THE DEEP CAVERNS OF CUSHMAN ARKANSAS

Excerpt from branton's THE UNDERGROUND EMPIRE
Sent in by Ted Loman

During the latter part of the 1950's the exploration party had investigated some very interesting caverns, mainly within the area of Arkansas and the surrounding states. At on point they came across one particular cavern some miles north of Batesville, Arkansas. This was in an area where several caverns were located. Many of these caves (concentrated generally NW-West of the town of Cushman) have in fact been the subject of some very interesting accounts, suggesting that there might be more thanone route to the nether regions below other than the one discovered by David L. and his friends. There are accounts of several people who have entered some of these caves and were never seen again; or who encountered strange phenomena deep underground - such as electrical failure of flashlights, suggesting possible electromagnetic interference; accounts involving extremely deep caverns; gas pockets encountered at extreme depths; and an account concerning one of the caves west of Cushman which seemed to have ancient carvings over it depicting various figures; and there is even one account which came from an Oklahoma man who was told by a friend of his of being chased from a cavern west of Cushman by a large hairy humanoid who began throwing boulders at him as if annoyingly scaring him out of "his" territory!

At one point David L's group came across one particular cavern near the town. Over a period of years, returning from time to time to this particular cavern, the explorers had crossed underground lakes, followed dead-end leads, explored "breakdown" areas, investigated numerous cracks and chasms, and steep inclines. One of their most fortunate discoveries was made in a large boulder-strewn break-down area about half-way between the entrance and an underground "lake". They noticed a crack in the path which they had found through the boulders and, following this crack into the thick of the breakdown they came across another area where the crevice widened enough to allow them entrance. Following this they descended for a very great distance for a very long while, down a sloping 45 degree incline, so steep in places that rope had to be used. This steep, sloping passage led them past a couple of horizontal "side passages" which they followed a few miles to dead ends, and continued deeper through at least one more crevice. Eventually they emerged into a large cavernous area hundreds of feet high and long, which they named "glass cave" because of it's features, and used it as a central "camp" in subsequent explorations. The remarkable thing about this cavern, however, was their claim that it was located almost 4 MILES beneath the surface of the earth, which would definitely make it deeper than any other "officially" recognized cavern.

Time and again they explored the mazes and labyrinths deep in the earth using "glass cave" as their central camp. Two passages in the far wall of this chamber, opposite from the crevice through which they first entered glass cave, were each explored for 3 days continuously before they decided to turn back. According to David L., these passages still continued onward with no end in sight. Could these have led to the gloomy 'hadean' like caverns which they were to see later, and which they alleged contained 'gigantic serpents' or snakes capable of crushing a human being to death in a few seconds?

After some experiments involving air flow within glass cave, the explorers were able to trace slight air movements to another as-yet- undiscovered crevice hidden within the wall, not far from the crevice which they had entered from above. This passage, through relatively small, continued still DEEPER into the earth. They explored the steep incline for what they approximated to be a mile, before reaching an area of "breakdown". This "seemed" to be the end of the line. Just as they were about to turn back in disappointment from this passage which had taken them deeper than they had ever been before, one of the members of the team noticed that the light of their carbide lamps seemed to have a faint amber tint to it. All of them were perplexed, wondering what would be causing the phenomena.

It was decided that they would all turn off their lamps in order to see if the greenish luminescence remained. They did so, and a minute or so afterwards their eyes adjusted to the darkness and they could faintly distinguish a greenish luminescence which seemed to emanate from the lowest part of the passage in an area where heavy "breakdown" SEEMED to close off any further progress.

George Wight was the first one to make his way to the spot in the breakdown area from which the faint light seemed to emanate and, after removing more rocks, they discovered that still another crack or crevice, barely wide enough for one man to enter at a time, descended vertically from beneath the breakdown.
According to David L., Wight volunteered himself to be the first to explore the crevice, and soon afterwards he was on his way down. A few minutes passed before those above heard the sound of what they could only guess was George slipping and falling down the crevice.

After a period of uncertainty those above, concerned for his safety, were relieved to hear the faint voice of George Wight rising up from apparently several dozen feet below. They were able to make out his excited words to the effect that he had fallen into a large tunnel, and encouraged the others to follow him.

