Latest news with #lostcivilization
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Ancient explosion in Louisiana 'proves' lost advanced civilization was wiped out 12,800 years ago
Almost 13,000 years ago, a massive fragment of a comet exploded over Louisiana, turning stone into glass and potentially offering evidence for one of history's most controversial theories. New research supports ideas popularized by author Graham Hancock, who shared a stage with comet scientist Dr Allan West to discuss the findings. Hancock's bestselling books argue for the existence of a lost, advanced civilization wiped out by a cosmic cataclysm around 12,800 years ago. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Hancock said his work is often misunderstood or dismissed by critics, but recent comet impact discoveries lend weight to the mystery he explores. Dr West, one of the scientists behind the Louisiana find, warns that such explosions with the destructive power of nuclear weapons may be more common than previously thought. 'I am exploring a mystery, and that mystery is a very strong feeling that the archaeological project is not giving us the whole story about the past, not because of any conspiracy, but because archaeology mainly focuses on physical artifacts,' Hancock explained. 'This approach tends to overlook important evidence found in religious texts and ancient myths, like the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the global flood myth.' 'It's clear to me that something is missing, that during the Ice Age, there was a culture with advanced astronomy, knowledge of the Earth's dimensions, and even the problem of longitude solved.' The study identified what appeared to be a 12,800-year-old depression in Louisiana caused by a cosmic airburst, an explosion in the atmosphere by a space object. Radiometric dating and electron microscopy date the event to the Younger Dryas Boundary, a period marked by abrupt cooling and mass extinctions. Researchers suggested that the 984-foot-long lake and crater-like depression in Perkins could be the first airburst crater identified from this era. Hancock believes the Earth was bombarded by fragments of a giant comet, part of the Taurid meteor stream, thousands of years ago. 'Comets can get caught in the sun's gravity and enter orbit. According to research by Nature and others, the Taurid stream included a massive comet, possibly over 100 kilometers wide, which crossed Earth's path about 20,000 years ago,' Hancock said. He argues the impacts were not single hits but 'like a shotgun blast,' multiple airbursts from objects ranging in size from the Great Pyramid to entire cities, affecting locations worldwide, including the US, Belgium, Syria, Chile and Antarctica. Hancock sees the recent discovery as one among dozens of such global events, possibly including an impact crater as well as airbursts. Rising to fame with Fingerprints of the Gods in 1995, Hancock has faced ongoing rejection from mainstream archaeology. 'That book gathered evidence from mythology, traditions, and design, leading to my conclusion that a global cataclysm wiped out part of human history around 12,500 years ago,' Hancock said. 'The Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis, proposed scientifically in 2006, fits this timeline perfectly. Evidence continues to build, though it remains controversial.' Dr West, from the Comet Research Group, stressed the broader implications of their findings. 'The accepted view is that extraterrestrial impact events are extremely rare, especially large ones like the dinosaur extinction event,' he said. 'But smaller, dangerous airbursts like Tunguska in 1908 and Chelyabinsk in 2013 happen more often than believed.' He said evidence points to a major encounter with a giant comet's tail 12,800 years ago, causing widespread devastation without the comet itself striking Earth. 'This event was enormous, equivalent to thousands or even tens of thousands of nuclear bombs exploding simultaneously,' West explained. The aftermath pushed many megafauna species, including mammoths and saber-toothed cats, into extinction. West warns that if a similar event happened today, it could be catastrophic. 'Back then, fewer than a million people lived on Earth. Today's billions would suffer immensely, millions could die, crops would fail, satellites and electrical grids would be destroyed.' The Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis remains controversial because the sharp climate downturn it explains has no other widely accepted cause. West believes the comet impact darkened skies with dust and soot for months, plunging the world back into ice age conditions. West and Hancock share the experience of facing intense criticism for their unconventional ideas. 'Graham invited me to speak because our work challenges the prevailing scientific paradigm,' West said. 'We've had papers blocked, delayed, and even targeted for retraction by those opposed to our research.' Hancock is realistic about the acceptance of their theories. 'I'm not optimistic for a sudden paradigm shift. Overturning established views is a slow, often hostile process,' he said. 'But with enough evidence, the truth will eventually emerge, just not tomorrow or anytime soon.'
