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"Mysteries of the Ancient Tunnels, the Cueva de los Tayos, Juan Moricz, the Metallic Library and Much More" 

"Mysteries of the Ancient Tunnels, the Cueva de los Tayos, Juan Moricz, the 

Metallic Library and Much More" 

Introduction 

By Stan Grist 

Hello and welcome to my new and unique e-package called, "Mysteries of the Ancient Tunnels, the Cueva de 

los Tayos, Juan Moricz, the Metallic Library and Much More" 

I have been working on this project for nearly 20 years and it is not yet over. As I write these words, I am in 

negotiations with the native Shuars who live near the Cueva de los Tayos, whose permission is necessary to 

enter and explore the area of the caves. I plan to mount an expedition in coming months to search for the 

secret entrance to the cave from which the alleged metallic library can be accessed. 

This is apparently the greatest kept secret surrounding the Cueva de los Tayos enigma. Many people have 

entered the cave by the well-known, vertical entrance near the top of the mountain. However, I calculate that 

it is nearly impossible or is impossible to reach the metallic library through this well-known entrance. The 

secret entrance is only accessed from underwater! 

I have included a number of unique, rare and/or completely unknown documents in this package. You now 

have some information about Juan Moricz, the metallic library and the tunnels that no living person has ever 

seen before. Most of these materials were given to me many years ago by Zoltan Czellar, Juan’s partner of 

over 15 years. You can read all about my past relationship with Zoltan in the archives of my free newsletter, 

Stan Grist’s Adventures Into the Unknown, which also includes photos and is available on Yahoo Groups at: 

StanGrist-subscribe@yahoogroups.com 

file:///C|/My Documents/My Webs/myweb/MoriczTunnels.htm (1 of 199) [9/25/2003 8:17:19 PM]


Stan with Juan Moricz and Zoltan Czellar in Guayaquil, Ecuador 

Allow me to introduce you now to each of the unique elements of this package, one item at a time: 

1. The first chapter from "Gold of the Gods" by Erich von Daniken. This was my first introduction to Juan 

Moricz and the Cueva de los Tayos. You can read more about this "first contact" of mine in the first issue of 

my newsletter, Stan Grist’s Adventures Into the Unknown. At the end of this first document you can also read 

my comments, insights and opinions about Erich von Daniken and this book. 

2. Three chapters from "Beyond the Andes" by Pino Turolla. This rare and out-of-print book details the 

adventures and exploits of an explorer / investigator as he researches ancient migrations from the Amazon, 

up over the Andes and out onto the coast of Ecuador. The three chapters include, 1. The Jaramillo Incident, 

2. The Good Padre (Father Crespi), and, 3. The Cueva de los Tayos. Jaramillo may have been the first or 

only outsider to see the metallic library. His role in this story will be highlighted in several different documents 

within this package. At the end of this document you can read my comments, insights and opinions. 

3. "The Lost Gold of Ancient America" from Ancient American Magazine by J. Golden Barton. This 

little-known article includes an autobiographical story of Mr. Barton’s investigation of the Cueva de los Tayos, 



Juan Moricz, Julio Goyen Aguado, Padre Crespi, Mormon Church Authorities, the metallic library and 

important ancient artifacts. Numerous color photographs accompany this document. At the end of this 

document you can read my comments, insights and opinions about it. 

4."The American Origin of European Settlements" by Juan Moricz. In 1968, Juan wrote this 14-page 

document and had 5,000 copies printed for distribution. Three days before distribution, something very 

strange happened and Juan ordered that every copy be destroyed by fire immediately. Was Juan forced to 

destroy these copies or did he simply "change his mind"? Only 3 copies were held back from the destruction 

and I have 1 of them. When you read it, you’ll understand why "somebody" didn’t want this information made 

public. 

5. "My Two Trips to the Cueva de los Tayos" by Gaston Fernandez Borrero. This virtually unknown book 

details 2 separate expeditions within the Cueva de los Tayos, written by an associate and close friend of Juan 

Moricz. In this book, Sr. Borrero reveals many unknown secrets about the cave and his personal relationship 

with Juan Moricz. This book has never been translated or published in English before and has enjoyed only a 

very small distribution in Spanish. Rare insights into Juan’s theory of the origin of civilization are revealed 

here for the first time. I have included the first half of the book in this e-package. The first half of the book 

discusses the first expedition that was led by Juan Moricz in 1969. The second half of the book that is not 

included, does not shed any new light on the subject. At the beginning of this document you can read my 

comments, insights and opinions about it. 

6. "They Can Call Me Crazy, But" This is the translation of an interview with Juan Moricz published in El 

Universo newspaper in Guayaquil, Ecuador on August 6, 1976. The interview covers a variety of topics 

including the joint Ecuadorian British Tayos expedition that included astronaut Neil Armstrong, Stanley Hall, 

expedition leader, ancient advanced civilizations, tunnel systems and the inner earth. At the end of this 

interview you can read my comments, insights and opinions about it. 

7. A translation and scanned image of the original secrecy agreement signed by all members of the 

original 1965 expedition into the caves led by Juan Moricz. At the end of this document you can read my 

comments, insights and opinions about it. 

