MORMONS IN PELLUCIDAR!?
"A belief that the Earth is hollow and inhabited within has caused a Provo, Utah man to plan an expedition
to the North Pole and possibly to the Earth's interior."
"Steve Currey runs an expedition company in Provo (population 105,166). For over 40 years, he has organized fly-fishing, kayaking, river-rafting and trekking trips around the world. Many locations of his trips are exotic and fascinating, but his next destination is something way out of the ordinary."
"Currey was contacted by Rodney Cluff, author of World Top Secret: Our Earth Is Hollow, to organize an expedition to the interior of the Earth. In his book, Cluff explains the theory of the hollow Earth."
"There is no guarantee the expedition will find anything, but, if nothing else, the people will get to go to the North Pole and the Siberian islands, Currey said."
"Currey has chartered a nuclear icebreaker with the capacity for 108 passengers for the purpose of taking a group to find the polar opening."
"The expedition is scheduled for June 26 to July 19, 2005."
"Currey said people from all over the world have expressed interest in going on the expedition."
"'I am getting three to four calls a day about it,' Currey said."
"Passengers will have to come up with the funds to pay for the expedition. Costs range from $18,950 to $20,950 per person."
"According to a survey by LDS author R. Clayton Brough, four percent of the LDS population believes in the hollow Earth theory and that it is a probable explanation for the location of the Ten Lost Tribes."
(Editor's Note: LDS stands for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, which was founded in upstate New York in 1830. Church members are often called Mormons after the denomination's scripture, The Book of Mormon. In 1847, Mormon prophet Brigham Young led his co- religionists in an epic trek across the USA, from Iowa to the Rocky Mountains, where they founded Salt Lake City.)
"Cluff has been investigating the theory for years."
"'I firmly believe there is a substantial amount of scientific, historical and scriptural evidence to support the theory,' he said."
"The expedition will go to the North Pole in search of the polar opening, which Cluff said he believes is marked by land about five degrees from the pole."
"Past explorers and indigenous Eskimos (real name: Inuit--J.T.) have reported seeing a mirage of land in that vicinity."
(Editor's Note: For more on polar mirages, see The Complete Books of Charles Fort, Dover Publications Inc., New York, N.Y., 1974, pages 391, 421 and 444.)
"According to Cluff, there are people in the government who are aware of the opening to the Inner Earth but who have tried to keep this knowledge from the public. 'We have indications that the U.S. military does know about it,' he said." "Discovering the Inner Earth will set off a new age and a revolution in education and all aspects of society, Cluff said."
(Editor's Note: Between 1912 and 1944, author Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote eight novels about the Inner Earth, which he called Pellucidar. The stories chronicle the adventures of David Innes, "the Pride of Willimantic, Connecticut," and his eccentric scientist partner, Dr. Abner Perry, who invented the world's first subterrene, which he called "the Iron Mole.")
"'We believe that in this expedition, we, the people, have a right to know,' he said."
"Cluff said he has written about religious beliefs that he expects to be proven when he goes on the expedition. One of the beliefs is that the Inner Earth is inhabited by the throne of King David from the Bible and that the political Kingdom of God is located there. He also believes that the Lost Garden of Eden is in the hollowed Earth, and its inhabitants are friendly, highly civilized and members of the Ten Lost Tribes."
(Editor's Comment: ERB might give him an argument about that. Burroughs claimed that Pellucidar was full of fierce dinosaurs, knuckle-dragging prehistoric hominids, noble Cro-Magnons and gorgeous cavegirl princesses with buffer bods than Cameron Diaz and Beyonce Knowles.)
"Cluff also said the inner sun, which is located in the (skies of the) Inner Earth, is the throne of Jehovah and a paradise for the dead."
"Other beliefs he said he hopes to prove include that UFOs originate in the Inner Earth, and the solar wind and the inner sun cause the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis-- J.T.)
(Editor's Note: Prominent British ufologist Brinsley le Poer Trench, a.k.a. Lord Clancarty, also believed that UFOs came from inside the Earth.)
"The only other record that exists of any sort of expedition to the Inner Earth is from explorer Admiral Byrd. According to the belief, Admiral Byrd flew through the Inner Earth" via an opening at the South Pole during Operation High Jump "in 1947." (See the Brigham Young University NewsNet for November 11, 2003. Many thanks to Michael Strainic for this news story.)
