The Cash-Landrum Incident: Evidence, Denials and Deductions

Finalized rendering of the Cash-Landrum UFO sighting, December 29th, 1980 View full sized version of rendering here. Illustrative rendering © TheObjectReport.com

They say it takes ten thousand hours to become a true 'expert' in a particular field, which equates to roughly 416 full 24 hour days, well over a year. Do I buy into that concept? Not necessarily, but what I can tell you is that far more than ten thousand hours have been devoted to the study of the Cash-Landrum incident, and we're no closer to any final answer on this particular topic. I thought it might be worth taking a closer look at the facts of the case and perhaps shedding some more light on what is widely considered to be one of the 'Top 10' CE2 UFO cases on record. For those of you who have not heard of this incident I'll give you a brief overview, but there are plenty of resources on the web to read further details about this event. 

A Diamond of Fire

Vickie Landrum, Betty Cash &
Colby Landrum

On the evening of December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Colby Landrum (Vickie's 7 year old grandson) were driving home to Dayton, Texas in Betty's car after eating dinner at a restaurant. At around 9:00 PM, while driving on FM 1485 through dense pine woods the witnesses said they observed a bright light above the treetops. They initially thought the light was an aircraft approaching Houston Intercontinental Airport (now Bush Intercontinental, approximately 36 miles away) and didn't pay much attention to it. A few minutes later on a bend in the road the witnesses saw the same light as they noticed previously, but it was much closer and extremely bright as if the sky itself was on fire. 

Original MUFON drawing based on
eyewitness description

The light, they claimed, emanated from a diamond-shaped object about the size of a water tower which hovered just below treetop level. The base of the craft, which was notched off just like the top, was "belching flames and emitting significant heat." Betty stopped the car to avoid the flames, but the car interior became hot, and they were forced outside where the heat from the object burned their skin. The witnesses, who could feel a burning sensation on their faces, were absolutely terrified and questioned what they were seeing, Vickie was convinced it was the second coming of Christ as she had no belief or interest in extraterrestrials. Betty stepped out of the vehicle to get a closer look, apparently unaware--and unafraid--of the ultimate consequences of her decision. Vickie partially exited the passenger side but had to contend with a terrified Colby who tried wrestling her back into the car. 

Lite-Brite illustration by Colby Lee Landrum, 1981

Though it was intensely bright, the object appeared to be dark and metallic with small blue lights visible around it's middle. Periodically, flames flared out of the bottom accompanied by a "whooshing" sound. Each time the object rose a few feet, only to settle back toward the road when the flames momentarily ceased. Had the UFO not come to rest over the road the cone of fire from its lowest point would have set the forest on fire. Betty later reported that the object also emitted an intermittent bleeping sound, a little known detail of the case. As the UFO ascended and cleared the treeline, Colby counted 23 helicopters converging on the craft, some with military markings, some without markings at all. They would later identify them as twin-rotor CH-47 Chinooks used by the US Army, Marines and Air Force. Betty recalled that "They seemed to rush in from all directions...it seemed like they were trying to encircle the thing." Within a few seconds the UFO had disappeared behind the trees lining the road.

Even though it was a cold winter evening in Texas, the surface of the car was soon too hot to even touch. It was then that they realized how hot the interior of the car had become. They switched off the heater and put on the air conditioner instead.

The Burden of Evidence

This was just the beginning of a months-long ordeal for the trio. Within a matter of hours they were experiencing symptoms of acute radiation sickness; headaches, sunburn, blisters behind their eyelids, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Betty, being the only one who stepped out of the vehicle for any period of time, had the worst symptoms. Over the next few hours Betty's skin turned

Betty's hair loss and a burn mark

red as if badly sun burned. Her neck swelled and blisters erupted and broke on her face, scalp and eyelids. She started to vomit and continued to do so through out the night. By morning she was almost in a coma. Betty's condition continued to deteriorate and three days later she was admitted to hospital. The burns and swelling altered Betty's appearance so radically that a friend who came to visit her in the hospital did not recognize her. Her hair began to fall out and her eyes became so swollen that she was unable to see for a week.

Years later Vickie still had
visible skin problems that
would occasionally appear

Within a few weeks of the encounter the true extent of the physiological effects of this craft on the trio became even more apparent. According to the MUFON report spearheaded by John Schuessler, at that time a NASA aerospace engineer;

Vickie had lost about 30 per cent of her hair, and had large bald patches on her head. When it grew back it was of a different texture. Colby lost only a small patch of hair on the crown of his head, this too grew back in time. Betty's injuries seemed even worse. She experienced a severe sun burn like condition and developed large water blisters, some as large as golf balls, over her face head and neck. One of these covered her right eyelid and extended across her right temple. She also developed a long term aversion to warm water, sunshine or other heat sources. In the year following the encounter she has spent five periods in hospital, two of those in intensive care. She lost over half of the hair on her head and has also had skin eruptions, many as big as a large coin, which leave permanent scars.

Doctors were baffled by these symptoms but speculated that they were caused by some type of radiation, they just weren't sure of the what, how and why of the situation. Nevertheless, Betty was moved into a HAZMAT room in the basement level of the hospital and visits to her were limited until doctors could assess whether she was a danger to others. 

The Mystery Fleet of Chinooks

CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopter

But Betty, Vickie and Colby were not the only witnesses to the strange aerial activity that night. An off duty Dayton policeman and his wife were driving home from Cleveland, Texas through the Huffman area that same night and reportedly observed a large number of CH-47 helicopters. Furthermore, a man living in Crosby, directly under the flight path, reported seeing a large number of heavy military helicopters flying overhead as well. 

 

But it wasn't just a fleet of helicopters that were seen that night. Oilfield worker Jerry McDonald was in his back garden in Dayton when he saw a huge UFO fly directly over his head. At first he thought it was the Goodyear blimp, but quickly realized it was something entirely different. "It was kind of diamond shaped and had two twin torches that were shooting brilliant blue flames out the back", he said. As it passed about 150 feet above him he noted that it had two bright lights on the front of it "like headlights" and a red light in the center. 

Jerry's drawing of the craft

Was this the same craft in question even though his details don't exactly match Betty, Vickie and Colby's description? Either way, we have multiple witnesses corroborating the trio's testimony and this just further supports the fact that something extremely bizarre was going on in the skies above northeast Houston.

So what exactly did everyone see?

Schuessler Investigates

John Schuessler meeting with the trio
during a documentary filming of
the Cash-Landrum incident

Representing MUFON, John Schuessler organized a multidisciplinary team that was able to uncover additional eyewitnesses as well as scorch marks on nearby trees. Even more telling was the discovery that the stretch of highway in question was quickly repaved just days after the event without leaving a paper trail with Montgomery county or the state of Texas. An unnamed witness later came forward via online message board;

In early January of 1981, I was catching a ride from a buddy who lived in Conroe, Texas, and we necessarily traveled that same roadway (FM 1485) on our way to work on the east side of Houston. We usually left well before sunrise to reach our jobsite by 7:00 AM, as the commuter traffic up there around Conroe was legendarily bad. So it was still dark when we hit the road. This would have been shortly after the Cash-Landrum incident transpired, but we didn't know that, as the story had not yet reached the press.