8. "Exceptional Declaration" by Stanley Hall. This is probably the most explosive document in my entire 

package! It is a secret document presented to the Ecuadorian Congress in July of 1997. This document lays 

out secret, never before revealed information about the contents of the Cueva de los Tayos. Stanley Hall was 



the leader of the joint Ecuadorian / British expedition in 1976. No document or report was ever published 

about the conclusions or findings of this secret expedition. You won’t believe Mr. Hall’s declarations of his 

findings and little-known relationship with Jaramillo! This document alone is worth 10 times the price of this 

e-package. At the end of this document you can read my comments, insights and opinions. 

9. A rare article, "THE FOURTH REICH, FATHER ADOLPH AND THE LOST TREASURE OF THE NAZIS" 

By: Sean David Morton... This amazing article suggests that Father Crespi and Adolph Hitler may have been 

one in the same. I must admit that some of the information in this article is very difficult to dispute. Judge for 

yourself after reading all of the information in my e-package, especially the information from Pino Turolla's 

chapters. 

10. An article translated from a Spanish magazine, "The Cave of the Tayos" by Pablo Villarrubia Mauso. 

This interesting article reveals new and unique information gleaned by interviews with Juan's lawyer and 

friends of Julio Aguado Goyen. It also discusses proofs of the metallic library in the 

Cave of the Tayos, other caves, tunnel systems and Nazi involvement in a large Inca treasure. 

11. A complete list of dozens of tunnel system entrances in North, Central and South America. 

12. A list of the 100 most important Internet links to web sites about ancient tunnels, the Cueva de los 

Tayos and closely related subjects. 

13. A fascinating paper, "Earth Subterranean Tunnels & the Hollow Earth, My Search for Tunnels in 

the Earth", by David Hatcher Childress. If you have been a skeptic about ancient tunnel systems, this 

paper will change your mind. Mr. Childress is a highly respected explorer/investigator/author. He has traveled 

the world documenting little-known discoveries and sharing these discoveries with the world through his 

media appearances and writings. These chapters are also posted on the internet, but I've included them here 

for you because of their relevance to the subject. 

There you have it. This package, combined with the first issues from the archives of my free newsletter, 

(please read these newsletter articles first before reading the package) provide you with the best possible 

information about "Mysteries of the Ancient Tunnels, the Cueva de los Tayos, Juan Moricz, the Metallic 

Library and Much More". I sincerely hope you enjoy this information and that it motivates you to investigate 

and study that which is your passion in life. 



All the best, 

Stan Grist 

www.stangrist.com 





THE GOLD OF THE GODS -Chapter 1 by Erich Von Daniken 

To me this is the most incredible, fantastic story of the century. It could easily have come straight from the 

realms of Science Fiction if I had not seen and photographed the incredible truth in person. 

What I saw was not the product of dreams or imagination, it was real and tangible. 

A gigantic system of tunnels, thousands of miles in length and built by unknown constructors at some 

unknown date, lies hidden deep below the South American continent. Hundreds of miles of underground 

passages have already been explored and measured in Ecuador and Peru. That is only a beginning, yet the 

world knows nothing about it. 

On July 21, 1969, Juan Moricz, an Argentine subject, deposited a legal title deed signed by several witnesses 

with Dr. Gustavo Falconi, a notary in Guayaquil. The deed sets out Moricz’s claim to be the discoverer of the 

tunnels as far as the Republic of Ecuador and posterity are concerned. I had this document, which was 

written in Spanish, translated by a UN interpreter. I quote the most important parts of it at the beginning of this 

incredible story of mine: 

"Juan Moricz, Argentine citizen by naturalization, born in Hungary, Passport No. 4361689... 

"I have discovered objects of great cultural and historical value to mankind in the Province of 

Morona-Santiago, within the boundaries of the Republic of Ecuador. 



"The objects consist mainly of metal plaques inscribed with what is probably a résumé of the history of a lost 

civilization, the very existence of which was unsuspected by mankind hitherto. The objects are distributed 

among various caves and are of many different kinds. I was able to make my discovery in fortunate 

circumstances… In my capacity as a scholar, I was carrying out research into the folklore and the ethnological 

and linguistic aspects of Ecuadorian tribes 

"The objects I found are of the following kinds: 

"1. Stone and metal objects of different sizes and colors. 

"2. Metal plaques (leaves) engraved with signs and writing. 

These form a veritable metal library which might contain a synopsis of the history of humanity, as well as an 

account of the origin of mankind on earth and information about a vanished civilization. 

"The fact of my discovery has made me the legal owner of the metal plaques and other objects in accordance 

with Article 665 of the Civil Code. 

"However, as I am convinced that the objects, which were not found on my own land, are of incalculable 

cultural value, I refer to Article 666, according to which the treasure I discovered remains my personal 

property, but subject to State control. 

"I beg you, most excellent President of the Republic, to appoint a scientific commission to verify the contents 

of this document and assess the value of the finds... 

"I am prepared to show such a commission the exact geographical position and site of the entrance, as well 

as the objects I have discovered so far…" 

Moricz stumbled on the underground passages in June 1965, during his research work, in which he was ably 

assisted by Peruvian Indians who acted as skillful intermediaries between him and their tricky fellow 

tribesmen. Being cautious by nature and skeptical as befitting a scholar, he kept silent for three years. Not 

until he had covered many miles of underground passages and found all kinds of remarkable objects did he 

ask President Velasco Ibarra for an audience in the spring of 1968. But the President of a country in which 

nearly all his predecessors had been deposed by rebellions before the expiry of their term of office, had no 

time for this lone wolf with his incredible tale of discovery. The palace flunkies found the obstinate 

archaeologist very charming and assured him, after long delays, that the President would be glad to receive 

him in a few months’ time, but Moricz was finally told he could not have an audience until 1969. Disillusioned 



and embittered he withdrew to his subterranean retreat. 

