The mystery of the ?Hollow Earth? theory!

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Qbone
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This intriguing question has attracted the attention of free thinkers, scientists and a wide assortment of crackpots back through the ages.

Plato wrote of enormous subterranean tunnels both broad and narrow that made up the earth's interior. Dr. Edmond Halley, of comet fame, believed that all heavenly bodies were hollow and in a speech before the members of the Royal Society of London stated "Beneath the crust of the Earth, which is 500 feet thick, is a hollow void". Then there was Leonard Euler (1707-1783), noted mathematician and one of the founders of higher mathematics. He stated that "mathematically the Earth has to be hollow". He also believed there was a centre sun inside the Earth's interior, which provided daylight to a splendid subterranean civilization.

Next were Captain John Cleves Symmes, a war hero of the War of 1812. Once his studies led him to believe in a Hollow Earth, he used his knowledge to convince James McBride, a Miami Ohio millionaire. Mr. McBride used his political connections to Rep. Richard M. Johnson 🍹 of Kentucky [later vice-president under Van Buren 1837-18411] to petition congress to finance an expedition to claim the lands inside the earth for the U.S. The petition, by a vote of 56-46 was tabled.

The Hollow Earth was next theorized by William Reed in his 1906 book "The Phantom of The Poles". Based on his studies of early Arctic explorations and scientific evidence, he states that the Earth is not solid as widely believed, but hollow with openings at both ends. In the summary of his revolutionary theory, Reed states "The Earth is hollow. The Poles, so long sought, are phantoms. There are openings at the northern and southern extremities. In the interior are vast continents, oceans, mountains and rivers. Vegetable and animal life are evident in this New World and it is probably peopled by races unknown to dwellers on the Earth's surface"

Marshall B. Gardner reached the same conclusions after 20 years of research and published his finding in "A Journey to the Earth's Interior, or, Have the Poles Really Been Discovered?" in 1913, revised 1920. He was unaware of Reed or his theory at the time. Mr. Gardner puts forth the argument that neither Cook nor Peary reached the True North Pole since, according to the theory, it does not exist. Mr. Gardner states "Scientific societies that considered Cook's and Peary's claims concluded that in neither case could it be said authoritatively that the explorer had reached the pole".

This controversy still exists today.

Science fiction writers have had a field day with the theory. Jules Verne's "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", Edgar Rice Borrough's "Tarzan at the Earth's Core" and scores of other authors have let their talents run wild in the Inner World. Grade-B film makers know a good theme when they find one also.

Then there are those people who claim to have visited the interior of our planet. Olaf Janson's "The Smoky God"" is one such story that comes to mind.
Another is "EDIDORPHA or The End of the Earth" by John Uri Lloyd published in 1895.

Ray Palmer was one of the first researchers and reporters on the UFO scene during the 50s and 60s. In his ground breaking publications "Flying Saucers" and "Search Magazine", he speculated that, because UFOs have been seen in earth's sky throughout history , they may very well be from our earth, in fact, evidence seemed to indicate that UFOs could very well come from a subterranean world inside our earth.

Then on the cover of "Flying Saucers" magazine issue #69 - June 1970 and in issue #92 of "Search Magazine" published in July of 1970, the late Mr. Palmer published a photo that is still a controversy. Excerpts from his Editorial in the above mentioned "Flying Saucers" magazine tell it best;

"On the cover this month we reproduce the most remarkable photo ever made.
It was taken by the ESSA-7 satell