De oer oude grotten van Juan Moricz en de afgang:von Daniken

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Oeroude ondergrondse tunnel-complexen: van Ecuador tot aan Peru

We mogen ons nogmaals afvragen; zouden de steden waar Kolonel Fawcett (de gouden stad) over sprak, of de steden die Tatunca Nara noemde bestaan? Zou het verhaal over de ondergrondse tunnelcomplexen die de vele steden met elkaar in verbinding zouden stellen en waar dergelijke indianen nog steeds gebruik van zouden maken (en zouden verdedigen), op waarheid berust zijn? Zoals gezegd, is het een zeer lang en gedetailleerd verhaal dat hij in twee weken tijd aan Karl Brugger vertelde. En dat is niet niks. We mogen zelfs stellen, dat niemand een expeditie (ook niet met Tatunca Nara als 'gids') zou ondernemen wanneer het om een 'gewone oude stad met een paar tunnels' zou gaan, waar wellicht nog wat indianen zouden wonen.

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Toch is het verhaal over de tunnelcomplexen zeer interessant. Want dit soort tunnelstelsels bestaan namelijk echt. Erich von Däniken vertelde in 1973 in zijn boek 'Het Goud der Goden', dat hij ter plaatse foto's had gemaakt van een enorm tunnelcomplex in Ecuador. Hij vertelde dat de Hongaarse Argentijn Juan Moricz, dit gangenstelsel vond en er via een notariële akte in 1969 eigenaar van werd. Dit klopt als een bus. Dit is middels akte en handtekeningen gedocumenteerd. Moricz ontmoette in 1972 Erich von Däniken en nam hem mee naar de plaats waar hij een rondleiding kreeg. Dit werd wonderlijk genoeg naderhand door Moricz zelf, tegenover de Duitse pers ontkend toen zij hier naar vroegen (hier zodadelijk meer over - want Erich von Däniken moet daar weldegelijk geweest zijn!). Erich von Däniken schreef in zijn boek vol lof over het enorm grote gangenstelsel;

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von Däniken schreef hierover:
"Voor mij is het het ongelofelijkste, onwaarschijnlijkste verhaal van de eeuw. Het zou een science-fiction-story kunnen zijn, als ik het niet zelf gezien en gefotografeerd had. Ik heb het met eigen ogen gezien. Het is droom noch fantasie, het is realiteit. Onder het Zuidamerikaanse continent ligt een reusachtig door wie en wanneer dan ook aangelegd tunnelsysteem. Het ligt heel diep onder de aarde en is meerdere duizenden kilometers lang. In Peru en Ecuador werden honderden kilometers betreden en uitgemeten. En dat is nog maar het begin van iets waar de wereld niets van afweet."

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Daarna liepen ze door naar een prachtige reusachtige zaal waarvan het grondoppervlak 110 bij 130 meter meet. Midden in de zaal staat een tafel met 'zeven stoelen'. Deze stoelen zijn niet van steen of hout. Ze voelen niet als steen aan, zo zegt Moricz. Ze voelen aan als 'zelf getempereerde kunststof' zo zei hij. Ook de metalen bibliotheek bevind zich in deze grote zaal. Het bestaat gedeeltelijk uit metalen platen en gedeeltelijk uit metalen bladen, die maar enkele millimeters dun zijn. Deze staan als 'gebonden bladen van reusachtige folianten naast elkaar.' Daarbij blijkt elk blad beschreven te zijn in een vreemd schrift, draagt stempels en is 'gelijkmatig als met een machine bedrukt.' Erich von Däniken vertelde dat Moricz in die tijd nog niet in staat was geweest om het aantal 'bladzijden' van zijn metalen bibliotheek te tellen, maar hij schatte ze op een paar duizend. Wie deze bibliotheek heeft geschapen, dat blijft een raadsel. Deze grote onbekende en zijn helpers beheersten niet alleen de techniek om metaalbladen in zo'n veelvoud naar maat te kunnen maken, maar zij kenden ook lettertekens waarmee zij mensen in een verre toekomst iets belangrijks wilden vertellen, zo concludeerde von Däniken. Verder vertelde hij, dat de muren en gangen van het tunnelsysteem kaal zijn. Er staan geen reliëfs op of muurschilderingen. 'In plaats daarvan zijn hier zoveel stenen figuren dat je er bij iedere voetstap over struikelt' zo constateerde hij. Ook is er een stenen plaat, waar een figuur van een dinosaurus in is gegraveerd.

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Een aantal zeer interessante foto's van de binnenkant van de ruimte na de ingang en een deel van het stelsel werden gemaakt. Er is zelfs een foto gemaakt van een merkwaardig 'stenen skelet'. Doordat von Däniken dit in zijn boek publiceerde, iets dat heel erg controversieel was, tekende hij als bekend auteur bijna zijn eigen 'doodvonnis', omdat Moricz naderhand ontkende dat hij Erich von Däniken naar de vindplaats had meegenomen, toen journalisten van de Duitse nieuwsbladen Der Spiegel en Stern hem een interview kwamen afnemen. Sindsdien werd Erich von Däniken als auteur niet 'alleen maar belachelijk' gemaakt, maar werd hij ook nog eens uitgemaakt voor een persoon die 'alleen maar leugens schrijft'. Toch moet het de waarheid zijn geweest, want Erich von Däniken had veel vijanden in het 'academische millieu', en hij moet heel goed hebben geweten dat dit gegeven meteen tegen hem gebruikt zou worden als het een leugen zou zijn. Men gebruikte bijna alles tegen hem om zijn theorie belachelijk te maken en naar beneden te halen. Eén enkele leugen zou daarbij fataal zijn. Dit moet hij hebben geweten! Want hij sprak erg vaak in zijn voorgaande boeken over de enorme tegenstand die hij kreeg over zijn hypothese. Toch wijdde Erich von Däniken zo'n 22 bladzijden aan zijn ontmoeting met Moricz inclusief de rondleiding en zijn verdere reis samen met hen

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Wanneer we aan een grote naam denken die te maken heeft gehad met het zoeken naar de juiste locatie van dit tunnelstelsel, dan komen we bij de naam Stanley Hall. Stan Hall had het boek van Erich von Däniken gelezen, en werd bevriend met Juan Moricz. Juan Moricz zou de plaats hebben genoemd die leidde naar de ondergrondse metalen bibliotheek. Dit zou de Cueva de los Tayos zijn geweest, maar - zo zeggen onderzoekers - er kwam in 1969 geen bericht dat er een metalen bibliotheek werd gevonden. Toch beweerde Erich von Däniken dat Moricz hem deze in 1972 had laten zien. Erich von Däniken geeft in zijn boek niet de exacte plaats voor de ingang van de grot, en ook geeft hij geen benaming voor de grot. Hij geeft een kleine kaart van Morona Santiago, een provincie van Ecuador dat grenst aan Peru, waarbij hij zegt; 'In de provincie Morona-Santiago ligt in de driehoek van de steden Gualaquiza - St. Antonio - Yaupi de geheime, door vijandige Indianen bewaakte ingang van het verborgen gangensysteem.' In deze driehoeks-verhouding, vinden we inderdaad de Cueva de los Tayos vlakbij Yaupi. De foto die in Erich von Daniken's boek staat weergegeven van het tunnelsysteem, en waar hij geen verdere benaming aan gaf, staat tegenwoordig bekend als 'Gastón Fernandez (onderzoeker) in de los Tayos grot - 1969'. Erich von Däniken had bij deze foto in zijn boek 'Goud der Goden' het volgende commentaar;

"In het binnenste van het kunstmatige tunnelsysteem. Het wemelt er van de talrijke zeldzame vogels. De guanolaag heeft een dikte van 82 tot 90 cm. op twee plaatsen waar de laag gemeten werd. Het plafond is effen en de wanden zijn rechthoekig en dikwijls als met glazuur bedekt."