I first met Juan Moricz on March 4, 1972. 

His lawyer, Dr. Peña Matheus of Guayaquil, had been trying to get in touch with him by telegram and 

telephone for two whole days. I had settled down in Dr. Peña’s office with plenty to read, somewhat nervous, I 

must admit, because according to all reports Moricz was a very difficult man to approach and had a deep 

aversion to anyone connected with the writing profession. Finally one of the telegrams reached him. He 

telephoned me. He knew my books! "I don’t mind talking to you," he said. 

On the night of March 4 he stood there, a wiry, deeply tanned man in his mid-forties, with gray hair. He is one 

of those men who has to be drawn out, because he himself is anything but talkative. My vehement, insistent 

questions amused him. Gradually he began to give a factual and very expressive description of his tunnels. 

"I can’t believe it!" I cried. 

"Nevertheless, it’s just as he says," said Dr. Peña, "I’ve seen it all with my own eyes." 

Moricz invited me to visit the caves. 

Moricz, Franz Seiner (my traveling companion) and I climbed into a Toyota jeep. During the twenty-four hour 

drive to the site we took turns at the wheel. Before we entered the caves, we took the precaution of having a 

good sleep. When the dawn sky announced the advent of a hot day, our adventure began. 

The entrance, cut in the rock and wide as a barn door, is situated in the province of Morona-Santiago, in the 

triangle formed by Gualaquiza-San Antonio-Yaupi, a region inhabited by hostile Indians. Suddenly, from one 

step to another, broad daylight changed to pitch darkness. Birds fluttered past our heads. We felt the draught 

they created and shrank back. We switched on our torches and the lamps on our helmets, and there in front 

of us was the gaping hole, which led down into the depths. We slid down a rope to the first platform 250 feet 

below the surface. From there we made two further descents of 250 feet. Then our visit to the age-old 

underworld of a strange unknown race really began. The passages all form perfect right angles. Sometimes 

they are narrow, sometimes wide. The walls are smooth and often seem to be polished. The ceilings are flat 

and at times look as if they were covered with a kind of glaze. Obviously these passages did not originate 

from natural causes - they looked more like contemporary air-raid shelters! 

As I was feeling and examining ceilings and walls, I burst out laughing and the sound echoed through the 

tunnels. Moricz shone his torch on my face: 



"What’s wrong? Have you gone crazy?" 

"I’d like to see the archaeologist with the nerve to tell me that this work was done with hand-axes!" 

My doubts about the existence of the underground tunnels vanished as if by magic and I felt tremendously 

happy. Moricz said that passages like those through which we were going extended for hundreds of miles 

under the soil of Ecuador and Peru. 

"Now we turn off to the right," called Moricz. 

We stood at the entrance to a hall as big as the hangar of a Jumbo Jet. It could have been a distribution 

center or a storeroom, I thought. Galleries leading in different directions branched off it. When I tried to use 

my compass to find out where they led, it went on strike. I shook it, but the needle did not move. Moricz 

watched me: 

"It’s no use. There is radiation down here that makes it impossible to get a compass bearing. I don’t know 

anything about the radiation, I have only observed it. It’s really a job for physicists." 

On the threshold of a side passage a skeleton lay on the ground. It looked as if a doctor had carefully 

prepared it for an anatomy lesson, but in addition had sprayed it all over with gold dust. The bones gleamed in 

the light of our torches like solid gold. 

Moricz told us to switch off our torches and follow him slowly. It was very quiet; all I could hear was our 

footsteps, our breathing and the whir of the birds, to which we rapidly grew accustomed. The darkness was 

blacker than the darkest night. 

"Switch on your torches," shouted’ Moricz. 

We were standing dumbfounded and amazed in the middle of a gigantic hall. Moricz, the proud discoverer, 

had prepared the effect as cleverly as the citizens of Brussels, who use the same trick when confronting 

foreign tourists with their Grand Place, perhaps the most beautiful square in the world. 

This nameless hail into which the seventh passage leads is intimidatingly large, but very beautiful and nobly 

proportioned. We were told that the ground plan measures 153 by 164 yards, It went through my mind that 

these were almost the dimensions of the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan and that in both cases no one 

knows who the builders, the brilliant technicians, were. 



There was a table in the middle of the room. 

Was it really a table? 

Presumably, for there were seven chairs along one side. 

Were they chairs? 

Apparently they were. 

Stone chairs? 

No, they did not have the same cold feeling as stone. 

Were they made of wood? 

Definitely not. Wood would never have lasted for thousands of years. 

Were they made of metal? 

I did not think so. They felt like some kind of plastic, but they were as hard and heavy as steel. There were 

animals behind the chairs: saurians, elephants, lions, crocodiles, jaguars, camels, bears, monkeys, bison, and 

wolves, with snails and crabs crawling about between them. Apparently they had been cast in molds and 

there was no logical sequence about their arrangement. They were not in pairs, as is usual in pictures of 

Noah’s Ark. They were not arranged by species, as zoologists prefer. Nor were they in the hierarchical order 

of natural evolution used by biologists. They simply stood there peacefully, as if the laws of nature did not 

apply. 

