a different path than on earth. At the same time, great hopes are placed on the study of the Antarctic lake. It is an ancient sea measuring 500 by 150 km, hidden under a colossal layer of ice. The first assumption of its existence was made in 1972, and in 1997, with the help of a unique drilling complex, a hole was made in the ice shell of Antarctica with a depth of 3523 m - only 200 m from the surface of the lake. If drilling products, as well as modern bacteria and microbes, do not enter the reservoir, then the Antarctic lake, which has remained intact for several million years, will become a storehouse of scientific data for biologists and geologists.
Another habitat for Antarctic organisms is the so-called “Dry Valleys”. They are unusual in that it has not rained there for over two million years! The many kilometers long Victoria, Master and Taylor valleys have no ice cover due to too dry air. According to many scientists, this is the driest place on the planet.
Antarctic "oases" were discovered by Robert Scott in 1903. He wrote about these places: “We did not see any living creatures, not even moss or lichen... This, of course, is the “Valley of the Dead” from biblical prophecies...” And yet there is life here. “Dry valleys” are inhabited by the most unusual organisms. In 1978, American biologists discovered algae, fungi and bacteria even inside rocks!
Hitler's final resting place
One of the most amazing legends of Antarctica relates to Hitler. Some researchers deny the fact of his suicide at the end of World War II. They believe that the Fuhrer and his associates fled Europe and took refuge somewhere among the Antarctic ice. But the German “researchers” in 1938-39 were so hasty in “annexing” territories covered with many kilometers of ice to their distant Reich that this actually looks too suspicious.
“... In Antarctica,” writes National Policy, “it would be almost impossible to find “this demoniac” of any, even the most numerous, expedition. Would it be possible to comb all these plains, alleys and mountains covered with eternal ice and snow? In the best case, thousands and tens of thousands of search engines with ships, planes, helicopters and special equipment would be required. Meanwhile, in Germany, plans to create a permanent base in Antarctica began to be developed in earnest back in 1938, and over the next seven years, regular voyages of the research vessel Swabia began between Germany and Antarctica, later, with the outbreak of war, replaced by a division of submarines , which received the new name “Fuhrer Convoy” and included 35 submarines. Before the war, mining equipment, railways, electric locomotives, trolleys, tractors, cutters for cutting tunnels in the rock mass were brought to the area where the Antarctic base was being built on Swabia... Everything else was transported on submarines. Scientists, engineers, and highly qualified workers arrived in large numbers at “Base 211,” founded in Schirmacher Bay and turned into a cargo transshipment port.”
In a short period of time, more than 350 thousand square kilometers of the continent were photographed from the air, the same amount was examined, the entire territory was literally staked out with fifteen thousand metal pennants with swastikas, and on all German maps of that time, Dronning Maud Land was renamed “New Swabia.” According to this version, Hitler and his staff escaped in submarines, since during the war 54 German submarines disappeared without a trace, and only 11 could be blown up by mines. The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy of the Third Reich at one time dropped the phrase that they managed to build for the Fuhrer the real Shang-ri-lu of our days.
Alexander Surpin, who was involved in the development of materials about the Fuhrer, notes that during the Second World War, inexplicable behavior of the Nazi Navy in the Antarctic region was noticed. No one was allowed there, not even whaling ships from non-warring countries.
And at the end of the war, in the German city of Kiel, weapons were removed from the submarines and containers with huge supplies of provisions, equipment and documents were loaded. Their further fate is unknown.
The famous Soviet writer and historian M. Demidenko in his work “Secrets of the Third Reich” reports that, while sorting through the top-secret archives of the SS, he allegedly discovered documents clearly indicating that a squadron of German submarines during an expedition to New Swabia found a whole system of interconnected caves with warm air. “My submariners,” Karl Doenitz (commander of the Reich submarine fleet) once said in 1938, “discovered a real paradise in Antarctica!”
