The Pyramid Story

Somewhere in 2011, there was information circulating in the local ‘UFO rumor mill’ of a group of people making interesting (well, in their perspectives, it is more like earth-shattering than just interesting) discoveries in West Java Province.

Contact was also initiated with BETA UFO by one of the group ‘alleged’ member (I cannot remember the exact date), calling for support and cooperation. It received mixed reaction among BETA UFO members, but I never recalled any formal agreement to positively respond to the call.

Turangga Seta

The main hypothesis presented by the group called Turangga Seta is that there are several mountains/hills in Indonesia that are actually man-made mounds. To be exact, that they are actually ancient pyramids rather than natural constructs. This is further hypothesized as ‘proof’ of an alleged highly-advanced ancient civilization that once flourished in the archipelago, and supposedly became the real source of the Atlantis myth.

Turangga Seta promotion of its pyramid hypothesis

The Atlantis Argument

Not long before the circulation of Turangga Seta’s hypothesis, somewhere in 2009, there was also the weird upsurge of an idea that Atlantis could actually be located in Indonesia. For some uncanny reasons, it also received quite a lot of attention from the local press.

Two books, written by foreign authors, became something of a cornerstone in the argument despite the lack of tangible facts/prove (as well as good translation) supporting the books. These are the writings of Arysio des Santos (Atlantis, The Lost Continent Finally Found, The Definitive Localization of Plato’s Los Civilization- 2005) and Stephen Oppenheimer (Eden in The East - 1999) which were translated to Indonesian language in 2010.

The Latest Hype

The hypothesis has recently re-surfaced with more intense local press coverage and hype, this time presented by a different group (reportedly named as the Ancient Catastrophic or Ancient Cataclysmic Catastrophe Team) that also -strangely enough- received support from Andi Arief, an official with the current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration, formally in charge as the President’s Special Staff on Natural Disasters. Coincidentally, the man is also renowned for a score of controversial statements in the national press.

Speaking to the local press in late November 2011, the man explained that his Ancient Catastrophic Team has found indications that there are at least four possible locations of pyramids in Java Island. One in Mt. Sadahurip, Garut Regency, West Java Province; one other in Mt. Putri, also in Garut; and two others at Mt. Kaledong and Mt. Haruman, all in West Java Province. According to Arif all of the mountains have shown indication of being man-made structures.

Widely publicized photograph of Mt. Sadahurip by Turangga Seta Group

So far, the only detailed information available publicly of whatever tests have been done on the alleged pyramids in West Java is given by the Turanga Seta group. Allegedly, geo-electrical testing at Mt. Sadahurip suggested that there are artificial structures beneath the mountain’s surface.

A graphic illustration of the alleged geo-electrical testing result at Mt. Sadahurip.

Where Will It Leads To?

Where will all this go is anyone's guess, but it is interesting to note that someone in the government is actually interested in the matter. Of course, it could all end up as nothing more than a politically-calculated window dressing scheme.

Rampant corruption and collusion have made it rather hard for the average Indonesian to feel proud about anything related to the country nowadays. An alleged finding of the country’s ‘glorious past’ surely wouldn't hurt any parties keen on garnering support from the cynical public.