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1991 overleed Juan Moricz. Toch was er nog sprake van de 'onbekende gids' waarover Moricz in 1973 niets wilde vertellen tegenover 'Der Spiegel'. Wie was uiteindelijk deze gids? Na de dood van Juan Moricz besloot de eerder genoemde Stan Hall deze onbekende gids na te gaan trekken. Hij had niets anders dan een enkele naam voor handen; 'Petronio Jaramillo'. Volgens Hall was dit een probleem, want er bestaan heel veel Jaramillo's. Uiteindelijk wist hij zijn moeder te bereiken, die hem in september 1991 zijn telefoonnummer gaf. Jaramillo bevestigde dat hij in 1964, toen Moricz in Guayaquil arriveerde, begon samen te werken met Geraldo Matheus Pena. Volgens Hall was Moricz er met het verhaal van Jaramillo vandoor gegaan, en wilde Moricz daarom ook niet zijn naam zeggen tegenover Der Spiegel in 1973. Stan Hall zou Moricz een document hebben toegestuurd dat over de expeditie in 1976 ging. Moricz zou dit manuscript nooit hebben terug gegeven, iets wat hun vriendschap zou beëindigen. Hall begreep jaren lang niet waarom hij het manuscript niet wilde teruggeven, maar zou het zichzelf later herinnert hebben toen hij uiteindelijk Jaramillo ontmoette; de naam 'Petronio Jaramillo' kwam er namelijk in voor. En dit zou Moricz hebben willen verdoezelen door het manuscript te houden.

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The need for cooperation
So, what happened next? Hall was 64 years old when he last travelled to the region; now he is seventy. When he was 68, he decided that more than likely he would not see this story come to its conclusion. However, he does not consider it to be his story, and he does not want to make the same mistake that Moricz did.
So, on 17 January 2005, Hall informed the Ecuadorian government of the location of the cave that fits Jaramillo's description, and which he hopes will become the focus of an expedition.
For anyone who is interested, the location is at 77º 47' 34" west and 1º 56' 00" south. GoogleEarth brings you very close and can satisfy any initial curiosity. But knowing the location doesn't mean it will be easy finding it.
Hall thinks it will take decades or a paradigm shift before people can work together in a manner that will result in a successful "occupation". He argues that the 1976 expedition only succeeded because a military regime was in power; "a democratic bureaucracy will swamp the expedition before it crosses any swampy river".
What is required is a sense of cooperation and openness. Too many people have tried to use the library as evidence for their own theory, whether involving aliens, globe-conquering Hungarians or Edgar Cayce and his Hall of Records. Perhaps that is why the missions were doomed. Perhaps we should just let the library speak for itself. The answers to questions as to who built it, where they came from, what they accomplished, etc. may all be found inside the structure itself. After all, it is a library. ∞

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For anyone who is interested, the location is at 77º 47' 34" west and 1º 56' 00" south. GoogleEarth brings you very close and can satisfy any initial curiosity. But knowing the location doesn't mean it will be easy finding it.

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Sun Born Model of 'The Birth of Heaven and Earth'

Galactricity model of the mytho-history of ancient peoples who – despite fabrications by others – witnessed and captured for posterity the major Creation events – including the Golden age of Saturn. Somebody, somewhere, was there!



"Thunderbolts are the fires of the three upper planets... heavenly fires are spit forth by the planets as crackling charcoal flies from a burning log."
Pliny

"The twins {poles} had hardly moved from their stations when the world, with no-one to control it, teetered off balance, spun round crazily, then rolled over twice."
Book of the Hopi

"Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle, the Cow jumped over the Moon. The Little Dog laughed to see such fun, and the Dish ran away with the Spoon."
Mytho-Historical Nursery Rhyme

Mytho-Historical Theory of Creation and Human Origins

"From the smallest particle to the largest galactric formation, a web of electrical circuitry connects and unifies all of Nature, organizing galaxies, energising, giving birth to planets and, on our own world, controlling weather and animating biological organisms."
Thunderbolts of the Gods by David Talbott and Wallace Thornhill

"The boundless sea rang terribly around, and the earth crashed loudly: Wide Heaven was shaken and groaned; and high Olympus reeled from its foundation under the charge of the undying gods; and a heavy quaking reached dim Tartarus and the deep sound of their feet in the fearful onset and of their hard missiles. So, then, they launched their grievous shafts upon one another; and the cry of both armies as they shouted reached to starry heaven; and they met together with a great battle-cry. Then Zeus no longer held back his might; but straight his heart was filled with fury and he showed forth all his strength. From Heaven and from Olympus he came forthwith, hurling his lightning ..."
Hesiod's Theogony

The Newton Stone


Privately located near Pitmachie, 20 miles west of Aberdeen, Scotland, on the A96 road.

The Newton Stone is the most important human record of interplanetary 'galactric' conflict in existence; illustrating the birth of gas-globe Jupiter-Zeus-Isis (left) from Saturn-Cronus-Osiris, and the pending birth of Venus-Athene-Horus from the former thus completing the cycle of planetary births in the Solar System, and showing the umbilical, smoking-tailed, serpent-dragon Typhon-Seth charged by electromagnetic lightning(s) hurled by Zeus. (S. Hall interpretation of engraving after a visit to the Stone in 2005)

The Moricz Stone


Located near Mendez Morona Santiago Ecuador Moricz Hall expedition 1975

Note similar prehistoric record of planetary cataclysmic events, similar to those shown on the Newton Stone in Scotland. These are just two examples of hundreds of similar stones found worldwide.
bron: http://www.goldlibrary.com/sunborn.html

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In the World Explorers Club magazine, David Hatcher Childress has added a photographic section on Father Crespi at the end of the 'Metal Library of Atlantis' article.

(left) The enigmatic Crespi plate. Magyar? Sanskrit? Pali? (right) Father Crespi

Salesian Padre Carlos Crespi Croci, born in Italy in 1891, dedicated his life to Ecuador from 1923 to 1982. Educator, anthropologist, botanist, artist, explorer, cinematographer, humanitarian and musician, his unfathomable wealth of talents and benevolence served and illuminated rich and poor alike, in recognition of which an impressive sculpture to his memory was erected in Cuenca, his adopted city, by an adoring populace. After meeting Padre Crespi (see photo) in 1975-76, presbyterian-raised Stan Hall declared to a friend, ‘If ever I felt I'd been in the presence of a Saint it was Padre Crespi!’

