In Hawaii, there are islands not found on any map that are said to appear and then disappear, often around sunrise or sunset.

Over a century ago, Hawaiian-language newspapers recorded eyewitness reports of offshore sightings. Hawaii had more than 100 Hawaiian-language newspapers, beginning in 1834. They documented everything from politics to daily life and largely remain untranslated, holding a wealth of information.

One of the most striking reports placed one vanishing island between Maui and Molokai. In an article from Dec. 1, 1900, in Ke Aloha Aina, a writer relayed a sighting of Kanehunamoku, which was visible offshore before fading from view.

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“At five minutes past 5 on the early morning of Friday the 23rd, the mysterious supernatural land of Kanehunamoku was seen standing proudly between Maui and Kahoolawe. It seemed, in the arrangement of the islands, Maui, Kanehunamoku, Kahoolawe, and Lanai sat together to the eye. It was truly beautiful,” Moses Kaulahea wrote from Molokai. “Certain features on that wondrous land were clearly visible ... At 6:20 [a.m.], when the sun rose, it began to disappear" and the space between Kahoolawe and Maui was empty again.

In English, Kanehunamoku can be translated as the “hidden land of Kane,” Kane being one of the major deities in Hawaiian tradition. In some accounts, it is described as one of 12 islands of Kane, a group of sacred and elusive islands associated with spiritual........

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