Baffling 30-metre underwater ‘pyramid’ discovery

A 30-metre “pyramid” submerged just off the coast of Japan is turning heads - and could shake up everything we thought we knew about ancient civilisations.

A 30-metre “pyramid” submerged just off the coast of Japan is turning heads — and could shake up everything we thought we knew about ancient civilisations.

Sitting 25 metres below sea level near the Ryukyu Islands, the Yonaguni Monument has baffled scientists and divers since it was first discovered in 1986.

This massive stone formation, featuring sharp steps and smooth terraces, strikingly resembles the remnants of an ancient temple, even though it dates back over 10,000 years. Picture: Alamy

The enormous stone structure, complete with angular steps and flat terraces, looks uncannily like the ruins of a man-made temple — despite being over 10,000 years old.

That timeline, if proven accurate, would date it thousands of years earlier than Egypt’s pyramids or England’s Stonehenge — and possibly make it the oldest known structure ever built by humans.

Scuba diver exploring the Yonaguni Monument, a submerged rock formation off the coast of Japan. It is unknown if these sandstone rocks are formed naturally or are of human construction, Yoguni, Japan. 2017. Picture: Alamy

Supporters of the theory say the Yonaguni formation, nicknamed “Japan’s Atlantis,” may be evidence of a forgotten civilisation that predates the rise of agriculture — a concept that, if true, would rewrite the timeline of human achievement.

But sceptics aren’t buying it.

The sunken stone sparked fresh debate when author Graham Hancock and archaeologist Flint Dibble clashed over the site on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.

If verified, the Yonaguni Monument’s age of over 10,000 years would place it millennia before Egypt’s pyramids. Picture: istock

“I’ve seen a lot of crazy natural stuff and I see nothing here that to me reminds me of human architecture,” Dibble said on the podcast in April 2024.

Hancock, a well-known proponent of lost ancient civilisations, fired back: “To me, Flint, it’s stunning that you see that as a totally natural thing, but I guess we’ve just got very different eyes.”

If this massive stone construction is truly more than 10,000 years old, it also predates England’s Stonehenge and could be the oldest human-made structure known. Picture: istock

Hancock pointed to what he says are clear signs of intelligent design - including what appears to be carved steps, megaliths, arches, and even a face-like engraving etched into stone.

“If this really was built by a mysterious civilisation more than 10,000 years ago, it would place Yonaguni in the same league as Göbekli Tepe in Turkey — one of the oldest known man-made structures, dated to around 9500 BC,” he said.

Some specialists argue that the Yonaguni Monument exhibits evident marks of human craftsmanship, such as carved steps, large stone structures, arches, and a face-like engraving in the rock. Picture: Alamy

Japanese geologist Masaaki Kimura has also backed the theory, arguing the monument may be part of a lost continent known as Lemuria.

He previously suggested the formation was built 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lower.

Not everyone’s convinced.

Boston University professor Robert Schoch called the strange shapes “basic geology and classic stratigraphy for sandstones,” in a past interview with National Geographic.

“[The sandstones] tend to break along planes and give you these very straight edges, particularly in an area with lots of faults and tectonic activity,” he explained.

So what is the Yonaguni Monument really — a lost city swallowed by the sea, or just a freak formation sculpted by Mother Nature?

For now, the debate rages on — one dive at a time.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission