The Un-mystery of the Bermuda Triangle
Five Avengers (USN Photo)
The Bermuda Triangle is a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by a line from Florida to the islands of Bermuda, to Puerto Rico and then back to Florida. It is one of the biggest mysteries of our time - that isn't really a mystery.
The term "Bermuda Triangle" was first used in an article written by Vincent H. Gaddis for Argosy magazine in 1964. In the article Gaddis claimed that in this strange sea a number of ships and planes had disappeared without explanation. Gaddis wasn't the first one to come to this conclusion, either. As early as 1952 George X. Sands, in a report in Fate magazine, noted what seemed like an unusually large number of strange accidents in that region.
In 1969 John Wallace Spencer wrote a book called Limbo of the Lost specifically about the triangle and, two years later, a feature documentary on the subject, The Devil's Triangle, was released. These, along with the bestseller The Bermuda Triangle, published in 1974, permanently registered the legend of the "Hoodoo Sea" within popular culture.
Several books suggested that the disappearances were due to an intelligent, technologically advanced race living in space or under the sea.
The only problem was that the mystery was more hype than reality. In 1975 a librarian at Arizona State University, named Larry Kusche, decided to investigate the claims made by these articles and books. What he found he published in his own book entitled The Bermuda Triangle Mystery-Solved. Kusche had carefully dug into records other writers had neglected. He found that many of the strange accidents were not so strange after all. Often a triangle writer had noted a ship or plane had disappeared in "calms seas" when the record showed a raging storm had been in progress. Others said ships had "mysteriously vanished" when their remains had actually been found and the cause of their sinking explained.
More significantly a check of Lloyd's of London's accident records by the editor of Fate in 1975 showed that the triangle was a no more dangerous part of the ocean than any other. U.S. Coast Guard records confirmed this and since that time no good arguments have ever been made to refute those statistics. So the Bermuda Triangle mystery disappeared, in the same way many of its supposed victims had vanished.
Even though the Bermuda Triangle isn't a true mystery, this region of the sea certainly has had its share of marine tragedy. Perhaps the best known one was the story of Flight 19.
The tale of Flight 19 started on December 5th, 1945. Five Avenger torpedo bombers lifted into the air from the Navel Air Station at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 2:10 in the afternoon. It was a routine practice mission and the flight was composed of all students except for the Commander, a Lt. Charles Taylor.
The mission called for Taylor and his group of 13 men to fly due east 56 miles to Hens and Chicken Shoals to conduct practice bombing runs. When they had completed that objective, the flight plan called for them to fly an additional 67 miles east, then turn north for 73 miles and finally straight back to base, a distance of 120 miles. This course would take them on a triangular path over the sea.
About an hour and a half after the flight had left, a Lt. Robert Cox picked up a radio transmission from Taylor. Taylor indicated that his compasses were not working, but he believed himself to be somewhere over the Florida Keys (the Keys are a long chain of islands south of the Florida mainland). Cox urged him to fly north, toward Miami, if Taylor was sure the flight was over the Keys.
Planes today have a number of ways that they can check their current position including listening to a set of GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) in orbit around the Earth. It is almost impossible for a pilot to get lost if he has the right equipment and uses it properly. In 1945, though, planes flying over water had to depend on knowing their starting point, how long and fast they had flown, and in what direction. If a pilot made a mistake with any of these figures, he was lost. Over the ocean there were no landmarks to set him right.
Apparently Taylor had become confused at some point in the flight. He was an experienced pilot, but hadn't spent a lot of time flying east toward the Bahamas which was where he was going on that day. For some reason Taylor apparently thought the flight had started out in the wrong direction and had headed south toward the Keys, instead of east. This thought was to color his decisions throughout the rest of the flight with deadly results.
The more Taylor took his flight north to try to get out of the Keys, the further out to sea the Avengers actually traveled. As time went on, snatches of transmissions were picked up on the mainland indicating the other Flight 19 pilots were trying to get Taylor to change course. "If we would just fly west," one student told another, "we would get home." He was right.
A Mariner similar to Training 49 (USN Photo)
By 4:45 P.M. it was obvious to the people on the ground that Taylor was hopelessly lost. He was urged to turn control of the flight over to one of his students, but apparently he didn't. As it grew dark, communications deteriorated. From the few words that did get through it was apparent Taylor was still flying north and east, the wrong directions.
At 5:50 P.M. the ComGulf Sea Frontier Evaluation Center managed get a fix on Flight 19's weakening signals. It was apparently east of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. By then communications were so poor that this information could not be passed to the lost planes.
At 6:20 a Dumbo Flying Boat was dispatched to try and find Flight 19 and guide it back. Within the hour two more planes, Martin Mariners, joined the search. Hope was rapidly fading for Flight 19 by then. The weather was getting rough and the Avengers were very low on fuel.
The two Martin Mariners were supposed to rendezvous at the search zone. The second one, designated Training 49, never showed up.
The last transmission from Flight 19 was heard at 7:04 P.M. Planes searched the area through the night and the next day. There was no sign of the Avengers.
Nor did the authorities really expect to find much. The Avengers, crashing when their fuel was exhausted, would have been sent to the bottom in seconds by the 50 foot waves of the storm. As one of Taylor's colleagues noted, "...they didn't call those planes 'Iron Birds' for nothing. They weighed 14,000 pounds empty. So when they ditched, they went down pretty fast."
What happened to the missing Martin Mariner? Well, the crew of the SS Gaines Mill observed an explosion over the water shortly after the Mariner had taken off. They headed toward the site and there they saw what looked like oil and airplane debris floating on the surface. None of it was recovered because of the bad weather, but there seems little doubt this was the remains of the Mariner. The plane had a reputation as being a "flying bomb" which would burst into flame from even a single, small spark. Speculation is that one of 22 men on board, unaware that the unpressurized cabin contained gas fumes, lit a cigarette, causing the explosion.
So how did this tragedy turn into a Bermuda Triangle mystery? The Navy's original investigation concluded the accident had been caused by Taylor's confusion. Taylor's mother refused to accept that and finally got the Navy to change the report to read that the disaster was for "causes or reasons unknown." This may have spared the woman's feelings, but blurred the actual facts.
The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle. The planes, and their pilots, even found their way into the science fiction film classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Where is Flight 19 now? Well, in 1991 five Avengers were found in 600 feet of water off the coast of Florida by the salvage ship Deep Sea. Examination of the planes showed that they were not Flight 19, however, so the final resting place of the planes,and their crews is still the Bermuda Triangle's secret.
Book: The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved.