Outside of New Caney, Texas, on a stretch of 1485 that was particularly desolate at the time, we encountered a nondescript sawhorse roadblock and what I supposed was a contract road crew working in the dark, using only a spotlight tree to illuminate what appeared to be some serious road repairs. In fact, we were turned back to New Caney because the entire road was closed.

I thought this was odd because there were no "detour" nor "road closed" nor "men working" warning signs, and it was highly unusual for road repairs to shut down both sides of a thoroughfare. Unless, of course, it was an emergency job. We assumed that a petroleum tanker had crashed and burned, damaging the road and warranting a rush repair.

By the light of our headlights, we could see quite a bit of heavy equipment — a couple of beaten-up and unmarked dump trucks, an unmarked front-end loader, an unmarked road grader, and a couple of other bulky vehicles hidden by the darkness. I guessed that it was a blacktop machine, because we could smell creosote and asphalt in the air. None of the road crew were wearing reflective gear, either, which I thought was pretty peculiar. They were tearing up and laying a new road. In the dark.

Core sample taken from the road

Peculiar indeed. In fact, a History channel episode of UFO Hunters ("Alien Fallout", 2008) focused on this section of roadway and even took a core sample which showed evidence of the pavement being entirely replaced. This is hard evidence of an event happening here that the military wanted to cover up completely. As far as I'm concerned, this is undeniable proof of their acknowledgement of this event! This single piece of evidence alone is enough to shut down any theories of this being an elaborate hoax perpetrated by Betty and Vickie. Yes, believe it or not there are still people who believe that these women somehow put themselves through this physical ordeal for some twisted financial gain. I suppose they hired a road crew to replace an entire section of highway in the middle of the night too?

Deny Everything

Given the women's firm belief that the military was involved, they filed a lawsuit against the US government. This led to a taped interview held at the Bergstom Air Force Base Law Library on August 17th, 1981, between Betty Cash, Vicki Landrum, Colby Landrum and representatives of the United States Air Force, in particular Capt. John Camp. What followed was a detailed account from both women and Colby regarding the incident. You can read the entire transcript here but I just wanted to point out one exchange in particular which I think is very indicative of the USAF's thinking regarding this incident.

Capt. John Camp: OK, Ms. Landrum, what are your hopes or aspirations with coming and talking with us today?

Betty Cash: Well, that's what I'm hoping for, there has to be an answer somewhere, you know?...

Colby Landrum: Right!

Vickie Landrum: ... And what better place is it than a part of the government, because they're supposed to protect us anyway, right? Because my husband went over there and fought for two and a half years... he got two purple hearts out of the deal, and if you're not protected, what did he go over there for?

Capt. John Camp: OK. Alright, now I'll have to confirm what, ah... I think it's...  Representative Williamson said: that since 1969 the Air Force no longer has been made... has been the responsible agency to investigate UFO sightings... some of the history that the Congressman told you is correct... ah... before 1969 there was a Project Bluebook... which Project Bluebook basically was just to keep up with all the sightings...  all incidents where individuals had seen UFOs and what had happened.  In 1969, that was one of the things that Congress said that the Air Force will not do anymore. Then in 1974 - 1975, the President of the United States at that time recommended that NASA, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration see if it would serve any national interest to reopen Project Bluebook with the idea of researching UFOs and occurrences as they happen in the United States.  It was the response back of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that they not reopen Project Bluebook. Now the reason I'm telling you this is that once you tell you me your story today, I am without any power at all to do anything here at this level...

Betty Cash: (agitated) Well now, what can we do?? 

Apparently, nothing. In early 1982 the Air Force stated that none of its helicopters were involved and the department of the Army Inspector General's Office, directed Lt. Col. George Sarran to conduct an investigation. Not even he could challenge the veracity of the victims claims. "Ms. Landrum and Ms. Cash were credible," Sarran wrote in his summary. "The policeman and his wife were also credible witnesses. There was no perception that anyone was trying to exaggerate the truth."

Lt. Col. George Sarran

John Schuessler received a call from Sarran on March 19, 1982, and provided complete cooperation and guidance. He was ultimately unable to trace the helicopters to any Army, National Guard, or Army Reserve unit. The implied scope of the hypothetical Army "exercise" during the normal year-end holiday season "stand-down" period would have required extraordinary logistical support, yet no record could be found that such an operation actually occurred. Furthermore, an investigation by Allan Hendry, who had a brief tenure with CUFOS working with Dr. Hynek, failed to determine the source of the helicopters; no civilian or military airport would admit to any knowledge of them.

Legal attempts to get answers from government agencies ultimately met with failure because it could not be proven that the UFO or the helicopters were US government property. A judge finally dismissed the entire case in 1986 citing expert testimony that no such craft as the reported UFO existed in the military arsenal. Soon after this, the investigation into the case faded into the background. 

So what exactly was this craft and will we ever be able to answer that question?

An Experimental Military Craft?

This still seems to be the most popular theory primarily due to the sheer number of military helicopters seen in close proximity to the craft. Secondarily, people generally seem to assume that since this craft was belching flames and, apparently, high levels of some type of radiation that it must have been something man made. From an Occam's Razor standpoint this would make sense since it seems the most logical conclusion given what we have to work with, but this theory doesn't account for several key facts;

• Brad Sparks, a nuclear radiologist who examined the case for MUFON, determined the type of radiation was NOT ionizing radiation which is the only kind of radiation that causes 'radiation sickness', infrared, microwave and UV radiation as well as visible light radiation do not and cannot cause radiation sickness. If the Cash-Landrum trio had true radiation sickness from ionizing radiation they would have been dead within days or weeks because the onset of symptoms was so rapid (within 1/2 hour) and so severe that as symptoms of supposed ionizing radiation syndrome it indicates a 100% fatal dose. Due to the obvious lack of "systemic involvement" in this case (which would have been 100% fatal if whole-body in nature) there is a possibility this could have been some kind of "radiomimetic" effect, which many chemicals are known to induce (e.g., nitrogen mustards in chemical warfare are radiomimetic). source
• It is a known fact that Betty Cash was isolated to a basement level of the hospital where she was being treated for her injuries within a HAZMAT containment room. All doctors and nurses who were treating her were required to wear the proper hazardous materials protective garb. One of Betty's close friends recounts this often overlooked fact in a History Channel documentary about the case. 
• John Schuessler, lead MUFON investigator on the Cash-Landrum case concluded that the craft "...wasn’t one of ours. We still don’t have the technology to hoist the kind of vehicle the witnesses described, which we estimated was at least 90 feet tall. If it had been a military project, the helicopters would’ve probably been there from the beginning. But everyone who saw them said it looked like they were trying to catch up to it."