They did so, and when they were all in the 'tunnel' they stood in stunned silence. The passage which stretched out from them in BOTH directions was not like the common natural cavern passages which they had explored for the past few days. In fact, it seemed more artificial than natural. Approximately a dozen feet in height and about the same in width, the 'tunnel' was similar in shape to a subway tunnel, having a domed ceiling and a flat floor. What really caught their attention however, was the fact that the tunnel was illuminated by a greenish phosphorescence to the point that they did not need their carbide lamps to see their surroundings. The strange luminescence seemed to emanate from the walls of the tunnel itself, which were clear and glass-like yet at the same time extremely hard.

In one direction the lighting effect faded out into blackness, while in the other direction the light seemed to increase. One of the members suggested that the light might be coming from the surface, and that they might be in one of the old mines which existed in the area of the cavern entrance, but others brought up the fact that, according to their calculations, they were at least five miles beneath the earth and therefore the light probably did not come from the surface.

Subsequently, the explorers decided to investigate in the direction of the "light" since it would allow them to keep some carbide in reserve for their return trip. At one point the tunnel (which was apparently cut through solid rock much of the way and then glazed over with the hard, transparent substance) opened into a gigantic cavern. Actually, this occurred several times and at intervals, as if those who constructed the tunnel intentionally meant for them to intersect the various cavern systems. Did the ancient builders of this tunnel system possess a combination of gravitometers, x-rays and sounding radars to detect these cavities? Even as it passed through these large caverns, the tunnel still continued in the form of a transparent domed enclosure, still the same shape as before, yet this time the hard transparent substance was in the form of a 'wall' a foot or so thick that protected the group from the 'outside' or cavern environment. And fortunately so, for beyond the luminescent walls, were black expanses of gloomy darkness within which they could faintly make out huge moving and slithering figures of what seemed to be giant serpents and other grotesque reptilian creatures as well as other non-reptilian creatures, including giant insects.

If not for the fact that these creatures were physical, tangible things, these dark caverns could have been likely candidates for the legendary 'Hades' of Greek and Hebrew tradition.

The most shocking surprise of all, however, occurred on the third day after exploration of this tunnel began, a considerable distance from the crevice from which they entered the tunnel. They were walking along when all-of-the-sudden they turned around and found themselves face-to-face with a group of human-like beings who stood around 7 to 8 feet tall. 'Their' skin had a faint pale-bluish, almost clay-bluish tint to it and their eyes were relatively large and owl- like. But 'they' were definitely human, according to David L., who was on this particular expedition. The 'people' took out some type of electronic device, apparently some kind of parabolic communicator, and after a few attempts they succeeded in establishing a communication link using the electronic 'translator'.

At this point their story becomes even more complex, and the exact series of events, in their chronological order, are rather undefined. First, the strange 'people' made it known that the tunnel led to a network that went all throughout the earth and to even greater depths. 'They' had certain types of instruments that could monitor from a distance the emotional field or make-up of a person and thus determine their intentions. It was only because 'the group' was found to possess an emotional makeup indicating relatively non-violent and non-selfish motivations that they were chosen to be contacted. 'They' made it known that the cavers could have traveled through the underground tunnels for weeks and would not have discovered their "city" if "they" did not wish them to, as the entrance to it was so well hidden. Here then, are some of the other incidents which allegedly occurred after the group encountered the strange people, or rather after these people CONTACTED the group (chronological sequence uncertain):

1) The group learned that the tunnels continued for hundreds of miles, at least. After the initial contact, the topsiders were taken to a hidden "elevator" and were then taken through this to the "city" where these people resided. This community was apparently made out of a glass-like substance, somewhat like the makeup of the tunnels themselves.

2) Their lifestyle, way of life, society, government, etc., was described as being radically different than that which existed on the surface. These people possessed a "Book of Laws" or a moral code by which they attempted to live. According to David L., if any of their society became violent or became a threat to the rest they were expelled into the tunnels, given sufficient provisions to make it on their own, and generally forced to seek out their destiny in other parts of the nether regions. This punishment for unrepentant "criminals" was apparently practiced only on very rare occasions.

3) The technology used by this civilization was very complex, and is based largely on the technology of the lost races who lived before the flood and whose demise resulted in the abandonment of the subterranean system, along with all of the sophisticated technology which had been left there as well. The race encountered by David L. and his group allegedly were direct descendants of Noah, and were of a race of explorers who came to the Western Hemisphere some centuries following the deluge and discovered and took up residence within the ancient subsystem where they now resided. Some of the technology left by the "ancients" is still not understood by the people encountered by the speleologists. The group was also shown tremendous dark caverns miles beneath the city, where the subterraneans had found ancient ruins of this ancient lost race. Some of these buildings were sealed, apparently the desperate act of the vanished race who built them.

