ROBERT SARMAST
Images ‘confirm’ Atlantis theory, says Sarmast

By Philippos Stylianou ROBERT Sarmast, the Iranian American who is looking for the lost city of Atlantis on the seabed south-east of Cyprus, claims sonar images taken last year confirm his theory and announced a new expedition next Spring to actually locate man-made structures 1.5km under water.

Speaking at a press conference in Nicosia, Sarmast said the effort now had the backing of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) and strongly-rejected rumours that his Atlantis expedition was a cover operation for American search for oil in the area.

"I am an Iranian American born in Iran. The target area is in international and take a look there, and if they wanted to look for oil, they wouldn’t do it with our little operation. They have submersibles that can do the job ten times as fast and a hundred times better," Sarmast said when invited to comment on the rumours.

He added: "If the Americans wanted to look for oil in this area, they wouldn’t use an Iranian to write a book on Atlantis and form an organisation for something in international waters. It’ s just ludicrous. So I’ll ask the people of Cyprus to stop the nonsense with this spy business. I am not a spy, I really am looking for Atlantis."

After showing a film taken during their sonar search 80km off the coast of Cyprus, Sarmast concentrated on a computer-enhanced image allegedly representing the acropolis of the Atlantis, as described by Plato 2,500 years ago.
He particularly drew attention to a rectangular-shaped formation, which he claimed was part of the canal system of the sunken city, stretching 3km long, half way down the summit of the Atlantis Hill.

"It matches Plato’s description of two river paths flowing to the canal half way down the mountain and further to another outer canal wall 1 1/2 miles out from the summit. The possibility of coincidence is extremely slim," he said.
Referring to scientific scepticism about his theory, Sarmast said the processed sonar images had changed this.
Scientist

He mentioned in particular a German scientist who had described the first digital images of the Atlantis acropolis as a mud volcano and said: "There is no such thing as a rectangular mud volcano. Even if there was one, there should have been a crater as well."
He went on to say that they were sharing the images of their sonar scan showing the canal wall for the first time, adding they were also working on images of the summit of the hill, which they would release in the near future.

"The wall is the main point of interest," he noted.

"It is a clean 90 degree turn, running straight for over 2.6km. The canal at the base of the hill is supposed to be 300 feet wide and 30 ft high. It makes a sudden turn and goes uphill, then meets the end of the mountain where the river will flow down. We believe this is the way they irrigated the entire mountain area and probably the flat expanse as well."

Sarmast said those were definitely man-made structures, never before located so far away from the shore (50 miles) and so deep down (1 mile).

He said that in their new expedition next Spring they are going to use a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) going down to the wall and actually filming the structures. A gadget attached to the ROV will be able to penetrate the silt making visible what is under the sediment.

They will also use a submersible to taking people down to witness whatever might be down there and sending the information up to the ship, from where it would be picked up by satellite and globally broadcast to the US.
Film contract

"I am dedicated to making this discovery part of something that would benefit Cyprus for decades," Sarmast said, announcing they had already signed a contract with Total Media Group (TMC), a Hollywood-based production company, for a $5m, two-hour live TV special of the Atlantis expedition.

Asked to comment on how Atlantis could be situated in Cyprus since Plato emphatically pointed beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) in the opposite direction, Sarmast said Plato’s information was second hand and one cannot be sure where the Pillars of Hercules exactly were at that time or what other name they had.