Dr. McClelland

The experimental military craft theory was further supported when the UFO Hunters team met up with Dr. McClelland, Betty's original physcian, in 2008 who said there were people "in the know" who had stepped forward and told him that there was an accident with an aircraft called the "W.A.S.P. 2". A quick search shows that this was to be a follow-on to the US Army WASP 1 personal VTOL aircraft, which was nothing even remotely in the same ballpark as what Cash and Landrum witnessed.
 

Sorry Dr. McClelland, but these people who were in the know aren't even close to the truth of the matter.

Nuclear thermal rocket motor design

Could it have been an experimental nuclear-engine powered military craft? It's certainly possible, the military was experimenting with nuclear powered aircraft and cruise missiles as early as the late 50's including Project Timberwind which was aimed at developing nuclear thermal rockets. But all of this research was considered classified and tested exclusively on the Nellis Nuclear Test Range and White Sands missile range, nowhere near Texas. Testing anything that could be potential deadly to civilians due to radiation exhaust or leakage is strictly forbidden. Even flying a nuclear payload across the country in a military aircraft has strict procedures that must be followed. 

So that begs the question, maybe this was some sort accident that took place in a non-nuclear powered craft, one with some other exotic propulsion system, and this non-ionizing radiation was a byproduct of that malfunction? Possibly, but if it were a man made craft the engineers would have already known this was the case and treated it as any other potentially dangerous, radioactive system. Thus, it would have been nowhere near Houston, Texas.

An Actual Alien Craft?

There is always the possibility that it truly was an alien craft, albeit a dangerous one, but an extraterrestrial craft nonetheless. Perhaps the Cash-Landrum trio was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered the unfortunate consequences of that encounter. 

Stephen Michalak exhibiting a grid-like
burn pattern on his abdomen

But this isn't the first time an eyewitness has suffered similar radiological effects from a close encounter of the second kind. Around noon on May 20, 1967, Stephen Michalak, an industrial mechanic from Winnipeg, was doing some amateur prospecting in the Falcon Lake area of Manitoba when he reportedly came into physical contact with a landed UFO. He would later state that he was examining a rock formation when two UFOs appeared before him. One of the UFOs remained airborne in the immediate area for a few moments, then flew off at great speed. The second UFO landed a few hundred feet away from his position. As he approached the UFO, a side door opened and voices were heard coming from within.

Mr. Michalak states he approached the object but was unable to see inside due to a bright yellow bluish light which blocked his vision. He endeavored to communicate with the personnel inside the object [in English, Russian, German, Italian, French and Ukrainian], but without result. As he approached within a few feet of the object, the door closed. He heard a whining noise and the object commenced to rotate anti-clockwise and finally raised off the ground. He reached out with his left gloved hand and touched the object prior to its lifting off the ground; the glove burned immediately as he touched the object.
 

As the object left the ground, the exhaust gases burned his cap, outer and inner garments, and he sustained rather severe stomach and chest burns. As a result of these he was hospitalized for a number of days. The doctors who attended and interviewed Mr. Michalak were unable to obtain any information which could account for the burns to his body. The personal items of clothing which were alleged to have been burnt by the UFO, were subjected to an extensive analysis at the RCMP Crime laboratory. The analysts were unable to reach any conclusion as to what may have caused the burn damage.
 
Soil samples taken by Mr. Michalak from the immediate area occupied by the UFO were analyzed and found to be radioactive to a degree that the samples had to be safely disposed of. An examination of the alleged UFO landing area was made by a radiologist from the Department of Health and Welfare and a small area was found to be radioactive. The Radiologist was unable to provide an explanation as to what caused this area to become contaminated. source

Stephen's burned work glove

The key take-away point from this case was the fact that his glove, outer clothing and inner garments were burned rather severely by the 'exhaust gases' of this craft and left him hospitalized with rather unusual burn marks. 

Again, here we have a case of a craft of unknown origin leaving an eyewitness with physical evidence of an encounter with something that was possibly giving off some type of radiation--13 years prior to the Cash-Landrum incident.

A Malfunctioning Man-Made Probe From the Future?

In line with the theory that some 'aliens' are actually humans from a future timeline that are popping back into our current reality, there has been speculation that this craft might have been 'ours' but not necessarily from now. I realize this might seem far fetched, but not that much more far fetched than the military letting a radiation spewing diamond shaped craft loose over rural Houston, Texas in 1980. 

There is a distinct possibility that this object was transdimensional in origin and the helicopters were scrambled to intercept something that should not have been there at that time. It would make sense that this event came as a surprise to the military based upon the erratic flight patterns of the helicopters and, as the Cash-Landrum trio stated, "the helicopters seemed to try and encircle the object." Clearly they didn't want it to get away from them, whether that was because it was 'ours' or not is still up for debate.

Unfortunately, the military has been (and continues to be) fascinated by the prospect of putting a nearly unlimited nuclear power source into ships, subs and aircraft. Westinghouse water-cooled nuclear reactors are now as small as a compact car, the Russians even put refrigerator-sized nuclear power plants on board military satellites in the late 60's and early 70's. So it would not surprise me if something like this was in fact our idea, but maybe not from our current timeline? 

Keep in mind that the incidents that unfolded just the night before in the Rendlesham Forest accross the pond in England had many similarities to the Cash-Landrum case. James Penniston, one of the MP's sent to investigate the craft in the woods, would later undergo hypnotic regression on September 10th, 1994. Part of that transcript is as follows;

Jim Penniston: They are asking me if I see binary code? I see the binary code. They are time travelers... They are us.

Hypnotherapist: How far in the future?

Jim Penniston: A long time. Very long time.

Hypnotherapist: What do they need?

Jim Penniston: Not sure, but it has to do with chromosomes? Or something like that.

Hypnotherapist: How do they get that?

Jim Penniston: They take it.

Hypnotherapist: From where?

Jim Penniston: From the other people's bodies....They (the time travelers) were interrupted (in Rendlesham Forest). They are having problems...The odds are against them. source

I'll delve further into this next, but I don't think we can rule out this theory any more than we can eliminate any other theory, no matter how incredible it may seem.

The Rendlesham Forest Connection

Jim Penniston's drawing of the Rendlesham "probe"

It is my personal opinion that the Cash-Landrum Incident is related to the events that transpired in the forest adjacent to Rendlesham AFB in England only the night before. How they are related remains to be seen, but the timing of these two events is of absolute importance. When you have two high-profile incidents like these which are backed by such hard evidence and they happen within the same 24-48 hour period, I think we're forced to give the idea of there being a connection some serious consideration.