The Bermuda Triangle
John Huston
Dragon Rider
Cornelia Funke
The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved
Larry Kusche
Into the Bermuda Triangle
Gian Quasar
Into the Bermuda Triangle
Gian Quasar
(Prices May Change)
Privacy Information
Bermuda Triangle Stargate?
A CONNECTION TO ATLANTIS?
Do Newly Mapped Magnetic Anomalies Point to the Stars?
(Please be patient while the maps load)
Dr. Michael Preisinger
A German historian/scuba diver has recorded the exact location and value of deviations in magnetic fields off the Bahamas coast. Scientists to whom he has shown the figures do not dismiss the possibility that they are caused by micro-wormholes. His researches have also led him to wonder whether the American AUTEC naval base on Andros Island is not-perhaps on account of these same wormholes-an "Underwater Area 51 of the Caribbean." And he has reached some new conclusions concerning Atlantis and the Bahamas.
Oceans of ink have been spilt over the subject of the Bermuda Triangle, that apparent paranormal grab-bag of missing vessels (hundreds of ships and scores of planes), deviations in the magnetic field, abrupt outpourings of fog, UFO sightings far above the national average-and much, much more. A vast amount of pure speculation has accompanied these reports, the most controversial being that the Bahamas archipelago is comprised of the mountaintops and higher areas of the lost continent of Atlantis, sunk beneath these waters millennia ago.
As a practicing historian, with a doctorate in history and sociology from the German Sports University in Cologne-and therefore with a vigorous training in avoiding speculation-I certainly never expected to have anything to contribute to this controversy, which I tended to entirely dismiss.
Pure happenstance changed all that. I am also a trained scuba diving instructor; and, in 1995, I was sent by my company on a six-month stint to Nassau, Bahamas, with my wife and children. My German customers were the travel companies Inter Airlines and Aeroplane. My task was to develop tourist programs for scuba divers and help customers who were already there.
In the course of my work, I heard persistent reports of persons on boats who had experienced sudden deviations in their compass readings which had put them right off course. My curiosity as a historian got the better of me (and, besides, it would make for an unusual diving experience): I decided to look for magnetic field anomalies in the places where the deviations had been noted, and try to bring back exact figures for those deviations.
Based on the stories I'd heard, I chose more than half-a-dozen points at which to dive: Fish Hotel, Lyford Cay, and White Hole, near Nassau; Lost Blue Hole, about an hour by boat from Nassau; Dogleg Reef, an hour by boat from Marathon, in the Florida Keys; the "Atlantis Wall," near Bimini; and Sunken Train, near Eluthera.
Fellow scuba divers Al Miller, an American, and Joel Green, a Jamaican, accompanied me on these expeditions. Over the course of several weeks, we carried out one to seven dives a week, depending on the time we had available.
Dressed in our scuba gear, and singly or in pairs, we dove at each location several times, usually descending to a depth of no more than a few dozen feet. The dives lasted 60 to 75 minutes; sometimes we made them from cheap inflatables, other times from rented boats.
We found clear evidence of deviations at four locations: Fish Hotel, Lyford Cay, White Hole, near Nassau; and Dogleg Reef, near Marathon, in South Florida.
In the course of our dives, we recorded precise figures for what the compass readings were as compared to what they normally should have been.
Over the next few months, I communicated these figures to a number of physicists around the world. To a one, they told me that such magnetic field anomalies could be caused by briefly-appearing micro-wormholes. They could think of no other explanation for the deviations. Prof. John Wheeler, of Princeton University, in Princeton, NJ, has given the name of "wormhole" to what he believes may be "transit tunnels" between different dimensions of reality. According to Wheeler, these wormholes may be only a giga-fraction of a square inch in size-the number one preceded by 33 zeroes, preceded by a decimal point. Wheeler says these mini-black holes, constantly blinking in and out of the geometry of space, are thought to be bits of "virtual matter;" that is, they can exist for a limited time only. Their counterparts-so-called mini-white holes-are virtual anti-matter. Whenever these two kinds of virtual matter build up to any extent, they immediately destroy themselves. Wheeler can offer no explanation as to why mini-holes appear, disappear, then reappear.
Regarding my magnetic field anomaly readings, here are some typical responses, from some of the scientists-usually quantum physicists-to whom I spoke:
Dr. Werner Muller, physicist, Karlruhe, Germany, in a 1995 phone interview: "According to the figures you provided and the fact that no natural source was found in the bottom of the sea, there are just the quantum physical theories left to explain the phenomenon."
Professor Tsung-Min Gung, physicist, Tokyo, Japan, 1995; phone interviews: "If the theories of inter-dimensional connections are not completely wrong and can develop in the way I am expecting them to, the strong interdependencies with gravitation and the earth's magnetic field may be a way to track them down."
Grazyna Fosar, physicist, Berlin, Germany, in a radio discussion together with myself, in 1997: "From the physicist's point of view, gates to hyperspace can be the only reasonable explanation for these mysterious deviation fields."
These startling results led me to investigate, tentatively at first, then with growing interest, some of the other "Bermuda Triangle" phenomena associated with the Bahamas area. I knew that the theory of compass deviations as being caused by "stargates" went back some way (though, as far as I knew, I was the first to come up with any figures); I was now told that the extremely high incidence of UFO sightings in the Bahamas archipelago had been associated by some researchers with these stargates.
I was further told that many of the sightings took place near the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC), the American naval base on the Bahamas island of Andros, and that some researchers believed AUTEC might be an underwater "Area 51"- a place where secret research was being carried out on UFOs by the American government, and which, from time to time, was even visited by UFOs.
I decided, as a historian, to try to get to the bottom of these extraordinary speculations. The Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) possesses unique resources, including an underwater range for testing and research on acoustic equipment. It is located 177 miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, at Andros Island and the Tongue of the Ocean, in Bahamas. The Andros Island AUTEC test facility-access to which must be obtained beforehand - covers only one square mile on land, but actually comprises 1,670 square miles of the surrounding Caribbean. This ocean area is a steep-sided deep-water embayment 100 miles long and 20 miles wide, with depths varying from 700 fathoms at the "rim" to 1,100 fathoms (more than a mile) at the northern end. By any reckoning, this is a huge amount of underwater space.
I learned from more than one source that the Andros base has an ultra-top secret caliber of security. Here is an illustration. In 1997, a group of duck-hunters-who, admittedly, had walked right by a PROHIBITED AREA sign less than a mile from the base-suddenly found themselves confronting an unusually thick wall of foliage. At that very moment, they were knocked off their feet and their faces thrust into the ground.