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Op vrijdag 23 november 2007 10:46 schreef Buschetta het volgende:
Op zich denk ik dat het verhaal wel een kern van waarheid bevat. Maar wat ik niet snap is dat hij wel foto's heeft van die 2 beeldjes maar niet van die "metalen bibliotheek". Of van die vogels. Ik twijfel dus ook sterk aan die 2 laatste dingen.

Dat Indianen grote gangenstelsels hebben gebruikt in Z-amerika was al bekend. Daarnaast zijn er natuurlijk locaties die bijna onmogelijk door mensen zijn gebouwd door precisie te gebruiken die wij nog steeds niet kunnen evenaren. De kristallen schedels zijn daar ook onderdeel van.

Al met al in ieder geval een interesant verhaal.

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Op vrijdag 23 november 2007 11:00 schreef Buschetta het volgende:

[..]



Inderdaad dat filmpje bekeken.... Die Padre wat een oude gek. Bijna crimineel om zulke artifecten bij zo'n oude man in huis te laten liggen. Vond het echt erg om dat te moeten zien. Er ligt daar voor jaren studie materiaal.....

Vraag je je meteen af wat voor een geheimen er opgeslagen liggen bij exentrieke rijke verzamelaars.

Die platen zijn inderdaad echt.

Dat Armstrong verhaal brengt ons natuurlijk meteen weer bij de illuminatie.

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In 1991 overleed Juan Moricz. Toch was er nog sprake van de 'onbekende gids' waarover Moricz in 1973 niets wilde vertellen tegenover 'Der Spiegel'. Wie was uiteindelijk deze gids? Na de dood van Juan Moricz besloot de eerder genoemde Stan Hall deze onbekende gids na te gaan trekken. Hij had niets anders dan een enkele naam voor handen; 'Petronio Jaramillo'. Volgens Hall was dit een probleem, want er bestaan heel veel Jaramillo's. Uiteindelijk wist hij zijn moeder te bereiken, die hem in september 1991 zijn telefoonnummer gaf. Jaramillo bevestigde dat hij in 1964, toen Moricz in Guayaquil arriveerde, begon samen te werken met Geraldo Matheus Pena. Volgens Hall was Moricz er met het verhaal van Jaramillo vandoor gegaan, en wilde Moricz daarom ook niet zijn naam zeggen tegenover Der Spiegel in 1973. Stan Hall zou Moricz een document hebben toegestuurd dat over de expeditie in 1976 ging. Moricz zou dit manuscript nooit hebben terug gegeven, iets wat hun vriendschap zou beëindigen. Hall begreep jaren lang niet waarom hij het manuscript niet wilde teruggeven, maar zou het zichzelf later herinnert hebben toen hij uiteindelijk Jaramillo ontmoette; de naam 'Petronio Jaramillo' kwam er namelijk in voor. En dit zou Moricz hebben willen verdoezelen door het manuscript te houden. Jaramillo en Hall werden vrienden, ook al zei Jaramillo weinig over de 'echte vindplaats'. Dit laatste zat in de overeenkomst van de vriendschap, want Jaramillo wilde daarintegen over vanalles praten dat Hall ter discussie stelde over het onderwerp. Jaramillo kwam weldegelijk met een interessant verhaal aan, want hij zou de plaats waar de metalen bibliotheek zich bevond, in zijn prille jeugd al gevonden hebben. In 1945 zou hij de metalen bibliotheek al zijn binnengegaan. Hij was toen 17 jaar. Het werd hem getoond door zijn oom, wiens naam niet bekend is, maar die bekend stond als 'Blanquito Pelado'. De plaats zou hém weer getoond zijn door een plaatselijke indianenstam. Hij zou ingewijd zijn geweest in dit grote geheim als dank voor wat hij allemaal voor hen had gedaan. Jaramillo is er daarna nog een keer geweest. Hij vond toen een bibliotheek die bestond uit duizenden metalen boeken die op planken waren gestapeld, elk met een gemiddeld gewicht van 20 kilo. Elke bladzijde vol met ideografen, geometrische ontwerpen en geschreven inscripties. Er was een tweede bibliotheek, die bestond uit harde, smalle doorzichtige tabletten die eruit zagen als kristal. Er waren zoömorphische beelden (zoals Erich von Däniken ook vertelde!!!!) en beelden van mensen aanwezig, waarvan een aantal op zware kolomvormige plinten. Ook metalen balken, gesloten deuren (waarschijnlijk 'tombes') versierd met verschillende gekleurde half-edelstenen. Er stond een grote Sarcofaag uitgehouwen uit een hard doorzichtig materiaal, met daarin een skelet, met bladgoud over alle beenderen van een groot menselijk wezen. Jaramillo nam volgens het verhaal ooit eens 7 boeken van de planken om ze te bestuderen, maar kreeg ze niet naar buiten verplaatst vanwege het gewicht. Ze zouden dus volgens het verhaal te zwaar zijn om uit de grot te krijgen en ze aan de wereld te onthullen. Stan Hall vroeg aan Jaramillo waarom hij er nooit foto's van zou hebben gemaakt, waarop hij antwoordde; 'het zou niets bewijzen'. Toch zou Jaramillo zijn initialen hebben achter gelaten in de zeven boeken zodat men kon zien dat hij het was die de vertrekken als eerste had betreden, en dus in feite de ontdekker was van de bibliotheek. Het is vreemd te noemen dat Jaramillo een 'metalen boek' niet mee zou hebben kunnen nemen uit het vertrek, want het gemiddelde gewicht zou volgens hem zo'n 20 kilo zijn. Dit moet gemakkelijk te vervoeren zijn geweest. Hij zou het in een paar keer voor elkaar hebben gekregen, om een aantal van deze boeken uit de bibliotheek naar boven te krijgen. Het is jammer dat er geen foto's door Jaramillo zouden zijn genomen. Foto's bewijzen niet altijd iets, maar vaak wel. Het geeft ons in ieder geval een impressie van hoe het vertrek eruit moet zien. Dat Jaramillo zijn initialen achterliet in de zeven boeken, geeft natuurlijk geen bewijs dat hij de eerste moet zijn geweest die deze bibliotheek ontdekte. Het gouden skelet lijkt bevestigt te worden, precies zoals Erich von Däniken er in 1973 al over sprak. Of had Jaramillo dit gelezen in het boek van Erich von Däniken?

