The lost continent of Atlantis was vaporized in a horrifying nuclear attack by aliens who wanted to destroy all evidence of their landing on Earth.

That’s the shocking theory offered by a top Russian astrophysicist to explain the sudden and mysterious disappearance of the ancient city state more than 40,000 years ago.

A radioactive cloud unleashed after nuclear missiles were launched from starships blanketed the Earth in a deadly shroud that wiped out many species of prehistoric animals, according to Dr. Anatoly Rubenis.

The woolly mammoth, the saber-toothed cat and the giant sloth were among the creatures which fell victim to the deadly exposure, the St. Petersburg professor says.

“Atlantis had been an advanced culture, most likely because the aliens had selected it for a space outpost and had trained its human inhabitants in the sophisticated sciences and arts,” Rubenis contended in a recent article on his theory.

“But the attack literally bombed mankind back to the Stone Age. It took centuries for man to begin the climb back to even the most primitive of social systems.”

Rubenis’ revolutionary ideas are based on 27 years of research into the origin and evolution of planets in the solar system. The scientist said his studies reveal normal developmental patterns followed by most planets, but strangely altered in the Earth’s history.

A cataclysmic and profound change in the Earth’s environment more than 40,000 years ago coincided with the disappearance of an entire continent once located in the Southern Atlantic, Rubenis says. Levels of radiation rose alarmingly in one brief period at that time, indicating what may have been a powerful nuclear event.

“While there is no way of knowing precisely what occurred on Earth at that time, my theory answers many questions raised by archaeologists, geologists and paleontologists,” Rubenis said. “What’s more, there is every indication that aliens, in fact, do visit Earth from time to time and have the capability of landing and establishing bases.

“I believe that eons ago, alien ships colonized here, mingling with earthlings and helping them. The colony has survived in mythology as the famed continent of Atlantis, a wondrous society that was extremely advanced for its time. Mythology also indicates that Altlantis disappeared suddenly and catastrophically, leaving no trace behind.”

Rubenis theorizes that the aliens became alarmed by their Earth experience – perhaps when colonists bred with earthlings and their allegiance to the moter planet was weakened. A decision was made to evacuate the colony and destroy all traces of alien presence on Earth, Rubenis said.

“The continent was pulverized by powerful nuclear weapons – literally smashed to atoms,” Rubenis said. “There wasn’t anything left afterward except the empty ocean.”