Longest-lived phantom island

The longest-lived phantom island is Bermeja, reportedly located north-west of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico. Bermeja was first described by Spanish cartographer Alonzo de Santa Cruz in 1539, and continued to appear on maps and maritime charts until the early 20th century. The last significant map to include a depiction of Bermeja was the 1921 edition of the Atlas of the Mexican Republic some 382 years later, though the Mexican government continued to lay claim to this island (despite being uncertain where exactly it was) until as recently as 2009.

A "phantom island" is a landmass that appears on maps for many years, but that is later discovered to not exist. Unlike mythological landmasses such as Atlantis, phantom islands are not associated with any myths or legends, and are often reliably plotted in more or less the same location on several generations of maps. A true phantom island is not generally considered controversial or remarkable in any way until the day someone realises it’s not actually there.

Other examples of Phantom Islands include the Island of California (based on the incorrect assumption that the Baja California was not attached to North America), which was marked on maps from the 1530s to the early 1700s; Sandy Island (off the coast of Australia), which was on maps from 1774 to 2012; and Isle Phelipeaux (marked on maps of Lake Superior to the south of Isle Royale), which was thought to exist from 1744 to the 1820s.

In 1902, when the crew of a French navy vessel said that they could not find any land or reefs near the reported position of Bermeja, the story was widely reported as "Island Disappears!" – the assumption being that it had been destroyed by an earthquake.

While most geographers now agree that Bermeja was only ever a cartographical error or misidentification, some continue to claim the island had once existed, but was destroyed by volcanic or tectonic activity.