Conspiracy Theorists Think A 'Lost Continent' Linked to Aliens Was Destroyed By Ancient 'Nuclear War'

Conspiracy theorists have latched onto fresh claims that a 'lost continent' linked to aliens and ancient nuclear war may finally have a location, after scientists mapped fragments of a sunken landmass beneath the Indian Ocean.

Conspiracy theorists think a 'lost continent' linked to aliens was destroyed by ancient 'nuclear war,' and the latest geological work has given them a new hook, even though researchers say there is no evidence of Lemuria, alien descendants or a prehistoric civilisation.

Interest in Lemuria has ebbed and flowed for more than a century, but it surged again after reports that zircon crystals on Mauritius date back billions of years, far older than the island's surface rocks.

That finding fits with a genuine geological story about Mauritia, a microcontinent left behind when Gondwanaland broke apart, yet it has been reinterpreted by believers as proof that the mythic Lemuria was real.

The Science Behind the Lost Continent Claims

Lemuria began life as a serious scientific hypothesis. In 1864, British zoologist Philip Sclater proposed a sunken land bridge to explain why lemur fossils appeared in both Madagascar and India but not in Africa, which sits closer to Madagascar. He named it Lemuria after the animals, writing that Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands held 'existing relics of this great continent.'

The idea lost favour once plate tectonics showed India and Madagascar had once been joined, removing the need for a separate continent. Outside mainstream science, though, Lemuria took on a second life, blending with occult beliefs and later with UFO lore.

Mauritia is the real piece of the puzzle. Described in a 2013 paper and bolstered by a 2017 study in Nature Communications, researchers found zircon grains in volcanic rock on Mauritius that are roughly 2.5 to 3 billion years old, even though the island's exposed rocks are no older than about nine million years.

Scientists are now using gravity inversion to estimate the thickness of the oceanic crust and trace where chunks of Mauritia might still lie intact. The work could clarify the size and shape of the ancient landmass, but it has not uncovered ruins, artefacts or any sign of an intelligent civilisation beneath the waves.

From Lemuria to Aliens and Ancient Nuclear War

The jump from geology to aliens is where things get wild. In the late 19th century, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy, described Lemurians as egg‑laying, spiritually advanced beings in her 1888 book The Secret Doctrine. She claimed the discovery of sex led to Lemuria's destruction and that the continent sank, leaving only Australia and Easter Island behind.

Later, the legend migrated to Mount Shasta in Northern California, where believers say Lemurian survivors built an underground city called Telos. Local mythology holds that catastrophic earthquakes destroyed the continent, but some inhabitants escaped and continued living beneath the mountain.

Visitors have claimed to see seven‑foot‑tall Lemurians in flowing robes near the peak, though no physical evidence supports the existence of Telos or its alleged residents.

The story grew stranger as Lemuria merged with tales of Mu, another lost continent promoted by British author James Churchward, who claimed it hosted a technologically advanced civilisation 50,000 years ago. Over time, these narratives fed into 'starseed' beliefs, with some people saying they carry alien DNA or souls from extraterrestrial beings.

More extreme versions allege that Lemuria sheltered refugees from a planet called Maldek, supposedly once orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. The Aetherius Society claimed Maldek's population destroyed their world with a hydrogen bomb, creating the asteroid belt, and that Lemuria later suffered its own nuclear war.

Nigel Watson, author of Portraits of Alien Encounters Revisited, noted that writers promoting ancient astronauts point to passages such as Genesis's description of 'brimstone and fire' raining on Sodom and Gomorrah as accounts of nuclear explosions. Fragments of melted glass in Libya's deserts are also cited as evidence of nuclear warfare or accidents 28 million years ago, though mainstream science does not accept these interpretations.

Watson said the claims largely come from automatic writing, alleged psychic messages and speculative readings of ancient texts rather than physical evidence. He added that the stories were also intended as a warning that advanced civilisations can destroy themselves.

Nothing is confirmed yet so everything should be taken with a grain of salt. IBTimes UK cannot independently verify these claims, so take everything lightly.