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Stan Hall en Jaramillo begonnen langzamerhand samen te werken om te zien of de metalen bibliotheek geopend kon worden. Jaramillo kende de vindplaats en Hall was de man die goede expedities kon organiseren. Stan Hall pakte het groots aan, en het eerste dat hij deed is contact met verschillende ambassadeurs en politici maken. Hij probeerde ervoor te zorgen dat het aan niets kon ontbreken, en probeerde zelfs UNESCO erbij te betrekken. Toch werd de expeditie elke keer uitgesteld. In 1995 bombardeerde een Peruaans vliegtuig een militaire basis van Ecuador. Hierdoor werd het project volgens Stan Hall stil gelegd. In 1997 probeerde hij via een grootse antropologische conferentie het idee voor de expeditie te winnen. Zes antropologen kwamen naar hem toe om hem te ontmoeten, omdat ze enorm geïnteresseerd waren in wat hij wilde ondernemen. Maar in het zelfde jaar veranderde het politieke regime van Ecuador. Hij dacht dat zijn ideeën over een expeditie naar de metalen bibliotheek geen kans van slagen zouden hebben bij de nieuwe overheid die daar plaats nam. Uit veiligheidsmaatregelen vertrok hij met zijn familie opnieuw terug naar schotland. Toch werden de plannen voor de expeditie voortgezet. Uiteindelijk zou de expeditie plaatsnemen in 1998. Maar de expeditie in 1998 werd weer van de agenda geschrapt, want Stan Hall kreeg een teleurstellend telefoontje; het was de moeder van Jaramillo, die hem te kennen gaf dat Jaramillo was vermoord. We mogen ons afvragen of hij vermoord werd voor de plannen die in het verschiet lagen. Volgens het verhaal zou Jaramillo vermoord zijn doormiddel van een overval. Hij zou op dat moment een grote som geld bij zich hebben gehad, en hij zou zijn vermoord en beroofd vlakbij zijn huis. Er waren nu twee sleutelfiguren dood; Jaramillo en Moricz. Waar zou de locatie dan zijn van de grot? Verschillende 'schattenjagers' probeerden de grot te vinden, en volgens Jaramillo was het de Graaf Pino Turolla die in de jaren '60 contact met hem opnam. Turolla zou enorm geobsedeerd zijn geweest door de 'Hall of Records' van Edgar Gayce. Hij dacht dat deze 'Hall of Records' hier te vinden zou zijn, en beschouwde dit als het 'in vervulling gaan van Gayce's profetie'. Toch zou Turolla's toon en manier van organiseren niet hebben geleidt tot een lange samenwerking. Turolla zou Jaramillo enigszins onder druk hebben gezet om de nodige details uit hem vandaan te trekken, details die hij niet zou hebben willen geven. Toen Turolla de details niet kreeg, besloot hij te gaan zoeken bij de Cueva de los Tayos, waarna hij niets anders overhield dan lege handen.

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Op vrijdag 23 november 2007 11:18 schreef Burghardt het volgende:
Ik zet toch even een paar kanttekeningen bij allerlei conclusies in dit topic: de link Armstrong met de grotten om het verhaal geloofwaardiger te maken, de tijdlijn van gebruikname van de grotten door verschillende groepen die daar rond gedwaald hebben (Peru, Ecuador), de grotten zijn daadwerkelijk grotten behalve op 1 plaatje dus niet helemaal met de hand bewerkt, dat daar grottenstelsels zijn is niet onbekend, de naam Daniken aan een topic verbinden is bij voorbaat al kansloos, wie is eigenlijk deze Stan Hall, waarom zwermt het daar niet van de onderzoekers over de hele wereld dit lijkt welhaast te uniek, de link met Schotland/Mesopotamie, allerlei meningen van of Von Daniken of Hall worden hier in het topic gebruikt alszijnde feiten etc, etc. etc.

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Many may not be familiar with what we call the Crespi Collection, but it was/is one of the more amazing collection of artifacts from South & Central America that has every been brought together.

Father Carlos Crespi was a Silesian-monk who lived in Ecuador. He did missionary work among the Indian population in remote valleys during his lifetime.

Crespi received or bought many artifacts from the indigenous people in Ecuador.

When questioned, they told him they had found them in subterranean cave systems in the jungles. As time progressed, many of these relics were brought together and kept in the courtyard of the church Maria Auxiliadora.

Unfortunately, many of the artifacts were destroyed in a fire in 1962 or later when the church was restored. Also, many were lost or wound up with treasure hunters.

After Father Crespi passed away, the remaining artifacts of the original collection were removed and made inaccessible to the public.

Some may still be stored in the cellar archive of the church Maria Auxiliadora.
The age and origin of these items is still unknown today. Father Crespi never tried to classify them. The picture motifs are strange, their meaning not understood. These objects show the pictures of an unknown culture. Were they left by unknown civilizations?

The most well known pieces are tablets made of silver, gold foil or other alloys with unknown letters and mysterious symbols.

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What could and could not be proven? The best evidence would be to discover any of the several cities in the Amazon jungle, including thirteen underground cities, that this civilisation had allegedly left behind. Their most important ancient towns were known as Akakor, Akanis and Akahim, as well as Cuczo and Macchu Picchu. The first, Akanis, was built “on a narrow isthmus in the country that is called Mexico”, at a place where the two oceans meet (Panama?). The second was Akakor (apparently derived from Aka, i.e. fort, and kor, i.e., two – Fort Two) and lay far up the Purus river, in a high valley in the mountains of the border between Brazil and Peru. “The whole city is surrounded by a high stone wall with thirteen gates. They are so narrow that they give access only to one person a time.” Tatunca added that the city had a Great Temple of the Sun, that it contained documents, such as maps and drawings telling the history of the Earth. “One of the maps shows that our moon is not the first and not the only one in the history of the earth. The moon that we know began to approach the earth and to circle around it thousands of years ago.”



Maps drawn in the 1970s, supposedly showing the two parts of Akakor, on the left above ground, on the right, below ground.

...

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The walls and passages of the tunnel system were bare. There were no paintings like those in the deep burial chambers in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, no reliefs of the kind found in prehistoric caves at sites all over the world. Instead there were stone figures which we bumped into at every step. Moricz owns a stone amulet 4 ½ inches high and 2 ½ inches wide.



The obverse (Fig. 5) is engraved with a being with a hexagonal body and round head that might have been drawn by a child. The figure holds the moon in its right hand and the sun in its left hand. Admittedly, that is not particularly surprising, but-it stands with both feet firmly on the terrestrial globe! Surely that is a clear proof that even in times when the first primitive drawings were scratched on stone, a chosen few of our first ancestors already knew that we lived on a globe! The reverse shows a half moon and the radiant sun.



Without any doubt, this stone amulet found in the tunnels seems to me to be a proof that they were already in existence in the Middle Paleolithic (9000-4000 B.C.).


Fig. 6.

If this engraving by a prehistoric stonemason represents a dinosaur, there’s something wrong!

These animals lived 135,000,000 years ago.



There is another engraving on a stone plaque (Fig. 6), 11 ½ inches high and 1 foot 8 ½ inches wide, this time depicting an animal. I suspect that it is a representation of a dinosaur. This extinct prehistoric animal moved on land with the help of long hind legs as shown in the engraving. Even its gigantic size dinosaurs were as much as 65 feet long-can still be sensed in the foreshortened squat version of the body, and the feet with three toes strengthen my suspicion. If my identification of this picture is correct, it will be most uncanny.




This extinct reptile lived in the earth’s Middle Ages during the Upper Cretaceous, i.e. 135,000,000 years ago, when the modern continents began to assume their present configuration. I am not going to speculate any further. I simply ask this question: what intelligent, thinking being ever saw a saurian?

