Does a photo shared on Facebook authentically show a "pyramid" in Antarctica? No, that's not true: The image in question shows Scott's Hut, a historic 20th-century structure in Antarctica's Ross Sea region near McMurdo Station. The structure is an established historic site recognized by the Antarctic Treaty.
The claim appeared in a post on Facebook on December 2, 2024, (archived here) with a caption that read:
,Pyramid in Antarctica? Even weirder in the comments
This is how the post appeared on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Tue Dec 3 08:41:28 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories plugged the coordinates listed in the post on Facebook into Google Earth, which identified the location as McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Established in 1955, McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island, according to the National Science Foundation.
Next, Lead Stories searched "Hut Point Dr" on Google Maps and found the same bend in the road, shown below left, depicted in the post on Facebook, below right:
(Source: Google Earth and Facebook screenshots compiled Tue Dec 3 17:14:33 2024 UTC)
According to the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, an organization that supports the Antarctic Treaty system, Hut Point is "one of the principal areas of early human activity in Antarctica."
Also known as "Scotts Hut," the structure was built by Capt. Robert Falcon Scott's British Antarctic Expedition between 1901 and 1903, an attempt to claim the South Pole for the British Empire, according to the Antarctic Heritage Trust. The group adds:
Scott's hut at Cape Evans is the largest of the historic huts in the Ross Sea region. Prefabricated in London, a trial erection took place in Lyttelton, New Zealand before being shipped to Antarctica. Construction took nine days, and the hut was home to 25 members of Scott's Shore Party.
Scott's hut is designated as Historic Site Monument No. 18 by the Antarctic Treaty, which describes the site as:
(Source: Antarctic Treaty screenshot taken Tue Dec 3 17:46:50 2024 UTC)
Users can even take a virtual tour of the hut through Google Maps street view, showing that the structure is certainly not a pyramid. The World Monuments Watch, a nonprofit organization that restores and stabilizes historic buildings, publishes photographs of the interior and exterior of Scott's Hut.
Lead Stories has debunked other rumors about supposed pyramids that can be read here.
Lead Stories has also fact checked other claims related to Antarctica, which can be read here.
