EXPEDITION TO SOLOMON ISLANDS!!
I do hope that - having read the preceding pages devoted to the riddles and mysteries of Solomon Islands - Readers will have by now a full picture of the current situation. However, if we wanted to recapitulate on it, the situation is as follows:
Solomon islands is a country full of mysteries, riddles and ancient tales. Of all of them, particular attention should be drawn to four. A positive verification (i.e. a confirmation - proven by photographs and/or video recordings) of even ONE of them could forever change our way of thinking and broaden our knowledge. Proving or confirming ALL of them would constitute a real breakthrough in science and in the way we perceive the world.
Those four mysteries are:
Ancient ruins in the island of Malaita. According to local folk tales and legends these are remains of the Ramo civilisation, a warlike race of giants. They apparently consist of cyclopean-sized walls as well as a tomb (?), also of gigantic proportions, which holds remains of a giant. There is a significant likelihood that - if indeed real - they are in fact remains of a civilisation that had its roots (?) in the Indus Valley, and then - some 30 to 50 thousand years ago - began migration eastwards, journeying towards the Pacific and "hopping" from island to island of what is now Oceania, eventually reaching territories of modern-day Peru and Bolivia. I base this hypothesis on an excellent book by Igor Witkowski, "Axis of the World".
In his article and on Internet sites Marius Boirayon provides specific geographical coordinates of the place where these ruins apparently exist. However, even if he is telling the truth, and the coordinates are correct, accessing the place in itself is simply impossible without the natives' assistance - tribes or village dwellers living close to the alleged ruins. Contacting local inhabitants is absolutely vital anyway, irrespective of the level of difficulty in organising an expedition to the region, if anything because firstly geographical data provided by Boirayon may not fully reflect reality (but the locals may have such a knowledge), and secondly - please see the link "Information on the Solomons" - in order to reach many areas in this mysterious country an appropriate consent is needed from local communities who own these lands.
Strange light phenomena (called by some natives "Dragon Snakes"; it is possible that there exist a number of various such light manifestations), appearing first of all over the islands of Guadalcanal and Malaita (although recently I have been told Makira is also one of such places). According to Boirayon's accounts - and those of the natives - they may behave in an intelligent manner, and are even hostile towards humans. Other locals (see the page called "Proof, Circumstantial Evidence") claim that the behaviour of "Dragon Snakes" is neutral; in both cases references are made to light-emitting objects flying over from the mountains of the interior, moving silently in the night (rarely day) sky and then - another characteristic feature - submerge under water. The first interpretation that immediately comes to mind as an obvious one is that we are dealing with some air or air-water craft driven by an intelligent force. However, it is difficult to ascertain whether the term "intelligent force" should be understood as beings from alien planets or dimensions, or simply human beings (in the latter case, are we dealing with some military activity?). Those UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) may also represent forces of nature, jokes or hoaxes, or - last but not least - hallucinations. An expedition - which would be successful not just in observing (and filming and/or photographing!) those "Dragon Snakes", but also in reaching up very close those places from which "Dragon Snakes" are said to fly out - could help in determining the nature of these phenomena whose reality (in the sense of making observations with a naked eye) I am not able to undermine after, in the late summer of 2008, I have made such an observation myself (albeit from quite a distance)...
Kakamora or 'O, i.e. "small people", inhabiting - as per the local tradition - mostly the island of Makira, but also (to a lesser extent) the islands of Guadalcanal and Malaita. These are - according to accounts - small hairy beings, rather shunning away from humans, although sometimes sporadic and short contacts between the two do happen. Because of the fact that no researcher from outside of Solomon Islands (and broadly - from outside Oceania) has ever managed to encounter these beings, and also taking into account that Solomon "kastom stori" (native folk tales) are overflowing with references to mythical beings, Kakamora are considered by anthropologists to be just a part of this folklore-based legacy. Scientists are of an opinion that even if Kakamora do exist, they only do so in such myths and legends. With all certainty such a possibility should be taken into account. On the other hand, if Kakamora are mythical beings, then it is curious that the natives indicate certain real, physically existing caves as holy taboo places - places where "small people" dwell. Moreover, as I have shown in the section called "Proofs, Circumstantial Evidence", we can be dealing here with a situation similar to the one from the Indonesian island of Flores. If we are to believe assurances made by the leader of the Boawe village on that island - "small people" from Flores ("Hobbits", as scientists call them) not only did not die some 12 to 13 thousand years ago, not only were they seen as late as in the 18th or 19th century, but a handful of them may have even survived to our times! Can we be dealing with a similar situation on Makira or Guadalcanal - places several thousand kilometres away from Flores - i.e. a type of a human or a hominid as yet undiscovered by scientists? If so, then search for Kakamora seems to gain a completely new meaning...