Mysticism of Antarctica
At the end of the 50s, a tragedy occurred: of the six polar explorers who launched to the South Magnetic Pole from the Mirny station, only two were able to return. According to the official version, the deaths occurred due to a severe storm and frost. However, it was subsequently refuted by Yuri Korshunov, a participant in this campaign. He wrote: “When we approached the magnetic pole significantly, the weather was wonderful by Antarctic standards - a clear, windless polar day and about -30 °C. We covered the route in three weeks without a single car breakdown or other troubles. We set up our main camp and decided to go to bed early. However, we still couldn’t fall asleep; we were overcome by a strange, anxious feeling of impending disaster. After some time, I left the tent and, to my surprise and horror, I saw about three hundred meters from the all-terrain vehicle a huge luminous ball with a diameter of 15–20 meters. It jumped up and moved towards us, getting darker every moment. All my comrades ran out to my screams, and the ball suddenly began to stretch out, turning into some kind of sausage with a terrible face without eyes and a hole that looked like a mouth. The snow beneath him hissed and melted, and the “monster”, which had stopped jumping, kept getting closer and seemed to be moving its mouth. Our photographer Sasha Gorodetsky, despite our requests to stay put, went with his camera towards the creepy “guest” and began to photograph him. And the “sausage” suddenly turned into a long smoky ribbon, began to spin around Sasha, and a semblance of a luminous halo appeared above his head, after which he screamed and collapsed as if knocked down. Our group leader Andrei Skobelev and doctor Roma Kustov began shooting at the “monster” with explosive bullets. It suddenly swelled and exploded, breaking up into bright sparks and short lightning bolts. When I ran up to Gorodetsky, he was no longer breathing. His face, back of his head, palms, chest and back were severely burned, and his special suit turned into smoking rags. There was nothing we could do to help him. The camera was melted and completely damaged, as if it had been struck by lightning, and in the snow we found melted furrows half a meter deep...
Two days after this emergency, a new tragedy occurred. Over the nearest hill a ball appeared, as if condensed from the air, a hundred meters from the ground, the same as the last time, and two more flew after it. Slowly descending and moving along complex and seemingly chaotic trajectories, they approached us. Kustov and Borisov began to shoot as soon as the balls began to change shape, and at that time Skobelev tried to take photographs. As a result, everything ended even more pitifully than last time. My consciousness became clouded for a while, and when I came to my senses, I smelled a strong ozone smell in the air, as if after a strong thunderstorm. Kustov and Borisov were lying in the snow, and both were dead. And Skobelev completely lost his sight and sanity...
The monotonous Antarctic landscape of the land of eternal snow and ice was enlivened by all-terrain vehicles and figures of people walking from nowhere near their “iron horses.” Suddenly, a huge bluish ball flew out from behind the nearest snowy hill. People watched in fascination as a ball the size of a truck began to change shape as it approached, turning into something oblong and serpentine with a terrible eyeless “muzzle” and a funnel-shaped “mouth.”
Realizing that something terrible could happen, many began to hide in all-terrain vehicles, shouting to the operator to quickly run to them. But he, as if not hearing their screams, continued to fascinatedly watch the unprecedented “snow” monster through the camera viewfinder. And with a terrible hissing it suddenly rose up, furiously spun in a spiral and rushed down, swallowing the unfortunate man into its womb and again taking the form of a ball. A moment later, the ball soared into the sky, moving away at great speed. further and further. The blackened body of the deceased operator was smoking in the snow...”
Scientists became interested in this strange phenomenon back in the first half of the 20th century. It arose in Antarctica in areas close to the Earth's South Magnetic Pole. More than once, participants in polar expeditions had the opportunity to see strange visions in the form of huge balls or other figures that melted snow and caused magnetic storms. Some of the researchers became victims of these unknown entities, capable of killing living organisms not only through direct contact, but even at a short distance.
The first victims of these creatures were members of the expedition of the famous American polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Scott and his comrades reached the South Pole on January 18, 1912, losing only one person along the way. Moving back along a new route passing through the region of the magnetic pole, people, judging by their records, were subjected to severe trials. In addition to natural storms and bad weather, they encountered completely inexplicable anomalies several times, as a result of which they died one after another. True, according to the official version, Scott and his comrades died because they “simply lost their way,” were completely exhausted by bad weather and were left without food.