The hapless duck-hunters quickly discovered that the foliage contained sailors in heavy camouflage, and that other sailors, leaping out of the foliage behind them, had hurled them to the ground. Taken to a nearby tent, they were grilled by a colonel for hours, until they were certain they would be thrown into prison. Then, abruptly, the officer released them, declaring, "I believe your story."
In the waters off Andros island, strange craft have been seen from time to time which not only resemble UFOs, but which display the same unbelievable swiftness of motion and execute the same incredibly sharp turns. A Viennese businessman told me that, once, when he was yachting off the coast of Andros, he glimpsed, two miles away (it was a very clear day), in waters over a mile-and-a-half deep, a motionless object he thought was a whale. Coming to within almost half-a-mile of the object-which was now gleaming oddly-the yachter observed that it was some kind of man-made craft of ultramodern design.
Suddenly, the craft took off in a southerly direction at what my informant described as a "lunatic speed." It sped along the surface of the water. Then, abruptly, it disappeared beneath the waves, not to be seen again.
I have been told of conspiracy and suppression theories of a very dark nature which have been burgeoning around the subject of AUTEC as an "underwater Area 51," just as they have been around the subject of the real "Area 51."
Here is an example, passed along to me by an informant whom I interviewed in November, 1998, at NASA headquarters at Cape Kennedy, Florida.
I was told that highly respected and world-class British scuba diver Rob Palmer, who had been director of a "blue holes" research center in Bahamas for a number of years, had failed to surface after a dive in the Red Sea, in Israel, in mid-July, 1997, and was presumed dead. Blue holes are small underwater caves, apparently formed from within, which are found predominately in the area of the Bahamas archipelago. I think it possible that blue holes may, perhaps, have been formed by the popping in and out of existence of micro-wormholes.
Rob Palmer, apparently, had entertained a roughly analogous theory. In addition, he believed blue holes might be the transit points for UFOs arriving here from other dimensions-and his investigations were taking him closer and closer to the AUTEC base on Andros Island, where there is a very great proliferation of blue holes. My informant told me there was a rumor that Palmer might have been murdered by officials at AUTEC, probably because he knew too much, and possibly by a post-hypnotic suggestion which caused him to take his own life while he was under the waters of the Red Sea.
As a professional historian, I don't care to indulge in such lurid speculations. But their existence suggests there might well be significant clandestine activity taking place at the Andros island AUTEC facility.
Since so much of the far-fetched material I had investigated had turned out to have some basis in reality, however indirect, I now decided to investigate the story that the area of the Bahamas is the site of the (not completely sunken) continent of Atlantis.
Many have long believed that Bimini is a remnant of Atlantis. The idea was first mooted by trance-medium Edgar Cayce, who claimed that many of the people to whom he gave readings had lived past lives on Atlantis. Using the latest technology, scientists from the British Government's Building Research Establishment have even discovered tiny amounts of coal and gold in apparently man-made stone found on the seabed at Bimini.
As a historian interested in primary rather than secondary sources, I decided to read the single text upon which all of the thousands of books on Atlantis are based: the dialogue called the Critias, by the Greek philosopher Plato.
Moreover, I decided to read the dialogue, not, as so many have, as myth or metaphor, but as historical fact. And I bypassed most of Plato"s detailed account of the splendors of this ancient kingdom, concentrating instead on its dimensions as reported by Plato: What shape did Atlantis have? How long and wide was it?
I learned something intriguing: that if you were to take the present-day Bahamas archipelago and raise the entire land-mass by 300 feet-or, to put it another way, lower the water level surrounding Bahamas by 300 feet (its level during the last Ice Age)-you would end up with a country that closely matched, in shape and size, the ancient Atlantis of Plato: The philosopher wrote in the Critias that the continent was larger than Egypt (as it was then known); that the center of the island, not far from the sea, was formed by a plain surrounded by shallow mountains to a distance of six miles; and that these mountains themselves were located in a large plain, surrounded by high mountains to a distance of 200 miles.
My conclusions regarding the so-called Bimini Wall, thought by many to be a remnant of Atlantis, were not nearly so "New Age." I believe that some of the stones making up the wall appear to be man-made, not because they came from Atlantis, but because they were left there during the American Civil War.
In those days, a great many ships ran the Union blockade to bring trade to Confederate harbors. Pursued by Union ships, these vessels often escaped into the shallow Bahamas waters where the big man-o-wars couldn"t follow.
To navigate over the reefs that filled these waters, they frequently had to jettison weight so as to ride higher in the water. What easier way to do this than by dumping granite stones from the ship"s ballast? That, I think, may account for a good many of the granite stones now found at such places as Bimini.
I pursued my investigations in a number of other areas. I found out, for instance, that Bahamas has its own legends of mysterious little monkey-like creatures that are almost never seen: the "chickcharnies". I discovered there are numerous "ghost stories" associated with Bahamas, and that the shamans of the area are reputed to have almost godlike-powers. I came away with the impression - one that can scarcely be proven scientifically - that there is high degree of psychic, even "interdimensional," energy in the Bahamas archipelago.
My attention, though, keeps returning to the "underwater stargates of the Caribbean," which I discovered with my friends Al Miller and Joel Green. I continue to wonder what might be the next step in researching these "stargates." I have a proposal. It would be interesting to actually try to enter one of these "stargates"-except that they are usually microscopic to an extreme degree, and they tend to fluctuate in and out of existence.
Therefore, I would like to suggest that one or a number of psychics descend to the sites of some of these underwater anomalies, perhaps those near Nassau, which are shallow, and not far from shore-and not far from the Bahamas capitol, which could make an excellent host to a world press tempted to attend this unusual "Underwater Splashdown to the Stargates of the Caribbean." Jeanne Dixon may be too old for such a venture; but there must be many youngish, athletic and gifted psychics who could be persuaded to don scuba diving gear and venture to the bottom of the ocean to see what telepathic feelings and messages they might be able to pick up, filtering ever so briefly through these on-again, off-again, underwater micro-wormholes.
My proposal may seem outlandish. But I and my scuba diving colleagues would be glad to train as divers any prospective psychics, and descend with them to the ocean bottom off Bahamas. We could do it during the coolest month of the year in Bahamas-January. January 1, 2000, seems like a propitious date. Do I have any takers?
Dr. Michael Preisinger may be contacted at :
P.O. Box 1462,
88620 Pfullendorf, Germany,
FAX (+49/0) 7552-97805.
He is the author of Das Bermuda Rötsel Gelöst, published in 1997.