4) Some of the caverns--especially the extremely deep one's in which the ancient cities were found--were miles in diameter. Some were pitch black and so still and silent that a whisper could seemingly be heard miles away. Some of the upper caverns through which the 'tunnel' penetrated contained not only serpent-like creatures but also huge, hairy 'humanoids', perhaps tied-in with the Sasquatch family. These however were particularly violent in nature, possibly due to their environment and constant proximity to the serpents. Apparently there was an ongoing conflict between the "hairy" humanoids and the reptilian creatures in the caverns. According to David L., these hairy giants had faces "only a mother could love". On one occasion, their subterranean friends demonstrated some type of hand-held beam weapon by pointing it at one of the large serpents which could be seen through the tunnel "walls". The beam melted through the transparent barrier and the serpent disappeared in a sizzling glow of fire.

5) The group attempted to tell their story to friends of theirs on the surface. Apparently they made several trips after their first encounter with the blue-skinned race. However, their story was rejected and met with mockery and ridicule. They attempted to gather proof of their visit, and made a special trip "down under" just for that purpose, and succeeded in capturing a "giant cave moth" which roamed the deeper caverns. They placed it in a bag and upon returning topside they opened the bag and exposed the creature to the brilliant summer sun. For some reason, the sunlight had a disintegrating effect on the insect and before they could show it to anyone as proof it had dried up, become brittle and eventually crumbled to dust. After this, they gave up all attempts to get anyone to believe them, and resigned themselves to keep the secret among the twelve individuals who made up the exploration and support teams, that is, until David L. was given permission to reveal the story to the now late Charles A. Marcoux (Note: Marcoux incidentally died as a result of a 'heart attack', while exploring the surface areas around the Cushman caves. His wife described it as a sudden and irrational attack of fear resulting from a swarm of bees that Charles had encountered. One must realize that 'fear' is one of the most powerful weapons utilized by the 'infernals' who would attempt to blind mankind to conditions taking place in the inner world. However, by the grace of God Almighty, many have been able to defend themselves from the "body terror" utilized by the reptilians and which can often lead to paralysis, heart attacks, insanity or even suicide).

Eventually George Wight decided to remain below with their subterranean friends, and on their second-to-the-last trip they said their goodbyes. They allegedly made one more trip afterwards during which they met with their friend, who was doing well, for the last time. The peculiar thing about this incident, according to David, was that shortly after Wight had joined this underground society all evidence and records of him ever existing began to mysteriously disappear from the surface. Birth certificates, school records, computer records, bank records, etc. all seemed to vanish, apparently the work of someone in a very influential position who was able to erase all evidence that Wight had ever lived. Some researchers still retain copies of George Wight's articles from the old UFO periodical, nevertheless. This would open up the possibility that this underground race closely monitors events on the surface, and even has "workers" in various influential positions who act as mediators in surface society. Everything points to the fact that this subterranean race prefers it's privacy and does not wish to become involved in the political conflict and chaos which has for untold centuries plagued the surface world by warring factions constantly fighting over territorial rights, etc.
There is apparently much more to this account than we can relate here, however for various reasons, specific information other than that which we have just related will have to remain confidential. One can seemingly find "connections" between this account and others which have been related by other sources. For instance, John Lear has stated to some researchers that certain Apollo astronauts encountered another terran or earth-based race on the moon, a race that apparently made it there long before America did, and this 7 ft. tall, large-eyed race of humans seems to fit the same description as that given by David L. The people that Lear referred to allegedly have an alliance with the 'Blondes'. Is it possible that the underground people contacted by David know of and interact with the Telosians?

Whether this small item has any connection with the people allegedly encountered by the speleologists is uncertain, but it was related by John Keel in his book 'THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES': "...The Cherokees have a tradition, according to Benjamin Smith Barton's 'NEW VIEWS OF THE ORIGINS OF THE TRIBES AND NATIONS OF AMERICA' (1798), that when they migrated to Tennessee they found the region inhabited by a weird race of white people who lived in houses and were apparently quite civilized. They had one problem: their eyes were very large and sensitive to light. They could only see at night..." Is it possible that these people may have later taken up a cave- dwelling lifestyle, if they had not done so previously, to allow themselves more comfortable living conditions?