The whole thing was like a fantastic zoo and what is more all the animals were made of solid metal. 

Also in this hall was the most precious treasure of all, the metal library mentioned in the notarial title deed, 

although I could never have guessed what it was really like from reading about it. 

The library of metal plaques was opposite the zoo, to the left of the conference table. It consisted partly of 

actual plaques and partly of metal leaves only millimeters thick. Most of them measured about 3 feet 2 inches 

by 1 foot 7 inches. After a long and critical examination, I still could not make out what material had been 

used in their manufacture. It must have been unusual, for the leaves stood upright without buckling, in spite of 

their size and thinness. They were placed next to each other like bound pages of giant folios. Each leaf had 



writing on it, stamped and printed regularly as if by a machine. So far Moricz has not managed to count the 

pages of his metal library, but I accept his estimate that there might be two or three thousand. 

The characters on the metal plaques are unknown, but if only the appropriate scholars were told of the 

existence of this unique find now I am sure that they could be deciphered comparatively quickly in view of the 

wealth of possibilities for comparison. 

No matter who the creator of this library was, nor when he lived, this great unknown was not only master of a 

technique for the "mass-production" of metal folios in vast numbers—the proof is there—he also had written 

characters with which he wanted to convey important information to beings in a distant future. This metal 

library was created to outlast the ages, to remain legible for eternity. 

Time will show whether our own age is seriously interested in discovering such fantastic, awe-inspiring 

secrets. 

Is it prepared to decipher an age-old work even if it means bringing to light truths that might turn our neat but 

dubious world picture completely upside down? 

Do not the high priests of all religions ultimately abhor revelations about prehistory that might replace belief in 

the creation by knowledge of the Creation? 

Is man really prepared to admit that the history of his origin was entirely different from the one which is 

instilled into him in the form of a pious fairy story? 

Are pre-historians really seeking the unvarnished truth without prejudice and partiality? 

No one likes to fall off a skyscraper he has built himself. 

The walls and passages of the tunnel system were bare. There were no paintings like those in the deep burial 

chambers in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, no reliefs of the kind found in prehistoric caves at sites all 

over the world. Instead there were stone figures which we bumped into at every step. 

Moricz owns a stone amulet 4 1/2 inches high and 2 1/2 inches wide. The obverse is engraved with a being 

with a hexagonal body and round head that might have been drawn by a child. The figure holds the moon in 

its right hand and the sun in its left hand. Admittedly, that is not particularly surprising, but—it stands with both 

feet firmly on the terrestrial globe! Surely that is a clear proof that even in times when the first primitive 

drawings were scratched on stone, a chosen few of our first ancestors already knew that we lived on a globe! 



The reverse shows a half moon and the radiant sun. Without any doubt, this stone amulet found in the tunnels 

seems to me to be a proof that they were already in existence in the Middle Paleolithic (9000—4000 B.C.). 

There is another engraving on a stone plaque, 11 1/2 inches high and 1 foot 8 1/2 inches wide, this time 

depicting an animal. I suspect that it is a representation of a dinosaur. This extinct prehistoric animal moved 

on land with the help of long hind legs as shown in the engraving. Even its gigantic size—dinosaurs were as 

much as 65 feet long—can still be sensed in the foreshortened squat version of the body, and the feet with 

three toes strengthen my suspicion. If my identification of this picture is correct, it will be most uncanny. This 

extinct reptile lived in the earth’s Middle Ages during the Upper Cretaceous, i.e. 135,000,000 years ago, when 

the modern continents began to assume their present configuration. I am not going to speculate any further. I 

simply ask this question: what intelligent, thinking being ever saw a saurian? 

In front of us lay the skeleton of a man, carved out of stone. I counted ten pairs of ribs, all anatomically 

accurate. 

In an office, I beg your pardon, a square stone room, Moricz showed me a dome. Figures with dark faces 

stood like guards around its circumference. They had hats on their heads and held spear-like objects in their 

hands, as if they were ready to defend themselves. Figures flew or floated through the air near the top of the 

dome. By the light of my torch I discovered a skeleton crouched behind the "Romanesque" entrance to the 

dome. It did not shock me, but what did shock me was this model of a dome. Heinrich Schliemann discovered 

the first dome when he excavated Mycenae, a fortress and town in the northeast Peloponnese, from 1874 to 

1876, and that dome was supposed to have been built by the Achaeans at the end of the fourteenth century 

B.C. I actually learnt at school that the Pantheon in Rome, built in Hadrian’s reign between A.D. 120 and 125, 

was the first dome. But from now on I shall consider this piece of stonework as the oldest example of a dome. 

A clown with a bulbous nose knelt on a stone plinth. The little fellow sported a helmet that covered his ears. 

Earphones like those on our telephones were attached to the lobes of his ears. A ring in relief, with a diameter 

of 2 inches and 2/5 inch thick, was stuck to the front of the helmet. It was fitted with 15 holes, which seemed 

to be admirably adapted for fitting plugs into. A chain hung round his neck and it, too, had a ring with a 

number of holes in it like those we use for dialing telephone numbers. Other remarkable features were the 

spacesuit accessories on the suit that the gnome wore, and the gloves, in which his fingers were well 

protected against dangerous contacts. 

