The Hollow Earth
Have you ever wondered what actually lies in the center of the Earth? There are many vast and different theories out there as to what is in the center of Earth, according to an article written by Kim Schmidt “The Hollow Earth theory, as it is known, had some recognizable and vocal proponents, including Edgar Allen Poe, who believed that one entered the interior world through access points at the extreme North and South Poles” (Schmidt). Conspiracies vary from a wide variety of wildlife and fauna like no one has seen before, lost civilizations, or aliens with advanced technology. The people who come up with these theories say that they have “plausible evidence”to support the theories, or so they say (Simon). Let’s dive into each of these and show why and how they are wrong with scientific facts.
Character Analysis
Captain John Cleves Symmes was a brilliant American army officer and clever lecturer who was best known for his Hollow Earth Theory in 1818. Symmes was a decorated and highly respected military officer in the War of 1812. He was a well-respected philosopher as well, so when he first proposed his Hollow Earth Theory, he already had a number of people ready to believe him. Griffin states, “John Symmes was able to develop a complex and imaginative geographical theory and promote it to national prominence because he comfortably occupied the frontiers of early nineteenth-century America.” (Griffin) He produced a run of 500 copies of his circular. He dispersed these copies amongst colleges, natural philosophers, American politicians, foreign governments, philosophical societies, and natural philosophers across Europe and the United States. Since 1818, Symmes had been renewing the aged idea that the Earth was hollow. The claim that there were openings thousands of miles wide at the Earth's poles through which one may go inside the world. John Symmes was a very clever and intelligent person in his time, but his ideas of the world were surely flawed.
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​John Quincy Adams was an extremely intellectual man as he was the sixth president of the United States, a writer, lawyer, diplomat, and politician. Growing up, he had every educational opportunity available to him and he seized all of them. Adams was an ardent supporter of exploration and adventure. Adams was also the president who gave approval to Symmes running his expedition to the center of the Earth. However, with the results of the 1829 presidential election in which, “John Adams was roundly defeated by Andrew Jackson,”(Fressenden) Adams’ influence began to wane. In addition, instead of trying to find points of agreement with his opponents such as Jackson, Adams had a tendency to criminalize them, which also led to him losing supporters during his presidential campaign. This led to the shutdown of the expedition to the center of the Earth when Jackson beat Adams in the election. Otherwise, Adams would have funded a journey that was doomed to fail from the beginning.
Hollow Earth Conspiracies
Have you ever wondered if there could be anything living in the center of the Earth? The Hollow Earth theory suggests that beneath the Earth's crust lies a vast, hollow space inhabited by mysterious ecosystems, lost civilizations, or aliens with advanced technology. Proponents of this theory suggest that the center of the earth could harbor life forms that are fundamentally different from anything we know on the surface. These three theories suggest that we are not really alone in this world. These theories are scientifically untenable due to established evidence refuting their premises.
The Hollow Earth conspiracy theory proposes that, within Earth’s crust, there exists an expansive and hidden ecosystem. According to an article written by Larry Gedney, the Hollow Earth theory, a hidden ecosystem is the assumption that there is a whole, distinct ecosystem with its own unique flora and fauna inside the Earth's alleged hollow space, possibly supporting life forms that are entirely unknown to those who live on the surface (Gedney). In a writing by Carissa Wong, she proves that nothing can survive the temperatures in the center of the Earth, the center reaches temperatures of up to 9,752°F, which is as hot as the surface of the Sun. This factor makes this theory impractical seeing as no variety of lifeforms can survive anything hotter than 250°F (Wong). The overwhelming heat displays the notion of a hidden ecosystem deep within the Earth’s core as implausible, showing as no living biological lifeform can survive such temperatures.
Another conspiracy regarding the Hollow Earth theory is that there are lost civilizations living in the center of the earth. Some proponents suggest, claiming that giants and intelligent reptile civilizations controlled this Hollow Earth planet and were, in certain versions of the story, the hidden overlords of humanity (Felton). In an article written by Jeannie Evers, it is highly unlikely that any form of civilization or any kind of life could exist in the interior of Earth due to the harsh environment, scarcity of resources, solid structure of the planet, and the immense pressure in the center of the Earth (Evers). These added factors prove that it would be impossible for even reptilian overlords to survive the center of the Earth.