Copyright - 1996-1999 Atlantis Rising. All Rights Reserved
END
The Weather In the Triangle
It's no accident that many ships, especially before the 1950s, sunk in that area. The reason can be found in the weather patterns that affect that area. A perfect example of the volatile weather in that area came in the form of Hurricane Andrew. This devastating hurricane passed right through the heart of the Bermuda Triangle, and caused incredible amounts of damage in the northernmost Bahamas, and also in south Florida.
Many other devastating hurricanes have passed through this area over the past 30 years, and have caused several ships to sink, even in modern times. Storm systems exiting the United States usually strengthen in the Bermuda Triangle during the fall and winter because the very warm water in that area helps to develop those storms very quickly and sometimes without warning.
The legend of the Bermuda Triangle actually started in the 1500s during the height of trading between Spain and the Americas. The peak trading season was between June and October, which is also during Hurricane Season in the Atlantic Ocean. Many ships, loaded with gold and jewels for Spain, would set out into the Bermuda Triangle, and would either never return, or would arrive in Spain badly mauled by terrible storms, which the people on the ships claimed were attacked by sea monsters. Actually, many of the ships sunk because the captains had no idea how powerful hurricanes could be, or how quickly storms could develop in that area. Today, with weather satellites, advanced radar, reconnaissance planes, and other observation methods, hurricanes and other storms are much more detectable and predictable. Ships can be turned away from them before they get into trouble.
BERMUDA TRIANGLE:
This area extends from Bermuda to the Southern tip of Florida, through the Bahamas past Puerto Rico, and then back to Bermuda. Is best known for over 100 airplane disappearances and over 1000 lives lost since 1945. Critics argue that sea piracy or bad weather is often to blame; however not allot of bodies or debris has been recovered. Some of the more interesting aspects of this area include: great ocean trenches of up to seven miles in depth, violent storms and hurricanes, unpredictable tidal like waves on calm seas generated by underground earthquakes, curious false bottom readings, and glowing streaks of luminescent fish or minerals. One general and common distress message which has been received during loss of ships and planes has been the reported observation of a spinning compass. Ivan Sanderson another serious researcher mapped twelve areas on the earth with abnormal electromagnetic aberrations shown by the map below:
The Bermuda Triangle is supposedly a "gateway to other dimensions"(Carnegie), but it is not. The Bermuda Triangle stretches from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Bermuda, and then to Miami, Florida. It is 14,000 square miles(36,260 square kilometers). Some say that planes, boats, and people have "disappeared." In fact about 50 people have supposedly "disappeared." Although, most of this can be explained by waterspouts, extreme air turbulence, electromagnetic storms, and powerful ocean currents, there are two major occurrences that started the myth: the major one, Flight 19, and the minor one, Mary Celeste.
A Brief History of the Devil's Triangle Limbo of the Lost. The Twilight Zone. Hoodoo Sea. The Devil's Triangle. The vast three-sided segment of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, did not receive its most famous nickname until 1964, but reports of bizarre happenings there, or nearby, have been recorded for centuries. In fact, many claim that Christopher Columbus bore witness to the Bermuda Triangle's weirdness.
As the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria sailed through the area in 1492, it is reported that Columbus's compass went haywire and that he and his crew saw weird lights in the sky, but these events have mundane explanations. From the account in Columbus's journal, it is thought that his compass's slight inaccuracy stemmed from nothing more than the discrepancy between true north and magnetic north. As for the lights, Columbus wrote of seeing "a great flame of fire" that crashed into the ocean -- probably a meteor. He saw lights in the sky again on October 11, which, of course, was the day before his famous landing. The lights, brief flashes near the horizon, were spotted in the area where dry land turned out to be.
Supposedly five Navy Avengers and one Martin Mariner flight-bo disappeared without a trace. After that people started to blame the Bermuda Triangle, thinking, "Twenty-seven men lost in the Bermuda Triangle. This cannot be a coincidence. Also, isn't that the place where Mary Celeste was abandoned. This is weird." So, that is mainly how the rumor got started. In fact, the Martin Mariner flight-bo was never lost. It actually blew up 23 minutes after it took off, but still, they sent some more planes out to look for them.
Now here is some more about the myth. Supposedly, all the pilots were experienced. It was a "clear" day when Flight 19 took off. Their route was "160 miles east, 40 miles north, and 120 miles straight." Each plane took three people, but one person did not come. There were five planes. Five times three equals fifteen, minus one equals fourteen men. Twenty-seven minus fourteen equals thirteen. That means that about thirteen men went searching for fourteen men, and never came back, or so we think.
Here are some more facts. Lt. Charles Taylor was the Patrol leader of Flight 19. He was the only experienced pilot on the flight. He was leading the flight, and also had a hangover. So, when his compass went out, he thought he would fly by "Pilotage," and "dead reckoning." Later he thought he saw the Florida Keys, but it was actually an island of the Bahamas. So, then he flew north. It was raining, and after an hour he said to fly east. He had though that they were above the Gulf of Mexico, but they were heading to a very deep part of the Atlantic Ocean. Taylor also refused to switch to an emergency radio channel. By now the rain had turned into a huge storm. The planes could float for two minutes, if you had a perfect landing. You might even be able to get out of the planes, but that is only if the sea is calm. Flight 19 probably sank over the Continental Shelf, which is over thousands of feet deep. It is very hard to find practically anything in that water.
Mary Celeste
Mary Celeste was a boat from the 1870's. It was abandoned, and no one, even to this day, knows why. It is supposed that the captain thought that there was going to be a huge storm, launched the lifeboat, and left. It supposedly was in the Bermuda Triangle, but it really was not anywhere near the Bermuda Triangle. It has been over 100 years, and still no one knows why, they just guess.
Other Disappearances
1609: mate Henry Ravens sailed in a long boat with a volunteer crew of 7 men. never made it to his destination
1812: the ship Patriot and its main passenger Theodosia Burr Alston, wife of the Governor Joseph Alston of South Carolina and daughter of the Former Vice President Aaron Burr.
1814: US Navy vessel the Wasp, commanded by Johnston Blakely.
1918: The USS Cyclops, captained by the eccentric Lieutenant Commander George W. Worley who frequented the bridge of the ship wearing long underwear and a bowler hat, left Barbados on March 4, 1918 to Baltimore. On March 13, when the ship was long overdue, a massive search ensued but no trace of the largest ship in the Navy or the 300 people on board were ever found.
1941: In late November and early December 1941, two the USS Cyclops's sister ships, Proteus and Nereus both vanished on separate runs from the Virgin Islands to the USA.
1945- Flight 19, 5 Navy Torpedo Bombers, 14 crewmen disappeared without a trace. A rescue plane with 13 crewmen was sent out and also disappeared without a trace.