I would not have paid any attention to a winged mother figure, between whose arms knelt a slit-eyed child in a 

crash helmet, if I had not seen the identical figure, though in clay, during a visit to the American Museum in 

Madrid. 



Whole books could and will be written about these tunnels and their treasures. Among many other things, 

they will mention the 6-feet high stonemason’s works, representing beings with three and seven heads; the 

triangular plaques, with writing on them as if schoolchildren had been making their first attempts at writing; 

dice with geometrical figures on their six plane surfaces; the piece of soapstone, 3 feet 8 inches long and 91/4 

inches wide, which is curved like a boomerang and covered with stars, etc. 

No one knows who built the tunnels; no one knows the sculptors who left behind these strange ambiguous 

works. Only one thing seems clear to me. The tunnel builders were not the same men as the stonemasons; 

their stark practical passages were obviously not meant to be decorated. Perhaps they showed the 

underground vaults to a chosen group and the latter fashioned in stone things they had seen and heard and 

stored the results in the depths. 

So far the entrance to this underground treasure-trove of human history is known only to a few trustworthy 

people and it is guarded by a wild Indian tribe. Indians lurk unseen in the undergrowth and watch every 

movement made by strangers. Moricz has been accepted as a friend by the chieftain of the cave guardians 

and three members of the tribe who are occasionally in contact with civilization. 

Once a year, at the beginning of spring, on March 21, the chieftain climbs down alone to the first platform in 

the underworld to offer ritual prayers. Both his cheeks bear the same signs as are marked in the rock at the 

entrance to the tunnels. To this day the tribe of tunnel guardians still make masks and carvings "of the men 

with long noses" (gas masks?) and they tell, as Moricz knows, of the heroic deeds of the "flying beings" who 

once came from heaven. But the Indians will not go into the tunnels for love or money. 

"No, no," they said to Moricz. "Spirits live down there." 

But it is a remarkable fact that Indian chiefs occasionally use gold to pay the debts they have incurred with the 

civilized world or present friends who have rendered their tribe a service with precious gold objects from their 

five-hundred-year-old past. 

On several occasions Moricz had stopped me taking photographs as we passed through the tunnels. He kept 

on making different excuses. Sometimes it was the radiation that would make the negatives unusable; 

sometimes it was the flash which might damage the metal library with its blinding light. At first I could not 

understand why, but after a few hours underground I began to sense the reason for Moricz’s strange 

behavior. You could not get rid of the feeling of being constantly watched, of destroying something magic, of 

unleashing a catastrophe. Would the entrances suddenly close? Would my flash ignite a synchronized laser 

beam? Would we never see the light of day again? Childish ideas for men engaged on serious investigation? 



Perhaps. But if you had experienced what it was like down there, you would understand these absurd ideas. 

Teams equipped with modern technical aids will have to work down there to see whether there are any 

dangers to be overcome or avoided. 

When I first saw the pile of gold, I begged to be allowed to take just one photo. Once again I was refused. The 

lumps of gold had to be levered from the pile and that might make a noise and start stones falling from the 

roof like an avalanche. Moricz noticed my frustration and laughed. 

"You’ll be able to photograph plenty of gold later, but not in such vast quantities. Will that do?" 

Today I know that the biggest treasure from the dark tunnels is not on show in South American museums. It 

lies in the back patio of the Church of Maria Auxiliadora at Cuenca in Ecuador, some 8,100 feet above sea 

level. 

Father Crespi, the collector of the treasure, which is priceless just for its weight in gold, has been living in 

Cuenca for forty-five years. He is accepted as a trustworthy friend of the Indians, who during past decades 

fetched the most valuable gold, silver and metal objects from their hiding places piece by piece and gave 

them to him, and still do so today. 

I had been warned beforehand that the good Father was fond of pulling his visitors’ legs. I soon had a taste of 

this. In all seriousness he showed me an object that was obviously the lower part of a flatiron. "Look," he said, 

"that proves that the Inca rulers had their trousers pressed even in those days!" We laughed and Father 

Crespi led us through his treasure chambers. Room 1 houses stonemason’s work; Room 2 contains Inca 

artifacts of gold, silver, copper - and brass, while Room 3 holds the gold treasure, which he very seldom 

shows anyone, and then unwillingly. Cuenca has a "Gold Museum" of its own, but it cannot compare with 

Father Crespi’s. 

The showpiece was a stele, 20 ½ inches wide and 1-½ inches thick. Fifty-six different characters are 

"stamped" on its 56 squares. I had seen absolutely identical characters on the leaves in the metal library in 

the Great Hall! Whoever made this metal stele used a code (an alphabet?) with 56 letters or symbols 

arranged to form writing. What makes this all the more remarkable is the fact that hitherto it has always been 

claimed that the South American cultures (Incas) possessed no alphabetical writing or script with alphabetical 

characteristics. 

Have you seen this lady?" asked Moricz. 



She was 12 1/2 inches high and naturally of solid gold. Her head was formed of two triangles, whose planes 

seemed to have wings welded to them. Coiled cables emerged from her ears; they were obviously not 

jewelry, for the lady’s earrings were clipped to her ear lobes. 

She had healthy, if triangular proportions, with well-formed breasts and stood with legs apart. The fact that 

she had no arms did not mar her beauty. She wore long, elegant trousers. A sphere floated above her head 

and I felt that the stars on either side referred to her origin. A star from a past age? A maiden from the stars? 