Giants of Solomon Islands, according to local tales appearing most of all in Guadalcanal and - to a lesser extent - in Malaita. Of all four mysteries or riddles of this extremely fascinating country, without doubt it is this one that seems to be most elusive and least credible. Just as is the case with "small people" of Makira, no person from outside of Solomon Islands (or - broadly speaking - from outside of Oceania) has ever encountered them. However, contrary to the Kakamora, there is no analogy of any sort to a similar situation anywhere else on any continent.
On the other hand, there are people in Guadalcanal who claim they have observed giants and that they are in a possession of their hair or bones. Are they lying? Only meeting those individuals and collecting samples could cast some light upon the veracity of those locals. If we accept, however, that there is some grain of truth in what they are saying, then giants may then appear as an element of physical, rather than magical, reality. In other words, it may then turn out that they are real, physical, existing beings, and if so - then they can only be some apes unknown to science, some hominoids unknown to science (and unrecognised by science), or a new human race unknown to science... I do admit, however, that from among all SI mysteries this one is least acceptable and least verifiable even to me, although perhaps - just by its nature - most intriguing of all...
One can, obviously, assume in advance that all accounts about ruins, lights and strange beings are a childish fantasy and/or a joke. One can also - based on data available in articles, books or the Internet - conjecture about things, or put forward hypotheses concerning what those mysterious places, beings or phenomena are or are not, or else attempt to prove that they do or do not exist.
The truth is, by acting like that it is impossible to draw any unambiguous conclusions and to obtain any convincing and definitive proofs.
What, then, could constitute such an unambiguous proof? Only a REGISTERED (i.e. videorecorded or photographed) OBSERVATION could prove anything. Obviously if a Kakamora and/or a giant could be captured, an additional proof could then be DNA samples, but under no circumstances can we count on it, especially given that the reality of these beings cannot be in any way verified...
How could such a registered observation be made? SOLELY by organising an expedition whose aim it would be collect as much graphical (films, photographs) and audio material as possible. Dear Reader, this whole Solomon affair is not at all about finding a secret UFO base or a hairy hominoid at all costs. Searching for mysteries - and THAT, in fact, would be the main goal of an expedition - is all about LOOKING FOR TRUTH with a hope of FINDING it. Therefore, if ancient ruins of a gigantic and very old race turned out to be in fact some remains of buildings erected by modern Solomonians' ancestors some 100, 200 or 500 years ago; if lights in the sky turned out to be military helicopters patrolling the coast or the interior; if the Kakamora turned out to be some species of a monkey or ape, and the giants lived only in legends and/or in the imagination of the local inhabitants - such a state of affairs should be accepted and even then the mission should be considered to be successful. The superior role and task of a researcher, scientist, explorer is - let us repeat it once again - striving towards truth. Anyone who, having read these pages, thinks that I see so-called "Aliens" in a smallest light in the sky, that the jungles of the main three islands of the archipelago are without doubt inhabited by hominoids - any such person is mistaken. TRUTH makes no discernments. There is no better or worse truth, truth more or less worthy of attention. If anything, some facts may simply shock or astonish more than other facts... First, however, we need to make sure that they are indeed facts. Therefore any hypothesis - that "Dragon Snakes" are a joke or a hoax, that they are in fact natural phenomena or a result of human activity, and finally that they are alien craft - needs to be accepted to an equal extent, without evaluating any of them. The only way of achieving that is striving to reach the core and the heart of events. In the case of ruins described by Boirayon it means an attempt to get to the place he has indicated (having first consulted the locals and obtained their assistance). In the case of light balls it means getting as close to the place or places from which - as both Boirayon and the locals claim - "Dragon Snakes" fly out, perhaps getting to the "heart of the darkness" (or, shall we say, "heart of light"?), i.e. - as an example - to a valley hidden behind the mountain over which I have seen myself some very strange light manifestations.