The Rendlesham case was as detailed and complex as the Cash-Landrum case, if not even more so, and I won't get into all of the details of that here, you can read more about that incident here. However, there are some uncanny similarities between the two events;

• The Rendlesham craft were described as giving off brilliant red light that was almost difficult to look at.
• One of the craft appeared to exude what looked like "dripping molten metal" along with an intermittent red flame.
• Intense heat and verifiable radiological after-effects were associated with both events. 
• The Rendlesham & Cash-Landrum craft all shared design elements that included diamond and pyramid shapes. Perfect geometric shapes seem to be a common denominator among the vast majority of UFO's, especially those associated with dimensional time travel.

Jim Penniston

As I discussed earlier, while under hypnosis Jim Penniston described the alien visitors, saying that they are "travelers from our future." They have been coming here in 'teams' with each team assigned a different 'task,' a different mission. Each team targets certain groups within the populace when it arrives within our timeline, rather than just encountering people randomly. When the psychologist asks him why, Penniston - still under hypnosis - says, "They've got a serious problem. The world isn't like it is now. It's darker, in bad shape. It's very polluted and much colder." He goes on to recount that the visitors from the future also have serious social problems and difficulties with reproduction. Accordingly, one of the travelers' main tasks is to obtain sperm and eggs in order to keep the species alive. The species in question, he says in response to the psychologist's question, is us. "They're humans."

Was this fire and radiation-spewing metallic diamond in Texas connected to the Rendlesham forest incident? Was the military aware of both of these incidents and their connection to each other an ocean apart?

Conclusion

Once every decade or so we are privy to a CE2 UFO case that blows the doors off preconceived notions and what we think a UFO sighting should consist of, the Cash-Landrum case was exactly that. In late December of 1980 we were given the gift of not one but TWO incredible cases separated by 24 hours and nearly 5,000 miles of distance, yet they shared some uncanny similarities. It's only speculation that the two were connected, but if you really look at both cases it's fairly easy to draw some fundamental conclusions:

1. The Cash-Landrum craft was dangerous and exhibited unpredictable behaviour, this could be evidence of AI and/or an RPV that has lost control.
2. The helicopters sent to intercept it were in such numbers that we can conclude this was a non-typical event for the military. There should be a focus on obtaining FOI documentation related to spec-ops missions during that time frame.
3. The incident was a logistical nightmare for the military and it's quite surprising that nothing has bubbled up to the surface from those involved 34 years later. This shows the level of lockdown imposed on all of those that were associated with it.
4. It most certainly was not the second coming of Jesus Christ.

We may never uncover the truth of what this craft was, we just know that it used an unconventional propulsion system which had a long-lasting, negative physiological effect on the eyewitnesses and it forever changed their lives. There was a wealth of data collected over the course of the Cash-Landrum incident and it's resulting fallout on those involved, perhaps there's yet more to decipher from the event.

~ Agent K

Addendum: About the Illustration

After deeply researching this case and all of the eyewitness sketches and illustrations that were made I decided to try and recreate the scene in the most accurate way possible. There was an evolution in the description of the craft that came about over the course of many years, some of that involved the hypnotic regression of Vickie Landrum detailed here. There has been much debate about the 'blue lights' circling the midsection of the craft which Curt Collins further details in his blog post, but based upon my own personal investigation I concluded that the blue lights were most likely present. They might have been difficult to see through the blinding glow of the flame, but Colby recalled them clearly even from inside the vehicle. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to present a version of my recreation without the blue lights...

View full sized version of rendering here. Illustrative rendering © TheObjectReport.com

Other Resources

Much thanks to the following resources for providing crucial information for this article:

• Curt Collins excellent Blue Blurry Lines blog: Resource guide for the Cash-Landrum UFO Case
• The NICAP report on the Cash-Landrum case
• Data from UFOEvidence.org on the case
• The Sturrock Panel Report on physiological effects on eyewitnesses
• Paracast interview with Chris Lambright & Curt Collins
• History Channels UFO Hunters, season 2, episode 8
• The Cash-Landrum Incident, by John F. Schuessler (Author)

_____________________________________________________________________________ Original images and Illustrative Renderings © 2014 TheObjectReport.com | Reposting is allowed so long as a link to the original source is provided.

Some Winter Cleaning

Agent K and I have begun the new year with a bit of winter cleaning inside The Object Report home page. It's not spring yet but we're going to clean out some clutter as we're both sick and tired of cruising the links we have put up on TOR over the years only to be hit in the face by a big steamy pile of nonsense making the rounds on other UFO portals.

We started The Object Report with the goal of putting up only the best news and stories materializing in the digital aether. We are hesitant to post blurry, fuzzy pics of UFOs or jerky night time videos of lights among other things that have begun to clog up the real UFO stories happening around the world. Disappointingly, quite a few major UFO news outlets don't share this filtering philosophy and seem to be more than happy to post anything that resembles a UFO snippet. It is out of control. Just how out of control it has become is most obvious if you look to Third Phase of Moon, which has become known among serious UFO researchers to be pushing obviously fabricated CGI videos. What really incenses us is the lackadaisical attitude that major news outlets have taken toward following up on their sources. Just recently RT news ran a story where they interviewed Paul Hellyer (a true friend of the Ufology community) and showed videos from Third Phase of Moon during the cut sequences! Are you kidding me!? Other sites are brimming with columns of doomsday nonsense, conspiracy stories that don't make any sense once you do ten minutes worth of research and tons of panic-inducing prepper fodder. Many sites seem anxious, no, desperate to keep readers coming to their sites and obviously must feel the need to post anything to keep their columns stocked with eye candy. The field of Ufology is a tough subject to monetize and at some point to be profitable you have to cross that line. Not all profit sites are like this, there are the luminaries out there who set a great example such as Unknown Country, Earthfiles, The Anomalist, Openminds and of course NUFORC among many others.

As many of you know our content doesn't update so quicky we only post stories or leads we find interesting and truly note worthy. We realize that many of you "get" this and we are glad you are along with us for the ride. So, for the next few weeks we will be removing links to what we have deemed as the "worst offenders" (and they know who they are). This of course is behind the scenes stuff and doesnt really mean anything to our readers, but in a small way its an Object Report Mission Statement and we thought we would share this moment with our loyal readers.

For those of you who are regular readers and/or like-minded contributors with your own Ufology websites, we encourage you to link to us from your respective sites. We're all in this together and this relatively small crowd of serious researchers should stick together, big things are on the horizon...

Happy New Year,

Agent K & Agent D

On the Impact of the Coming Disclosure

So here I sit at 37,000 feet breathing recycled air for the ninth time in three months pondering my existence upon this blue sphere and what precisely I am doing here. I've come to two immediate conclusions: the first is that I haven't the foggiest idea and the second is that maybe my purpose is to bring some level of awareness to people about the existence of extraterrestrials and its ultimate impact upon humanity as we know it. Peering out at these crimson tinted cloud tops I imagine a massive UFO silently slipping across the expanse beneath this plane in my minds eye and nobody else on this plane giving even the slightest care in the world about it. I can see the mentally preoccupied CFO in business class catch it out of the corner of his eye and think to himself "that`ll make a great tweet when I land..." Sometimes I wonder if anyone still cares about full disclosure of the ET reality anymore?  