Next came a brass discus, 8 1/2 inches in diameter. It cannot have been a shield, as the archaeologists would 

catalog it. For one thing it is too heavy, for another it has never had a handhold on its smooth reverse side. I 

believe that this discus, too, was intended to transmit information, It exhibits two stylized, but incredibly 

accurate spermatozoa, two laughing suns, the sickle of a waning moon, a large star and two stylized 

triangular men’s faces. In the middle are small raised circles, arranged to give the beholder visual pleasure, 

but apparently intended to produce a different and more serious effect. Father Crespi put a heavy copper 

plaque in front of the camera. 

"Here is something special for you, my young friend. This piece dates to the period before the Flood." 

Three creatures, holding a tall tablet with some signs on it, stared at me. The pairs of eyes looked as if they 

were peering from behind goggles. The upper left-hand monster pointed to a sphere, the right-hand one was 

clad from head to foot in an overall, which was fastened at the sides, and proudly wore a three-cornered star 

on his head. Above, the tablet with signs floated two winged spheres. What were the monsters holding? 

Some kind of Morse code, dots, dashes, SOS’s? A switchboard for electric contacts? Anything is possible, but 

I suspect technical analogies rather than letters on this tablet. And according to the Father, who has been 

given special Vatican permission to carry out his archaeological research, it does date to the period before the 

Flood. 

Take my word for it, when you catch sight of the treasures in the back patio of Maria Auxiliadora, you have to 

be very strong-willed not to get "gold-drunk." But it was not the large amounts of gold that impressed me, it 

was the representation of stars, moons, suns and snakes that gleamed on hundreds of metal plaques—nearly 

all of them unequivocal symbols of space travel. 

I picked so me exceptionally photogenic examples of such pictures out of what is presumably the lost heritage 

of the Incas, who were very familiar with the snake sign and used it decoratively in representations of their 

ruler, the "Son of the Sun." Here they are: 



A relief with a pyramid. The steep sides are bordered by snakes. There are two suns, two astronaut-like 

monsters, two deer-like animals and some circles with dots in them. Do the circles indicate the number of 

space travelers buried inside the pyramid? 

Another plaque with a pyramid. Two jaguars, symbols of strength, have their paws o the sides. There are 

obvious signs of writing at the foot of the pyramid. To the right and left we see elephants, which lived in South 

America about 12,000 years ago before any civilizations or culture are supposed to have existed. And the 

snakes are at last where they ought to be, in the sky. 

No one can deny that snakes and dragons have a special place in all myths about the creator. Even a 

scientist such as Dr. Irene Sanger-Bredt, who is an engineer in the aircraft and space industries, puts the 

following question in her book Ungeloste Rätsel der Schopfung (Unsolved Puzzles of the Creation): 

"Why does the dragon motif play such an important part in the figurative representations and myths of the 

ancient Chinese, Indians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Jews, Germans and Mayas?" 

In her answer, Dr. Sanger-Bredt thinks it probable that snake and dragon symbols must have some 

connection with the creation and the universe. 

In his book, The Masters of the Work!, Robert Charroux quotes ancient texts to show that gleaming snakes 

which floated in the air have occurred everywhere, that the Phoenicians and Egyptians raised snakes and 

dragons to the godhead, and that the snake belonged to the element of fire, because in it there is a speed 

which nothing can exceed, because of its breath. Charroux quotes Areios of Heracleopolis literally: "The first 

and highest divinity is the snake with the sparrow-hawk head; when it opens its eyes, it fills, the whole of the 

newly created world with light; when it shuts them, the darkness spreads over everything." 

The historian Sanchuniaton, who lived in Beirut circa 1250 B.C., is reputed to have recorded the mythology 

and history of the Phoenicians. Charroux quotes this passage from him: 

"The snake has a speed which nothing can exceed, because of its breath. It can impart any speed it likes to 

the spirals it describes as it moves . . . Its energy is exceptional. . . With its brilliance it has illuminated 

everything." 

These are not descriptions of the sort of snakes that intelligent human beings saw crawling about on the 

ground. 



But why have snakes so persistently made their home in all the creation stories and myths? 

For once, I shall obey the call of the scholars, according to whom our primeval ancestors can only be 

understood in terms of their own mental level at the time when they lived, and use simple depth psychology. 

If our ancestors saw a large unusual bird, they described what they had actually seen, as the concept for it 

was included in their limited vocabulary. But how could they have described a phenomenon in the firmament 

seen for the first time for which words and concepts were lacking? Probably the alien cosmonauts were not 

over-particular about, casualties during their first landing on our planet. Perhaps spectators were hit and 

scorched by the red-hot trail of a jet during the landing or destroyed by the thrust’ of a rocket on the return 

launching. There was absolutely no technical vocabulary for an eyewitness account of this terrifying yet 

grandiose event. The unknown gleaming (metal) thing that landed or took off, snorting, smelling and kicking 

up a din was obviously not a bird. So they described what they had seen - using current ideas - as a thing 

"like a dragon" or "like a great gleaming bird," or, because it was so far beyond their comprehension, as "a 

feathered fire-breathing serpent." Horrified by what they had experienced, fathers told their sons and they told 

their grandsons for centuries and millennia about the terrifying apparition of the dragon or snake. With the 

passage of time the eyewitness account using a makeshift vocabulary gradually became vaguer. Sometimes 

the fire-breathing dragon would loom largest, sometimes the flying snake, until they assumed their 

predominant position in mythology. 

