ARCANA Chapter 2 by William James Johnson

Within a week Gerald Thorpe had managed to gather scientists from several countries. Centcomp made the selections. The United Kingdom and France supplied the Concorde for transporting this distinguished group to Washington from the four corners of the world. Even in his absence David Koster's system was working for his return.

The meeting was in the top secret laboratory set up by Thorpe adjacent to the War Room. Word had spread that Dr. Henry van Arnhem would defend his hollow earth thesis. All his life he had looked forward to this moment. Skeptics came prepared to blast him out of the water if he should attempt to introduce false science into his presentation.

Gerald Thorpe, acting as host, thanked the distinguished visitors for acting so quickly on his invitation. After a brief recounting of the mysterious events of the past several days, he introduced Henry van Arnhem and turned the proceedings over to the renowned Ufologist.

"My colleagues, you honour me by your presence at this experiment. Many of you have been working for years in your search for a greater understanding of the total energy spectrum. I am particularly pleased to see Dr. Nicholas Moysev of the USSR. I trust, Nicholas, you will address this meeting on the subject of your Synthetic Ionization Chamber."

The Russian scientist had achieved world fame as the man who had discovered that the magnetic north was not a single point of magnetism in the Arctic, but rather a circle of equal magnetic force with a diameter of approximately twelve hundred miles. He nodded agreement with Arnhem's proposal.

Arnhem continued, "Dr. Moysev's discovery is essential to the plan which I will present to you today. Now that the world leaders realize that an unknown force has intruded into our space and taken our head of government, I believe we should have little or no difficulty getting their support in a scheme which I hope will restore our President to his rightful place. But I have delayed enough. Let us get down to work." Arnhem projected a slide which looked familiar except for the top and bottom of the picture.

"I'm sure many of you recognize this photograph of the planet Mars. What you may not recognize is the bright areas above and below the planet which for many years was thought to be an ice cap"

His second slide showed a view of the "Red Planet" taken by one of the US satellites in which the white cap appeared to be floating in space above the planet. "I have asked the opinion of many of you, but I always get the same answer. The floating white mass on Mars is probably ice crystals. This is where I disagree gentlemen. I believe the white mass is actually a body of light caused by the shining of an interior sun through the openings which occur at the polar extremities of the planet."

There was a sudden rumbling in the audience. Arnhem knew it was time to demonstrate his theory before going any further. He asked to have the lights turned down, and moved to a location behind the lab table, on which was a large Pyrex jar surrounded by a ring magnet, out of which ran varied coloured wires. Seeping in at the base of the jar was a milky haze.

"I will be releasing ionized chlorine into the jar. When I throw this switch, I will activate the electromagnet which surrounds the container. In the base of the jar is a tiny light source which will help demonstrate my principle of congealed gases."
As he said this, the cloudy vapour which was slowly entering from the bottom of the jar suddenly began to swirl in a circle forming a floating doughnut in free space. As more gas entered the chamber it was soon taken to the grey mass which increased in density. To the amazement of the audience, the tiny light in the base of the jar shone through the centre of the vapour and reflected off the inside top of the container.

The first to comment was Liu Chow of Shanghai University, a renowned theoretical mathematician. He was a small wiry man with shiny blue black hair, and was dressed in a modified Mao jacket.

"Professor Arnhem, may I point out, please, that our problem is with Earth, sir. Not Mars. This experiment is fascinating to see, but it escapes me as to how it is related to your theory that the world is hollow."

"In time, Dr. Chow, I hope to establish the principle beyond any doubt."
Arnhem was pleased that Liu Chow had led him so logically to the next step in his presentation. This time everyone recognized the large photograph of Earth taken from the Moon during a US space voyage.

"Study this photograph closely, gentlemen. It tells us more in what it does not say than in what it reveals." He knew they wouldn't let his challenge go unanswered. The energy focussed on that one picture would have been sufficient to operate Centcomp for several hours.

"I'm not toying with you. You surprise me. No one has remarked that if there is a hole at the top of the world then why can't we see it in this photograph?"
Many in his audience thought about this, but were reluctant to risk the speaker's sarcasm. Arnhem's finger circled the large white mass at the top of the photograph. "That's it, gentlemen. There is the opening, and I am certain that when we go there we will see that it is about twelve hundred miles across just as Dr. Moysev's ring of equal magnetic force has occurred."

Dr. Liu Chow was not going to accept this idea so easily. "My dear professor, what you have shown us is precisely what we have all known for many years. The Arctic is covered in ice and snow. Is this not the ice cap of Mars all over again? Please accept my apologies, but I, for one, do not feel that what we have seen so far warrants an expedition to search for some unknown creatures in an Arctic wasteland."

"Dr. Chow is correct in being cautious. He is my King Ferdinand and I'm Columbus trying to convince him I can reach the east by sailing west." They all laughed, not at Dr. Chow, but at Arnhem's disarming manner. He continued his explanation.