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No one knows who built the tunnels; no one knows the sculptors who left behind these strange ambiguous works. Only one thing seems clear to me. The tunnel builders were not the same men as the stonemasons; their stark practical passages were obviously not meant to be decorated. Perhaps they showed the underground vaults to a chosen group and the latter fashioned in stone things they had seen and heard and stored the results in the depths.


So far the entrance to this underground treasure-trove of human history is known only to a few trustworthy people and it is guarded by a wild Indian tribe. Indians lurk unseen in the undergrowth and watch every movement made by strangers. Moricz has been accepted as a friend by the chieftain of the cave guardians and three members of the tribe who are occasionally in contact with civilization.



Once a year, at the beginning of spring, on March 21, the chieftain climbs down alone to the first platform in the underworld to offer ritual prayers. Both his cheeks bear the same signs as are marked in the rock at the entrance to the tunnels (Fig. 11). To this day the tribe of tunnel guardians still make masks and carvings “of the men with long noses” (gas masks?) and they tell, as Moricz knows, of the heroic deeds of the “flying beings” who once came from heaven.



But the Indians will not go into the tunnels for love or money.


Fig. 11.

These markings are carved in the rock at the entrance to the tunnel.

The chieftain of the tribe that guards the cave has identical markings on both cheeks.

They are age-old Indian symbols.

“No, no,” they said to Moricz. “Spirits live down there.”

But it is a remarkable fact that Indian chiefs occasionally use gold to pay the debts they have incurred with the civilized world or present friends who have rendered their tribe a service with precious gold objects from their five-hundred-year-old past.


On several occasions Moricz had stopped me taking photographs as we passed through the tunnels. He kept on making different excuses. Sometimes it was the radiation that would make the negatives unusable, sometimes it was the flash which might damage the metal library with its blinding light. At first I could not understand why, but after a few hours underground I began to sense the reason for Moricz’s strange behavior.

quote:

In 1978, four years before his dead, the Museum of Banco Central Del Equador bought his complete collection of 'rare' artifacts for only $ 10.000.

quote:

Op vrijdag 7 december 2007 21:49 schreef Manke het volgende:

[..]

ancient basgitaar

quote:

Op donderdag 27 december 2007 14:07 schreef skyfire het volgende:
Wat ik opvallend vind aan die afbeelding met die dino, is dat hij een soort touw om z'n nek heeft met een hengsel er aan...

quote:

Op dinsdag 21 april 2009 16:44 schreef valek het volgende:
Nogmaals een kick. Dit is zo interessant. Is erop internet veel te vinden betreft dit onderwerp?

quote:

Op vrijdag 10 juli 2009 10:42 schreef valek het volgende:
Nieuwe info komt er niet bij volgens mij, helaas.

quote:

To his credibility, Hall can show that he knew Moricz in 1975 and that the following year, he took this expedition to the caves – an expedition which included the First Man on the Moon Neil Armstrong. Hall claims that when Moricz died in 1991, he met with the mysterious missing person in the story, alluded to by Moricz though not by name.



During six years of questions and collaboration, Ecuadorian citizen Petronio Jaramillo A. was accepted by Hall as the true source and custodian of the treasure story. The story, as usual, had an unhappy ending: In 1998, when Hall was in Britain initiating the plan for an official 'expedition of occupation', he received by telephone the sad news from the mother of Petronio that he had been assassinated. It meant that no members of the original expedition remained available as guides to enter the reputed miracle location.


Unfortunately, the archaeological potential is greatly outweighed by the more esoteric theories that Hall has injected into his published account: a Golden Age of Saturn, the destruction of Atlantis, Ptolemy's lost city of Cattigara, the sudden rise and fall of wonder civilizations, the sublime 'lemming factor' inherent in the collective consciousness of Mankind just form part of the theories Hall promotes.

So where does this leave the golden tunnels?



In Cuzco, they have materialized. Elsewhere, they remain tall tales. Since the 1970s, the Amazon has become much more open to the world and parts where Brugger had great difficulty in getting to, are now less so. At the same time, did Tatunca merely drive Brugger in the jungle, knowing they would at some point hit an obstacle, which would necessitate their return home? The same cannot be said of Moricz.



He may have been a teller of tall tales, but seems to have definitely shown something to von Däniken and afterwards was always on the defensive. Still, even if a tremendous treasure lies hidden in the Ecuadorian cave – and this would make a monumental discovery in itself – can we truly assume that a network of thousands of kilometers of underground caves truly exists? And whereas an underground network of caves in Cuzco is logical and not out of the ordinary, no evidence has been found they continue for hundreds of miles.

quote:

Above is a photograph of the site which Hall believed best matched the descriptions given by Petronio, together with the information gathered from all other sources involved in the story. Over the years after the death of the two key protagonists, Hall ventured into the Amazon on various Reconnaissance Trips in order to further distil his information and research to help narrow down his proposed location of the treasure, on more than one occasion these trips nearly cost him his life..

quote:

Sequence of events involved in the treasure trail


1946 - Petronio’s first visit to the treasure cave.

1956 - Petronio records his story to-date.

1964 - Petronio is variously interviewed: by Alfredo Moebius, Andrés Fernández-Salvador Z, Pino Turolla and Juan Moricz.

1965 - First visit by Moricz to the Tayos Cave in Morona-Santiago.

1968 - Mormon expedition to the Tayos Cave region.

1969 - ‘Expedition Moricz’ to the Tayos Cave. Media announcement.

1972 - Moricz and Dr. Peña take Erich von Daniken on trip to Cuenca.

1974 - Notarised document of Moricz’s alleged discoveries (6th June).

1975 - First meeting of Stan Hall and Moricz. ‘Stones’ expedition to Mendez.

1976 - British-Ecuadorian Expedition: Tayos Caves of Morona-Santiago.

1978 - Moricz introduces Hall to Don Andrés Fernández-Salvador Z.

1979 - Important Hall/AFS meeting on Moricz, Dyott, and Jaramillo.

1982 - Moricz invites Hall to bring Cumbaratza gold-mining projects to attention of international Mining Companies and come to Ecuador. Hall begins in-depth historical investigation of the Empire of Tayhuantinsuyu and Reino de los Kitus.

1991 - Moricz dies suddenly in February. In September Hall meets Petronio Jaramillo for the first time. Start of 6-Year collaboration.

1996 - Petronio and Hall update their stories: formulate plan for expedition.

1998 - Petronio is assassinated near his house in Esmeraldas.

1999 - Hall makes reconnaissance trips to the Oriente.

2005 - Hall publishes calculated location of the treasure and informs Ecuadorian Embassy in the U.K. on January 17th.

quote:

Op dinsdag 14 juli 2009 20:02 schreef Djaser het volgende:
Ja hoi.

Ik ga dit niet allemaal lezen maar ik ga me toch me toch met een paar dingetjes bemoeien.

