AR14 - BACK TO BIMINI By William Donato

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	BACK TO BIMINI by William Donato
Index of Issue 14

An ambitious new research project, a multi-pronged investigation into the many archeological mysteries of Bimini, is currently in the planning stages. Funded by Law of One Research Corporation, a Massachusetts-based foundation dedicated to following up on the work of Edgar Cayce, the project is a continuation of Project: Alta, begun in 1993 by The Atlantis Organization. The new investigations will focus on high-priority sites as well as seeking out new ones. The emphasis in 1993 was to seek out new sites by means of aerial reconnaissance and side-scan sonar, as well as to investigate the zoomorphic (animal-shaped) effigy mound designated as the Cobra Mound, which was discovered on an earlier trip.

Project: Alta was the first time a comprehensive side-scan sonar project had been done since Dr. David Zink and Dr. Harold Edgerton did theirs in the 1970s. Theirs resulted in the discovery of a number of anomalies that included right-angled features and parallel lines. Alta's side-scan returns revealed tall spires rising from the ocean floor, a hexagonal feature, an area that had multiple right-angled features in association with two concentric circles and parallel lines, a number of rectangles, and a triangular sound shadow about 150 feet in extent in deep water. All of the targets had their global positioning coordinates taken so that they could be relocated in the future. Magnetic coordinates were taken from the air for a large potential site several miles east of Bimini.

An archeological seashell (one altered by man) was discovered on the Cobra Mound. Part of the project was documented on Secrets of the Deep: The Hunt for Atlantis on the Discovery Channel. In 1995 the project continued and resulted in a number of significant actions, including the first exploration of the Sea Horse Mound (see photo below) and also the discovery of a stone with a ridge, or tongue reminiscent of those of Ollaritaytambo in Peru.

What are the goals of the new project? The first priority is the investigation of the high-priority side-scan targets, which will be photographed and video taped and have their coordinates taken. An aerial search will seek to relocate an underwater pentagon (photographed previously from the air) that is many acres in extent. It will also get coordinates for the large potential site east of Bimini so that it can be dived on. Coordinates will also be taken on several parts of a number of the zoomorphic effigy mounds and fed into an astro-archeology computer program to determine if there are any correspondences. If funding permits, some features off Andros Island will be investigated (Dr. Manson Valentine had a photograph of what looks like concentric stone rings in this area), as will the Cay Sal Bank area. Herbert Sawinski has photographed and described features at two sites in this area of potentially great significance. One may be an actual quarry site and the other is of stones like those of the Bimini Road only in much better shape!

Edgar Cayce specifically mentioned the Bimini area as having remains directly attributable to the civilization of Atlantis. He described Atlantis as having achieved the highest civilization and knowledge that has been known to the earth's plane. The first discovery of clearly defined architectural materials such as building foundations would be obvious evidence of the existence of a former civilization. The side-scan sonar targets and man-altered stones on the Bimini Road are more than evocative. Perhaps they are the shapes of things to come.

BIMINI RESEARCH YIELDS RESULTS

In July-August of 1996 the Law of One Research Corporation provided funding for a Bimini research project undertaken by Dr. Joan Hanley of GAEA Project, Inc., and Dr. Doug Richards of Meridian Institute. Both are veteran researchers of the mysteries of Bimini. Dr. Hanley is known for the successful Quest for Atlantis conferences since 1989 and has been involved with work concerning the zoomorphic effigy mounds of East Bimini. Dr. Richards is well known for his many years as Director of Research at the A.R.E. in Virginia Beach. He has long been involved in various aspects of the Atlantis research (as well as other Cayce-related archeological research). He has been in the enviable position of getting the first look at some of the original serious scientific reports of those first involved at Bimini. Though not known to many, his diligent work was mainly responsible for the discovery that there was a considerable discrepancy among the various official maps of Bimini, with some being literally miles off some-thing of considerable value to navigators and archeologists. He too has been involved with the Bimini mounds project with Dr. Hanley.

The 1996 project was the follow-up of a side-scan project done about three years ago. This was only the second known scientific side-scan sonar project undertaken to locate possible underwater sites since the initial work done by Dr. David Zink and Dr. Harold Edgerton in the late 1970s. This original work seemed to focus on the area west of Bimini and resulted in the discovery of a number of highly evocative shapes on the sea bottom: numerous right angled features and several parallel straight lines. The next side-scan sonar investigation was Project: Alta, sponsored by The Atlantis Organization (TAO) done in the spring of 1993. Partially funded by members of TAO the results were extraordinary.