Personally, I would like to believe its still on our collective bucket lists, as a society, but it seems more and more that's no longer the case. Given the choice most people would pick a new iPad over the revelation that we're not alone in the universe. Have we lost the way or have we all just become so complacent that we truly don't care as much as we should about this topic? Mainstream news has denigrated and demeaned the topic of Ufology to the point of being no different than a face eating cannibal in Miami or a water skiing bulldog in Michigan. It's fringe entertainment meant only to be consumed in bite sized increments, listed under the tagline odd news, filler for the gaps between senators tweeting photos of their junk to the world and drunk celebs punching the paparazzi -- you know, the real news.

A number of years ago during a trip to the Galapagos I met an extraordinary individual and we became lifelong friends. He was a retired air force pilot and ex Vietnam POW who spent a number of years in that most famous of all hotels. Once he opened up about his experience I was able to bring up exceedingly more fringe topics with him, including UFOs. When he returned to the US the military basically said to him, you can do whatever you want in the air force, just tell us what that is and we'll make it happen for you.

"I want to work on Project Bluebook." was his answer.

Their response, "Anything but that."

So he became a flight instructor and, just like that, left his curiosity of the whole UFO topic behind him. The way he put it was that you don't ask questions, you don't open that door again because it's closed. Move along, there's nothing to see here. He said the last thing they want is for any of it to really get out of the bag, and what does get out is usually allowed out for some specific reason. He went on to have several incredible UFO-related experiences in his career as a pilot, but I can't go into that here, nor is that the point of this article.

My point here is that full disclosure isn't going to come about without a fight. There will be blood and lives will be destroyed in the process. The powers that be are going to try as hard as possible to keep this knowledge from going public. Why? Because entire industries will collapse when it's ultimately revealed that we don't even need oil or combustion engines, that everything we've built around us is resting on the foundation of a grand deception, the darkest most elaborate lie in the history of humankind. The revelation that we're not alone will be a domino effect that ripples throughout the world. Most people, I feel, will accept if not fully embrace this knowledge with a positive attitude. But for as many positive effects there will be negative as well. Once it truly sinks in that humankind has been lied to for decades, that we do have clean zero point energy, that we do have the power to cure horrible illnesses, that we don't have to be shackled to the hydrocarbons that we're slowly killing our planet with... that's when the bliss of knowing we're not alone in the universe will be replaced with total outrage.

What most people don't realize is that full disclosure will be similar to a worldwide natural calamity. Most people immediately think the first thing to collapse will be organized religion. I think that's short-sighted at best. People will choose to stick to their belief system whether it's challenged by the concept of aliens or not, and even if they don't it doesn't much matter in the grand scheme of things. I think it would be most evident among government scientists and engineers who would have to deal with the fact that their employer has been lying to them and feeding them false data all along. More importantly, the grim revelation that many of their fundamental beliefs in science might be wrong. In 1960 the Brookings Institute study "Implications of a Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life" looked at this very situation.

"It has been speculated that of all groups, scientists and engineers might be the most devastated by the discovery of relatively superior creatures, since these professions are most clearly associated with the mastery of nature, rather than with the understanding and expression of man."

So when you ask yourself why the government is so keen on keeping the lid on this whole topic just think about how many different industries would be affected, think about how many jobs would be impacted, think about the economics of it all. Retooling an economy based almost entirely on oil would be extremely disruptive to society, to say the least. But potentially the biggest problem will be the blowback upon governments of the world by their own populace, the people will demand an explanation for the lies, coverups and ridicule. Once this cat is out of the bag, it opens the door to potential chaos. It truly is Pandora's Box and nothing will ever be the same again.

There will inevitably be a huge shift in credibility, once the government discloses this information they will lose all credibility on the subject after decades of lies. This distrust will become all encompassing and credibility will suddenly shift from the government to the Ufology community. Mainstream media and the public at large will look to the Ufology researchers for straight answers.

Lt. Col. Philip J. Corso

Yet, there has already been disclosure on some levels. Recovered alien technology was what seeded private industry in the decades after Roswell, as Philip Corso lays out in his book The Day After Roswell. It was the catalyst for the technology that is currently integrated into every aspect of our lives right now. As early as the 1960's we had the ability to escape earth's gravity in a craft the size of a fighter jet using electrogravitic technology. In the 1970's and 80's research centers such as Bell Labs and Xerox PARC were busily reverse-engineering recovered 'foreign technology' and functional computational linguistics which led to massive leaps in technology. In the 1990's and 2000's the focus was on miniaturization of components and exceedingly fast computer components, stealth technologies and UAV's.  

Don Phillips, Lockheed (ret)

Don Phillips (Contractor, USAF, CIA, Lockheed Skunkworks) testified on record about his direct involvement with 'extraterrestrial devices.' I won't go into detail here but it's well worth watching his entire testimony. Don's boss, Ben Rich, was famously quoted as saying, "We already have the means to travel among the stars, but these technologies are locked up in black projects and it would take an Act of God to ever get them out to benefit humanity. Anything you can imagine, we already know how to do." For the benefit of humanity, that's the key phrase here. Rich even went as far to say that ESP is part of the key to interstellar travel. So there's simply no question that our current level of technology in 2014 is far beyond what any of us can possibly fathom. There are military craft that are mistaken for UFO's, and vice-versa. The state-of-the-art has likely reached the point where one is indistinguishable from the other.

But that certainly doesn't mean the military went Full Monty with the recovered alien technology they had in their possession either. The truly earth-shattering stuff--like propulsion systems, weapons and medical scanners--were kept safely in the hands of the government and placed into compartmentalized special access programs, presumably for eternity. Sure, they let specific things like transistors, fiber optics and night vision escape into the private sector, but that was all intentional, it was all part of a larger plan under their tight control. It's what they have right now which they're never going to share with us that could irrevocably change the entire planet.

Imagine a world where we could mothball every nuclear power plant, oil refinery and coal fired facility on the planet in a handful of years because our new alternative energy source is free, clean and harmless? Imagine never having to drill for oil in the ocean again! It might not be a stretch of the imagination for our open-minded readers, but Wall Street might have a decidedly less positive reaction. Remember that ripple effect I was talking about, well it applies triple in the case of economics. Regardless of whether or not Paul Krugman thinks an alien invasion would fix the economy, it doesn't take into account the fact that we already have the technology to provide endless renewable power for entire cities thanks to this perceived 'alien threat.' It's a typical human approach to assume that the only way to boost a failing economy is through conflict and the manufacture of weapons to fuel it. Let's face it, if the visitors wanted to invade this planet, we'd already be done for by now. It's not at all about invasion, it's about our own government(s) withholding world altering technology that could benefit everyone, and it's happening right now as I type this.

