Japan’s Lost Atlantis

"Monty Halls and his team travel to a remote Japanese island to try to ascertain whether an underwater structure is the remains of a city lost to the waves or a creation carved by nature itself.

At the southwestern tip of the Japanese archipelago lies the island of Yonaguni, where Monty meets Kihachiro Aratake, the man who discovered a city under the sea.

The first photographs taken of this underwater structure created a storm of interest within the archaeological world. It covers 40,000 square metres and stands 26 metres tall. The question Monty asks is whether this massive structure is man-made or whether thousands of years of erosion have created an underwater monument.

The island lies at the meeting of the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea, at the mercy of competing ocean currents. At the start of the team’s first dive the current works in their favour, drawing them towards the site. Then, out of the gloom, the structure comes into view: 'This is an extraordinary sight,' says Monty. 'Vast walls, steps and platforms... It’s like entering a magical kingdom.'

Back on dry land, Monty tries to discover if it is possible that such a vast structure could have been made by ancient man and how it might end up underwater. At the end of the last ice age, the melting ice caps could have raised sea levels to engulf the monument. But for that to have occurred, the structure would have to have been built 5,000 years before the pyramids. Were the ancient people of the island capable of such a feat? Monty meets a local professor who is convinced that the structure was made by our ancestors. He has a detailed model of the structure which shows what he believes to be constructed gateways, irrigation ditches and a sphinx-like statue.
Robert Schoch, a leading natural scientist from Boston University, joins Monty’s team. He believes that the monument, which contains many right-angled structures, is actually a natural phenomenon. He shows Monty how sandstone can be eroded to form very smooth surfaces and can fracture at right angles. He shows Monty examples of the fractures on dry land, less than a couple of kilometres from the dive site.

What conclusion does Monty draw? Is this a submerged city of the ancients? Or has nature carved a marvellous monument on her own?" Channel 5

WATCH IT : 9 DEC. CHANNEL 5 - 2100

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