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Great Pyramid timeline shattered as new clues point to older origins
A growing body of controversial evidence is challenging the long-accepted timeline of the Great Pyramid, and raising new questions about who may have built it. British author Graham Hancock recently appeared on the American Alchemy podcast, where he claimed geological and astronomical clues suggest the monument was not built 4,500 years ago by Pharaoh Khufu, but by a lost civilization 12,500 years ago. 'There's no doubt that parts of the Great Pyramid were completed and finished by the ancient Egyptians,' Hancock told podcast host Jesse Michels. 'I don't seek to take it away from them, but I think they were inheriting a very ancient tradition and completing a monument that already stood in basic form on the Giza Plateau.' One of Hancock's central arguments centers on the erosion patterns of the nearby Great Sphinx , saying that only heavy rainfall over thousands of years could have caused such deep weathering. 'No such rains were on the Giza Plateau 4,500 years ago, but they certainly were at the end of the last Ice Age,' he said. However, renowned Egyptologist Dr Zahi Hawass has disputed these claims . He told the Daily Mail he had discovered workers' tombs dating to the 13th century BC and dismissed the erosion theory, attributing the Sphinx's damage to millennia of wind, not rain. 'If someone built this pyramid 12,000 years ago, aren't you going to leave any evidence at the site to prove that?' said Dr Hawass. 'Me and my colleague, Mark Lehner, have excavated Giza for the last 50 years. All that we discovered until now has to do with the Fourth Dynasty.' The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid, and was constructed by Pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. It is one of three within the Giza plateau, the other two include the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure, as well as the Great Sphinx. All shrouded in mystery due to their unclear construction methods, precise astronomical alignment and still-debated purpose. Dr Hawass shared further insights during a July appearance on the Matt Beall Limitless podcast, including details about a planned excavation inside the Great Pyramid to search for Khufu's lost tomb. Hancock, however, remains unconvinced that any burial ever took place inside. 'It's well known that no burial of any Pharaoh was ever found in the Great Pyramid or, for that matter, in any of the 100 pyramids in Egypt,' said Hancock, who is known for his controversial theories about ancient civilizations. 'It's well known that no burial of any Pharaoh was ever found in the Great Pyramid or, for that matter, in any of the 100 pyramids in Egypt,' said hancock. 'Some of that can be attributed to tomb robbery, but in the case of the Great Pyramid, it was completely closed and sealed until Arab raiders under Khalif Ma'mun broke in. 'They were expecting to find enormous treasures and wealth, but instead, they found a completely empty building with nothing inside.' Hancock also rejected the mainstream view that the Great Pyramid was built in just 23 years during Khufu's reign, calling that idea 'absurd.' Instead, he proposed that the structure may have taken hundreds, even thousands, of years to complete. Adding to his theory, Hancock pointed to the massive bedrock foundations beneath the three pyramids at Giza, naturally existing formations that were leveled before construction. While most archaeologists believe the foundations are natural, Hancock believes the platforms themselves are much older. He linked the structures to a lost epoch known in Egyptian lore as Zep Tepi, or 'The First Time,' citing astronomical alignments between the pyramid platforms and Orion's Belt as it appeared 12,500 years ago. 'At 4,500 years ago, the stars of Orion's Belt didn't match up,' he said. 'The Great Sphinx was looking at the sun rising against the background of Taurus. But in 12,500 BC, it aligned perfectly with Leo.' Dr Hawass, however, dismissed Hancock's claims as unfounded, emphasizing that the ancient Egyptians left behind detailed records of the Great Pyramid's construction. 'The Wadi El-Jarf Papyri is a diary from an overseer named Merer,' he said. 'He wrote, 'I am from the Delta. I was hired by Khufu and held the title of inspector, with 40 workmen under me.' The papyri also describe how Merer led crews to the Tura quarries to cut fine white limestone, which was then transported on wooden sledges to cargo boats. These vessels docked at harbors built in front of each pyramid. 'Egyptian history has no gaps that would justify dating the pyramids to 12,000 or 20,000 years ago,' Hawass added. 'That era, known as the Epipaleolithic period, marked the earliest stages of civilization, far too primitive for monuments of this scale.'