What full disclosure really means is the end to a way of thinking about everything, not just our place in the universe but how we perceive everything we have created as a society thus far. The ramifications are wide ranging and will touch every aspect of our lives. It's a game changer of epic proportions and our government will continue to spend billions of dollars to make sure everything remains copacetic. Don't ask questions, don't open that door... just go about your lives working, paying the mortgage and filling up your car with petrol. To the powers that be the very concept of the existence of alien life, much less the reverse-engineering of alien technology, shouldn't even be occupying a thought process in our brains. Nothing to see here folks, move along...

So here I sit, still at 37,000 feet, still breathing recycled air aboard a pressurized metal tube burning hydrocarbon based fuel to fly and pondering my existence upon this blue sphere. I've come to two new conclusions: the first is that my purpose is to bring some level of awareness to people about the existence of extraterrestrials and its ultimate impact upon humanity as we know it. The second is that full disclosure is not going to be a basket of kittens. It's going to be a messy, chaotic and quite possibly terrifying experience for everyone. Everything we know will change on a fundamental level overnight and we will all be forced to accept the negative effects along with the ultimately positive outcome.

Full disclosure of the ET reality is going to happen in our lifetime and we're all going to have a front row seat as we hit this crossroads in our evolution as a species. Each of us needs to be prepared for it mentally, emotionally and spiritually so keep your minds and hearts open and always remain positive.

Agent K

The Dirty Word of Ufology

One of the problems with our perception of contact is that most of us are too fixated with the mystery and the unknown - the curious lights in the sky and scary tales of abductions and missing time. Lately I have begun to change my observational habits, spending less time looking "out there" and spending more time thinking how the ETs or Visitors see us. How do we appear in their eyes? We are quantum minds residing temporarily within a chemical body - your mind or consciousness is a piece of what we know of as God. Religion and power hungry folks over time have succeeded in creating and promoting an illusion that insists we humble ourselves, prostrate our selves in worship and hope a nugget is tossed our way by the unseen gods - but in fact you ARE the universal consciousness. It's time to end the illusion and time to focus on worshiping yourself. We have an out-dated, archaic, warped society and most of us have been bombarded, if not brainwashed into thinking we are worthless, lowly creatures and the UFO visitors will present a glorious, holy, impossible, singular moment of crispy, golden contact in 3D and HD.

In fact people have been speaking to and interacting with these "aliens" for quite some time. The Visitors/Aliens/Universe that are involved in making contact with us Earthlings are part of a confederation, part of the infinite matrix or multiverse and they've been around for a while and they know how contact needs to be rolled out. Contact is a long, evolving process and it must be so in order that we as a whole can adjust to the information and frequency of Universal level interaction. Here's the secret, the trick - are you ready? The aliens are not coming toward us - we must move toward them. It's that simple. This is why for most of us we only get a drip of evidence, one little drop at a time - just enough to get the attention of the curious and open-minded. The drips are minuscule and perfectly elusive, but enough to get us to turn our heads into their direction and to get the gears in our quantum mind turning.

Contact primarily takes place in the mind, just as any conversation during your day. The Visitors have been putting out information for decades, but most of us just haven't looked down to see it in plain sight, myself included. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" and likewise the Visitors, to some degree, expect us to figure certain things out on our own, or simply continue to evolve until we are ready. Agent K and I have been coming across incredible material lately and we have been timid to post this material on TOR or the Blog for fear that it's just too over the top but I don't believe we would be doing the best job as Object Reporters if we did not share the information with all. I also feel strongly that this contact process is evolving and if we don't pump up the volume on The Object Report Blog then some people are going to miss a potential short cut to the important bits.

So, let's crack out the dirty word and get it over with. "Channeling"... there... I fucking said it. For those of you who are repulsed by the notion of channeling, believe me I'm in the same corner with you. Channeling is right there along side accidentally seeing a grandparent naked or Richard Simmons with his curly, sweaty hair prancing around in leg warmers and/or some late night 1-800-dial-psychic infomercial. If you mentioned channeling to me a few years ago I would have scoffed - but not now. I've had two distinct paranormal encounters in my life and I know beyond a doubt there are ghosts milling around which means there is life after death - something beyond. It's obvious at this point, a soul or quantum, non-local mind exists and we just don't know exactly how this works - specifically what I'm saying is that we don't know what the limitations or parameters are for this quantum mind. I have seen three, clear as day UFOs moving about, I've had encounters with one pissed off ghost and the ghost of a dead neighbor and one remote viewing episode -  so I can say without a doubt something "beyond" is all around us, unseen but nevertheless there. Ascending into a higher quantum level (less linear) where the Visitors reside is not hard stuff and apparently involves no real work, certainly nothing physical to do. It all boils down to information and focus, with the emphasis on focus. How could it be so simple? I think the answer itself is simple.

If you zoom in on a typical atom and keep zooming down to the level of the atom, continuing down to the level of the quarks that make up the protons and electrons zooming down to the quantum level - everything is just waves. There is nothing else in the universe other than vibrating waves. Solid objects are an illusion. As an example lets zoom in on a proton, at left, from some of the water from your drink this morning.

The image at right is a quantum-level zoomed in view of an electron from a neuron in your brain forming a thought as you read this sentence. The point is that everything in the Universe is made of vibrating waves, nothing more. An electron in your water or an electrical impulse in a neuron in your head - its all the same thing - vibrating waves. The concept I wish to get across is that our focus, our passion, driving thoughts - are nothing more than vibrations in the quantum matrix. Everything is just vibrations at the fundamental level - and so there is no real work or physical effort involved in becoming a more conscious being and raising your overall vibration in order to perceive beings in other dimensions, UFOs, ghosts, etc. Simply because you're already on automatic pilot, one is already vibration energy. The ONLY thing that has ever been missing in your efforts is focus. My wife and I call this the "mushroom effect" as one year in particular whilst driving we noticed a lot of people scurrying to and fro, in and out of the woods all around town with little wicker baskets like something out of an M. Night Shyamalan flick. "What the hell are they doing?" we wondered for weeks on end then one day spotted one of the basket people not too deep in the woods and slowed the car enough to notice they were picking mushrooms. We had never noticed all these mushrooms around before, never gave it a thought - but after the basket people revelation we began to notice these particular, edible mushrooms were everywhere. Once our focus switched on, narrowed down and locked on - we saw those mushrooms everywhere, literally. 