1945: at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida 24 skilled pilots A few hours later 10 planes returned out of the 12.
1947: Army C-45 Superfort vanishes 100 miles off Bermuda.
1948: Four-engined Tudor IV luxury liner lost with 31 lives. On January 30, 1948 the aircraft Star Tiger disappeared without a trace en route to Bermuda with 31 people on board, moments later the pilot radioed to ground crew that they would be shortly arriving on schedule.
1948: DC-3 lost with 32 passengers and crew. On December 28, 1948, a DC-3 carrying 35 people from Puerto Rico also disappeared shortly after the pilot radioed a similar message that it was just 80 kms south of Miami.
1949: Second Tudor IV vanishes. Almost to the year, on January 17, 1949, the Star Tiger's sister, the Star Ariel, was about to switch from radio contact with its departure point in Bermuda to radio contact with its destination Jamaica, when it vanished. The pilot had reported perfect weather.
1949: a DC-3 carrying 30 men and women and 2 babies,
1950: Giant US Air Force Globemaster lost.
1950: American freighter, SS Sandra, 350 ft long, sinks without trace. The vessel and her 28-man crew were never heard from again.
1951- C-124 Globemaster with 53 passengers
1952: British York transport plane lost with 33 aboard.
1954: US Navy Lockheed Constellation vanishes with 42 aboard.
1956: US Navy seaplane, Martin P5M, disappears with crew of ten.
1962: US Air Force KB-50 tanker plane lost. A giant air force tanker took off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and never came back.
1963: Marine Sulphur Queen, 425-ft-long American freighter, vanishes with entire crew. No Mayday signals and no wreckage ever found. Two US Air Force giant stratotankers disappear on simple exercise. She routinely radioed her position and was not heard from again. Only one life jacket was found from the disappearance. C-132 Cargomaster also vanishes.
1967: Military YC-122, converted to cargo plane, lost.
1970: French freighter Milton Iatrides disappears.
1972: German freighter Anita, 20,000 tons, lost with crew of 32.
1973: the 33,000 ton German freighter
*An area called the "Devil's Sea" by Japanese and Filipino seamen, located off the East Coast of Japan, also exhibits the same magnetic characteristics. It is also known for its mysterious disappearances.
These were just a few of the disappearances that have been reported over the Bermuda Triangle but even if one were to accept the reasonable explanations purported about mutinies and bad weather and accidents and poor navigation, other occurrences in the same region are more hard to explain. For instance, a National Airlines 727 passenger flight disappeared from radar screens at Miami International Airport for 10 minutes. On arrival the crew denied that anything odd had happened to them except that they had flown through a light fog for 10 minutes. All the timepieces on the plane were ten minutes slow though they had matched up in a time check with the airport shortly before their disappearance. Several other pilots have related experiences of gaining impossible time after flying through sudden hazes.
Which of course, gives rise to other explanations, and ones that might better explain the Bermuda Triangle mystery, even if they go contrary to the natural laws of physics. That of an aberrant energy field that creates time warps or gaps. Another case that strengthens this theory is of a less fortunate pilot called Carolyn Casico and her passenger. Carolyn, a licensed pilot, took a charter flight to Turk Island in the Bermuda triangle. As she approached the island, ground staff saw her circling aimlessly. The airport manager received no response to radio contact, when he heard her exchange words with her passenger. "I can’t understand it. This should be Grand Turk but there is nothing there. It’s the right place on the map, the shape is right, but this island looks uninhabited - no buildings... roads ...nothing”. After a few more circles, she turned back and flew away. Carolyn and her passenger were never seen or heard from again ......
Also known as the "Devil's Triangle", this unexplained phenomena has provided an ample battlefield for a fierce controversy that has raged since the early 60's.
First reported as an AP dispatch in 1950 by E.V.W. Jones as a side note to the many ships lost in the area, and reiterated two years later in an Fate magazine article, by George X. Sand. Books on UFOs in the late 50's also spoke of the triangle, suggesting that it was alien in nature. The term "Bermuda Triangle" was not coined until 1964, when it was brought to light as "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle", an article in Argosy magazine by Vincent H. Gaddis. Bermuda Triangle fever peaked in 1974, with a number of books (mostly just re-written versions of the older books) getting national press.
Some believe that the Bermuda Triangle Phenomena is caused by the Lost City of Atlantis, sunk thousands of feet below the water's surface. The advanced state of Atlantis at the time of it's submersion, relied on the power of energy crystals. It is possible that these crystals are still at the bottom of the ocean, in a somewhat altered state, sending out rays of energy that either confuses the instrumentation of vehicles, or disintegrates them all together.
Lastly, many believe the Bermuda Triangle to be a man-made energy field using Tesla based technologies. A VLF-Resonance transmitter (a technology many believe to be in use by the North American Air Defense Command, or NORAD) would have an antipode directly in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. This hypothetical system would be capable of recharging speculated secret electric-powered submarine classes, and would definitely provide enough interference to scramble signals that airplanes and boats rely upon.
The Lost Blue Hole
Perhaps the most unusual dive site in the Bahamas, this natural hole extends about 100' across, drops to about 200', with its perimeter, dotted with isolated coral heads, starting at a depth of 40'. Most shops permit a maximum 80' depth. Along the perimeter divers may see large schools of reef fish, including Chromis, Angelfish, and Sergeant Majors, each circling around each coral head. Also found nearby will be large Groupers, giant Southern Stingray, eels and numerous sharks.
Nearby are these:
The Shark Buoy / Deer Island Buoy - used by the U.S. Navy for submarine exercises, tethered in 6,000 feet of water. Its mass floating on the surface attracts a wide variety of pelagic marine life such as Dolphinfish, jacks, Rainbow Runner, and Silky Sharks. Visibility usually in excess of 150 feet, offering great u/w photography.
The Vulcan Bomber - used in "Thunderball", is now a simple framework draped with a kaleidoscope of colorful gorgonians and sponges.
Tears of Allah - wrecked freighter where James Bond eluded the Tiger Shark in "Never Say Never, Again"; sits in 40 feet of water; good u/w photography site.
Tunnel Wall - network of crevices and tunnels, starts in 30 feet, exits along the vertical precipice at 70 or 80 feet.
Cay Sal Bank
There are few places in the world that can equal the diving you will find in Cay Sal. With pristine water and unparalleled wall diving it's no wonder so many people going there every year. Typically these trips last seven days, although six days trips can be arranged.
