Special Feature: A Challenge From the Bottom of the Ocean
A former super-civilisation, driven from the earth, observes humanity from the sea depths!
Across the world, there are historial relics lying on seabeds that transcend human civilisation. Did their creators perish along with the ruins, or perhaps...?
Right now, we shall undertake a thorough investigation of the mysteries that lurk deep in the unknown!
The mystery of the beautiful ruins slumbering beneath the Yonaguni Island sea
Yonaguni, Okinawa pref., is Japan's westernmost island. This island, visited by countless divers, first became known as a bizarre diving spot in the mid 1980s. It is located on the bed of the sea off Arakawabana, on the island's southern shore. Once you don your diving equipment and enter the beautiful azure sea, you will suddenly find yourself looking upon an unbelievable scene.
As far as you can see is a reef, perhaps 25 metres in height. The shape of the rock clearly differs from that of one caused by mere natural erosion: the walls have been quarried into right angles, as if the result of exact measurements. The structure continues regularly, like stairs. Several megaliths combine to form an arch. The terrain, systematically divided and even, is reminiscent of a terrace on which people might congregate. Not only this, but road wide enough for people to walk down single file, structures that appear to be in the form of drainage channels, and holes that seem as though they must have been bored in which to stand pillars have been found in the area.
Its form is, as it were, that of a solemn temple built by ancient people. These were unmistakably seabed relics, similar to not only the megalithic civilisations of the Aztecs and Mayans, but even Egypt's pyramids.
Since 1990, these historical ruins of Yonaguni have been the subject of earnest investigation. As a result, new facts have gradually emerged, such as the existence of seabed topography dotted with several things that appear to be man-made constructions in the area around Yonaguni aside from Arakawabana, the existence of onshore ruins that appear to have a strong connection to those beneath the sea, and so forth.
As to whether or not these formations are truly human ruins, objections - such as that it can be explained by erosion or columnar jointing (regular fracturing caused by the rock's composition) - are deep-seated, and the debate continues. However, there have been many discoveries that cannot possibly be explained by the behaviour of nature alone, such as reliefs depicting animals, stone implements, and lithographs with what resemble characters carved into them, and it is impossible to deny the possibility that the structure is artificial.
If the ruins are authentic, exactly when were they constructed? From a variety of circumstantial evidence, specialists reckon that they are from more than 10,000 years ago in the Younger Dryas period, a time immediately before the ice age when the sea level was 40 metres lower than it is today. 10,000 years ago, humans were still in the palaeolithic era. Civilisation as we know it did not yet exist.
Undersea ruins across the world and the phantom culture of Atlantis
The discovery of Yonaguni's undersea ruins turned the people's interest towards ocean depths across the world. Constructions resembling human ruins have been found near Aguni Island and the Kerama archipelago near Okinawa, Kikaijima to the east of Amami Oshima, the solitary island of Okinoshima in the Genkai Sea, the coasts of Amami and Cape Ashizuri, and even in Tokyo Bay.
Naturally, these discoveries are not limited to Japan. The bestselling "Fingerprints of the Gods", a book by journalist Graham Hancock, who took an early interest in Yonaguni's ruins, exposes the hidden mysteries of human history, identifying the existence of relics that slumber beneath the sea worldwide. Take, for example, Mahabalipuram, a city on India's east coast that is the subject of a legend telling that it was sunk by the wrath of the gods, or perhaps the area of the Mediterranean Sea around Malta, reminiscent of the ancient super-civilisation of Atlantis, as described by Plato. These undersea civilisations - the "underworld" - found the world over are still not understood by modern academism.
On the topic of Atlantis, Edgar Cayce, known as an unusual prophet, had a vision in 1926 that evidence for its existence could be found beneath the sea. It was said to be Bimini in the Bahamas in Central America.
His prediction was verified 43 years later in 1969 when a corridor, comprising stones up to 600 metres in height, was discovered off the coast of Bimini. The impressive construction was named Bimini Road, and became a strong candidate to be named as the location of Atlantis.
Whether you believe Hancock's Malta theory or Cayce's Bahamas theory, it is impossible to speak of undersea ruins without considering their connection to an ancient civilisation such as that of Atlantis. As with Yonaguni, when one considers that these ruins from beneath the ocean may have been eras that vanished beneath the water, one cannot help but hypothesise about a super-civilisation that surpasses human knowledge.
