A hidden civilization on Earth? What the Harvard essay really says
A speculative essay explores the idea of "cryptoterrestrials"; its authors consider it unlikely.
Headlines spoke of a "hidden civilization" among us according to Harvard. The original text is a philosophical essay, not a finding, and it presents no evidence.
Tim Lomas and Brendan Case, of Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program, and Michael Masters, of Montana Technological University, published a paper in the journal Philosophy and Cosmology in 2024. In it they explore the "cryptoterrestrial" hypothesis: that some unidentified aerial phenomena could be due to intelligent beings hidden on Earth.
The essay reviews possible variants, from an unknown ancient human civilization to hominids or beings living underground or in the ocean. It frames this as an exercise to openly discuss a topic usually dismissed.
However, the authors themselves acknowledge that the hypothesis is unlikely for most scientists, and they provide no new evidence. There is no data supporting the existence of such a civilization: this is philosophical speculation, not a discovery.
The original title makes it clear: "The cryptoterrestrial hypothesis: A case for scientific openness." The authors argue that, out of epistemic humility, the idea should not be dismissed without examination, but they themselves consider it improbable. Critics such as The Skeptic magazine point out that the archaeological examples cited, such as Göbekli Tepe, do not support the hypothesis, and that part of the argument relies on disputed accounts of supposed underground or undersea bases.
Key facts
- Authors: Lomas and Case (Harvard) and Masters (Montana Tech).
- Published in Philosophy and Cosmology, vol. 33, pp. 67-122.
- It is a speculative essay, not a study with new data.
- The authors describe the idea as unlikely.
Explaining unidentified aerial phenomena will keep depending on verifiable data, not on hypotheses without evidence.
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