So, with the notion that the inevitable bridge to the Visitors can be crossed - the wormhole traversed simply through the focus of your attention - here is the link to Ra and the "Law of One" http://www.lawofone.info

Obviously at some point the Visitors/Aliens need to make themselves accessible to such a degree that doubt is taken out of the equation, out of our heads. We need some level of mass physical interaction on the part of the Visitors or all of this would remain speculative, philosophical and perhaps even become fatiguing. The good news is that the Phoenix Lights over Arizona was apparently a dry run on the part of the Visitors to test the waters. We should expect more sightings of this magnitude and more open revelation of their existence. In the meantime, I'm quite convinced they are broadcasting various pre-contact concepts and suggestions in order that the more adept will be better prepared mentally, having taken certain high level concepts to heart in anticipation of something extraordinary.

http://www.unknowncountry.com/insight/phoenix-lights-flare-theory-finally-extinguished-lynne-d-kitei-md

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS1fusC7MtI

- Agent D

Through the Looking Glass: Faster Than Light Explained?

We recently posted on The Object Report a link to a UFOTV presentation about The Scole Experiment which took place in the 1990's in Scole, Norfolk in Great Britain. If you have not already watched that video on Youtube here is the link: Scole Experiments. There is an official Scole website online as well.

The Scole Experiment covered multiple events and techniques which allowed other dimensions and beings to communicate with us on Earth via images, sound and material manifestation and all of them are incredible and apparently authentic. There's no reason to go into the evidence in detail as it is readily available on the web. In this Special Report the focus is on one particular experiment set up by the Scole group that kept me thinking and might just contain valuable insight and revelation. In "Project Alice" a Sony camcorder using Hi8 magnetic film cassettes was set up in such a way using two mirrors so that the camcorder could only record its own view finder.

In short, this created a feedback loop and it is within this feedback loop that something beyond our physical constant was able to inject what I believe might be a faster than light signal. This feedback reflection technology has been known since Plato's time, but now with advancements in technology and electronics, we have the luxury of witnessing this phenomenon with our eyes via the Web and I believe it reveals not only the paranormal to us but also reveals some sort of extra dimensional quantum FTL principle we can actually begin to understand with our 3D monkey brains.

Many of us have stood in front of a dressing mirror which has a mirror directly behind it, seeing within the mirror an infinite reflection that repeats into a distant, dim fade off. This is the same concept with the Sony camcorder filming its own viewfinder - this rig, or setup is a visual recording of a feedback loop. What the Project Alice set up is NOT is an ordinary mode of filming. Ordinarily when one looks at a strip of 35mm film, such as that used to shoot Hollywood films, we see clearly the camera records 24 individual frames per second. This is basically an ordered sequence of discreet snap shots simply viewed one after another. Through linear film we will only, can only see linear information and we can take this one level further in reasoning and say in our vibrational constant we will only see things that exist wholly within our constant.

In essence for any Faster Than Light signal to be perceived at our resonance level, the feedback loop zone of the camcorder acts as a delay amplifier, allowing the signal to gradually vibrate slower and thus interact with the electrons in our Universe. Do keep in mind when we talk about faster than light in this context, we are not talking about moving through space or accelerating - we are looking at a pure data signal coming from a source in another universe or reality that simply has its own constant. What separates the constant of one Universe from another Universe? This is not known, but it likely falls under the concept of a Higgs field or the notion that the Multiverse is a gigantic (if not infinite) spherical fractal, within which exist discreet planes of matter, like layers of an onion. Crop circles seem to suggest the notion of a fractal Multiverse.

There were several other Scole experiments which yielded visual and auditory results that did not involve an amplifier device, such as the role of 35mm camera film that contained apparently hand written text and drawings. This suggests that there are other means of receiving an FTL signal or it could suggest the beings on the other side have their own equipment or technology or that this spiritual realm is not a faster than light realm. If we live in a Multiverse, then there would exist worlds within other Universes that vibrate more slowly than we do. However, experiencers who have had interaction with higher beings provide evidence that the "All" or radiant source of all that is, indeed has other dimensions which vibrate at a higher frequency than our constant.

Could it be so simple? Scientists tend to get touchy when someone suggests a faster than light possibility but we must keep in mind serious discussion is already being given to the notion of faster than light travel involving the warping of the space-time fabric. Einstein's "Spooky Interaction at a Distance" has already been repeated many times over in several labs, suggesting information can be transmitted instantly across any distance. Now we can add the mental image of this Project Alice feedback loop amplifier to the spinning plates in our heads, along side the warp engine and spooky interaction teleportation.

Lastly, here is an incredible conversation on this topic in much greater depth in a Coast to Coast AM show with Joshua P. Warren who does a superb job of explaining all of this.

Mirror Gazing on Coast to Coast AM

More on the electron: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron.

Matter is a wave: Gabriel LaFreniere

Speed of Light: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_light

Official Scole Website: http://www.thescoleexperiment.com

Well written review of Scole: http://www.redicecreations.com/specialreports/2005/12dec/scolehole.html

Agent D

Mysterious Engineering of Machu Picchu: A Personal Account

Panoramic photo of Machu Picchu | View larger image here

Having traveled around the world and been to about a dozen UNESCO world heritage sites including Skara Brae, Skellig Michael and Chaco Canyon, Machu Picchu has always been at the very top of my list, both as a proponent of the Ancient Astronaut theory and on a personal level. I recently had the opportunity to travel to Peru for nine days, three of which were immersed fully in the Machu Picchu site and surrounding archeological areas--most importantly Huayna Picchu which is the mountain peak that looms in the background of every famous photo of the Machu Picchu ruins (I'll get to that later). Everyone knows of the city in the clouds or the "Lost City of the Incas" as some historians have dubbed it, but you cannot fully appreciate the magnitude of the engineering that went into the construction until you are actually there on-site studying the stonework in detail, up close and personal.

Just getting to the site is an adventure. As you round the 14th switchback on a dirt road in a bus too wide for said road it becomes quickly apparent that this is no easy place to reach. I would have hiked to the top, but the weather wasn't cooperating and I simply wasn't up to the task of lugging 40 pounds of camera equipment up 1,500 meters of slippery steps. Once you get past the crowds of tourists and guided tour groups you're able to spend some quiet time relatively alone in the site. I hit it at the very end of the rainy season which is just prior to the beginning of the major tourist influx. It was definitely a sweet spot and I reaped the benefit of staying in nearby Aguas Caliente for two nights to account for any inclement weather.

You couldn't fit a razor blade
between these stones

The first thing I was awestruck by was the sheer size of the site. It's far more expansive and spread out than you are led to believe in books and articles you can find online. Even with my 11mm ultra wide angle lens it was difficult to capture it all in a single frame. Some of the terraces extend for 1,000 meters both up and down the mountain slope. But even more surprising is the fact that 70% of the site has still yet to be excavated and explored. The vastness of this Incan wonder goes far beyond what we can see today. Looking out over the surrounding mountain peaks you can see areas of jungle that suddenly jut upward from the mountain side suggesting the presence of as yet undiscovered structures. Machu Picchu was found, but it's whathasn't been found that could be even more interesting.

Every stone interlocked with eachother. The gaps seen
in some areas were caused by earthquakes.

