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A story from an Illuminati conspiracy site has become a semi popular meme on Facebook:

Three ancient pyramids have been discovered in the Antarctic by a team of American and European scientists. Two of the pyramids were discovered about 16 kilometers inland, while the third one was very close to the coastline, media reported.

enter image description here SOURCE

Have three pyramids been discovered in Antarctica?

Sklivvz
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Chad
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    Who builds a pyramid in the mountains? Honestly, who would sit there, looks at a bunch of mountains, and goes "You know what this place needs? A pyramid." – Brian M. Hunt Mar 23 '15 at 15:35
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    @Brian M. Hunt: There's also a rather nice pyramid sitting in a lake in Nevada: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Lake_(Nevada) So nice, indeed, that the lake is named after it :-) – jamesqf Mar 23 '15 at 18:43
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    @jamesqf - But building a pyramid in the middle of a lake makes total sense – Chad Mar 23 '15 at 19:10
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    That's a glacial horn, formed when three or more glaciers erode headward towards a common point. – Mark May 19 '16 at 23:07

2 Answers2

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From the source:

The only reliable information provided by the scientists was that they were planning an expedition to the pyramids to research them more thoroughly and determine for sure whether the structures were artificial or natural.

However, I am even doubtful that there is such a group of scientists or a planned expedition. No names are given. They don't mention a team, university, or research group affiliation.

This is an old claim, with a YouTube video to go along with it. It provides three photos, two of which are of the same feature.

Another Youtube video includes a 4th photo that other sites use (ref, ref). However, that photo is by Al Powers during his 2008 Antarctica trip. He says: "it is just an ice and snow covered hill".

The photo in the question and most of the stories is a known glacial horn (also known as a "pyramidal peak").

It's actually just the east end of Schatz Ridge. Here's a Google map view of it. Here are some other photos of this peak from a slightly different viewpoint pic 1, pic 2, pic 3.

Coincidentally, there is also a specific peak named "Pyramid Peak"

Here's a top down view of Pyramid Peak in Google maps. It was named in 1963.


Summarizing

Schatz Ridge

An ice and snow covered hill, from 2008

The third, credited to Etienne Classen

A peak actually named "Pyramid Peak", that the stories don't even mention, demonstrating that these formations are not that hard to find


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    @Chad: I didn't quite follow your objection. The question title introduces the term "Egyptian style". Articuno points out that isn't in the claim. Most importantly, the Google map view shows that the only piece of evidence provided is grossly misleading. This is not a precise, square pyramid, suggestive of artificial origins, but a mountain which has an unusual (to non-geologists) appearance from a particular angle. With the only piece of evidence found to be a hoax, the rest of the claim seems irrelevant. – Oddthinking Jan 03 '14 at 11:40
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    I would add that finding 3 pyramidal peaks in the antarctic isn't particularly hard to explain either, especially since it's glaciers that create them... – Ardesco Jan 03 '14 at 11:52
  • The answer pretty clearly challenged your claim IMHO. I'm quite sure from the information in the answer that these so called pyramids are actually pyramidal peaks and entirely natural. – Ardesco Jan 03 '14 at 15:46
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    @Chad Do you agree that the photo is of the Vinson Massif, which is not a pyramid? If so is that a sufficient rebuttal of the claim in the OP? – ChrisW Jan 03 '14 at 15:47
  • @ChrisW Just a clarification... it's the east end of Schatz Ridge *near* Vinson Massif. Vinson Massif was the search term I had used prior to repositioning the map... I'll correct that link. –  Jan 03 '14 at 16:12
  • I keep messing up the links... there are too many of these pyramid type peaks in the area! –  Jan 03 '14 at 18:04
  • Now that I think answers the question. Thank you for the edit – Chad Jan 04 '14 at 00:08
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    @ChrisW - I do not know what they are... But this answer explains that the Illuminati must be right! (That is a joke btw) – Chad Jan 04 '14 at 00:10
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The photo in the OP seems to be lifted from http://www.mountainguides.com/photos/vinson/vinson-s-pyramid.jpg

enter image description here

Pictures such as the main one on http://climb.mountains.com/Photo_Gallery_files/Continent_files/Vinson.shtml suggest there are many, many more than three such "pyramids" in Antarctica.

enter image description here

ChrisW
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