"You must understand what has happened in this photograph. The white area is not snow and ice, but rather is caused by a blinding light from the inner sun which overexposed the photographic film. We are conditioned to accept the idea that the white mass must be snow because of our preconceived notions of what is to be found in the Arctic. I'm asking you to accept the idea this phenomenon could be light."

Professor Henley Armstrong of Cambridge rose to be recognized. "Doctor van Arnhem! If what you say is true, how is it that transport aircraft flying the polar route have never seen this opening of which you speak?"

Arnhem was getting all the questions he had hoped would be asked. "Professor Armstrong has asked an important question. Let me reply this way. The area of the opening is so vast one could transit into its edge and not be aware his craft is entering an opening. The aircraft do not fly across the opening. Instead, the pilots fly around the top of the doughnut shaped polar region."

Saying this, he picked up a large model of the hollow earth and taking a small aircraft out of the box on the desk, flew it around the mouth of the opening.

"You must understand, what we have in our aircraft is instrumentation based on false science. A pilot believes he is flying a great circle route when really he is making a jog in his journey in the polar regions and flies the lip of the opening until he reaches the appropriate city on the other side of the doughnut."

"But surely, old chap, someone must have seen this great opening you claim is there," continued Dr. Armstrong.

"You're right Henley. Many have been there, but they did not realize what it was they were seeing. In 1927, when Admiral Byrd made his famous flight across the North Pole, he continued more than a thousand miles beyond the lip and reported back on his radio, 'Below us is a jungle-type terrain with huge animals running through the trees.'"

Dr. Armstrong, still on his feet, retorted, "How is it I've never heard of this famous broadcast before?"

"Because, my learned colleague, the information was kept secret by my government for many years. It felt that to make this common knowledge would risk bringing unfair ridicule on Admiral Byrd, who along with being a courageous scientist, was also a national hero. You can go to the Centcomp research files. It's all there."

Arnhem moved quickly to his next concept. "Possibly this next example will be more convincing. You are all familiar with the first global voyage under water by the nuclear vessel Arcturus. What you may not be aware of is the fact this craft was five days in error on its polar navigation when it surfaced in the Arctic Ocean. As you all know, the navigational system used is the Synthetic Inertial Navigational System, better known as SINS. This device uses a system of simulated planets whose courses are programmed by an onboard computer, and the position of the submarine is measured relative to the information fed into the SINS. The only way there is any logical explanation for the five day error is that the information was incorrect. I believe it was incorrect because the sub had transited into the inner earth and out again with the navigational officer believing that the information given him by the computer was accurate. It was accurate if the earth were really a sphere. But it is not a sphere gentlemen. It is doughnut shaped, and no computer programmer in his right mind would try to convince his superiors to allow for this unverified physical fact when preparing the computer for operational use."

Dr. Moysev admired Arnhem's tenacity in the face of so much opposition. When he asked to be heard, Henry van Arnhem let out an audible sigh of relief.

Nicholas Moysev was a bear of a man. Now in his early seventies he had the energy of a man in his mid-fifties. He had acquired a world reputation for his discoveries in natural phenomena. Wearing the military tunic of an army Colonel, he proudly displayed his Lenin Medal.

"I am trusting my good friend Henry will have many more speculations to present. Of this I am sure. But I am thinking the time for ideas is over. Let us now look at the facts. Many of you, I'm hoping, recall what happened in 1958 in USSR. That was, how you would call it, Henry, big year for my country. We launched Sputnik and for me it was even bigger success. During IGY, with help from many of my countrymen, we make most important discovery. For many years, people of world believed that North Magnetic Pole is one point which changes position each year. This was a good theory because different people found it in different places each year. For me it is not good to believe it this way because no one could tell me the reason why it keeps changing. Then I get idea maybe it is not changing. We go to see for ourselves. And yes it changes. But it is found in many places at same time. Marking places on map I see after many months, magnetic pole not pole at all but instead is great circle. We so sure this is true we try same work in Antarctic and again it is true."

Moysev then took a small instrument from his tunic and went to the lab table and asked Dr. van Arnhem to verify what the instrument was reading as he moved it over the circle magnet Arnhem had used in his experiment. At every point on the magnet the instrument gave a full scale deflection. Then as he moved it to the point in the centre of the circle, he observed a zero reading on the metre. The Russian scientist stressed this most significant fact.

"Meter shows zero reading in centre of magnetic field. This will be most difficult problem we are facing if we try to go into open earth. Most dangerous risk could happen to crew and ship where matter falls in on itself in a magnetic field of zero. In this zone I believe all matter is changing into pure energy since the field of electrical potential is neutralized. There is no doubt you will need my Synthetic Ionization Chamber Henry." Arnhem interrupted his Russian colleague.