Far more difficult - although perhaps not totally hopeless - would be an attempt to find Kakamora and/or giants. After all, it is not known whether in fact they are or were real entities. On the other hand, if successful, it would most likely mean a complete breakthrough in our knowledge. The procedure in the case of the latter two mysteries would have to consist first in speaking with the locals, especially those who claim they have seen those creatures or are in a possession of their hair, bone(s) or scalp. It is a long and arduous procedure, particularly when taking into account very complicated and archaic rules of behaviour and social coexistence in Solomon Islands, mutual animosities between particular tribes, clans or villages, the omnipresent taboo and, last but not least, certain distrust, and sometimes even hostility, of some of the natives towards white strangers in this generally very hospitable country. You can find more about it on the page called "Information on the Solomons".
If we add to that natural and climatic conditions of Solomon Islands and unfavourable, sometimes even dangerous flora and fauna of this country (more information is provided on the "Information on the Solomons" page), it will become obvious why an expedition of that kind would have to last not days, not weeks, but many months, most probably 4 to 7. all details of the expedition - descriptions, remarks, progress etc. - is put on the expedition blog which will be updated as events unfold.
Let me however take this opportunity to even now appeal to all seekers of truth, all adventurers and globetrotters; to naturalists, archaeologists, medical specialists, astronomers, ufologists, culturalists or ethnographers, or to those individuals for whom the above is just a passion; to film crews, documentary producers, photographers etc., etc.
EXPEDITION: WHO, WHERE, WHEN AND HOW
WHO?
It is my pleasure to officially announce that the Solomon Expedition 2011 has gained a new member in the person of Warren Aston who will join me in Malaita from mid-September to mid-October.
Warren is a writer and researcher who has been intensely interested in anything that flies, UFOs, earth mysteries, astronomy and religion all his life. With a professional background in photography and travel, he has initiated expeditions to various places including the Middle East and Central America. New Zealand born, he currently lives in Brisbane, Australia and continues to travel widely.
It is an honour and pleasure to have Warren on board and I am looking forward to fruitful cooperation.
Wish us luck!
WHERE?
Solomon Islands consist of nearly 1000 islands, of which the smallest ones can be circumnavigated or walked around within 5 or 10 minutes (such islands are obviously in most part uninhabited), and the largest have an area of several thousand square kilometres. The aim of the expedition would be three of those largest islands, namely Guadalcanal, Malaita and Makira. It is on these islands that the four mysteries described on these pages exist. Luckily - taking into consideration the "spread" of particular islands of the archipelago (it is approx. 1600 kilometres from the north-western to the south-eastern tip of the country), those three islands are situated relatively close to each other.
On Guadalcanal of particular interest to us will be the western and north-western part (that is where light phenomena are most frequent and that is also where - according to accounts of the locals described by Boirayon - dwellings of "giants" and their most numerous populations are) as well as the south-eastern part (also accounts of giants as well as - as per the Australian guide - a cave of "small people"). Malaita means mostly the north and north-west of the island as well as so-called Small Malaita (otherwise known as East Malaita), because that's where frequent light manifestations are taking place as well. Moreover in the middle part of Malaita there apparently exist secret and puzzling ruins that Boirayion describes. As regards Makira - an island inhabited by "small people", the specific area of research will be determined only after establishing that with the natives. An approximate range of the area for research is marked on the maps below:
UFO bases and the dwellings of giants
Underground UFO bases in Malaita
Underground UFO bases in Small Malaita
WHEN?
The expedition starts on 23 August 2011 and it is planned to finish on 22 December 2011 (you can see more details concerning my trip and my tickets on my blog http://solomonexpedition.wordpress.com). The starting date stems from the fact that it is from June-July that a cooler, less precipitous season begins (which doesn't mean it is completely free from tropical showers!) with less or no monsoons. In the first half of the year the predominant season is the monsoon season, with torrential, frequent and long downpours, hotter and much more difficult to bear.