There are countless snakes on the gold plaques in the tunnels underneath ‘Ecuador and Peru, and on Father 

Crespi’s treasures: snakes crawling up pyramids, striving for the summits, flying in the heavens with a trail of 

fire or lying on the heads of the gods. But neither here nor elsewhere do we see a single snake doing the 

things men have always seen them do—wriggling through the grass, hanging from a tree, swallowing a 

mouse or writhing about in the mud with other snakes. 

Everywhere dragons and even more so snakes stand as symbols for phenomena from the cosmos. 

What do the archaeologists say about all this? 

The snake was a symbol of immortality. Why? Because our observant ancestors had noticed that the reptile 

shed its skin and constantly emerged from it renewed. Surely our ancestral students of behavior observed 

that in the end the snake died just the same? 

The snake was an expression of agility and maneuverability. Would not birds or butterflies have been better 

models than this miserable creature crawling on the ground? 



The snake was an emblem of fertility and was honored as such by primitive peoples—all of whom were afraid 

of snakes. A strange stimulus to the production of offspring. 

Forest dwellers were afraid of the snake and so they chose it as a god. Lions, bears or jaguars are much 

more dangerous—snakes only seize animals that they want to eat, they do not attack indiscriminately. 

Moses gets nearer to the truth (Genesis iii, 1). For him the snake is the messenger of disaster, mud as in the 

North Germanic Midgard of early times, that "farm" between heaven and earth, the snake coils round the 

property as the personification of danger and destructive power. 

Prehistoric evidence shows: 

That snakes and dragons are connected with the creation of men; 

That snakes and dragons are connected with the stars; 

That snakes can fly; 

That snakes have an unpleasant fiery breath. 

So far there has been no profound investigation of the origin of snakes in myths and legends in 

archaeological and ethnological literature. Experts could fill this gap. I gladly place my archives at their 

disposal. 

Father Crespi has partially stacked his metal plaques by motifs, for example those with pictures of pyramids. I 

took a close look at more than 40 and some of them are reproduced in this book. All the pyramid engravings 

have four things in common: 

A sun, but more frequently several suns, is depicted above the pyramid; 

Snakes are always flying next to or over the pyramid; 

Animals of various kinds are always present; … 

… two concentric circles ‘ in varying numbers, but always of the same size, are engraved near the pyramids. I 

counted between 9 and 78. 



These concentric circles, actually a large dot inside a circle, are not only found here at Cuenca, but in all kinds 

of prehistoric cave paintings and reliefs. Until now these dotted circles were and still are interpreted as solar 

symbols. I have my doubts about this. The sun (with laughing face or a corona of rays) always has a place 

reserved for it in addition; in fact, frequently several suns are shining. If the suns are depicted so 

unmistakably, we ought to ask ourselves what the circles have to tell us. Do they indicate the numbers of 

astronauts observed? When they occur near the pyramid, are they an indication of the number of alien gods 

buried inside them? Or do they mark the sequence of explosions observed? I believe that the dotted circles 

are purely and simply a form of reckoning. What I mean cannot be more graphically depicted than in the cave 

painting which was discovered in the Kimberley Ranges, Australia. The god’s "halo" symbolizes the sun, but 

62 circles are painted next to the figure. Are these simply meant to be small suns? There are all kinds of 

possible questions and I find any answer more likely than the claim that the dotted circles, even when they 

are next to obvious pictures of the sun, represent yet more solar symbols. Our prehistoric message 

transmitters did not make things all that easy for us. 

In addition animals are always present. I cannot resist one more taunt. At the foot of the pyramid made with 

great accuracy of neat blocks stand two delightful elephants. That’s nice. 

Archaeologists have dug up elephants’ bones in North America and Mexico, but they were dated to before 

12,000 B.C. But elephants had completely disappeared from the scene in South America in the age of the 

Incas, whose culture, it is established, began around A.D. 1200. So we must make a choice: either the Incas 

had received visitors from Africa who drew elephants next to the pyramids for them or these gold plaques are 

more than 14,000 years old (12,000 plus 2,000). The only answer is either / or. 

I think that the pyramids stamped in metal from Father Crespi’s treasure help to eliminate an academic error. 

Until now scholars have asserted that both the pyramids in South America and the Mayan pyramids in Central 

America originated without any connection with the Egyptian pyramids. In Egypt the colossal structures were 

burial places, in the other hemisphere simply grandiose edifices on the upper platforms of which temples were 

built. The gold plaques do not exhibit a single flattened surface at the summit with a temple on it! They have 

the same pyramidal shapes as those in Egypt. Who copied from whom? Who were the first to build pyramids, 

the Incas or the Egyptians? They cannot be posthumous - forgeries. Firstly forgers would have needed more 

gold than there is in Fort Knox, secondly, they would have needed to employ a whole corps of artists with a 

far-reaching knowledge of the ancient peoples and their cultures, and thirdly it would have been necessary to 

continue making the grandiose forgeries right through the Inca period, whenever that was. 



I should like to know what tricks scholars will use to displace this fabulous metal treasure of inestimable 

archaeological and historical value, which is described here for the first time, from the period into which it 

does not seem to fit. Could it be that all pyramids everywhere in the world had the same master-builders? 