In 1962, an American expedition set off from Midway Station. It was equipped with the most advanced equipment. As a result, 17 researchers returned in the only surviving machine. All events were immediately classified, however, given that after returning to their homeland almost half of the participants in the campaign ended up in psychiatric clinics, it becomes clear that the matter was clearly not without the machinations of mysterious “monsters”.
In 1966, the deadly Antarctic phenomenon finally received a scientific name. American physicist Roy D. Christopher called the “monsters” plasmasaurs. In his opinion, these are some kind of electrical living beings - plasma clots that live mainly within the radiation belt at an altitude of 400–800 km. At this altitude, plasmasaurs are in a rarefied state and remain invisible, but they can approach the Earth in the region of the South Pole (in the northern region, such “miracles” have not yet been recorded). Approaching the surface, plasmasaurs find themselves in a very dense environment and themselves become so dense that they can already be seen.
Russian scientists generally agree with this opinion, but believe that plasmasaurs are clots of mental and physical energy unknown to science that cause visual hallucinations and amaze people with something like electrical discharges. In all likelihood, they really are unexplored living creatures from a parallel world and arose even before organic life arose on the surface of our planet. It is likely that over time this phenomenon will cease to be a secret behind seven seals.
Terrible find
In 1999, a research expedition discovered a virus in Antarctica to which neither humans nor animals have immunity. It seems there is nothing to worry about - the dangerous virus is in the permafrost. However, according to scientists, if we take into account that the earth is threatened by global warming, the virus could threaten humanity with a terrible catastrophe. New York University expert Tom Starmerue shares the gloomy forecasts of his colleagues: “We don’t know what humanity will face at the South Pole in the near future due to global warming; perhaps an unprecedented epidemic will begin. Viruses protected by a protein shell, having retained their viability in permafrost, will begin to multiply as soon as the ambient temperature rises...” Moreover, American scientists took the terrible discovery in Antarctica so seriously that an urgently organized expedition is now taking ice samples, trying to find as much as possible unknown viruses in order to try to find an antidote in advance. But where did the infection come from in Antarctica, where, as you know, there are “only ice floes and penguins” and there seems to be no one else? It's completely unclear. The experts just shrug their shoulders...
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Antarctica is not much different from Mars. Just more oxygen. And the cold is the same. In some places the temperature drops to minus 90 degrees Celsius. There is only one fundamental difference - there are people in Antarctica, but not yet on Mars. But this does not mean that the ice continent has been explored much better than the Red Planet. There are plenty of mysteries here and there...
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Surprisingly, there are more high-resolution images of Mars than Antarctica. You can examine the details of its relief in detail only on a narrow strip in the area of Queen Mary Land, where surprises were found. It wouldn't be a bad idea to look at other places. Especially those that have long been legendary.
THREE RIDDLES
The discovery belongs to Joseph Skipper, a famous virtual archaeologist from the USA. He usually “digs” on Mars and the Moon, looking at photographs transmitted from there by spacecraft and posted on the official websites of NASA and other space agencies. He finds a lot of surprising things - things that sharply fall out of traditional ideas.
The researcher's collection contains objects similar to bones and skulls of humanoids. And those that (with a stretch, of course) can be mistaken for the remains of their - humanoids - civilized activity.
This time the archaeologist became interested in the Earth - specifically Antarctica. And I found three oddities there at once - a hole, a “plate” and lakes.
I followed Skipper's footsteps and found all the objects he discovered. Their coordinates are known, they are clearly visible on satellite images of the ice continent posted on the Google Earth website.
Coordinates:
“Stroke”: 99o43’11, 28’’E; 66o36’12, 36’’S
“Lake”: 100o47’51.16’’E; 66o18’07.15’’S
“Flying Saucer” 99o58’54.44’’E; 66o30’02.22’’S
The "Hole" discovered by Joseph Skipper
According to Skipper, there is an entire underground city on the ice continent. And proof of this are lakes with liquid water among the ice of Antarctica, as well as the huge “Hod” located on the ice continent. But who could build all this in conditions of terrible cold? The answer to this question, Skipper is convinced, is given by his third discovery - a huge “plate”, which may belong to aliens.
HITLER WAS HIDDEN THERE
It is known that the Nazis were very interested in Antarctica. A number of expeditions were sent there. And they even staked out a vast territory in the area of Queen Maud Land, calling it New Swabia.