The DURATION of the expedition naturally depends upon such factors as whether and how quickly it will be possible to find, investigate, observe and record each of the Solomonian mysteries. Some things, however, are constant and it is on them that the duration of the expedition depends to a large extent. Unfavourable weather conditions. Humidity and airlessness. Steep, clayish, narrow paths. Poisonous spiders, centipedes and snakes. Salt- and sweet-water crocodiles and sharks. Obtaining the natives' decision and acceptance. Obtaining written or oral permissions and negotiating those. Phenomena which do not appear every day. These are just a handful of reasons why - in order to secure even some minimal success - the stay in Solomon Islands must be counted not in days, not even in weeks, but in months. On the other hand the amount of financial resources owned/spent may somewhat - or considerably - shorten this stay planned to last four months.
An immediate question that comes to mind is: "can I go having only [x] weeks of leave at my disposal?". Obviously so, under a condition of dealing with and handling some logistic problems. Namely, an expedition to such a difficult terrain is connected with communication and transportation problems. It is therefore not so easy to bring in line with schedule both a leaver and a joiner such that a stoppage in research work or in a trek across the jungle could be shortest possible. The rest of the team would have to wait until the leaver reaches "civilisation" (i.e. a larger town, such as Auki or Honiara), meets the joiner, reports to him/her in detail, and then the joiner would have to get back to the interior. If such stoppages occurred sporadically - say two or three times during a 4-month-long stay - that would not constitute much of a problem. However if such a "change of guards" were to happen in frequent intervals, several (dozen) times during the expedition - then not even one of the intended expedition goals would be possible to achieve. For the above reasons, to the requirements, expectations or necessary traits of potential participants we need to add another one, namely time availability (it does not have to be seven months, or even four, but two to three at a minimum). However, since I believe there are no impossible things, I also believe that such logistic and communication problems can be organised in advance on the condition that they do not happen too frequently during the team's stay in the Solomons. It would be ideal if the participants belonged to one of the groups below, but it is certainly NOT a prerequisite condition:
- students having at least three months' holidays/leave at their disposal
- individuals having a non-standardised work time, those who can afford several-month long break in work
- individuals on long-lasting paid or unpaid leaves, so-called "sabbaticals", "year-gaps", "career breaks" etc.
- wealthy or very wealthy individuals whose financial standing enables them to travel without much headache for several months
However, until the final team line-up is finalised, the duration of stay of particular team members is not completed and established.
HOW?
Expedition to Solomon Islands is supposed to be an expedition whose main goal is observation and recording of potential unexplained phenomena and collecting samples. In other words, it is to be a scientific expedition concentrating on - according to classification used, among other scholars, by Prof. Hank L.H. Wolfs of the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Rochester - on step one of the scientific procedure, i.e. exactly on "observing and describing a phenomenon or a group of phenomena". The purpose of the expedition is not an in-depth analysis of phenomena occurring in Solomon Islands or a detailed description of beings who apparently live in the interior. Results of observations, should they be available, will determine the legitimacy of working hypotheses concerning the source or nature of those events and/or beings. The guideline and principle of the expedition is prejudice-free observation, free also from pre-established judgements, as well as - wherever possible - measurements.
Before I present a list of vital, necessary, useful or - last but not least - additional equipment for observing and investigating which - in an ideal world - would have to be collected to make sure that all aims, assumptions and research tasks will be completed, I would like to say a few words concerning the methodology of research or observations.
So:
As regards alleged ruins of the Ramo civilisation, first a contact needs to be established with local inhabitants of villages situated near the ruins in order to blend in and hold conversations or interviews with them to obtain their confirmation (or not) as to the existence of such ruins. If they are not known to exist in the place indicated by Boirayon, then - perhaps, according to potential hints or tips provided by the natives - it would be possible to find other or similar structures elsewhere. If, on the other hand, they confirm the existence of ruins/structures in that particular place, then those ruins need to be accessed and numerous photographs, descriptions and measurements should be made. A decision as to what exactly such ruins are needs to be left to scientists. A real challenge is the actual access to the ruins, especially if they are situated in the deep interior of the country. I estimate the success of this particular mission to be in the range of 50-90%.