Allereerst een misverstand uit de weg werken: In dit topic staan GEEN voorwerpen in Babylonische of Sumerische stijl. De stijl is Assyrisch. De geïnteresseerde kan wat op zoeken over Koninklijke paleizen zoals in Nimrud daar kom je genoeg van dit soort motieven tegen.

[ afbeelding ]
Dit is een fake.
Het arme beest heeft namelijk vijf poten. De Assyrische versies hadden dit weliswaar ook maar waren drie dimensionale beelden tussen de poten was het steen niet weggehakt om stabiliteit te behouden. De beelden zijn zo uitgehakt dat met behulp van de vijfde poot zowel bij het voor als zij aanzicht vier poten te zien waren. Hier heeft de vijfde poot helemaal geen zin. Bovendien is het een platte plaat zonder enige functie terwijl de originelen beelden als grote paleisbewakers in deuren waren gestationeerd. De paard gaat ook gewoon over in de borst zoals een hele slechte kopie.

[ afbeelding ]

Dit is ook fake.
De abstracte boom links is opeens door de helft geknipt. De vogelman kijkt ook van de boom weg terwijl dat andersom zou moeten zijn. De kleine puntjes die er zijn ingeslagen om de achtergrond aan te geven zijn ook best knullig.

[ afbeelding ]
Deze is iets lastiger. Maar ik zie drie geheel verschillende stijlen. Het lijkt er erg op dat de afbeeldingen met cement zijn vast geplakt. De drie verschillende scenes zijn aan de hand van de breuklijnen te zien secundair aangebracht en hebben geen onderlinge relatie.

quote:

Op dinsdag 14 juli 2009 20:02 schreef Djaser het volgende:

quote:

Op woensdag 15 juli 2009 14:45 schreef Djaser het volgende:

[..]

Nouja, ik mag aankomende September ook mijn officiële papiertje Assyriologie op gaan halen.
Over die andere voorwerpen die niet onder Mesopotamische invloed staan durf ik niet zo veel te zeggen. Maar omdat deze drie voorwerpen meteen al vals zijn ben ik zeer sceptisch over de rest van het verhaal.

Cueva de Los Tayos - The Crespi Project

quote:

Metal plates from the collection Pater Crespi
One of the most unusual and outstanding collection of
objects that are not classif ed is the collection of Pater
Crespi from Cuenca, Ecuador. Pater Crespi collected those
treasures in the yard of a Silesian church Maria Auxiladora.
There are object made of stone, bones, ceramic as well
as thin plates of chopper and other alloys, that show very
different motives.
Age and origin of those objects is unexplained. There are
relicts that maybe belong to an old treasure from Inca and
also modern objects. Classif cation of the collection is very
complicated and diff cult, so experts and scientists do not
deal with this collection. Many symbols and signs seem
abstract and incomprehensible.

quote:

FATHER CRESPI’S TREASURE VAULT
The thought lost collection from Cuenca, Ecuador
In Cuenca, Ecuador, a collection is kept that consists of unusual and not classif able objects. The most well known
pieces are tablets made of silver, gold foil or other alloys with unknown letters and mysterious symbols. There are many
speculations about the objects: Are they really relics of an unknown civilization or only pieces of modern art?
Pater Crespi (dead since 1982) was a Salesian-munch who lived in Ecuador. He received or bought the objects from Indios.
The Indios got them from subterranean cave systems. Soon a lot of relics were brought together and kept in the courtyard
of the church Maria Auxiliadora. Some objects are still there, not visible for visitors.
More objects, especially pieces made of ceramic and bones, Christian icons and historic oil paintings, are kept in Banco
Central del Ecuador.
Many pieces were destroyed in a f re in 1962 or later when the church was restored. Pater Crespi never did a selection
or classif cation of his objects. He did not know anything about their origin or cultural classif cation. He was simply a lover
and collector of ludicrous f nds: The objects show abstract motives of an unknown culture. Science does not care about the
Pater Crespi collection because classif cation is very diff cult and modern and ancient pieces are mixed together.
The collection got well-known international and many people came to Cuenca. Pater Crespi was an old man and he did
not have overlook over his collection any more. Many visitors robbed objects. The brothers from Salesian-order convinced
Pater Crespi to keep his treasure and to classify it. The Museo Banco Central in Cuenca f nally made different historic
examinations of the remaining relics and spent a lot of money for the collection. They also bought a lot except the metal
tablets that rested in the depots of the order until today. The nowadays chief-restaurateur of the Museo Banco Central del
Ecuador, José Maldonado, regrets this because he would have been glad to bring all the pieces together and make them
open to the public.

quote:

A system of tunnels and caves beneath Ecuador and Peru is reputed to hold an ancient treasure-house of artefacts including two libraries, one containing inscribed metal books and the other storing tablets of crystal.

* * * * *

It's not what you know, but who you know. In 1973, Erich von Däniken, at the height of his fame following the success of Chariots of the Gods, claimed that he had entered into a gigantic subterranean tunnel system in Ecuador, which he was told spanned the length of the continent;surely evidence that our ancestors were highly advanced, if not extraterrestrial? The structure was believed to house a library in which books were made out of metal;this in an area where today there is nothing but "primitive" Indian tribes with no written language. Evidence of a lost civilisation? It was a major claim, and it did not go unchallenged.

The story centred around Janos "Juan" Moricz, an aristocratic Argentinian-Hungarian entrepreneur who claimed that he had discovered a series of tunnels in Ecuador that contained a "Metal Library". In a signed affidavit dated 8 July 1969, he spoke about his meeting with the Ecuadorian president, where he received a concession that allowed him total control over this discovery;provided he could produce photographic evidence and an independent witness that corroborated the discovery of the underground network. Newspapers reported on the expedition that Moricz had organised.

In 1972, Moricz met with von Däniken and took him to a secret side-entrance through which they could enter into a large hall within the labyrinth. Apparently von Däniken never got to see the library itself, just the tunnel system. Von Däniken included the event in his book The Gold of the Gods: "The passages all form perfect right angles. Sometimes they are narrow, sometimes wide. The walls are smooth and often seem to be polished. The ceilings are flat and at times look as if they were covered with a kind of glaze; My doubts about the existence of the underground tunnels vanished as if by magic and I felt tremendously happy. Moricz said that passages like those through which we were going extended for hundreds of miles under the soil of Ecuador and Peru."

However, one of the world's potentially biggest discoveries soon turned sour. Journalists from the German publications Der Spiegel and Stern interviewed Moricz, who now denied ever having been in the cave with von Däniken. It undermined von Däniken's credibility (though some would argue he had none to begin with), branding him a liar.

For many, the incident proved that von Däniken was a fabricator of lies;a much more damaging assertion than being known to make outlandish claims that the gods were ancient astronauts. No one pointed out that if von Däniken had been lying, he would not have left such an easy trail to Moricz. He could have claimed that he could not reveal his source, and Der Spiegel and Stern would have been none the wiser. Instead, it seemed that something was amiss with Moricz, who had landed von Däniken in an international controversy from which his career never really recovered.

There are several oddities with this story. First, Moricz merely denied having taken von Däniken there; the existence of the network itself he did not deny. In Der Spiegel, 19 March 1973, we can read:

Der Spiegel: "How did you discover the [metal] library?"

