Disappearing Islands

Disappearing Islands, sometimes known as ‘phantom islands’ have been recorded in many parts of the world usually due to volcanic or seismic activity. However, there is now evidence that some of these phantom islands never actually existed^(c). The most recent instance, in the Pacific, was reported on the BBC website^(d) , where ‘Sandy Island’ which was shown on Google Maps was proven not to exist at all.

Examples of such islands are trotted out as some sort of proof of the type of event that caused the destruction of Atlantis. This suggestion does not stand up to the most cursory scrutiny. Firstly the examples adduced are usually small with short existences above water. The Atlantis portrayed by Plato is a large well-cultivated island with a large settled population. No island of that extent, longevity or development has ever been reported lost through seismic or volcanic forces. Even if one had, we should remember that the island described by Plato was only part of a larger empire of ten realms ruled by ten brothers.

Lists of these phantom islands are available on the Internet^(a) while a more extensive study ^[652] of the phantom islands of the atlantic has been written by Donald Johnson^(b).>National Geographic also published an article in 2017 reviewing  a variety of islands that are only to be found on old maps^(e).<

^(a) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_island

^(b) PHANTOM ISLANDS of the Atlantic (archive.org) *

^(c) Sandy Island, Nonexistent South Pacific Island, Put On Maps By Whalers, Researcher Says | HuffPost Weird News (archive.org) *

^(d) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20442487

^(e) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/undiscovered-islands-malachy-tallack-avalon-thule *