Then the mission that had been expected to last for between 6-8
months, came to an early and faltering end. The Chilean press reported that the
mission had "run into trouble" and that there had been "many fatalities". (The
official record, though, states that one plane crashed killing three men; a
fourth man had perished on the ice; two helicopters had gone down although their
crews had been rescued and a task force commander was nearly lost (7).) The Chilean claims to one side, it is known that the Central
Group of Operation Highjump were evacuated by the Burton Island ice-breaker from
the Bay of Whales (above) on 22nd February 1947; the Western Group
headed home on 1st March 1947 and the Eastern Group did likewise on
4th March, a mere eight weeks after arrival.
Quite what was going on is still not a matter of public
record, however it is known that Byrd was immediately summoned to Washington and
interrogated by the Security Services on his return after being initially
'welcomed back' by Secretary of War James Forrestal on 14th
April 1947. (Forrestal was late to commit suicide.) On 5th March 1947 the El Mercurio newspaper
of Santiago, Chile, ran the headline On Board the Mount Olympus on the High
Seas which quoted Byrd in an interview with Lee van Atta. "Adm. Byrd declared
today that it was imperative for the United States to initiate immediate defence
measures against hostile regions. The Admiral further stated that he didn't want
to frighten anyone unduly but it was a bitter reality that in case of a new war
the continental United States would be attacked by flying objects which could
fly from pole to pole at incredible speeds. Admiral Byrd repeated the above points of view, resulting from his
personal knowledge gathered both at the north and south poles, before a news
conference held for International News Service." Bearing in mind that all this
occurred (the search for craft that could fly from pole to pole at 'incredible'
speeds) a year after the war had ended with Germany defeated, makes it
all the more intriguing.
So who was the
enemy that owned or flew these flying objects? Germany was apparently defeated,
and there was no evidence that the new emerging enemy, Russia, had such superior
technologies. Certainly there was
no other known country whose activities that could explain the US invasion of
Antarctica nor for the development of any craft that could fly "fly from Pole to
pole with incredible speeds." Rumours began to circulate that whilst
Germany had been defeated, a selection of military personnel and scientists had
fled the fatherland as Allied troops swept across mainland Europe and
established themselves at a base on Antarctica from where they continued to
develop advanced aircraft based on extraterrestrial technologies. (It is
interesting to note that at the end of the war the Allies determined that there
were 250,000 Germans unaccounted for, even taking into account casualties and
deaths.)
Incredible as it may sound, there is considerable supporting
evidence for these claims about a German base for, on the very eve of the Second
World War, the Germans themselves had invaded part of Antarctica and claimed it
for the Third Reich. In fact Hitler had authorised several
expeditions to the poles shortly before WWII. Their stated objective was to
either to rebuild and enlarge Germany's whaling fleet or test out weaponry in
severely hostile conditions. Yet, if true, all of this could have been
achieved at the North Pole rather than at both poles and been much closer to
home.
The Germans had long held an interest in the South Polar
region of Antarctica with the first Germanic research of that area being
undertaken in 1873 when Sir Eduard Dallman (1830-1896) discovered new Antarctic
routes with his ship Gronland during his expedition for the German
polar Navigation Company of Hamburg. (The Gronland also achieved the distinction
of being the first steamer to operate in the southern ocean.) A further expedition took place in the early years of the
twentieth century in the ship the Gauss (which became embedded in the ice
for 12 months), and then a further expedition took place in 1911 under
the command of Wilhelm Filchner with his ship the Deutchland. Between the wars, the Germans made a further voyage in 1925
with a specially designed ship for the Polar Regions, the Meteor under
the command of Dr. Albert Merz. Then, in the years directly preceding
the Second World War, the Germans laid claim to parts of Antarctica in order to
set up a permanent base there.
Given that no
country actually 'owned' the continent and it couldn't exactly be conquered as
no-one lived there during the winter months at least, it appeared to the Germans
that the most effective way to 'conquer' part of the continent was to physically
travel there, claim it, let others know of their actions and await any
disagreements.
Explore forgotton clues scattered throughout history that are suggestive
of an alternative history.
Join the world-wide search for evidence
of a lost civilisation that predates
known history.
Has Earth already been contacted by other civilisations either in the distant past or in recent centuries?
A discussion of the emergence of advanced technologies and the bizarre invasion of Antarctica after WWII.
A discussion of sightings of UFOs in the sky above Earth and within the solar system, including Moon anomalies.
Evidence the Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials and how the public had been subject to disinformation.
A list of credits and sources for the themes and issues explored
in Violations.
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