Upon clearing Bahamian Customs & Immigration in Bimini we journey south, diving as we go. Stopping at sites like Tuna Alley, Victory Reef, Hogfish City and finishing with Wanyes Shark Hole where it is not unusual to find sleeping reef sharks, or a pod of spotted dolphins
The Captains drive late into the night making way to remote Cay Sal. Anchoring at the Blue Hole, starting at 25 to 30 feet deep this hole cuts back then opens into huge bowl.which extends beyond sight. The Red Hole, another dive site, is small enough to swim around and has an interesting cave off to one side. After a day of blue hole diving you head for Elbow Cay. where lush wall dives await you. You will spend the next few days doing wall dives, exploring deserted islands, enjoying super snorkeling with all the swim throughs and hidden caves. The Fire Demon is one such cave; viewed at the right time of day pillars of fire appear to dance across the cave floor.
But the walls are why you came. Elephant Rock, Eagle, Last Rock & The Chimney, wall dives that are teaming with marine life. This is no accident; because the gulf stream passes so close by there is a constant supply of fresh water circulating. This clean water also produces 150' plus visibility. Beginning at 65' these walls then drop off to ? ? ? Often you will find the wall to be inverted, so lush is the overgrowth. As you drift along the wall be sure to watch for eagle rays, sharks, tuna or even mammals like ocean dolphins off in the distance. Amongst the coral you will find colorful tropical fish, eels, and huge lobster. Take time to explore the many chimneys that start at the top of the reef and open somewhere on the wall.
THE ATLANTIS CONNECTION?
Edgar Cayce, who was know as a healer and psychic, and also as the father of holistic medicine, claimed that he was, in a former life, a citizen of Atlantis. Cayce told of an advanced civilization, with all the inventions of our modern day life including weapons of mass destruction. The most notable weapon being the "death ray". Death rays came in all sizes, but a giant death ray machine, which was the largest of all their weapons is said to be the weapon that destroyed Atlantis. Cayce also predicted that the western ridge of Atlantis would be discovered off the coast of the Bimini islands. In The 1960's a startling discovery was made in that same place. It was that of an ancient roadway built out of large stones which was under the ocean off the coast of Bimini. Could this be an ancient highway of Atlantis?
THE SCOTT STONES
The possible accuracy of Aaron Du Val’s claims about the "Scott Stones" near Bimini certainly appears to fit this criteria quite nicely. If the Edgar Cayce readings are correct, the sinking of the West Coast will rise this area above sea level in due course, making the ruins much easier to explore.
Before Du Val, Charles Berlitz had already given pictorial and radar – based evidence for submerged step pyramids, megalithic walls and walkways, as well as a fantastic – sized tower, which Hermann believes to be the Tower of Ilta that is referred to in the Edgar Cayce readings.
The ruins of temples dated at 12,000 years old have been found near Bimini, Bahamas. Preliminary analysis has revealed that the original structures, although smaller in size than the Great Pyramid of Giza, appear to have been more advanced. Casing stones have been measured which are of the same unique angle as those at the Great Pyramid.
The ruins are megalithic and bear a remarkable resemblance to ancient sites in Egypt. So called "quarry marks" found in the Aswan quarries and also on the Great Pyramid, itself, appear to be identical matches with those found on the Bimini temple stones. Other characteristics closely match features at megalithic sites in Peru, the Yucatan, Ireland and Scandinavia. The stones are already drawing international attention and aggressive research and analysis projects are being set up which hope to commence more involved investigations shortly.
Analysis of these enigmatic ancient temples built near Bimini over 12,000 years ago has only just begun. Although many maps of the heavenly realm adorn various walls of these mysterious Bimini temples, there is an almost complete lack of other markings. Of the limited glyphs that do exist, however, several match those found in the famous Altamira Cave in Spain which contains the well-known bison painting. In addition, there are exact orbital plots of the planets and what seem to have been intricate star shafts, metal-coated walls, and intermingled stones of various colors. (including red, white, and black.)
Preliminary analysis has revealed that the original structures, although smaller in size, appear to have been more advanced than the Great Pyramid of Giza. Casing stones have been measured which are of the same unique angle as those at the Great Pyramid.
Other characteristics either closely match or are identical to features at megalithic sites in Peru, Mexico, the Yucatan, Ireland, and Scandinavia.
It appears that the most important or revered numbers associated with these ruins were the numbers five and nine. These numbers were also of great significance to the ancients of Egypt and Mesoamerica. Evidence indicates that a "checkerboard" calculator system was being used. Examples of this system were found on top of the Great Pyramid and were long used for numerical calculations in Mesoamerica. This same checkerboard pattern shows up on the lintel stones of temples built by Celts of Iberian origin. Also, according to some astronomers, this pattern served as a calendar regulator to measure the sunrise and sunset directions on solstices and equinoxes.
Although many maps of the heavenly realm adorn various walls of these mysterious Bimini temples, there is an almost complete lack of other markings - just as found in the pyramids at Giza. Of the limited glyphs that do exist, however, strangely enough, several match those found in the famous Altamira Cave (known as the Sistine Chapel of pre-history) which contains the well-known bison painting.
The major concern of the mysterious ancient civilization that produced these heavenly maps seems to have been Saturn and Jupiter -- with the oldest records reflecting and emphasis on Saturn.
The stones are already drawing international attention and aggressive research and analysis projects are being set up which hope to commence more involved investigations shortly. The unnamed discoverers have given the temple ruins the title of "The Scott Stones" -- in honor of the Professor who laid down the clues which made the discovery possible.
The exact location of the site is being withheld, for the present, until the proper government officials and museums can be notified.
To begin with, the area in which they were built, geologists tell us, has been underwater for about 12,000 years. There are also instances in which lava has flowed in between some of the temple stones which may give scientists an approximate date when submitted to testing. The antiquity of the stones almost leaps out at you upon first glance. There are hollows which have been left in certain broken stones which have undergone such an extensive amount of crystal growth upon their inner surfaces that they now look like the inside of a geode! In many cases, the cement that once held the huge stones together is now completely crystallized. Even more telling is the fact that, some of the massive granite blocks, themselves, now exhibit significant portions which have metamorphosed over the ages to the point where they are no longer even granite.
But perhaps, the most significant of all is the fact that organic matter has been found within an hermetic seal; along with unrusted, worked iron. The iron began to rust soon after the seal was opened, however; which would indicate that the seal had prevented the entry of oxygen for thousands of years. The organic matter was in pristine condition and should prove to be an interesting target for dating procedures. Other hermetic seals, which have yet to be opened, are known to exist, as well.
EXACTLY how old are the Scott Stones? will this ancient megalithic site be one of the first to yield an accurate account of its true age? Did men work iron before the Iron Age? We may soon know!