"Thank you Nicholas for your explanation of zero field magnetism. I think your explanation of the SIC would be more effective when the time comes to have the actual device here."

"You are right, my friend Henry. Of course, you are right. But please, one more thing let me say. Dr. Henry van Arnhem is my hard working friend. Many years he works to prove earth is hollow. With my discovery and what he shows us now, I believe my friend. The world is hollow...but I'm not so sure I'm ready to say yes there are people living inside it."

Henry van Arnhem appreciated Moysev's endorsement. He replied, "Nicholas I don't expect anyone to believe in my idea of superior beings living inside the earth. All I want is for you to accept, as with the chlorine gas in this jar, that there is definitely a real possibility all spherical bodies made up of congealed gases at one time were open at their polar regions. If you accept this principle, then let us apply it to our own planet earth. Just let me say once again how much I personally appreciate Dr. Moysev's vote of confidence."

The audience applauded this last statement and the two elderly scientists embraced briefly before Moysev returned to his seat.

Arnhem continued, "Please don't think I'm being too simplistic, but you must understand that the elementary experiment used in high school physics in which a paper is placed over a magnet and then sprinkled with metal filings to display the magnetic field is similar to what I have demonstrated in my bell jar and magnetic coil experiment. The ring of magnetism in the polar regions requires that the source of this power be circular to be consistent, as is the bar magnet's shape consistent with its field pattern. And I firmly believe this form, for the lack of a better description, is doughnut shaped and hence has an opening in the centre. Otherwise, my friends, the magnetic north pole and the geographic north pole would occupy the same position."

The scientist's presentation was disrupted by the voice of one of the younger scientists in the group, Carlo Nobile of Rome.

"Professor! Please! If I may speak for a moment. I am Captain Carlo Nobile. Many of you remember my grandfather Umberto. When Admiral Byrd was gaining fame, my grandfather made a great trip to the North pole too. He was with that other very famous man, the Norwegian explorer, Amundsen, in their airship Norge. Grandfather Umberto always wanted to go back to the north. On his second trip he went in that tragic airship called 'Italia'. You all know the unfortunate story of this sad voyage. It broke in two and many of the crew fell out of the front of the ship when it hit the ice. The others threw them things to help them. Then the ship, or what remained of it, went back into the sky never to be seen again.

"Grandfather and two others were saved but he suffered terrible for the rest of his life. Many people said he could've saved his men. But how? No one ever says how. They just say there must have been some way.

"But that is not why I asked to speak. I want to tell you about my grandfather. Many times when I was a young boy in Pozzuoli, he told me why he wanted to go back to the north. When he was on his first trip he saw something very strange. He told me he had seen two suns in the sky at the same time. The other men also said that they had seen two suns, but they thought it must be the white light from the ice and snow which had made them hallucinate. But after hearing you, Professor, I believe my grandfather was right. He must have seen two suns. Tell me, sir, how I can help in my grandfather's memory."

Nobile's gesture provoked several others in the group to stand and claim a place on what was shaping up to be a modern voyage of discovery on a planet where many had come to believe there was nothing new under the sun. Some needed more proof from Arnhem and he continued with many events which by themselves had little significance, but when placed into the context of a new world view, suddenly were given great importance.

He told of Vilhjalmur Stefanson's long ordeal of ten continuous years in the Arctic in search of legendary, fair skinned, red haired natives, and his discovery of a small band of these on an island in the western Arctic. He also told of how poor Stefanson was ridiculed and lost his reputation when he returned with his fantastic tale. Many had hoped he would find his legendary creatures in the eastern Arctic, so they could have claimed they were the product of inter-breeding with Vikings from Greenland. When he told of finding them at the other side of the continent, he was expelled from the Explorer's Club as being a fraud, and no one took into consideration the personal sacrifice this brave man had made to endure hardships for ten years in that unforgiving land.

A story which really got their attention was Arnhem's account of the discovery by Amundson when his small vessel got icebound for the winter in the polar sea. A fine dust settled all over his craft and Amundson believed it to be the dust of a northern volcano. Being a true scientist, he collected specimens and brought them back to Norway for analysing. He was reluctant to reveal that the lab identified the fine dust as pollen of tropical plants in the high Arctic. Since there was no way of explaining the presence of such plants in this harsh climate, Amundsen let the world continue to believe it was volcanic ash.

The tale which ended the presentation was of Pythias of Greece. He had courageously voyaged north and on his return claimed that if you continue far enough north, you will come to a warmer clime in which tropical plants and animals flourish. Needless to say, Pythias went the way of all travellers whose tales of adventure fall on deaf ears, or are listened to merely for their entertainment value.

The distinguished old scientist, tall and lean from his Dutch American heritage, now slightly bent in stature, concluded his presentation.

"As I've told Mr.Thorpe, we must prepare to see for ourselves."

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