• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Underworld Entrance Found?

I love stories of underground entrances and all the Fortean phenomenon that seem to accompany them. I always wanted to check out one of them for myself... just to do it. :)

We've been trying to find a good place to go on another ghost hunt, and it's really not that easy to find a good place close by, so you're lucky to have a site of interest within driving distance.
I wish I was there with you Sertile, sounds like a lot of fun. Sorry about your car.
 
Nice to know that you're ok and not
A) Stuck in hole somewhere, OR
B) Held captive by evil little hollow-earth types




:)
 
I might have to head down there and take a peak at this myself. But goddammit if I hear dueling banjos or Ned Beatty squealing like a pig I'm outta there.
 
of all the things that i have lost,i miss my mind the most.:D having said that,i live in oz but if i lived anywhere near sertile i would be offering my car and time to tag along on his quest. surely there are fortean's in sertile's area that have the same "i wanna know" attitude???
 
I live in north Missouri so I'll probably shoot down there when I go down to the Lake of the Ozarks this summer.
 
wombat said:
of all the things that i have lost,i miss my mind the most.:D having said that,i live in oz but if i lived anywhere near sertile i would be offering my car and time to tag along on his quest. surely there are fortean's in sertile's area that have the same "i wanna know" attitude???
Click to expand...

In addition to chrisford, IIRC, Search lives down that-a-ways, TorgosPizza (who's been MIA for eons)was in north-central Missouri, and myself (northeastern Kansas, but with transportation *issues*) are the only folks from the board in the general vicinity. I've talked with Sertile about possibly going down there to check out other fortean phenomena in his area at some point. His time seems quite spoken for this summer, however.

PM me chrisford, if you'd like to try to hook up for a roadtrip. :)
 
Well, I'm glad to see you're all still interested! I just got back from a dig at the Wilson's Creek civil war battlefield and I'm going to be leaving for Oklahoma at the end of the month, but in the meantime I'm going to try and arrange for transportation back down to Arkansas. With any luck I may be able to do it in the next week or the week after. I'm hoping to make it before I have to leave again, at least. I've got a feeling this may be a project that requires more than one trip anyway, so it's better that I get started on it as soon as possible. There's some other things in the area I'm looking into as well. Still no internet at home, but I should be around more for the time being.
 
Sertile's Final Report (maybe...)

Well, I've been there, done that. Finally. Sorry to keep everyone in suspense for so long. To be honest, I have a sinking feeling that I might be the only one left who actually cares... Regardless, I have journeyed to the Blowing Cave of Cushman, Arkansas in search of a lost civilization. Did I find it, one might ask? No. I did manage to find my way to Cushman and into the Blowing Cave, but I have failed to return with concrete evidence of anything out of the ordinary. The cave itself was spectacular, however.

I can say more about the cave itself at a later date if anyone would like to hear my story, but I'm getting ready to leave for the next 6 weeks and I need to keep this short. Condensed version, the cave exists, and everything is where it's supposed to be. The story claims an area of "breakdown" exists between the entrance and an "underground lake." Other details are mentioned, and sure enough, the cave is exactly as described.

Now, there are supposed to be lower-levels to this cave with thermal bores running underneath, which naturally lead to an underground city. The entrance is a crack in the main chamber, or "breakdown" area. My problem was the breakdown includes hundreds of boulders, some as big as cars. The entire area is incredibly complex, and it's entirely possible that such a crack would have gone unnoticed. On the other hand, there was ample evidence that the Blowing Cave is an oft-explored cavern, and it stands to reason that SOMEONE (most likely some local teenagers) would have rediscovered this mystery crevice.

My final report is this: A lot of the initial story I was looking into DID check out, and so far I've been unable to confirm or debunk the existance of any secret chambers beneath the cave or the presence of dwellers within those chambers. I'd like to go back someday, but that probably won't happen for another year at least. All I can do now is try and use what indirect research methods I have at my disposal.

Everybody let me know what they think, and if anyone has any questions or comments I'll try and respond before I have to go.
 
It's really quite simple to locate the underworld entrance in Arkansas.

Just catch a Boggy Creek monster down in the swamp and he (she)will lead you straight to it.
 
lopaka said:
A moose in the Ozarks would be most fortean!
Click to expand...

Actually, back in the 60's(maybe early 70's) a moose started showing up in small towns south of the Canadian border.It became almost a regular nightly feature on the local 6 O'clock news programs as the moose went from town to town...always headed south.

The moose finally ended up in southern Missouri before it dropped out of sight. The only clue to it's disapearance was a moose rack(antlers) found by a hunter in the Missouri Ozarks the following year.Not Arkansas but darned close.

Yes...quite Fortean.
 
hehe for the Buffy fans, Cushman's on a "Hellmouth" :D

According to Mapquest, Cushman is just 280 miles away from where I live. Be worth a visit when I find some free time.
 
Re: Sertile's Final Report (maybe...)

Sertile said:
I can say more about the cave itself at a later date if anyone would like to hear my story
Click to expand...

Yep :)

Sounds like you really need a search party of eager Forteans to cover the cave. It might also been worth contacting any local cavers as they may have already surveyed the cave (I don't know about the US but here in the UK local caving groups publish guides to nearly all accessible caves with complete surveys, etc.).

Emps
 
Finding the truth

Id loan you the money for a new car, a scientific team, camping gear and all the necessary equipment but I just need some guarantee that it is a real gateway.

This could be bigger than Disney. Imagine the entry fee charges.

Lets issue shares guys and market this new prime spot of real estate.

:p evil grin
 
I'd be willing to risk a lot more if I thought there was really something to be found, but honestly, who's going to care if I debunk something like this? I was just talking to somebody about "paranormal"-type books and they were saying how the skeptical/scientific authors have a terrible time getting out there because the publishers only want to print stuff that's outrageous. I'm not saying it's a waste of time, because I really believe these sorts of things are worth looking into, but I'm not 100% sure where to go from here. Right now I'm just trying to document everything and do this as professionally as possible, but certain circumstances make this a more difficult task than it really has to be.

The Cave itself appears to be well travelled. Moreso than most caves I've visited. The passages are incredibly complex, but someone ran twine through the majority of the cave in order to prevent themselves from getting lost, and that's almost the only way to find your way in our out of it's deeper parts. What's even more interesting (and handy) are old ropes left permanently tied to rocks and slopes in the harder parts of the cave. One large room, which requires "cliffhanging" your way around the rim of a deep, water-filled pit, actually has large iron spikes nailed into the walls with a network of mud-covered ropes leading every which way. Having fallen into one not-easily escapable body of water, I'll say that some of these can be a real lifesaver.

The area around cushman is completely literred with caves, and it's all together possible I'm not even looking in the right place. I've been able to locate the exact locations of several more caverns with the help of USGS topographic maps, some of which are absolute monsters (nearby caves range from 5-17 miles in length!). I know the county seat is Batesville, and I'm going to try and get ahold of their city hall and see if they have any records that can verify the stories I've collected of people dying inside or near the cave in unusual numbers. I'm also going to try and contact the Little Rock Grotto organization and see if they know what speliologists are in charge of that particular cave. Speliological organizations always have maps and information on caves in their areas, but they usually don't like to share it with "outsiders" for fear of abuse. I've actually considered joining an organization in Missouri just to lend myself some credit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top