When I was observing some strangely-moving lights in the Solomon sky in the summer of 2008, it was with a naked eye from a long distance. I knew that - in order to determine the real nature of those light phenomena, it was necessary to observe the objects from a far smaller distance or with a much larger magnification. And that is my aim (at least as regards Guadalcanal): to create three observation bases and three teams which would alternately (or together) make observations from the base camp, the top of the mountain adjacent to the one over which the lights hover, and from the valley surrounding the "Dragon Mountain". In my opinion observations of lights over other places or islands will have to be performed in a similar fashion by using (a) lunette(s) coupled with a still camera or a video camera, a night vision device, or a single-lens reflex still camera with a very long focus lens. I estimate the success of that part of the expedition to be in the range of 30-50%.
Kakamora and giants are far more difficult "objects" to photograph or film as - provided they exist at all - they are extremely ephemeral. However, there are so-called "photo-traps" capturing movement and special kind of "hair-traps" for combing out or plucking out tufts of hair. It is therefore possible to deploy that and similar kind of equipment in the places which the locals mention as the dwellings or sightings of these beings. The contacts I have recently made in Solomon Islands indicate that although observation or capturing of a live specimen may be difficult (or downright impossible), other tracks, much easier to investigate, such as bones and graves, may confirm the existence of giants. I estimate the success of that part of the expedition to be in the range of 5-30%.
There are many possibilities and to a large extent they depend upon circumstances and the way things fold out.
Below is a list of equipment necessary or useful during the expedition (obviously it is a "maximum" list, in other words a "wish list"; how much of the equipment from the list it will be indeed possible to purchase, what the quality of the equipment will be, how many pieces of each item it will be possible to purchase - all of the above depends on the number of participants, their level, possibility and willingness for financial involvement in the expedition, the amount of money saved (and collected from sponsors?) as well as other factors):
1. Lunettes with magnification of 60 to 100 times with a possibility of mounting a still and/or video camera.
2. Various still cameras, from compact-sized pocket ones, through compact ones with changeable lenses, to SLR with tele-lenses.
3. Video cameras - both of an old type, i.e. using tapes (possibly digital ones), and the latest generation memory card ones; both have advantages and disadvantages. In a tape camera it is more difficult to manipulate the picture (through, for instance, cutting out just one element from a frame and then re-recording it back onto the same tape), and this is exactly the sort of accusations that should be avoided; on the other hand a tape under tropical conditions may easily stick to a drum or other mechanical elements. In the case of a digital memory card camera it is much easier to manipulate the picture but mechanical parts that can contract moisture do not exist, and besides such a camera is completely silent.
4. Night-vision devices for observing objects (machines and beings) in total darkness.
5. At least one thermovision camera for sensing and determining the location of living entities (heat!).
6. Photo-traps (devices taking photographs after a laser or infrared beam is crossed)
7. GPSes in order to establish position of observation/recording teams
8. Short wave radios of a "walkie-talkie" type or other/similar devices allowing communication at a distance of several dozen, hundred or thousand metres
9. Satellite phone(s)
10. Sound recording devices
11. Personal SPoT trackers (http://www.adventuretradingpost.co.uk/)
12. Camping equipment (tents - and, better still, special jungle hammocks - stoves, pots, sleeping bags etc.)
13. Jungle boots
14. Water purification equipment, filters
15. Accessories, cables, batteries, chargers etc.
16. "Hair traps" for collecting hair (just in case, should any giant or Kakamora pass by... ;-))
17. Special devices called Fieldranger (http://www.benmeadows.com/search/Field+Ranger/11831/?type=brand), i.e. six-kilometre long replaceable thread on a spool, biodegradable, showing exactly the distance covered and allowing (before they degrade) to return back along exactly the same path
18. Wind guns with anaesthetic (again in the case of an encounter with a giant or a "small man") - although here appropriate permits are most likely needed from Solomon islands' authorities, and secondly there are also moral questions (are those beings more animals or more humans, and if they are closer to humans, can we put them to sleep to collect hair, skin or blood samples? What will the natives say? Etc.).