Moricz: "Somebody took me there."

Der Spiegel: "Who was this guide?"

Moricz: "I can't tell you."

Moricz further stated that the library was guarded by a tribe. So, in short, Moricz claimed to von Däniken that he had discovered caves, and he showed these to him. Now he claimed to have seen the caves, led there by a guide whom he could not identify, but denied having taken von Däniken there. The logical conclusion seemed to be that Moricz had shown something to von Däniken, was now caught by the fact that everyone seemed to know that he had done so, and had to make sure that whoever had shown him did not bear any grudges against Moricz, no doubt because Moricz himself would most likely have been asked not to show anyone else the site.

A small step for Armstrong, a major step for mankind

By 1975, the story had killed the career of one notorious author, so who would dare to tread in his footsteps? The answer: Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon or rather, a Scotsman who wanted to change the precarious status quo in which the Metal Library controversy had found itself. Stanley ("Stan") Hall had read von Däniken's book and subsequently befriended Moricz. The latter confirmed that he had met von Däniken in 1972 and had taken the Swiss author from Guayaquil to Cuenca, where they met Padre Carlos Crespi and saw his collection of enigmatic artefacts. There was insufficient time to take von Däniken to the "true location", so instead they decided to show him a small cave some 30 minutes from Cuenca, claiming it connected to the network. This seemed to clear up the von Däniken & Moricz controversy, but not the Metal Library itself.

Where was it? Moricz's 1969 expedition had ventured into the Cueva de los Tayos, which Moricz identified as the cave that led into the Metal Library. But in 1969, no Metal Library had been uncovered. So Hall decided to organise an Ecuadorian& British expedition that would explore the Cueva de los Tayos; it would be a purely scientific expedition.

I had met Stan Hall a few times over the course of a decade, without knowing that the person I was speaking to was Stan Hall. He was a member of the audience at the Scottish Saunire Society conferences. Stan blends into the background and is unlikely, if not unwilling, to stand out. It's by pure accident that I found out I knew Stan Hall; the Stan Hall, who furthermore lives nearby; It provided me with an opportunity to get a personal perspective on this story, and one I was willing to take with both hands.

Originally set up to take place in 1977, the 1976 expedition occurred at a time when von Däniken's public profile had been damaged by Moricz & and Hall was apparently about to endorse Moricz's claim. It left von Däniken feeling wary about Hall for more than 20 years, until both men realised they were kindred spirits rather than mortal enemies.

Why did he do it? Hall wanted to create a framework: if there was indeed a Metal Library of a lost civilisation, the first step would be to map the site. That was the main and only goal of the expedition; there was no treasure-seeking. Hall used his professional expertise to create a three-week exploration of this famous cave: a joint venture of the British and Ecuadorian armies, supported by a team of geologists, botanists and other specialists.

How did Neil Armstrong get involved?

"The expedition needed an honorary figurehead," Stan Hall said. "The name of Prince Charles, who had recently received a degree in archaeology, was proposed, but I knew Neil Armstrong had Scottish connections. My mother was an Armstrong and via another Armstrong in Langholm, where Neil Armstrong had been made an honorary citizen, I made contact. Months later, I got a reply that Neil Armstrong was more than willing to join us on this mission. It's when the expedition suddenly became a life's challenge."

On 3 August 1976, when the expedition was winding down, Armstrong entered the tunnel system. Even though they were not looking for it, the team members did not stumble upon a Metal Library. Had they done so, the discovery would have altered mankind's perspective on our history and origins. For Amstrong, it could have been his second great contribution to mankind's exploration. However, the team did catalogue 400 new plant species as well as a burial chamber inside the cave, in which a seated body was found. The chamber was later dated to 1500 BC, and it was believed that at the time of the summer solstice the sun illuminated this tomb.

The story had gone from ancient astronauts to astronaut par excellence, but what would be the next step?

The third man

Everyone and everything had revolved around Juan Moricz, but in retrospect he was the wrong centre of the universe. From 1969 until 1991, the year he died, the Metal Library eluded him. So what next?

That Moricz was not the originator of the story was clear, as von Däniken himself noted on page 53 of his book. In the 1973 interview with Der Spiegel, Moricz confirmed that an unnamed person had shown him the cave. But who was this person?

After Moricz died, Hall decided to track down this "third man", who had disappeared into the shadows. Hall had a name Petronio Jaramillo but nothing more.

quote:

"Moricz died in February 1991," said Hall. "I had a name and a telephone directory. But there were an awful lot of Jaramillos in Quito. Finally, I found him or, rather, his mother. It was September 1991 when she gave me the phone number of her son. I phoned him. He told me that it had taken 16 years before our paths crossed. He was willing to meet me, and stated that he needed three days to fill me in."

Jaramillo confirmed that when Moricz arrived in Guayaquil in 1964, he teamed up with lawyer Dr Gerardo Pe a Matheus. Moricz told Matheus of his theory about how Hungarian people have been at the root of practically every civilisation. Through acquaintances, Andres Fernandez-Salvador Zaldumbide and Alfredo Moebius, Moricz met Jaramillo in Moebius's house, and from there Moricz ran with Jaramillo's story. Hall was annoyed with himself, for various people had tried to direct him towards Jaramillo as early as 1975, but it took until 1991 before the two met.

Jaramillo and Hall realised that had it not been for Moricz, who focused attention on the Cueva de los Tayos (which was not the actual location of the library), the 1976 expedition could have resulted in the discovery of the century and what a track record for Armstrong it would have been! But it's a two-edge sword because, had it not been for Moricz, the story would never have come about like this. And today, Hall's biggest desire;if he were able to turn back time;is to sit down at one table with both Moricz and Jaramillo. At the same time, he realises that Moricz had been intent from the beginning that the Metal Library would be his legacy. When Hall showed Moricz a manuscript about the 1976 expedition, Moricz point-blank refused to return it. It ended their friendship, but Hall never understood why until 1991, when he realised that the manuscript mentioned Jaramillo. It was a name Moricz did not want to see published& ;as he had confirmed in the 1973 German newspaper interview. Moricz was incredibly stubborn and, equally, incredibly loyal, but obviously was the wrong man and was sadly mistaken if he thought he could ever pull off the discovery of the century.

Subterranean treasures

Jaramillo and Hall became friends, though both agreed Jaramillo would not prematurely reveal the location of the site. Still, he was willing to talk in detail about its contents and any other aspect Hall wanted to discuss.

From Jaramillo, Hall was able to learn the true story of the Tayos library;which was not in the Cueva de los Tayos at all! Jaramillo stated that he had entered the library in 1946, when he was 17 years old. He was shown it by an uncle, whose name has gone unrecorded but who was known as "Blanquito Pelado" (a loving description of the man's appearance). He was apparently on friendly terms with the local Shuar population, who invited him to see a secret in gratitude for the kindness and goodness he had shown towards the tribe.