There, in 1939, on the coast, the Germans discovered a striking area of about 40 square kilometers, free of ice. With a relatively mild climate, with numerous ice-free lakes. It was called the Schirmacher oasis - after the German pioneer pilot. Subsequently, the Soviet polar station Novolazarevskaya was located here.
According to the official version, the Third Reich went to Antarctica to build bases there to guard its whaling fleets. But there are much more interesting assumptions. Although it’s hard to even call them science fiction. A bunch of mysticism.
In short, the story is this. Allegedly, during expeditions to Tibet, the Nazis learned that there was something inside Antarctica. Some vast and warm cavities. And in them there is something left either from aliens, or from an ancient highly developed civilization that once lived there. At the same time, a separate story claimed that Antarctica was once Atlantis.
As a result, already at the end of the 30s of the last century, German submarines found a secret passage in the ice. And they got inside - into these same cavities.
Then the legends diverge. According to one version, the Nazis built their cities under the ice, according to another, they conspired with the local inhabitants and settled in a free housing stock.
There - inside the ice continent - in 1945, a living Hitler was delivered along with a living Eva Braun. Allegedly, he sailed in a submarine, accompanied by a large escort - a whole squadron of huge submarines (8 pieces) called the “Fuhrer's Convoy”. And he lived until 1971. And according to some sources, right up to 1985.
The authors of Antarctic myths also place the “flying saucers” of the Third Reich under the ice, rumors about which are permeated in numerous books, films, television shows and the Internet. They say that the Nazis also hid these devices inside. Then they improved and are still in operation, starting from mines in Antarctica. And UFOs are those very “plates”.
"Plate" - either alien or German
It’s difficult to take stories about polar aliens and Germans any seriously. But... What to do with the hole, the “plate” and the lakes discovered by Joseph Skipper? One fits very well with the other. Unless, of course, the objects are what they look like.
UFOs can fly out of a hole in the mountains. The “plate” is real. Maybe even alien. Looks icy. And as if exposed as a result of either global warming or weathering. It belongs to those guys who lived or are living in the warm inner cavities of Antarctica.
Lake on the surface of Antarctica
Well, lakes are just evidence that they - cavities - exist. And they warm up the oases. Like the Schirmacher oasis, which is far from the only one.
Antarctica is generally a strange place...
By the way, Lake Vostok is not free from tales. A strong magnetic anomaly was discovered on its western side. This is a scientific fact. But the nature of the anomaly has not yet been determined. Which gives ufologists the right, at least temporarily, to claim that there lies a massive metal object. Specifically, a huge alien ship. Maybe crashed. Maybe it was abandoned millions of years ago, when there was no ice over the lake. Maybe it was operational and just parked.
This is what the ice looks like over Lake Vostok. On the left edge there is a magnetic anomaly and strange dunes. On the right bank - Vostok station
Unfortunately, the magnetic anomaly is located far from the well - at the opposite end of the lake. And it is unlikely that it will be solved soon. If it ever works out.
At Vostok station in Antarctica, our scientists completed drilling at a depth of 3,768 thousand meters and reached the surface of a subglacial lake
It is already known that Lake Vostok is far from the only one in Antarctica. There are more than a hundred of these. The East is simply the largest of the open ones. Now researchers suggest that all these lakes, hidden under a layer of ice, communicate with each other.
The existence of an extensive network of subglacial rivers and canals was recently reported by British scientists - Duncan Wingham from University College London and colleagues - by publishing a corresponding article in the authoritative scientific journal Nature. Their conclusions are based on data obtained from satellites.
Wingham assures that the subglacial channels are as deep as the Thames.
The mystery of Lake Vanda. This is a salt lake and is covered with ice all year round. But what’s amazing: a thermometer lowered into water to a depth of 60 m shows... 25 degrees Celsius! Why? Scientists don't know this yet. Antarctica will probably present many more similar mysteries.
Laugh and laugh, but the discovery of British scientists does not at all contradict the most delusional versions of hidden Antarctic life. On the contrary, it reinforces them. After all, a network of channels located at a depth of about 4 kilometers under thin ice can connect one cavity to another. Serve as a kind of roads that in some place may have access to the ocean. Or entrance.
