Recap

Hollow Earth: Fiction & History

Writer and teacher David Standish discussed his Hollow Earth research in both fiction and history. The late 17th century astronomer Edmond Halley (of Halley's Comet) proposed the idea of the Hollow Earth as a scientific theory in order to explain anomalous compass readings, and in the next century it was picked by the minister Cotton Mather. In the 1800's, John Symmes popularized the notion that the Earth was hollow and there were entrances at the north and south poles.

Standish also described the work of Cyrus Teed, an American physician who founded a religion in the late 1800's called Koreshanity, based around Hollow Earth principles. Interestingly, there have been unsubstantiated stories that Hitler picked up this religion, and developed some of his occult beliefs around it. The popular "Shaver Mystery" of the 1940's & 50's was also described by Standish. Richard Shaver (who had a history of mental illness) claimed he'd been inside the Hollow Earth and said it was inhabited by evil aliens who controlled UFOs.

Some have said that Mount Shasta in California contains an entrance to the inner world known as Agartha. Standish shared details of this supposedly utopian network of subterranean cities, where people eat soy steaks, romp with saber-toothed tigers, and use amino-acid based computers. While he doesn't think any of the tales of the Hollow Earth hold scientific water, he believes they do offer intriguing metaphors for what is happening on the surface of our planet.

In the last half-hour, George played a vintage interview segment with Art Bell and Mel Waters, discussing "Mel's Hole."

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Hollow Earth Imagery

David Standish has supplied us with a set of images related to his Hollow Earth research. Pictured is part of a Shaver Mystery cover from a 1948 'Fantastic Adventures.'