 

The second thing that hits you like a truck is the sheer size of the stones and the distance up the mountain that they were transported. The local guides and Inca historians will tell you this was all completed with ramps, logs and well coordinated human muscle power. The stone was transported from a quarry kilometers away and then somehow moved up 2,430 meters of near vertical jungle-covered mountain side in the rain while coping with frequent earthquakes, in 80 degree heat and 80% humidity... 560 years ago... with crude tools and rope made from jungle vines. Okay, so I might be inclined to believe this generally accepted theory purely from an Occam's Razor perspective. There's no evidence to suggest that there was any other novel method used to construct the site, so the most obvious explanation is probably the correct one. 

The angle of the stone was intentional,
it helped prevent collapse during
frequent earthquakes. This photo is
actually of an Inca structure in Cusco
not Machu Picchu, but the method
and architecture is identical.

Of course, whatever evidence that may exist to the contrary is locked up in the Peabody Museum at Yale University in the United States. Not Peru, mind you, Yale. For the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu by Hyram Bingham, Yale University so graciously loaned the country of origin a few artifacts from it's collection to be temporarily displayed for the year. I think that's bullshit and therefore have a beef with the Peabody. Many historians have since dismissed claims that Bingham, an American explorer often cited as one of the inspirations for the character Indiana Jones, discovered Machu Picchu. But it's now widely accepted that a Peruvian got there before him and a German named Augusto Berns may have looted the site in the late 19th century long before Bingham's arrival. There is some evidence that a German engineer, J. M. von Hassel, arrived even earlier than that. Maps found by historians show references to Machu Picchu as early as 1874. Regardless, Bingham is still credited with bringing the archaeological wonder to the attention of the world and the Peruvian government tried to sidestep the controversy by deciding to celebrate "100 years of Machu Picchu in the world".

That said, there is no permanent and comprehensive collection of original artifacts from the site on display in Peru, and with no written Incan language (only the dying spoken language called Ketchua), that means there is no way to determine indefinitely how the site was constructed. It's all just speculation mixed with some logical deduction at this point and the Peruvian guides and scholars will tell you exactly that. When I questioned my own guide about the actual process involved with the stacking of the stone blocks--some of them up to 50 tons--she always started her answer with "What we think is..." 

Overview of Machu Picchu | View larger image here

The bottom line is that we still don't really know the how, what and why of Machu Picchu. I'm sure I'll catch some flack from a diehard Inca historian about this statement and I welcome the input because I've yet to see a theory that takes into account every environmental factor. The Incas never used the wheel in any practical manner. Its use in toy artifacts demonstrates that the principle was well-known to them, although it was not applied in their engineering. The lack of strong draft animals, as well as steep terrain and dense vegetation issues, may have rendered the wheel impractical. How they moved and placed the enormous blocks of stones remains a mystery, although the general belief is that they used hundreds--possibly thousands--of people to push the stones up inclined planes. A few of the stones still have knobs on them that could have been used to lever them into position. It is generally believed that after the stones were placed the Incas would have sanded the knobs away, but a few were overlooked. Either way, let's say I approached a modern day engineering and architectural firm and outlined exactly what I wanted them to create for me--a city perched atop an 8,000 foot mountain peak in the jungle completely removed from any and all infrastructure and comprised of tens of thousands of stone blocks excavated from a quarry kilometers away. Once they stopped laughing hysterically, they would quote me an astronomical monetary figure followed by a nearly insurmountable logistical nightmare involving thousands of helicopter flights and a series of on-site crane assemblies that would rival even the most ambitious mega-construction project today. It would make no sense today just as it would make no sense in 1450.

But let's back up for a moment, I don't want to get ahead of myself here because what most people aren't aware of is an even more incredible site called Huanya Picchu which overlooks Machu Picchu from 360 meters above. This is where, according to the historians, the high priests resided along with the virgins and they would hike down from the mountain peak each morning to announce the coming of the new day. I hiked to the top of this, and I can tell you it was by far the most treacherous and insane hike I've ever made in my time on this planet. The fact that there were structures made of solid stone weighing several tons at the top of this peak, which was FAR less accessible than Machu Picchu itself, makes you wonder how and why this site could even exist in the first place.

View from the top of Huanya Picchu--you can see the switchback road to the left of MP.
It took two hours and an iron will to reach the top.

Ultimately, Machu Picchu generates more questions than answers. Why were there no 50 ton stone blocks ever found in the river at the base of the mountain? Surely they would have lost a stone or two during the construction process? Vines would have snapped, and a block would have tumbled down the steep cliff landing in or next to the river below. Would they have recovered that lost block and still used it in construction? Perhaps. The simple fact remains that we still don't know so much about the site.

Nova recently produced a documentary called "Ghosts of Machu Picchu" which explored some of these unanswered questions, I recommend checking it out. After the episode was aired Nova had a Q & A session with one of the contributors to the program, architect and archeologist Vince R. Lee. As evidenced by his answers, unknowns still abound at this site. Here are just a few questions regarding transport of the stone blocks, you can see all of the questions and answers here.

Question: Did you give any thought to the way the Incas originally carried the stone before bringing it to the building site? If they were able to break up a very large stone into building block size and keep a record of the original sequence of breakage and then reconstitute that order at the building site they could save a great deal of work in reshaping, since the blocks they were putting together had originally fit together in the first place, and a minimum of polishing would be required. ~Barry

Answer: This is an intriguing idea which has occurred to a number of us researching this question. However, in almost every case we know of, the quarries of the Incas were simply large boulder fields where loose rock had fallen from mountain faces and were chosen for their quality and their shape, rough shape and then dragged down to the building site for finishing. There is one exception to this that I'm aware of, and it is at the site of Sillustani, near the shores of Lake Titicaca in Peru where a stone is actually being chopped out of live rock in the same manner in which the Egyptians, for example, quarried their rocks. So the Incas were apparently aware of and used this method but it is very, very rare.

Question: Is it possible the Incas could have moved the stone blocks by rolling them over lengths of cordage placed across the route? ~Peg

Answer: I'm not sure what the questioner means by "cordage," although the answer to the general question of how the Incas moved large rocks through the countryside is still under study. We do not have in most cases very clear roadways to indicate the method that was used to transport the stones. We often find ramps in and around the ruin sites themselves, but out in the countryside we find very little evidence of any particular route which we believe was used to move stones, and therefore we really have very little evidence of how it was done.

Having experienced Machu Picchu first hand and climbed to the top of Huayna Picchu, I can assure you that we're no closer to answering any of these questions. Researchers, archeologists and engineers continue to marvel at this newly named 'wonder of the world' and I have a feeling Machu Picchu will continue to keep it's secrets hidden. 

For more insight into this enigma, check out "Machu Picchu's Mysteries Continue to Lure Explorers" on the National Geographic website as well as NOVA's interview with Ken Wright, a civil engineer currently studying the site.

Agent K