Dronning Maud Land is a vast area on the Atlantic coast of Antarctica, lying between 20° west and 44° 38" east longitude. The area is about 2,500,000 square kilometers. The territory is subject to the Antarctic Treaty.
This treaty prohibits the use of Antarctic territories for any purpose other than scientific research. There are several scientific stations operating on the territory of Dronning Maud Land, including the Russian Novolazarevskaya station and the German Neumayer station.
Antarctica was discovered back in 1820. However, its first systematic and in-depth study began only a century later. Moreover, the most interested researchers of the ice continent were representatives of Nazi Germany. In 1938–1939, the Germans sent two powerful expeditions to the continent.
Luftwaffe planes photographed vast areas in detail and dropped several thousand metal swastika pennants onto the mainland. Captain Ritscher, who was responsible for the operation, reported personally to Field Marshal Goering, who was at that time the head of the Ministry of Aviation and the first person in the Air Force:
"Our planes dropped pennants every 25 kilometers. We covered an area of approximately 8,600 thousand square meters. Of this, 350 thousand square meters were photographed."
The surveyed territory was called New Swabia and declared part of the future thousand-year Reich. Actually, the name was not chosen by chance. Swabia is a medieval duchy, which later became part of a unified German state.
Nazi activity in this area, naturally, did not escape Soviet intelligence, as evidenced by a unique document classified “Top Secret.” On January 10, 1939, he lay on the table of the first deputy people's commissar of the NKVD, head of the Main Directorate of State Security, Vsevolod Merkulov.
In it, an unknown intelligence officer reported the following about his business trip to the Reich: “...Currently, according to Gunther, a party of German researchers is working in Tibet. The result of the work of one of the groups... made it possible to equip a German scientific expedition to Antarctica in December 1938 The goal of this expedition is to discover by the Germans the so-called city of the gods, hidden under the ice of Antarctica in the area of Dronning Maud Land..."
“Lake”: 66o18’07.15’’S; 100o47’51.16’’E. 1. Queen Maud Land and Schirmacher Oasis. 2. Anomalies on Queen Mary Land - a “pass”, a “plate” and a “lake” were discovered here.
There is a lot of evidence that there are places in the central region of the Antarctic ice sheet where there appears to be water at the lower surface. Igor Zotikov, a researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, talked about how back in 1961 he analyzed data on the ice cover of the central part of Antarctica obtained during the first four Soviet expeditions.
The results of this analysis showed that the central regions are in conditions where the heat removal from the lower surface of the glacier upward due to its large thickness is very small. In this regard, the entire heat flow from the bowels of the earth cannot be completely removed from the boundaries of the “ice - solid bed” interface; part of it must be constantly spent on continuous melting at this boundary.
The following conclusion was made: melt water in the form of a relatively thin film is squeezed out into places where the thickness of the glacier is less. In individual recesses of the subglacial bed, this water can accumulate in the form of lakes of melt water.
In May 1962, the Izvestia newspaper wrote: “...It can be assumed that under the ice of Antarctica, over an area almost equal to the area of Europe, a sea of fresh water spreads. It should be rich in oxygen, which is delivered by the upper layers of ice gradually descending into the depths.” and snow. And it may very well be that this subglacial sea has its own, exceptionally unique life..."
There are still unexplored areas in Antarctica, says Sergei Bulat, senior researcher at the Department of Molecular and Radiation Biophysics at the St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. - The subglacial structure is very diverse; it is an ordinary continental topography, where there are mountains, lakes, etc. There are niches between the continent and the ice, but they are not empty, they are all filled with either water or ice.
However, in my opinion, the existence of a separate civilization under the ice cap is impossible. After all, the ice thickness in Central Antarctica is over three kilometers. It's easy for anything to survive there. Don't forget that the average temperature on the surface of the continent is minus 55 degrees. Although it is, of course, warm under the ice - about 5-6 degrees below zero, life there is nevertheless unlikely.
The area of Antarctica is about 14 million square kilometers. Almost the entire continent is covered with ice. In some places its thickness reaches 5 kilometers. And what is underneath is known only about an insignificant part of the surface.
