“Watch for the Day when the earth will be changed into a different earth and the heavens as well, and all will appear before Allah—the One, the Supreme.” (Qur’an 14:48)
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Rv 21, 1)
The question of what lies beneath the Earth’s surface has involved our human imagination for millennia. Ancient traditions across cultures imagined subterranean realms inhabited by gods, spirits, or mythical civilisations. The Greeks and Romans spoke of Hades, Hindu cosmology described Patala, early Christians placed Hell beneath the ground, and Buddhism referred to Shamballa as a hidden inner world. These stories provided symbolic and moral frameworks, but they also shaped later speculations that attempted to explain the planet’s physical structure.
By the seventeenth century, such speculations began to take scientific form. As a matter of fact, the English astronomer Edmond Halley proposed in 1692 that Earth might consist of concentric hollow shells with luminous atmospheres inside. He even suggested that these inner spaces could account for phenomena like the Aurora Borealis. Although his hypothesis was quickly challenged, it inspired further discussion. Later, in the eighteenth century, experiments such as the Schiehallion project demonstrated that Earth’s mean density was far too high for a hollow model, confirming that the planet’s mass is concentrated in its interior. These early falsifications illustrate how science progresses: bold conjectures are welcomed, but they must withstand rigorous testing.
Despite being scientifically refuted, the Hollow Earth idea never disappeared. In the nineteenth century, figures like John Symmes revived it, arguing that vast inner worlds existed, accessible through openings at the poles. Symmes promoted his vision of a lush inner Earth to the public, gaining attention but little acceptance in the scientific community. Literature embraced the theme, however, with works such as Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth and Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Pellucidar offering vivid adventures in imagined subterranean landscapes. Fiction allowed the idea to survive where science had moved on.
In modern times, Hollow Earth narratives appear in alternative science and metaphysical writings. The Italian astrophysicist and geophysicist Giuliana Conforto, for example, advances a highly original interpretation centered on the presence of a vast crystalline structure at the Earth’s core. According to her view, this crystal has a radius of approximately 1,200 kilometers and lies around 5,000 kilometers beneath our feet. It is not passive matter but a dynamic entity, exhibiting an unusual autonomy from known physical laws. Conforto suggests that this immense crystal is responsible for generating Earth’s magnetosphere, which she describes as shaped like an apple enveloping the planet. On the surface, its influence can allegedly be observed in phenomena such as the South Atlantic Anomaly, an area of weakened geomagnetic field that she interprets as a probable epicenter of an impending reversal of Earth’s magnetosphere—an event unprecedented in recorded human history. Rather than framing this as an apocalyptic catastrophe, Conforto interprets it as a “Revelation,” a call to reconsider our entire understanding of reality.
The crystal, in her description, does not emit light but sound. At its center lies an even smaller and denser “heart” with a radius of about 400 kilometers, rotating westward in the opposite direction of the larger crystal, which rotates eastward. Seismographic observations of earthquake wave propagation have revealed complex dynamics in Earth’s inner core, and Conforto interprets these as evidence of a dual rotation—both clockwise and counterclockwise—within the planetary heart. She sees this as a self-sustaining source of energy, a “prime mover” that requires neither combustion nor fuel. For her, this discovery is not just a matter of geophysics but a profound revelation: a demonstration that energy and time have no ultimate limits.
Conforto extends this principle of dual rotation beyond geophysics, suggesting that it is mirrored in the atomic and cellular structures of living beings. At this level, she proposes a link with the “weak nuclear force” of modern physics, specifically the phenomenon of the neutral weak current. While conventionally treated as one of the four fundamental forces of nature, Conforto interprets it as the “true light” mentioned in sacred texts—a form of energy that is not visible but can be sensed as consciousness, emotion, and the unity of all life. This weak force, mediated by massive Z bosons, is in her view not weak at all but a transformative and accelerating energy. It could, she suggests, influence organic molecules, expand life, overcome fear, and foster communion between beings.
In this framework, the “true sun” is not the star in the sky but the great crystal at Earth’s center. Every crystal, she notes, emits sound quanta known as phonons, and this immense inner crystal produces what she describes as a “great opera,” a cosmic music whose parameters—such as speed and inclination—are now shifting. This change, she argues, signals a transition from an old era dominated by fear, division, and the illusion of electromagnetic appearances, to a New Era characterised by expansion, unity, and a recognition of deeper truths. For Conforto, the growth of the weak field and the decline of the electromagnetic field are emblematic of this epochal shift.
While Conforto’s ideas diverge sharply from mainstream science, they highlight the symbolic power of Hollow Earth narratives to capture questions that transcend physical geology. They address not only what lies at the center of the planet, but also what energises life, how consciousness interacts with matter, and how humanity interprets change on a planetary scale.
However, according to mainstream geophysics, there is another antithetical explanation of Earth’s structure. Seismology reveals a solid inner core, a liquid outer core, and a mantle of dense rock above them. Earth’s magnetic field is explained by the geodynamo: convective currents of molten iron in the outer core that generate magnetic fields consistent with both theoretical models and observational data. Satellite gravimetry, seismic tomography, and laboratory mineral physics all converge to support this layered model.
In conclusion, if we consider the vision of Giuliana Conforto and other scientists, philosophers, and writers who imagine a kind of Hollow Earth with an inner sun, together with the possibility suggested by some authors that life might exist within it, then the connection with sacred scriptures becomes even more striking. Many traditions, from the Bible to the Qur’an, speak of a future transformation—a New Earth and New Heavens. If such hidden worlds or civilisations have always existed in harmony with Justice, Peace, and Love, their re-emergence could serve as a model for humanity. It would not only be a spiritual turning point, but also a transformation on many levels: physical, biological, chemical, geological, and even astronomical. In this sense, the Hollow Earth narrative can be read not just as a myth or a metaphor, but as a profound call to imagine a new epoch for humankind and for the planet itself.
References:
Giuliana Conforto, Il Sole nel cuore della Terra. https://www.giulianaconforto.it/post/1279
Katie Cutforth, “Hollow Earth Theory,” Mensa UK. https://mensa.org.uk/hollow-earth-theory/
Joel Frohlich, “How the Hollow Earth hypothesis illuminates falsifiable science,” Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-hollow-earth-hypothesis-illuminates-falsifiable-science



