“Atlantis at the Bottom of the Ocean”: Retired U.S. Rear Admiral Claims Underwater Structures Match Plato’s Description

Statement by a Retired Rear Admiral

Tim Gallodet, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, has made a statement claiming that underwater structures have been discovered in the Atlantic Ocean which, according to him, may correspond to Plato’s description of the legendary Atlantis. He asserts that modern 3D models of the seafloor topography provide grounds for testing the reality of this object, rather than limiting the legend to the traditional perception of it as a philosophical parable. To confirm or refute the hypothesis, a team of specialists plans to organize a deep-sea expedition using remotely operated vehicles.

From Philosophical Parable to Bathymetric Maps

The legend of a wealthy island civilization that, according to tradition, sank beneath the water in a single day due to earthquakes and floods, is set out in Plato’s dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critias,” composed around 360 BC. The overwhelming majority of modern historians interpret this account as a philosophical allegory rather than a historical source. Nevertheless, the project’s initiator — an emergency medical physician who has spent more than a decade collecting geological and archaeological data and studying Plato’s original texts — is convinced that comparing the ancient descriptions with bathymetric maps revealed notable matches in the dimensions of channels and ring structures, which, in his view, correspond to the description of the capital of Atlantis.

How “Artificial” Traces Are Sought on the Seafloor

Physicist Max Derakhshani was brought in to analyze the data, applying algorithms for analyzing three-dimensional relief in an attempt to distinguish natural geological formations from potentially artificial structures. The exact coordinates of the study area are kept secret under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Deep-sea remotely operated vehicles are planned to be used for the technological verification of the artificial origin of the objects. The project has also attracted the attention of deep-ocean researcher Victor Vessko, who, according to reports, has expressed willingness to join the expedition.

The Azores Plateau: The Main Hypothetical Location

Among the hypothetical locations under discussion is the Azores Plateau — a volcanic underwater massif in the North Atlantic, located at the junction of three tectonic plates. Proponents of this version regard the Azores Islands as the peaks of a once-submerged continent. It is in this region, they speculate, that geometric parameters comparable to the ancient descriptions of the ring channels and concentric zones of the capital of Atlantis could have been preserved.

Contradictory Data

Assessments of the find diverge sharply between its supporters and the mainstream scientific community. On the one hand, Gallodet and his team claim that 3D models of the seafloor provide sufficient grounds for testing the reality of the object and that the topographic parameters match Plato’s descriptions. On the other hand, the scientific community notes that there is no geological evidence of a sudden submergence of land in this region over the past 11,000 years, and traditional historical science continues to regard Plato’s account as an allegory. Moreover, there is an inconsistency in the roles in the primary materials: the statement is attributed to a retired rear admiral, while the project’s initiator is named as an emergency medical physician; the source does not clarify whether this refers to one person or to different participants. In addition, publications feature different spellings of the surname (Gallodet / Galodet), which further underscores the need for cautious attribution.

What’s Next: The Expedition and Sample Material

According to the project’s participants, definitive answers can only be obtained after an actual descent to depth and the collection of soil and sediment samples. Until such work is carried out, any claims of an “Atlantis discovery” remain a hypothesis rather than a confirmed fact. Thus, the upcoming deep-sea expedition will be the key stage: it is precisely the data from remotely operated vehicles and the physical sample material that will either strengthen the arguments of the proponents or definitively reject the hypothesis in favor of the widely accepted allegorical interpretation of Plato’s text.