We haven’t always known quite so much about the world we live in. The existence of an
additional continent far to the south, for example, although it had been hypothesized for
centuries, wasn’t confirmed until it was first sighted in 1820… and first walked on in 1821.
Since then, Antarctica has become one of Earth’s most mysterious places.
It’s incredibly isolated and has its own wildlife and ecosystem.
But how much more might it be hiding? This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering
the extraordinary question; is there a secret ice wall hidden in Antarctica?
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Science shows us that Antarctica is many things. Extremely cold, extremely vast,
mostly unspoilt and a wholly unique environment in our world. But there are some who claim there’s
more to it than that, and the true nature of Antarctica is now a major part of modern Flat
Earth conspiracy theories. So the infamous theory goes, Earth isn’t a globe… it’s flat instead. But,
if that were true, then what would happen at the edge of our world? One idea says that, really,
we’re surrounded by an enormous ice wall. It’s this wall which stops us from ever travelling
too far and discovering the truth about the enormous disc we supposedly live on. According
to some variations, the wall also serves to keep us contained by preventing all of Earth’s water
from spilling out into space. And, as for the wall’s location, it’s said that it can be found at
the heart of what we now commonly call Antarctica. The theory then rounds itself off by claiming that
world powers and governments know all about the ice wall, but continually deny its existence… the
reasons for which, no one’s entirely sure of. Flat Earthers have claimed all sorts of evidence
down the years, though, which they say proves that Antarctica is a continent full of secrets.
For example, one prop often referred to is the Azimuthal Equidistant Projection map of the world.
While this map is just one of many maps of Earth that differ from the most commonly produced one,
called the Mercator projection, it’s of particular interest to Flat Earthers as some versions of it
do seemingly show a wall of ice encircling the rest of the world. It doesn’t matter that not
all versions show the ice, nor that the map never claims that a wall actually exists…
as an image it’s become quite iconic for the Flat Earth theory. Especially as one version of this
map features on the logo of the United Nations. Another key point of interest for Flat Earthers,
however, is the 1961 Antarctic Treaty, which it’s claimed stops anybody from ever going to
the South Pole. But what, exactly, does the treaty address? First and foremost, it was a creation of
the Cold War era, aiming to restrict where nuclear weapons could be tested – and is therefore seen as
something of a precursor to the much more notable 1967 Outer Space Treaty. The Antarctic Treaty
marks off territories that shouldn’t be used for military purposes, then, but it also specifically
prioritises the preservation of Antarctica’s unique ecosystem… because, despite its remoteness,
Antarctica does have plenty of endemic species. Most notable among them is the Emperor Penguin,
the largest penguin in the world, but there are also plenty of seals, invertebrates, and plants
and fungi that are exclusive to this continent. The Antarctic Treaty was largely written up to
protect them. Especially because, when humans began investigating Antarctica in the 1800s,
they brought with them various invasive species that threatened the pristine lands.
There may have been other motivations behind the Antarctic Treaty, too, though.
It might, for example, be seen as a means of limiting who gets to control the land.
The traditional, twentieth century, global superpowers - those more impacted by the Outer
Space Treaty, for example - aren’t all that close to Antarctica geographically. Today, the country
claiming the most territory there is Australia, by a huge margin, while the likes of the US, Russia,
China and India – the leading superpowers of space - haven’t yet staked a claim. On the one hand,
this begs the question of why American government agencies like NASA - so often implicated in Flat
Earth theories - would be in on the idea that Antarctica is actually a huge and secret wall.
But, on the other, it’s argued by Flat Earth theorists that the attempt to regulate the use of
Antarctica is all part of an international effort to keep the truth of the place under wraps.
Perhaps the strongest counterargument here, though, is that it’s not really
the case that the treaty stops anybody from going to this most mysterious land.
It bans military activity there, yes, but not scientific activity… and there are lots
of bases and outposts in Antarctica right now conducting important research. There are some
limited opportunities for tourism, too, with Antarctic cruises gaining popularity…
so much so that now tens of thousands of people visit Antarctica every year.
It’s still true that our most southerly continent is a wholly unforgiving place,
however, and many explorers have died trying to explore it. But many expeditions, including the
infamous Terra Nova expedition - which ended with the deaths of five British pioneers - are
(and were) funded and endorsed by the world’s governments and even the world’s public.
One major problem with the ice wall theory, then, is why would the global establishment support
science and exploratory missions to Antarctica if it had a vested interest in keeping people
in the dark about what’s really there? The Flat Earth theory triggers the questions but it can’t
provide the answers - other than the whole thing being a multi-faceted, international coverup.
Significantly, reports in 2019 claimed that a group of Flat Earthers had announced they
were going to fund their own expedition to Antarctica to see and prove the ice wall theory…
but that mission never happened (or, at least, was later denied by the group)
and so the proof was never found. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be forgotten
that it is at least difficult to get into Antarctica, and access is often restricted.
You’d struggle, for example, to just steer your own boat to the Antarctic shore, legally dock,
and build your own house and settlement there. For most people, Antarctic opportunities are
generally limited to expensive cruises and/or you becoming a scientist successful enough to win a
research position there. Failing that, and if you fancy an altogether different type of challenge,
you could always enter the Antarctica Marathon (which is held every year).
But, whatever your reason for travelling, it’s not as though you wouldn’t encounter an ice wall
when you got there. You certainly would do. That’s because the edge of the Antarctic ice shelf looks
a lot like a large wall made of ice, because it extends so far above sea level. Interestingly,
these walls are actually hugely important to the Antarctic climate, because they help the continent
to ward off some of the effects of global warming, including rising sea levels. But, clearly, they’re
not the same kind of ice walls as those that feature so crucially in the Flat Earth theory.
They’re massive and majestic, that much is true. But modern science doesn’t
believe that what’s hiding behind them is a bottomless drop into the vacuum of space.
Ultimately, we so far have no evidence that there really is a wall like this out there.
A wall that some theorists claim is separating our Earthly plain from the rest of the cosmos,
keeping us all penned in just enough to prevent us from slipping off of the flatness and into the
abyss. For opponents of the Flat Earth theory, modern Antarctica is a place of science not
speculation. And, while the likes of NASA do have operations out there, including at the
IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the US doesn’t have a territorial claim. Neither does Russia,
China, nor so many other world leaders. So, if the ice wall is there, then none of those
leaders are especially interested in it… but, what’s perhaps more likely, is that there’s just
nothing to be found. Not unless we decide to ignore the entirety of Antarctic history
until this point… and deny all images of Earth from space that clearly show Antarctica and the
curvature of the Earth. And that’s why there’s not a secret ice wall hidden in Antarctica.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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