Conspiracy theorists discover 'giant door' in Antarctica thanks to Google Maps

Google Maps really is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to wild conspiracy theories.

From “holes to the centre of the Earth” to Bigfoot sightings, internet sleuths have boasted of all manner of wild observations thanks to the web mapping platform.

Now, a new “find” is doing the rounds on social media, purporting to be a secret, giant door nestled into the icy slopes of Antarctica.

A picture of the mysterious anomaly, captured by Google’s satellites, was uploaded to Reddit earlier this year, with users quick to offer their personal theories as to its true nature.

Some pointed out that the structure is located close to a 67-year-old Japan-run research base called Showa Station, with some joking that the “door” must be the entrance to a “secret Japanese bunker”.

Others teased that it was “Bigfoot’s vacation home” (him again) or a “blown off Boeing door”.

The structure does bear an undeniable ressemblence to a doorway(Google Maps)

Less sceptical commentators suggested that it could, indeed, be the entrance to an underground bunker or a seed vault, like the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, which contains millions of seeds as an “insurance policy for the world’s food supply”.

However, the vast majority of Redditors agreed that the explanation was a lot more prosaic, positing that the door is, in fact, nothing more than an ice formation with shadows cast across it.

Indeed, some pointed out that if you zoom out on Google Maps, “you’ll see the entire area littered with [similar] structures”.

It’s not the first time Antarctica has piqued the interest of conspiracy junkies.

Back in 2016, a humble mountain was propelled to online notoriety after Google Map users insisted that it must be a pyramid created by an ancient civilisation.

Admittedly, the striking symmetry of the rocky structure bears an uncanny resemblance to the Giants of Giza and beyond but, again, the theory was quickly debunked in favour of more scientifically sound explanations.

The pyramid-like sides are nothing more than the work of hundreds of millions of years of erosion.

Put simply, as University of California professor Eric Rignot told Live Scienceat the time: “This is just a mountain that looks like a pyramid”.

And, we’re afraid to say, Reddit's new Antarctic mystery is clearly just a chunk of ice that looks like a door.

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