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato describes the once splendid culture of the Atlantic continent in his works "Timaeus" and "Critias". It was a utopia with advanced science and an excellent governmental system, but soon enough it fell to depravity, and the entire continent, drawing the wrath of the gods, is said to have been sunk beneath the sea. According to Plato, the downfall of Atlantis occurred 9,000 years before the statesman Solon - in other words, roughly 12,000 years ago. Curiously enough, this coincides with the estimated date of Yonaguni's undersea ruins.
Did a super-civilisation vanish beneath the sea? Strange legends from across the world
Atlantis isn't the only civilisation said to have prospered in ancient times before sinking beneath the waves. Similarly well-known as Atlantis is the Mu continent, said to have built a huge empire in the Pacific Ocean. Its emperor, Ra Mu, helmed a high-level civilised society, but this, too, was suddenly annihilated about 12,000 years ago. Traces of its existence are said to be seen in the remnants of megalithic culture on Easter Island and other places of the Pacific Rim, in Indian and Tibetan scripture, and even in the Takeuchi Monographs, telling the story of our very own ancient culture.
One theory even purports that the super-civilisations of Atlantis and Mu had mastered electricity, radio communication, and even atomic energy. The leaders of undersea ruins across the world seem to have been in possession of excellent technology that originate from the same place. Where did they come from, and where did they go? ...Or rather, having super-cultures on such a scale, did they truly vanish completely?
Allow me leave ruins for a moment and discuss some strange legends about the seabed. First of all are the rumours about Odessa Bay in the northern Black Sea. It is said that if you dive beneath the waters of Odessa Bay, you will often encounter eerie rows of people. They are not wearing diving suits, their feet tied together with heavy chains, and walk along the seabed in orderly pairs.
People spoke of rumours that the shadows were the ghosts of members of an uprising, who had been suppressed by the new, revolutionary Russian government and thrown into the Black Sea. On the other hand, there is also much talk of people having witnessed UFOs and UMAs in the vicinity of the Black Sea, leading some researchers to theorise that something is lurking on the bed of the Black Sea, capturing and enslaving people.
Here in our country, also, exists the legend of the Shiryo, told only on an outlying island known as Yamijima. These inhuman things by the name of Shiryo are said to have appeared from the sea, seeing the islanders as their enemy. According to one theory, Shiryo were feared as beings that could possess dead humans, but unfortunately it is no longer possible to learn more about this legend. This is because, 29 years ago, all of Yamijima's residents went missing in an incident with no known cause.
Appearing in both of these stories is something opposing humans from the bottom of the sea, and the supposition that they might still be alive.
A gaze watching humans from the ocean depths
Let us return to the subject of undersea ruins. Those who left ruins beneath the sea all across the world unexpectedly vanished between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. This overlaps with the time when humans first began to fashion stone into primitive tools - in other words, when humans first got their hands on something that could be called "weapons" - and also matches with the period when the super-civilisations of Atlantis and Mu supposedly met their demise.
Whether they were engulfed by a sudden rise in the sea level, or driven out by the increasingly belligerent wielders of stone weapons, the bearers of ancient civilisation vanished into the sea. But can we say for sure that this means that they are extinct? Humanity has still only carried out investigations into a small percentage of the world's oceans. To us, the deep sea is as much of an unknown world as space.
In actuality, huge, ancient fish and UMAs resembling aquatic dinosaurs, which should never be able to survive in a natural environment, continue to be witnessed in our seas. In 1977, a Japanese fishing vessel pulled up what resembled the corpse of a UMA. It appeared to be a plesiosaurus, which had died out 65 million years ago.
Also, there is much testimony of a UFO having leapt out of the sea before disappearing back into it. Would it be so strange if "something" with a different culture and technology from humans was still living in the deep sea today? This "something" may not necessarily be amicable towards humanity.
One researcher theorises that Atlanteans were able to manipulate the atmosphere and even control the weather. Come of think of it, maritime disasters, such as El Nino and hurricanes, have been strangely frequent recently. Could this be retribution from "something" towards the humans who have now begun to develop in and contaminate even the sea?
Worldwide and Japanese undersea ruins
| World | Japan |
|---|---|
| The Azores | Tokyo Bay |
| Malta, Italy | Atami |
| Alexandria, Egypt | Cape Ashizuri |
| Penghu, Taiwan | Okinoshima |
| Canary Islands | Kikaijima |
| Bimini, Bahamas | Aguni Island |
| Khambhat, India | Kerama Islands |
| Poompuhar, Mahabalipuram, India | Yonaguni Island |
| Similan Islands, Thailand | |
| Pohnpei, Micronesia |