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Great Pyramid timeline shattered as new 'evidence' reveals who really built them
A growing body of controversial evidence is challenging the long-accepted timeline of the Great Pyramid, and raising new questions about who may have built it. British author Graham Hancock recently appeared on the American Alchemy podcast, where he claimed geological and astronomical clues suggest the monument was not built 4,500 years ago by Pharaoh Khufu, but by a lost civilization 12,500 years ago. 'There's no doubt that parts of the Great Pyramid were completed and finished by the ancient Egyptians,' Hancock told podcast host Jesse Michels. 'I don't seek to take it away from them, but I think they were inheriting a very ancient tradition and completing a monument that already stood in basic form on the Giza Plateau.' One of Hancock's central arguments centers on the erosion patterns of the nearby Great Sphinx, saying that only heavy rainfall over thousands of years could have caused such deep weathering. 'No such rains were on the Giza Plateau 4,500 years ago, but they certainly were at the end of the last Ice Age,' he said. However, renowned Egyptologist Dr Zahi Hawass has disputed these claims. He told the Daily Mail he had discovered workers' tombs dating to the 13th century BC and dismissed the erosion theory, attributing the Sphinx's damage to millennia of wind, not rain. 'If someone built this pyramid 12,000 years ago, aren't you going to leave any evidence at the site to prove that?' said Dr Hawass. 'Me and my colleague, Mark Lehner, have excavated Giza for the last 50 years. All that we discovered until now has to do with the Fourth Dynasty.' The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid, and was constructed by Pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. It is one of three within the Giza plateau, the other two include the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure, as well as the Great Sphinx. All shrouded in mystery due to their unclear construction methods, precise astronomical alignment and still-debated purpose. Dr Hawass shared further insights during a July appearance on the Matt Beall Limitless podcast, including details about a planned excavation inside the Great Pyramid to search for Khufu's lost tomb. Hancock, however, remains unconvinced that any burial ever took place inside. 'It's well known that no burial of any Pharaoh was ever found in the Great Pyramid or, for that matter, in any of the 100 pyramids in Egypt,' said Hancock, who is known for his controversial theories about ancient civilizations. 'It's well known that no burial of any Pharaoh was ever found in the Great Pyramid or, for that matter, in any of the 100 pyramids in Egypt,' said Hna 'Some of that can be attributed to tomb robbery, but in the case of the Great Pyramid, it was completely closed and sealed until Arab raiders under Khalif Ma'mun broke in. 'They were expecting to find enormous treasures and wealth, but instead, they found a completely empty building with nothing inside.' Hancock also rejected the mainstream view that the Great Pyramid was built in just 23 years during Khufu's reign, calling that idea 'absurd.' Instead, he proposed that the structure may have taken hundreds, even thousands, of years to complete. Adding to his theory, Hancock pointed to the massive bedrock foundations beneath the three pyramids at Giza, naturally existing formations that were leveled before construction. While most archaeologists believe the foundations are natural, Hancock believes the platforms themselves are much older. He linked the structures to a lost epoch known in Egyptian lore as Zep Tepi, or 'The First Time,' citing astronomical alignments between the pyramid platforms and Orion's Belt as it appeared 12,500 years ago. 'At 4,500 years ago, the stars of Orion's Belt didn't match up,' he said. 'The Great Sphinx was looking at the sun rising against the background of Taurus. But in 12,500 BC, it aligned perfectly with Leo.' Dr Hawass, however, dismissed Hancock's claims as unfounded, emphasizing that the ancient Egyptians left behind detailed records of the Great Pyramid's construction. 'The Wadi El-Jarf Papyri is a diary from an overseer named Merer,' he said. 'He wrote, 'I am from the Delta. I was hired by Khufu and held the title of inspector, with 40 workmen under me.' The papyri also describe how Merer led crews to the Tura quarries to cut fine white limestone, which was then transported on wooden sledges to cargo boats. These vessels docked at harbors built in front of each pyramid. 'Egyptian history has no gaps that would justify dating the pyramids to 12,000 or 20,000 years ago,' Hawass added. 'That era, known as the Epipaleolithic period, marked the earliest stages of civilization, far too primitive for monuments of this scale.'
