Annu Kostiainen/Shutterstock The 63-square-mile island is located in the southeast Pacific, about 2,200 miles west of Chile. Visiting Easter Island requires a six-hour flight from Santiago, Chile.

Meanwhile, for many of Easter Island's 2,000 or so indigenous Rapanui, descended from the original Polynesian settlers, the answer is simple. "We know the truth," says Suri Tuki, 25, a tour guide.