Sandy Island was nowhere to be found when Australian scientists reached the South Pacific location where it appeared on Google Earth, nautical charts and world maps.
"It raises all kinds of conspiracy theories," expedition member Steven Micklethwaite said, adding that the CIA is among the sources of the world coastline database. "It reminded me of the hypernatural island in the "Lost" TV series."
The phantom Manhattan-size island in the Coral Sea was shown as Sandy Island on Google Earth, sized about 15 miles by three miles on Google Maps, and halfway between Australia and the French New Caledonia.
Sandy Island has been featured in various publications, even the most authoritative sources, for at least 116 years and, according to Jethro Lennox, a publisher of The Times Atlas of the World, "back in the 19th century, cartographers would gather their information from various sources like explorers or even sailors, so you could never have a perfect map."