The third conspiracy surrounding the Hollow Earth theory is that there are extraterrestrial aliens with advanced technology living and thriving in the center of the Earth. According to an article written by Elizabeth Howell, there is no possible way for aliens to live in the Earth’s core simply because of the heat and barometric pressure in the center of the Earth (Howell). Earth's interior has been mapped by geological study, seismic investigations, and geophysical developments, indicating a solid-to-molten structure rather than a hollow one, proving that aliens could not survive down there (Stern). The idea that there is an inhabitable hollow place where aliens may reside is severely rejected by the information previously provided. Seismic studies have shown that the Earth's interior design allows any life to thrive with the consistency of solid and molten layers.
Conclusion
With the Earth's core reaching 5,400°C and pressures millions of times higher than surface air pressure, precludes the existence of any known life forms, let alone aliens. The steady conditions required for life as we know it are absent from the Earth's core. In conclusion to the evidence provided, there is no plausible explanation or support to show that anything of any biological lifeform could survive in the center of the Earth because of geology, thermodynamics, biology, and lack of resources needed for life to thrive. Therefore, the extreme conditions of the Earth’s core plainly negates the possibility of any lifeform, fortifying the scientific understanding of our planet's uninhabitable interior. As intriguing as this theory is, the Hollow Earth theory does not hold up to scientific scrutiny. The immense pressure of gravity, inhospitable environment, the Earth's solid structure, and simply the oppressive heat would fail to align with the entrenched scientific knowledge that would allow lifeforms to thrive in the center of the Earth.
Works Cited Page
(S)Clabes, Judy. “Our Rich History: The Earth’s Not Flat, It’s . . . Hollow?” NKyTribune, 21 Feb. 2021, nkytribune.com/2021/02/ou r-rich-history-the-earths- not-flat-its-hollow/.
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(S)Evers, Jeannie. “Key Components of Civilization.” Education, 20 Nov. 2024, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/key-components-civilization/.
(P)Felton, James. “Hollow Earth: The Weird and Ancient Theory That the Earth Is Filled with Extraterrestrials.” IFLScience, 8 June 2023, www.iflscie nce.com/hollow- earth-the-weird-and-ancient-theory-that-the-earth-is-filled-with- extraterrestrials-69306.
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(S)Fressenden, Maris (2015, May 7). Smithsonian Magazine. https://www. Smithson ianmag. com/smart-news/john-quincy-adams-ardent-supporter-exploration
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(P)Gedney, Larry. “The Hollow Earth Theory.” The Hollow Earth Theory | Geophysical Institute, www.gi.alaska.edu/ala ska-science-forum /hollow-earth-theory. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.
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(T)Griffin, Duane. Wayback Machine, 3 Sept. 2006, web.archive.org /web/2013 0818033028/ http:/www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/ dgriffin/Research/Griffin-HE_in_Science.pdf.
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(S)Hogan, Margaret A. “John Quincy Adams: Life in Brief.” Miller Center, 28 Aug. 2023, millercenter.org/president/jqadams/life-in-brief
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(P)Howell, Elizabeth. “Fermi Paradox: Where Are the Aliens?” Space.Com, 17 Dec. 2021, www.space.com/25325-fermi-paradox.html.
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(T)Kelley, Kelley Jean. “John Quincy Adams: Independent.” Voice of America, VOA - Voice of America English News, 1 Apr. 2023, learningenglish.voane ws.co m/a/a mericas-presidents-john-quincy-adams/3777362.html.
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(T)Onion, Rebecca. “Politics, Business, Technology, and the Arts.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 25 July 2015, slate.com/.
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(S)Schmidt, Kim. “Land of Wondrous Cold.” Storied, 26 May 2021, storied.illinois.edu/land-of-wondrous-cold/.
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(P)Simon, Matt. “Fantastically Wrong: The Legendary Scientist Who Swore Our Planet Is Hollow.” Wired, Conde Nast, 2 July 2014,www.wired.com/2014/07 /fantastically-wrong -hollow-earth/.
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(P)Stern, Robert J, and Taras V Gerya. “The Importance of Continents, Oceans and Plate Tectonics for the Evolution of Complex Life: Implications for Finding Extraterrestrial Civilizations.” Scientific Reports, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 12 Apr. 2024, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11015018/.
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(P)Wong, Carissa. “What Is the Hottest Temperature Humans Can Survive? These Labs Are Redefining the Limit.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 14 Aug. 2024, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02422-5.