On the 23rd of September, 1998, by carefully following guidelines laid out by Professor Scott, the explorers were finally able to vault a formidable barrier, making it possible to begin deciphering an ancient form of writing which apparently goes all the way back to Atlantis, itself! The explorers say they are "thrilled, awed, and humbled" by the information they are recovering. They warn, however, that there may be many who will see this information as quite "shocking or up-setting."
The explorers also say that the unthinking and inconsiderate attitudes of some, to both the revelance and the fragility of these discoveries (not to mention the inevitable complications involved with governmental entanglements) leave them little room to reveal much more at this time and still insure the responsible protection of these sites. It is for this most obvious reason that the exact location of both of these sites MUST, for the time being, remain a secret; pending the institution of proper protection and supervision. Until such time, the explorers who discovered these matching sets of ancient records say they will continue to decode them and leave the rash and irresponsible thrill-seekers to their frantic antics of helpless envy.
As progress continued in translating an ancient form of writing found in Egypt, it was realized, to the surprise (and joy) of the explorers, that at some point in time, a SIMILAR SET OF RECORDS had actually been carried to the area of the Yucatan! A full explanation of how this was determined from actual records in Egypt will have to wait. But the important news, for now, is that by matching the available clues, the explorers were able to locate (on the 23rd of October) a MATCHING SET OF RECORDS IN THE YUCATAN AREA! This latest find is very exciting; and the explorers say that as translations continue, it may be possible to locate other sites with matching records, as well.
Records which have been translated, so far, deal with prophecy, historical events, dimensional shifts in time, and the religion of Atlantis. It is estimated that a full translation of records found, to date, could take years to accomplish. But the fact that the very same information is found in both hemispheres can only be seen as a RESOUNDING VERIFICATION as to the authenticity and intention of these records.
According to the explorers, however, without the actual records which were discovered at the Scott Stones site, these current researchers stand little to no chance of being able to locate the Egyptian set of records which has proven so helpful. Also, they say that without the Egyptian set of records, it will be virtually impossible to locate the matching set of records in the Yucatan area. The explorers explain that these three sets of records, though NOT identical, ARE intricately and indisputably linked; and they DO absolutely corroborate each other!! What's more, the explorers (although independent and having no connections whatsoever with the A.R.E.) are saying that: "It cannot even be debated (probably much to the rancor or chagrin of some) that the actual INFORMATION contained in these records *DOES* POSITIVELY CONFIRM things which Edgar Cayce supposedly saw, including: startling new information concerning a predicted RETURN!"
Pyramid Found Under The Sea
SOURCE: Janet Ann Spencer extracts from "The Planetary Connections", British Edition, distributed by Roger Brown of "Fountain Adelaide", Issue No. 6, Winter 1994/5--
Newsweek reports the discovery of a pyramid under the Bermuda Triangle. "And not, just any pyramid, sonar tracing has mapped the pyramid's outline, and shows it rising to a height of some 780 feet from the otherwise flat ocean floor 1,200 feet below the surface of the Atlantic.
The discovery was made and then confirmed by Captain Don Henry, who discovered the puzzling phenomenon while making sonar tracings of the sea floor in an area of the Atlantic between South Bimini Island and the north end of the Cay Sal Bank. He was staggered when he realized that this undersea pyramid was some three hundred feet higher than the Cheops Pyramid, with a base of a thousand feet square.
Dr. J. Manson Valentine, anthropologist and zoologist at the Miami Museum of Science, is convinced and points out that the area where the pyramid is located was once dry sand. The area has long been suggested as the site of Atlantis.
Christopher Dunn reports - I was intrigued by this report and immediately called DuVal to get more information. Surprised when DuVal answered the phone, I was more surprised when he immediately recognized who I was, having read my articles in Atlantis Rising and on the Internet. He stated emphatically that the quarry marks he had witnessed on the stones were identical to those I had taken in Egypt and published in my article. I asked him if there was evidence of precision machining with small corner radii where a tool was used. He responded that the radius on the stone he had seen was larger than the one I had published. He told me about petal-shaped holes that were drilled through 12 feet of granite. He claimed emphatically that if I came to Florida, I wouldn't be disappointed. He said that if anyone should view this site, I should. Upon further questioning he said that the stones were not a part of a recognizable structure, and wouldn't answer when asked if they were in their original location.
I asked DuVal where the site was located, but he refused to reveal its whereabouts, saying that the site needed to be protected. He also wouldn't tell me what kind of transportation I would take to get to the site. He did say that people have not recognized it for what it truly is. I told him I couldn't make it to his conference on July 25th, because I was moving into a new house. I told him I could probably make it at an earlier date.
After e-mailing the information to Atlantis Rising editor Doug Kenyon, I followed up with a telephone call. We both agreed that if DuVal's analysis of the site could be verified, it might indeed be a remarkable discovery. Doug had already talked to DuVal and, while keeping an open mind, he had his own reservations. He then told me about Richard Wingate, another researcher, and friend of his, who had worked in that area. One premise put forward by Wingate was that the Moselle Shoals (formerly the Moselle Reef) near Bimini are the ruins of a prehistoric structure. Many of the blocks of stone that make up the First Street Jetty and others in Miami were taken from the Moselle Reef and brought over on barges in the 1920s. In support of his premise that these are the stones of Atlantis, Wingate described petal-shaped holes drilled through 12 feet of granite,a feat that he says would require sonic drills (see picture at beginning of this article).
Even though skeptical of DuVal, I was mindful of the experience I had while in Egypt in 1995. I came across and was able to inspect evidence of advanced methods of machining granite. The item I studied on the Giza Plateau had been overlooked for centuries, with thousands of tourists passing it by. Doug and I agreed that it may be worth checking out, and if I was shown an ancient artifact that was identified as being 12,000 years old with the same precision as the stones in Egypt, then we may have indications of a prehistoric advanced culture. We were both exceedingly curious, but suspicious that DuVal's discovery was actually the jetties in Miami.
On July 13 I received the following e-mail from DuVal.
Mr. Dunn, We have decided that it would be good for you to see the Scott Stones right away. We would be most pleased to spend 2 - 3 days in showing them to you, if that would give you enough time to get the pictures and measurements you might need. The best time for us would be anytime between 15 July and 21 July. Please make a short call to us, if this might be suitable for you. Or e-mail us if you would like to set a different date-time.
Thank you for your interest in this matter, Aaron Du Val.
When I called DuVal again, he extended his hospitality and offered accommodation if I would come to Miami. He stated emphatically that I would not be disappointed by what I saw. The following day, Tuesday, July 15th, I booked a flight to Miami for July 18th and called DuVal with my arrival time. He promised to pick me up at the airport.
