Hollow Earth

{{pseudoastronomy}}
The '''Hollow Earth''' theory is a [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] belief and [[conspiracy theory]] stating that the [[Earth]] is  
populated by people whose skulls are
 hollow. Theories include that the inhabitants of the "Inner Earth" walk around the inside feet-up,<ref group=notes>Gravity 
is part of the conspiracy
 doesn't work this way; they'd be weightless.</ref> or that a smaller sphere is inside the larger (sometimes it is stated this object works like a sun for the inner Earth denizens), which is more in line with the theory of [[gravity]], though not [[geology]].

==History==
[[File:Hollow Earth.svg|thumb|left|165px|Edmund Halley's hollow Earth [[hypothesis]]]]
The hollow Earth idea has been proposed many times in history, including in [[mythology]] and [[religion]] (the [[Greek]] underworld, [[Christian]] [[Hell]] and [[Jewish]] ''{{wpl|Sheol}}'').

The [[British]] scientist {{wpl|Edmond Halley}} (1656-1742) proposed a hollow Earth to explain anomalous compass readings. The anomalies are now known to be caused by changes in the Earth's magnetic field as well as mountains and localized iron ore deposits.

{{wpl|L. Sprague de Camp}} and {{wpl|Willy Otto Oskar Ley}} in their book ''Lands Beyond'' dubiously claimed that the scientist {{wpl|Leonhard Euler}} (1707-1783) proposed a different hollow Earth scheme, but they provided no evidence of Euler's scheme.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081221063934/http://www.maa.org/editorial/euler/How%20Euler%20Did%20It%2042%20Hollow%20Earth.pdf Euler and the Hollow Earth: Fact or Fiction?] by Ed Sandifer (April 2007). Archive.org copy</ref>

[[US]] Army officer {{wpl|John Cleves Symmes, Jr.}} (1780-1829) was the first known person to propose a hollow Earth with openings at both poles. He persuaded President [[John Quincy Adams]] to fund an expedition to the North Pole, but Adams left office before this could occur.

It has occasionally been rumored that [[Hitler]] (and some other [[Nazi]]s) believed in the hollow Earth theory enough that they sent expeditions to [[Antarctica]].<ref>Yenne, William (2003). ''Secret Weapons of World War II: The Techno-Military Breakthroughs That Changed History''. New York: Berkley Books. pp. 271–272. ISBN 0425189929.</ref>

With the advent of satellite imagery made widely available on the internet, many people have been studying images from [[Google Maps]] and elsewhere seeking to find the portal. The imagery of Antarctica on Google Maps isn't particularly good, with lots of blurry shapes, leading some to believe a secret portal is either vaguely discernible if you squint enough, or the images are deliberately blurred to stop the truth getting out.<ref>[http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread322072/pg1 Hollow Earth on Google Earth? See yourself.], Above Top Secret forums, 2007</ref> There's also allegedly a giant hole over the Arctic visible in some photos.<ref>[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/nasa-images-show-giant-hole-8019446 'NASA images show giant hole at North Pole leading to hollow Earth' conspiracy theorists claim], ''The Daily Mirror'' (UK), 21 May 2016</ref>

==Current pseudoscience==
The conspiracy aspect supposedly relates to a large hole providing access to the underworld (more like the [[PIDOOMA|''nether''world]], har), which is located somewhere in the [[Arctic]] or Antarctic regions,<ref>http://www.ourhollowearth.com/HollowEarth.jpg</ref> and the attempts to keep it quiet made by the superpowers in conjunction with whatever the Grand Theory du jour is, be it [[David Icke|reptilians]], [[Tibet]]an masters, [[Atlantis|Atlanteans]] and/or [[Extraterrestrial|aliens]]. That there are undisclosed entrances to these "inner worlds" extends also to the [[Moon]], with one video purporting that you can see it on [[Google]] Earth,<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfAzvTRq_CQ "HOLLOW EARTH PROOF ON GOOGLE EARTH"] uploaded by MAISINICIATIVA on September 24, 2014</ref> though this is just a graphics glitch caused by stitching multiple low-resolution and high-contrast images together in combination with the usual seam errors produced at the poles when using spherical {{wpl|UV mapping}}. These theories are also associated with apocryphal stories of apparently bottomless holes in various locations, such as [[Mel's Hole]] in [[Washington]], [[USA]].

It's not clear what supports the surface of the Earth according to the Hollow Earth Theory, since the surface of the Earth we can see would most likely collapse under the force of [[Gravity_Research_Foundation#The_Foundation|gravity]] without a substrate (the mantle and inner core are solid, the outer core is liquid, and both states are highly resistant to compression). Nor is it clear what keeps the denizens from floating away from the inner surface.

There's also the problem that the "shell" would need to be ''really'' dense, in order to produce a gravitational field this strong.<ref group=notes>Gravity = Universal Gravitational constant × mass of object1 × mass of object<sup>2</sup> over the radius squared. The average density of Earth's crust is 3g/cm<sup>3</sup> and is ~10km thick. So by their reckoning (4/3)π×radius of the earth - (4/3)π×(radius of the earth -10km) is their volume of the earth (1215778930×4π/3km<sup>3</sup>). And the mantle and core are much denser than the crust. So that number × 3×10<sup>12</sup> kg/km<sup>3</sup> = 1.57978336×10<sup>22</sup> kg. Or ~.2% of Earth's mass…</ref>

Other issues are related to [[geology]]. Not only is a hollow Earth unable to account for the way seismic waves propagate through the planet's interior but is also questionable how it could explain [[plate tectonics]], the presence of a magnetic field, and how that crust has managed to be intact despite asteroid impacts that more than likely would have shattered something so thin leaving ''huge'' holes behind,<ref group=notes>Imagine the ''huge'' sinkhole (and the subsequent mess) left by a hit in the middle of an ocean</ref> especially those big ones during Earth's early history.

Finally, there's the question of exactly ''why'' this would be kept secret &mdash; as with several other conspiracy theories, there seems to be no motive behind this one aside from "Let's make the unwashed masses look really stupid!"

==A typical pro-Hollow Earth video==
{{video|youtube|21Z-4IoCdWU}}

==In summary==
Even [[Mark Dice]] [[Stopped clock|thinks this is fucking stupid]].<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwfuFRQQVsg</ref>

==See also==
*[[Cellular cosmogony]] (Earth as the inner surface of a hollow)
*[[Expanding Earth]]
*[[Flat Earth]]
*[[Hollow Moon]] — Same shit, different celestial body
*[[Richard Shaver]]
*[[Time Cube]]
*[[Ernst Zundel]]

==External links==
*[http://www.ourhollowearth.com/ourhollo/index.html World Top Secret:Our Earth is Hollow!]
*[http://thetruthbehindthescenes.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/the-hollow-earth-theory/ The Truth Behind The Scenes]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=notes}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Silly "Earth" theories]]

Categories: Conspiracy theories, Pseudoscience, Silly "Earth" theories