Today, I would like to discuss a mystery that deeply fascinates me that started under the desert in Death Valley National Park. Devil's Hole is aptly named after an natural hot water spring/cave. It was said the cave/water hole is otherwise desolate and not ideal for most cave and marine life. However, it is home to the only population of pupfish known in the USA, which lives at the very top of the pool of water. This actually got the cave on the map as a protected spot for the endangered fish. The issue and mystery is not of the fish, but the actual design of the cave itself.
I tried loading a picture that failed but please look here if you wish to understand the cave lay out but lets get to the mystery now. . .
HEADLINES IN NEWSPAPER READS, "Two divers mysteriously disappear in Devil's Hole in 1965." The search for the divers quickly become something that would raise even more questions, rather than providing peace to it's victims and their families. It read in the paper that 4 young adults (23 - 28 in age,) had jumped the protected fence and snuck in. Little did the young lads know that it would be the last time they would see one of their friends. . .
The youths, one a state senators son. All entered the water to dive down in this mysterious cave hole. It was not clear what type of gear they brought, but since it was 1965. The team of youths most likely did not have the most sophisticated diving equipment at the time, which led to one of them "chickening out." He stated he would watch outside for people who may report them. The remaining 3 members of their small group decided to see how far they could dive down.
After some time the group realized one member of their group had failed to come back to the surface during the dive. They knew time could be of the essence to save their friend's life, so they hastily called the authorities for help. The authorities were baffled by the ordeal and thought the diver to be dead. Then the government called professional diver, Jim Houtz, whom stated that their were many air pockets that this young man could of got stuck in and suggested a full diving expedition to save him, but what they found at the bottom would lead to even more mystery and heart break. . .
This discusses the rescue dive, but I will copy and paste for background info and the account of the rescue attempt:
Citing my source:
https://www.theinertia.com/surf/a-conversation-with-the-king-of-abalonia/2/
IT READS:
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[Begin source quote]
"I also led a rescue there in 1965. There were four youngsters – teens who climbed the fence. One was a Senator’s son. Three went in the water and one got some sense and said, ‘I’m not doing it.’ They did this at night. Once you round that first bend at ninety feet – you don’t know what dark is until you go around that bend. There’s no reflection down there. The walls are limestone. They look smooth, like clouds, but they’re rough. Rub your hands against it and it’ll take the skin right off.
So I was at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club giving a presentation on diving – I have sixty, seventy people and a call came in from the Federal Government. They said, ‘are there any air pockets in those caves down there?’ and I said ‘yeah.’ I get up to Los Alamitos with my guys and this seaplane – a Grumman Albatross was on the runway, engines running. Next thing you know, we’re flying and the hatch isn’t even closed. We tried to land in a place called Ash Meadows on the California/Nevada border, but the plane had to come over a mountain and drop over a very short runway – the pilot tried three, four times and he couldn’t do it.
So we get there from Nellis Air Force Base at daybreak – the media was out in full force. The military, state police. Even a big trailer that served food. We had four guys. I set up my first team of two guys (Author’s note: one of those guys was a diver and Vegas nightclub singer named Harry Wham, who, unbeknownst to Houtz had accompanied Mel Fisher on a failed treasure dive to Cortes Bank in 1957, and would later be murdered by family members in 1981.) and we went in increments – with divers at two junctions to handle decompression issues. I get down into the lower chamber – and there I found a mask with a snorkel on it and a fin. Later I found another item from the other diver. But the point is, when you get that deep, you get nitrogen narcosis. Nitrogen poisoning. It’s a drunken state, and you get lightheaded. Once you get that, it’s far more probable that you’re going to do something stupid, because you feel there’s nothing you can’t do. The only reason I was able to make these dives was because I’d been training for it – for the narcosis.
I went to the surface and notified everybody about what we found. It was a very sad, very solemn moment. I said, ‘I’m going to recover the rest of this equipment and I’ll do one more thing to confirm. So I made one dive to the last little ledge – at 325 feet. At that point, the Devil’s Hole opens up wide, and I can tell you one thing. I know it goes down to over 900 feet. We once let out 932 feet of cable from that point and there’s a current down there – so how much of the cable was bowed from the current, I don’t know, but it’s just, it’s just massive. But down at 325 feet – that’s where I found the remainder of some of the gear – right there, just as big as life. I’m sure that’s where the kid wound up – in the very far depths. He just kept going down. The guys were never found. The only thing down there now is bones."
[END SOURCE QUOTE]
In conclusion, nobody precisely knows how deep Devil's Hole really is. Houtz stated he tethered weights (at a depth of 300ft) to go to at least another 485 feet, with more to go. However. . . He did not find the bodies; only a dive chart of the cave and fading flashlight. The other part of the mystery of the cave, that I do not have any information to back it up or confirm that this was true. Was the story that the famous killer Charles Manson had frequented this particular cave stating that their was legend and myth of a water alien race that resides at the bottom. Charles was reported to have been asking contractors in the area for a quote to possibly try to drain the cave to 300 ft. Where he could then easily dive the next part of the cave, but this never came to fruition.
Houtz also stated when he dropped the tethered line from the 300ft in the hole at the bottom. He let out all the line and weight on the reel. He noticed it was starting to bow greatly and get heavy, as if it was being pushed by a very strong current deep underneath. He decided it would not be wise to continue further down due to possible nitrogen poisoning (the "bends") or the under water current sucking him away. This statement actually makes a lot of sense and what he said was true and proved later that their was an ocean or current that moves underneath Nevada's Death Vally. The way this was proved was DURING A TSUNAMI IN CHINA/ALASKA the SEISMIC activity actually made the water table rise multiple times. This finally proved that it was connected somehow to the earth's underground network of oceans and tunnels that may span across the whole world, a SECOND OCEAN if you will.
Here's the video showing the water level rising due the Tsunami:
I hope someday they take a unmanned robot to scout this hole!
Thank you for your time and support!!!
Aruchard