A team of scientists from China, Japan and the UK recently published the results of their 4-year research in the journal Nature. From 2004 to 2008, they rode powerful all-terrain vehicles through the harshest region of Antarctica - over the Gamburtsev Mountains. And they scanned it with radars. The result was a surface relief map covering an area of about 900 square kilometers.
And it turned out that the continent was once free of ice. Just 34 million years ago, there were mountains and plains with flowering meadows here. Just like in the European Alps now.
But something happened. Researchers have found a place from which a small glacier, located on the highest peak (about 2400 meters), began to grow. Gradually it covered the entire Antarctica. Hid several lakes under a layer of ice.
Martin Seigert from the University of Edinburgh, who took part in the expedition, is confident that frozen plants are still preserved in the valleys of the Antarctic Alps. Even small trees. But it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to reach them. But you can try, for example, through drilling.
Some facts
Antarctica has at least four poles. In addition to the geographic South and Magnetic, there are also the Cold Pole and the Wind Pole.
In Antarctica there are frosts that are not found anywhere else on earth. On August 25, 1958, a temperature of 87.4 degrees below zero was recorded at the Vostok station.
What about the pole of the winds? It is located on Antarctic Victoria Land. Fierce winds rage there all year round. Often the speed of air currents exceeds 80 meters per second, which leaves the most powerful tropical cyclones behind...
A plane frozen in ice in Antarctica near the Russian Novolazarevskaya station
What is under the ice of this continent? As a result of deep drilling at a depth of one and a half kilometers, scientists discovered clear traces of volcanic eruptions and iron ore deposits. Diamonds and uranium, gold and rock crystal have already been found here. Every year brings new mysteries to researchers of the Antarctic continent.
There are fewer and fewer “white” spots on the white continent. However, while experts were working on drawing up the map, they saw a lot of unexpected things. And they racked their brains to explain what they saw.
Volcanoes in ice
This place in the west of Antarctica is well known to polar explorers - expeditions have visited here several times.
But if you stand on the surface, no “circles in the ice” are visible - an ordinary snow-covered plain. However, satellite images revealed such a convex anomaly. It turned out that it was an extinct volcano. There are many of them in Antarctica. And this once again proves that the sixth continent of our planet was not always bound by ice.
Noah frozen in the ice?
And this photo was liked by lovers of everything anomalous. The picture is unusually similar to the remains of Noah’s Ark, which is said to have been petrified on the slope of Ararat (see photo below). In fact, this is the Dry Valleys region - the only place in the country that is free of snow.
How icy rivers flow
Similar photographs can often be seen among archaeologists. Using aerial photography, they determine the contours of ancient cities covered with sand or earth.
And something similar was discovered in Antarctica. Alas, these are not ruins left by a mysterious civilization. And the “river” is an ice stream that moves at a speed of several hundred meters per year. And if there are any obstacles at the bottom of the river or two rivers collide, then whirlpools begin, as in this photo.
Currently, there are 50 polar research stations from 20 countries operating in Antarctica. Russia contains 6 permanent stations and two seasonal ones.
The frozen lands of the Antarctic archipelago were discovered in January 1820 by Russian sailors Bellingshausen and Lazarev. Over many decades of studying the continent, researchers have given humanity a number of interesting discoveries, although Antarctica is in no hurry to fully reveal its secrets.
Riddles of different cards
Despite the official data on the discovery of the continent, there is information that our ancestors visited there much earlier and did not consider Antarctica to be a single part of the land. This is evidenced by the mysterious map of Piri Reis (1513), discovered in 1929, presumably copied from an older source.
There were other maps of the continent: Orontius Phineus, James Cook, etc. On the drawings created at different times, the outlines of the continent and the degree of its glaciation were different. The reason is mapping the area before it was completely glaciated. The secret of Antarctica is that it was not always covered with thick ice, and hot geysers and active volcanoes speak of its flourishing past.
Opening of the meteorite cemetery
In the eternal ice of the continent, fragments of meteorites have been preserved in the best possible form; there are quite a lot of them here and they seem to be much older than the Earth. The composition of the found meteorites is similar to the earth's crust, which indicates their formation at the same time as the birth of the solar system. The most unexpected and valuable was the found fragment of a Martian meteorite.