We then talked further about the site and I told him I was going to write an article for Atlantis Rising on my visit. He said that they would probably reveal the location of the site at the conference, because once the photographs and video were shown, the site might be recognized. I asked if the site was on the mainland. He didn't answer. I asked him if the site was indeed one of the jetties in Miami, and described to him Richard Wingate's research. Again there was silence. He wanted me to promise two things: that I would not reveal the location of the site and that credit for the discovery of the site would go to Professor Scott, who laid the groundwork for their discovery. I assured him that I would not reveal the location of any site he showed me that had not been similarly identified in the past and that credit would most certainly go where it is deserved.
On July 16, 1997, at 10:30 P.M. I received a call from DuVal. He nervously apologized and informed me that he couldn't show me the site as planned. I told him I had already bought the plane ticket and on such short notice I couldn't get a refund. He indicated that he would reimburse me and asked how much it was. He gulped when I told him and said he would send me an e-mail the following day.
Needless to say, I received no e-mail or reimbursement, but I did have an enjoyable weekend in Miami. I spent quite a bit of time clambering over the rocks in the Miami jetties seeking evidence of advanced machining technology. I know there are people who would like to believe that eventually some hard evidence would be found to support Edgar Cayce's prediction that Atlantis would be found in the Bahamas, but I couldn't find it.
Interestingly, on this great Atlantean caper, I did locate much of what Mr. DuVal describes in his several press releases. The concrete curbs taken from the streets and thrown on the jetty were made up of red and white concrete. They also had the large radius that DuVal described. One large piece of concrete had a piece of steel running through a channel. There were many blocks of granite that had intriguing hole patterns drilled into them. I suppose with a little imagination, one could make something of them. I was looking for precision, and couldn't find it. The quarry marks were nothing like the quarry marks found in Egypt.
I stopped in the Miami Museum on the way back from Coral Castle in Homestead, and learned that the Egyptology Society was indeed scheduled to give a presentation on July 25th. I also learned that they are not affiliated with the museum as Mr. DuVal claimed, but meet periodically in their auditorium.
Just as anyone can rent a hall, anyone can publish on the Internet. All you need is a PC, a modem, access to an Internet service and, suddenly, you are an instant author! Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily, as it allows for greater freedom of expression. With this freedom, though, comes responsibility. We are responsible for how we influence others, as well as how we permit ourselves to be influenced. Obviously, after this experience, our major concern should be how other authors influence us.
The Egyptology Society of Miami still has not presented their findings to the public. Their originally scheduled date of July 25, 1997, was, to the disappointment of attendees, rescheduled for August 8, 1997. On September 27, 1997 DuVal apologized for treating me rudely and told me that they are waiting for lab results before revealing anything to the public, expressing, again, a concern for the protection of the site. Given that I specifically gave DuVal the opportunity to deny that the site was the jetties in Miami and he didn't, I can only conclude, by what I have observed, and given the circumstances leading up to my observations, that this may be the case.
If my assumptions are incorrect, Doug Kenyon, I'm sure, will give him some space and the opportunity to identify the correct site so that his claims can be checked and verified.
Let's not forget the story about the boy who cried wolf. Unsubstantiated reports such as these can harm serious researchers who accept the evidence that prove advanced civilizations existed in prehistory. They tend to muddy the water and give strength to the orthodox status quo.
Sunken Cement Barrels
Atlantis Debunked
by D. Trull
Enigma Editor
The island of Bimini in the Bahamas has long been a favorite hotspot in the search for Atlantis. Speculation has centered around a supposed "Bimini Road" (or "Bimini Wall"), a structure often said to have been paved on the ocean floor by Atlanteans, which is actually a natural formation of limestone. There have also been unfounded reports of stone columns and giant pyramids in the island's waters. Now another claim has surfaced of a great discovery at Bimini, and it appears that it will prove just as insubstantial as the Atlantis theories that have come and gone before.
Aaron Du Val, president of the Miami-based Egyptology Society, recently announced that a team of underwater explorers has found the ruins of 12,000-year-old temples off the coast of Bimini. Du Val claimed the structures bear markings and architectural specifications that match well-known megaliths in Egypt, South America and other parts of the world. The noted similarities to Egyptian ruins included distinctive quarry marks on the rocks and the same geometric angles present in the Great Pyramid of Giza. Other markings were said to match the Altamira cave paintings of Spain. To make his claims even more fantastic, Du Val said the Bimini ruins contained "exact orbital plots of the planets and what seem to have been intricate star shafts, metal-coated walls, and intermingled stones of various colors."
In the initial press release, dated July 6, 1997, Du Val made no specific reference to Atlantis. Later, in an interview conducted by a new age organization called New Heaven New Earth, he stopped short of claiming that these ruins were evidence of the legendary sunken city, although he seemed to relish the possibility.
"Atlantis is a pretty touchy subject," Du Val said. "Maybe this will be the trigger to bring more people forth to explore ideas that have been taboo in the past. Megalithic structures are not supposed to be in the Bahamas. These are closer to what you would find at Giza than what you would find in Mexico or Peru, which is very strange. People are saying unbelievable things like it could force the re-interpretation of the course of human history."
Du Val was quick to agree when the interviewer noted how his announcement seemed to fulfill the predictions of alleged prophet Edgar Cayce, one of the top Atlantis advocates of all time.
"This discovery fits right with his predictions," Du Val said. "Now we are not saying it is Atlantis, but it sure is strange how these findings not only match Cayce's predictions but Plato's writings as well, even to the metal-coated walls."
In fact, Cayce actually prophesied -- among other things -- that Atlantis would rise again to the surface in 1968 or 1969. Plato's description of Atlantis was most likely a reference to the Minoan island of Santorini, near Crete, which was devastated by a volcano.
Du Val remained tight-lipped on crucial details of the Bimini ruins, including the exact location of the findings and the names of the explorers who found them. He explained that he needed to work out arrangements with museums and the Bahamian government to protect the site before its location was made public. Du Val planned a press conference for July 25, promising full disclosure and presentation of video tapes and photographs of the ruins. He also stated that he had never claimed the ruins were Atlantis, apparently to combat the "Atlantis fever" word of his announcement had triggered on the Internet.
Du Val's claims garnered a stern rebuke from Dr. Paul Pettennude, an underwater archaeologist with the Maya Underwater Research Center, who is intimately familiar with the waters around Bimini. In a statement issued to New Heaven New Earth, he listed several reasons why nothing like the ruins Du Val describes could possibly