Posted on 05/31/2007 9:29:24 AM PDT by Renfield
HOLLOW PLANET THEORY; U.S. scientist, believers to sail on icebreaker Richard Foot, CanWest News Service Published: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
A U.S. scientist and a small band of believers are planning a journey to the Canadian Arctic for what they call "the greatest geological expedition in history."
Are they searching for Arctic oil reserves? Documenting evidence of climate change?
Not quite. They're looking for a fog-shrouded hole in the Arctic Ocean that leads -- they say -- to the centre of the Earth, where an unknown civilization is lurking inside the hollow core of the planet.
This time next year, Kentucky based physicist and futurist Brooks Agnew hopes to board the commercially owned Russian icebreaker Yamal in the port of Murmansk, and to sail into the polar sea just beyond Canada's Arctic islands.
"Everest has been climbed a hundred times," Mr. Agnew says. "The Titanic has been scanned from stem to stern. [But] this is the first and only expedition to the North Pole opening ever attempted."
Mr. Agnew is the latest in a long line of people to peddle the nutty, yet persistent, theory that humans live on the surface of a hollow planet, in which two undiscovered openings, near the North and South poles, connect the outer Earth with an interior realm.
In the 17th century, English astronomer and mathematician Sir Edmond Halley, who calculated the orbit of Halley's Comet, advanced hollow-Earth theories, as did German scientist Athanasius Kircher.
More recently the myth has experienced a slight revival, thanks in part to a 2006 book, by American author David Standish, titled Hollow Earth: The long and curious history of imagining strange lands, fantastical creatures, advanced civilizations, and marvellous machines below the Earth's surface.
A year before the book was published, a Utah adventure guide named Steve Currey also tried to cash in on the hollow- Earth legend, by organizing an expedition to locate the North polar opening.
Mr. Currey made a living organizing rafting trips to the world's wildest rivers. He knew how to hype exotic destinations and recruit would-be explorers on trips of a lifetime.
It's not clear whether Mr. Currey was a true hollow-Earth believer, or if he could simply see a good business opportunity. Whatever his beliefs, Mr. Currey somehow pinpointed the Arctic portal at 84.4 degrees north and 41 degrees east, roughly 400 kilometres northwest of Ellesmere Island.
The North Pole inner Earth expedition was scheduled for the summer of 2006, with spaces offered to anyone with US$20,000 to spare.
"There are no guarantees that this expedition will reach inner Earth," Mr. Currey cautioned on his Web site.
"The expedition will make a good-faith effort to locate the North Polar opening and enter therein, but worst-case scenario is that we visit the geographic North Pole, explore the region, and continue on..."
When Mr. Currey died suddenly of brain cancer last summer, Mr. Agnew stepped in to take his place. The trip was postponed to 2008.
While he insists the journey has a genuine scientific purpose, Mr. Agnew also says the expedition will include several experts in meditation, mythology and UFOs, as well as a team of documentary filmmakers.
Randy Freeman, a Yellowknife writer commenting in the current issue of Up Here magazine, warns that "besides heaps of throwaway cash, prospective cruisers should bring along enough gullibility to swallow an outlandish theory that, despite centuries of scorn, refuses to die."
But Mr. Agnew is unfazed by such criticism, promising a grand polar adventure, no matter what the outcome.
If the polar opening isn't there, the voyage "will still make an outstanding documentary," he promises.
"But if we do find something, this will be the greatest geological discovery in the history of the world."
Absolute "fogging iceholes".
Will Geraldo be there?
I don't know...you should ping him, to make sure he knows about it!
One of Rush Limbaugh's fill-ins was complaining last month that the Navy was naming a ship after Richard Byrd, confusing the name with Sen. Robert "Sheets" Byrd.
I would think they'd just use Mel's Hole to save time and money.
By the way....am I the only one that thinks Rick Wakeman music should be playing in the background?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_Centre_of_the_Earth_%28album%29
We certainly did some exploring of our own while listening to this album back in the 70’s.....:<)
Where is that?
The opening is not the path to the middle of the hollow earth! Its the exterior genitalia of mother earth, its her “secret garden”....
Incredible
Didn’t Pat Boone, James Mason, and Arlene Dahl already do this?
Hobbits neither use or understand technology. You're thinking of Kobolds.
Better make sure his cooling system is functional.
This is just a total BS PR stunt.
If they really wanted to do this, they could do it a lot cheaper and easier by using the cavern system’s entrance ramp on/under Mount Shasta.
Those caves interconnect with the dang nigh impossible to find Arctic Opening, cutting at least a week off the trip.
Just make sure you stay in the RIGHT lane at the Third Fork, or you’ll find yourself in the Himalayan Express Cave, and won’t be able to turn around until you get to the Muana Kea Exit.
The only hole is in his head. Does he think that the earth’s core is not flaming hot molten rock, like lava?
Dumb idea.
I wonder if the passenger list includes Pat Boone?
“...(All I know I learned from Edgar Rice Burroughs.)...”
Yep....and H. P. Lovecraft....
Hail Pellucidar!
I see that the group is still with us and is finally going down to find out.
When ever we are faced with a true nutjob we look at each other and say “far below the surface of the earth”.
That is all it takes to produce gales of laughter.
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