The Hollow Earth
An astronomer once suggested that the Earth might be hollow, with worlds inside. A century later, a man campaigned for an expedition to sail in through a hole at the North Pole.
What was reported
In 1692, the astronomer Edmond Halley, of Halley's Comet, suggested that the Earth might be made of a solid outer shell with smaller spheres inside, to explain odd changes in the planet's magnetic field. He even wondered if there might be light and life within.
In 1818, an American army officer, John Cleves Symmes Jr., declared that the Earth was hollow, with vast openings at the poles, and campaigned for an expedition to sail inside. The idea inspired novels by Jules Verne and others, and later beliefs in hidden lands inside the Earth, such as Agartha.
Explanations offered
Studies of earthquake waves passing through the planet show that the Earth has a solid inner core, a liquid outer core and a thick rocky mantle, with no hollow spaces. The poles have been reached and photographed from space many times. The hollow Earth survives in fiction and among a few believers.
- When
- Proposed from 1692
- Where
- The North Pole
- Witnesses
- Scientists, writers and believers
- Status
- Disproved
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from At sea