GAEA Project followed a few months later, with a longer duration side-scan with equally evocative results. Taken separately each would indicate that something is there, but taken together the evidence is far more persuasive especially when we consider that it is the same types of features (right-angled shapes, parallel lines, etc.) that keep showing up. All admit that there are recent artifacts there such as sunken ships, airplanes, cars, and even more unusual items. Significantly the features which are not recent very strongly resemble architectural remains. This is exactly what we would expect to find in an area believed to have been rocked by a seismic upheaval and then covered by the sea. Most small artifacts would have been washed away. Consider what would remain of our civilization if a glacier covered all of North America or if Hawaii should experience a volcanic disaster such as that which occurred at Krakatoa!

What were the results of this follow-up of GAEA Project's original survey? For one, deeper water investigations were attempted. Many people are unaware that ocean levels have not remained stable, but have shown large- scale fluctuations over the ages. This is generally the result of glaciers melting or glaciers forming (volcanic arid geo-tectonic factors can also be involved). The Sea level worldwide before the last melting of the glaciers at the end of the Pleistocene was at least 320 feet lower than it is today (part of the premise of the movie Water World was what might happen if all of the glaciers and the ice cap melted). This is a conservative estimate, with some scientists claiming a number more like 600 feet. The importance of finding ruins at greater depths is that they must be much older than those at shallower depths.

We also have to consider subsidence, as there is a subduction zone (an area where the edge of one geo-tectonic plate slides under another to be geologically recycled) near the Bahamas, a possible cause of actual sinking in the past. The following finds are taken from a report submitted by GAEA Project to the Law of One Research Corporation and an interview of Dr. Hanley and Dr. Richards by A. Robert Smith, the editor of Venture Inward magazine. The side-scan sonar was run about one mile off the Biminis near the margin of the Straits of Florida. This is in the general area of the Gulf Stream, the location in which a geological survey should be done to find evidence for Atlantis according to Cayce.

The Global Positioning System was used to establish latitude and longitude coordinates. It was discovered that there were positional errors for the island of Bimini of approximately 500 meters (over 1,500 feet). Drift dives (where a diver is lowered to a certain depth on a rope while the boat pulls him or her along for a certain distance) were done at a depth of 45 meters in an attempt to identify features that had been registered on the side-scan sonar. When the Bahaman Banks margin was explored near the drop-off into the true ocean it was found that the edge off Cat Cay is generally straight with a series of ledges before a vertical drop-off. Though geometric patterns appeared on the sonar they have yet to be investigated. On the margins of the Banks off South Bimini, however, there appeared a wavy shape with approximately 15-meter undulations in the drop-off and 10- to 15-meter projections that appeared to be both geological and manmade. One was found to be a flatbed truck, while another was a sharp rectangular cut which looked to be unnatural (but which has yet to be explored). Regular patterns appeared off South Bimini, and though some were wrecks and other debris, (it's known locally as the dump), some were larger and of unknown origin. Diving on one revealed it to be a rocky rectangular pattern.

Looking for the remnants of a civilization that perished nearly 12,000 years ago in one of the greatest catastrophes of legend or history presents special challenges. Looking for it under water and in mangrove swamps makes the search both difficult and dangerous. Most of the people that have undertaken this quest have had to face opposition within the (allegedly) scientific community as well as outright ridicule from some elements in the media. No one has gotten rich from it. Far from it! Most have lost substantial amounts of their own money. It takes about $3,000 to do a single day of side-scan sonar work. If you get a good deal it will probably cost about $500 to do an aerial survey for an hour. None of this includes any special equipment. Even simple ground penetration radar might cost between $2,000 and $3,000 for a single day.

Since the late 1960s many individuals and groups have felt it important enough to join the search: Dr. Manson Valentine, Dr. David Zink, Dimitri and Anna Rebikoff, MARS, SEAS' GAEA, Joy Travel, TAO, and several others. We have all had an uphill battle, but that seems to have leveled off. Too many anomalies have popped up. Clearly identifiable artifacts that are obviously ancient and from no known civilization, but which have features common to several of the supposed first civilizations, are now known. The weight of evidence is shifting in our favor as more and more unexplainables are found. If we were to use the principle of Occam's Razor (where the simplest theory that explains the most is regarded as the correct one) it would be seen that the most probable explanation for these unknowns is that they are the remnants of a lost civilization.

Reprinted with permission from the Law of One newsletter, fall 1997. William Donato has an M.A. in anthropology.