Underwater Pyramids - manmade or not?

[phatmonky]

In the waters around Okinawa and beyond to the small island of Yonaguni, divers located eight separate locations beginning in March 1995. That first sighting was equivocal - a provocative, squared structure, so encrusted with coral that its manmade identity was uncertain. Then, as recently as the summer of 1996, a sports diver accidentally discovered a huge, angular platform about 40 feet below the surface, off the southwestern shore of Okinawa.


Pictures....
http://www.cyberspaceorbit.com/phikent/japan/japan2.html
http://www.morien-institute.org/yonaguni_schoch1.html
Article...
http://www.lauralee.com/japan.htm


This site has had almost no coverage, and most of the scientific community thinks they are just naturally made.
I watched a history channel special on them, and there are some pretty convincing explanations for both sides.

[wasteofo2]

I'm not a geologist so I don't know if structures like that could really form naturally, but isn't it possible that they were made by humans on an island above sea level that for some reason sank? Japan is very near a large fault line, could the island those were built on been sunken due to some sort of underwater earthquake or other tectonic plate activity?

[Ivan Seeking]

Originally posted by wasteofo2
I'm not a geologist so I don't know if structures like that could really form naturally, but isn't it possible that they were made by humans on an island above sea level that for some reason sank? Japan is very near a large fault line, could the island those were built on been sunken due to some sort of underwater earthquake or other tectonic plate activity?

I think the problem is that this would mean an advanced civilization lived long before anyone had thought, or that any archeological evidence would otherwise support. It seems that these could be and likely are completely natural formations. The rock breaks off in layers [thick sheets] which are alleged what produces the right angles. Debris has long ago been carried away by the action of the oceans tides. A couple of holes were found that looked to be artificial, but it is felt that these too can be explained by natural processes.

On the other hand, the primary researcher, a respected Japanese archeologist, and one of the few experts in SCUBA archeology, is convinced otherwise.

[russ_watters]

They look like they are manmade to my untrained eyes, but the age presents a problem (though the third site makes it sound like there is no consensus on age).

In either case, the link at the bottom of the first page of the first link and the home page itself set off my credibility alarm so loud it hurts my ears.

[phatmonky]

Originally posted by russ_watters

In either case, the link at the bottom of the first page of the first link and the home page itself set off my credibility alarm so loud it hurts my ears.


Hence the reason I posted those pages under "pictures" :p