Jaramillo entered the system at least once after that. On that occasion, he saw a library consisting of thousands of large, metal books stacked on shelves, each with an average weight of about 20 kilograms, each page impressed from one side with ideographs, geometric designs and written inscriptions. There was a second library, consisting of small, hard, smooth, translucent ;what seemed to be crystal ;tablets, grooved with parallel encrusted channels, stacked on sloping shelves of trestled units covered in gold leaf. There were zoomorphic and human statues (some on heavy column plinths), metal bars of different shapes, as well as sealed "doors" ;possibly tombs ;covered in mixtures of coloured, semi-precious stones. There was a large sarcophagus, sculpted from hard, translucent material, containing the gold-leafed skeleton of a large human being. In short, an incredible treasure, stored away as if hidden in preparation for some upcoming disaster.

On one occasion, Jaramillo took down seven books from the shelves to study them, but their weight prevented him from replacing them. It also meant that they were too heavy to remove from the library and reveal to the world. Jaramillo never produced any physical evidence for his claims, which may explain why he wanted to live in the shadows of this story.

Hall did ask him why he never took photographs. "He said that it would not prove anything." Other discoveries, such as the infamous Burrows Cave in the United States, prove that seeing actually isn't believing. Still, Jaramillo stated that he had left his initials in these seven books so that, if the library were ever discovered, it could be proved that it was he who had entered it.

[above] Juan Moricz and Stan Hall, photographed in 1975 during preparations for the 1976 expedition that would have astronaut Neil Armstrong as honorary president. (Photo ; Stan Hall)

Expedition plans and setbacks

Jaramillo and Hall wanted to combine forces to see whether the Metal Library could be opened; one knew the location, the other had a proven track record in organising proper expeditions. It would be the "expedition of occupation".

First, contact with various ambassadors and politicians was established; then the scientific community was brought in. The plan was for Jaramillo to lead the team to the site, where they would remain for a period of three to four months (during the dry season), cataloguing the contents of the site and guaranteeing that nothing went missing. Everything would remain in situ. A report with recommendations would be the only outcome of this expedition, which would involve UNESCO. But in 1995, Peruvian jets bombed an Ecuadorian military base and the project had its first setback.

In 1997, Hall used a major anthropology conference to promote the idea. Six anthropologists came to meet him, interested in what he was trying to accomplish. But that same year, Ecuador's political regime changed (in Hall's opinion, for the worse); Hall felt that his family could not live in the new political reality, so he moved back to Scotland with them. (Shortly afterwards, our paths would cross anonymously). This was nevertheless not a setback; planning for the expedition continued.

However, it was in 1998 that the expedition had a major setback. Hall received by telephone the sad news from the mother of Petronio Jaramillo that he had been assassinated. Was he murdered because of the plans that were afoot? Life in South America is cheap, as anyone who has visited or lived there knows. That day, Jaramillo was carrying a large amount of money on him. It was a street robbery, close to his home. Random violence stopped one of the world's biggest discoveries dead in its tracks.

It seems that fate only allowed for Jaramillo and Hall to meet, but never to work together�as if their combined efforts would break the spell of the cave and turn a dream into a reality.

Location, location, location

Moricz and Jaramillo had both died. Hall was in his sixties. Would he go it alone and claim the Metal Library for himself? Hall isn't a treasure-seeker. He emphasises that the region is a�if not the�veritable El Dorado. There is gold everywhere; the roads are quite literally paved with it. Even if the library books are made out of gold�though Jaramillo never spoke of gold but of "metal" (in fact, it seems copper was an ingredient, as Jaramillo had seen a green colour on the books)�there is more gold outside the library than inside. The presence of Moricz in the region was because he held extensive gold concessions; his interest in the library was not for its monetary value but for its historic importance.

Still, various treasure-hunters in the past had tried to open the cave. Count Pino Turolla made contact with Jaramillo in the 1960s through the same channels that later brought Moricz to him. Turolla was obsessed with Cayce's Hall of Records, and the Metal Library would be absolute proof of Cayce's prophecies. But Turolla's attitude and sense of organisation meant that the two never got along. Turolla pressed Jaramillo for details that the latter was unwilling to offer. So Turolla opted to search around the Cueva de los Tayos and came up empty-handed.

The most active Indiana Jones today is Stan Grist, who also knew Juan Moricz as well as his confidante, Zoltan Czellar, also a good friend of Hall. In 2005, Grist wrote: "As I write these words, I am in negotiations with the native Shuars who live near the Cueva de los Tayos, whose permission is necessary to enter and explore the area of the caves. I plan to mount an expedition in the coming months to search for the secret entrance to the cave from which the alleged metallic library can be accessed. Many people have entered the cave by the well-known, vertical entrance near the top of the mountain. However, I calculate that it is nearly impossible or is impossible to reach the metallic library through this well-known entrance. The secret entrance is only accessed from underwater!"

I confronted Hall with Grist's opinion. "Jaramillo always said that the entrance was under the river," he said. But that river is not near the Tayos Cave. That river is the Pastaza River.

[Above] Aerial photograph of the area where the real cave is located. The marked area is the bend in the Pastaza River, which Hall visited in 2000 and which has all the required characteristics.

Though Hall never learned the location from Petronio Jaramillo himself, after Jaramillo's death in May 1998 Hall organised a trip with Mario Petronio, Jaramillo's son, in which both combined their knowledge about the site. The trip had to be abandoned before "point zero" could be reached.

In May 2000, Hall returned.

"When we were preparing the expedition in the 1990s, whenever diving equipment was discussed as a necessity Petronio would say that even though it [the entrance to the cave] was under the river, it did not mean we would get wet."

Hall showed me aerial maps, pointing out a bend in the river that meets a fault line, which is known to open up into a cave system that runs for several miles. His suggestion is that the fault line�evidence of an ancient earthquake�opened up the underground network, which someone at some stage in the distant past then discovered and used as a place to install the metallic library. Hall had visited this location and deduced that it fits Jaramillo's description perfectly.

The need for cooperation

So, what happened next? Hall was 64 years old when he last travelled to the region; now he is seventy. When he was 68, he decided that more than likely he would not see this story come to its conclusion. However, he does not consider it to be his story, and he does not want to make the same mistake that Moricz did.

So, on 17 January 2005, Hall informed the Ecuadorian government of the location of the cave that fits Jaramillo's description, and which he hopes will become the focus of an expedition.

For anyone who is interested, the location is at 77� 47' 34" west and 1� 56' 00" south. GoogleEarth brings you very close and can satisfy any initial curiosity. But knowing the location doesn't mean it will be easy finding it.

Hall thinks it will take decades or a paradigm shift before people can work together in a manner that will result in a successful "occupation". He argues that the 1976 expedition only succeeded because a military regime was in power; "a democratic bureaucracy will swamp the expedition before it crosses any swampy river".

What is required is a sense of cooperation and openness. Too many people have tried to use the library as evidence for their own theory, whether involving aliens, globe-conquering Hungarians or Edgar Cayce and his Hall of Records. Perhaps that is why the missions were doomed. Perhaps we should just let the library speak for itself. The answers to questions as to who built it, where they came from, what they accomplished, etc. may all be found inside the structure itself. After all, it is a library.