Unusual inhabitants of the depths
The expanses of water off the coast of the icy continent are home to unique fish, another mystery of Antarctica. Relict fish are called “white-blooded fish” due to the absence of hemoglobin and red blood cells in the blood, which makes them completely colorless and ensures their existence at very low water temperatures.
In the waters of Antarctica there live incredibly large jellyfish with three-meter tentacles 60 cm thick, and under the ice there are bacteria that have forgotten how to breathe.
Time paradox
For some unknown reason, there are no time zones on the icy continent; 24 hours can fly by in seconds. The researchers there live according to the time zone of their country or count the time from the moment when the goods are delivered to them.
The main secret of Antarctica
This is a unique Lake Vostok, located in the region of the South Pole of the continent under a thickness of almost 4 km of ice, with a depth of about 1200 m. The peculiarity of the lake is that above its surface there is a cavity 800 m high in the ice dome. The water temperature under the dome is between plus 10-18 degrees thanks to sources of unknown nature. There is an assumption that a self-cleaning atmosphere may exist in the dome, and probably plants live.
The phenomenon was studied by scientists from all over the world, including Russia and the USA. Since 2002, all research into Antarctica's intractable mystery has been led by the NSA (National Security Agency), although the public has not been made aware of the security involved.
No one still knows what the ice shell hides. There is a hypothesis by Admiral Richard Byrd, who studied the territory of the South Pole in the middle of the last century. Its essence: Lake Vostok is an energy portal to parallel worlds. The theory is supported by ufologists because UFOs are often recorded in the Antarctic region, and under the dome of the lake there is high magnetic activity, which can serve as a beacon for them.
This is not the entire list of the secrets of Antarctica, in the deep layers of ice of which life in the form of microscopic luminous organisms was recently found. What other secrets will the sixth continent reveal due to the melting of ice during global warming?
Seven secrets and mysteries of Antarctica that amaze the imagination.
The ice of Antarctica hides a large number of secrets and mysteries.
1. An ancient city was found in Antarctica.
An American television crew went missing 14 years ago, leaving behind video evidence of the existence of an ancient city in Antarctica. The California film crew disappeared after filming in 2002. According to archaeologist Jonathan Gray, the crew's video was not cleared to air by the US government after it was discovered. The video showed a massive archaeological excavation at a depth of 2 to 3 km under the ice. Many experts are convinced that an ancient settlement is hidden under the ice. In addition, the outlines of tall pyramidal structures are clearly visible from the ocean.
2. Mysterious structure. In 2012, an object measuring 14 by 4.5 miles was discovered in Antarctica, so huge that it can be seen on a map. A spot on the Google Earth map, which is clearly visible in the pictures, is mistaken for a secret research station hidden by the government, or a UFO base.
3. Crashed UFO . Proponents of the "conspiracy theory" claim to have found evidence of military vehicles "guarding" the site of a UFO crash in Antarctica. Something similar to tanks is “guarded” by a strange object measuring 62 by 12 meters.
4. Operation High Jump . American naval military operation of 1946-1947, organized to create the Little America IV research base. The mission was carried out by 13 ships, 4,700 people and 33 aircraft. According to secret documents published in the 90s, the US Navy sent a military expedition not to establish a research base, but to find and destroy a hidden Nazi base. During a US special operation, the Navy was attacked by flying saucers believed to have originated from Hitler's secret base built before and during World War II.
5-6. Hitler's secret base and underground structures in Antarctica. On Google Earth maps you can find two large "inclusions" that are located near the coastline. Some argue that this is just a natural phenomenon, others argue that these are secret military bases. It is known that during the Second World War, there was a Nazi military base in Antarctica - it was founded between December 1938 and April 1939. It is assumed that the base not only tested new weapons, but also carried out secret developments based on extraterrestrial technologies. The base itself was a network of underground structures.
7. Giant Elusive Sea Creature off the coast of the continent. The object was discovered completely by accident; according to many, it may not be a living creature, but an underwater UFO. The total length of the strange object is about 25 meters.