Characters can often be made out on the illustrated objects from Cuenca. Are they older than all previously 

known forms of writing? 

Cuneiform writing in Phoenicia and hieroglyphics in Egypt are supposed to have originated circa 2000 B.C. 

from a mixture of Egyptian and Babylonian influences. Circa 1700 B.C. the pre-Israelite population of 

Palestine is supposed to have created a simplified syllabic script with about 100 signs, composed of a mixture 

of both the foregoing kinds of writing. The Phoenician alphabet with 22 signs all the alphabets in the world 

derive from the Phoenician one. About 1000 B.C. the Greeks adopted two variations of the Phoenician 

alphabet; they left out some expendable consonantal signs and used them to represent vowels, and that is 

how the first phonetic script in the world originated. 

For generations all the scholars specializing in this field have claimed that neither the pre-Inca peoples nor 

the Incas themselves had an alphabetical script. They marveled at the Indians’ civilized achievements, their 

road-building and water supply systems, the accurate calendar, the Nazca culture, the buildings at Cuzco, 

their highly developed agriculture, an (oral) postal service that worked and many other things. The one thing 

they would not credit them with was writing or an alphabet. 

Professor Thomas Barthel, Director of the Folklore Institute of Tubingen University, told the 39th International 

Congress of American Studies at Lima that he had succeeded in establishing 400 signs of an Inca writing. He 

could interpret the meaning of 50 of them and read 24. It was not an alphabetical script. Peruvian and 

German scholars spoke of "attractive patterns and Ornaments," which they thought were akin to writing. 

In January 1972 a veritable bomb exploded on the Congress for Andean Archaeology at Lima. The Peruvian 

ethnologist Dr. Victoria de Ia Jara backed up ten years of research work with proof that the Incas really did 

have a script. She said that the geometrical patterns (squares, right-angles, lozenges, dots, dashes, etc.) on 

Inca pottery and urns were in fact characters with a content ranging from the simple to the highly complicated. 

They related factual historical events; they recounted myths and proved that even then some of the Incas 

practiced the noble but ill-paid art of poetry. Groups of elements formed a grammar based on complementary 

colors. When Dr. de Ia Jara finished her lecture, there was thunderous applause from her fellow scholars. 

What will the ethnologists say when they begin to rack their brains over the writing on the plaques, at 

Cuenca? I know perfectly well that there will be no thunderous applause for me, but I still say that the 



characters on these metal plaques found deep under the earth will prove to be the oldest writing in the world! 

And that wise messengers from the gods inscribed technical data and advice for future generations on them! 

I have seen three prehistoric model aircraft of ultramodern design! 

Anyone who travels to Colombia can see the first one on show in the State Bank at Bogotá. The second is 

naturally owned by Father Crespi, and the third still lies 780 feet below ground in Juan Moricz’s tunnels. 

For centuries archaeologists have cataloged the model at Bogotá as a decorative religious artifact. I’m sorry 

for the archaeologists, but that simply won’t do. Aviation experts have seen the object and tried it out in a wind 

tunnel. They believe it is a model aircraft Dr. Arthur Poyslee of the Aeronautical Institute, New York, says: 

"The possibility that the artifact is meant to represent’ a fish or a bird is very slight. Not only because this gold 

model was found deep in the interior of Colombia and artists would never have seen a saltwater fish, but also 

because one cannot imagine a bird with such geometrical wings and high vertical fins." 

The front part is as clumsy as that of the heaviest U.S. B52. The pilot’s cockpit lies directly behind the 

streamlined nose, protected by a windscreen. The aircraft’s rear, heavy with the propulsion unit it contains~ 

rests ‘in aerodynamic symmetry on two rounded-off wings. (The model at Bogotá has two delta wings like the 

Concorde and terminates, like it, in a sharply pointed nose) Two stabilizing fins and the upright tail complete 

the Inca model aircraft. 

Who could be so dreary and unimaginative as to interpret these model aircraft as birds or flying fish? 

In all ages gold was a rare and consequently precious metal; it was found in temples and royal palaces. If an 

object was cast in gold, it was because it had great value per se and also because it was to be preserved for 

an indefinite period of time. Hence it was made of a material that did not rust or corrode. Anyway, there was 

no fish or bird cult to which these models could be attributed. 

There is a massive gold sphere with a broad flange round it, in the cosmological treasury at the State Bank in 

Bogotá. To anticipate fatuous objections, it is not a sculptural representation of a hat with a brim. Hats have 

hollow spaces for even the most stupid heads to fit into. 

In Gods from Outer Space, I showed - without contradiction - why I consider that the sphere is the ideal shape 

for spaceships or space stations. Spherical bodies rotate in space, thus creating an artificial gravity for the 

crew in the cabins placed at the sphere’s circumference. (Gravity is necessary for the metabolism of the 

organs on lengthy journeys.) The gold sphere once again supports my contention that the sphere was the 



shape used for celestial vehicles in distant ages. 

In addition to serving as a docking ramp for supply ships, the broad flange may also have been divided into 

cells to store solar energy. The technical possibilities, we can imagine, are endless. 

At all events, I should like to know how the matrix of this gold sphere came to be in Turkey, 7,500 miles from 

Ecuador! This find, carved out of stone, is on show in the Turkish Museum, Istanbul. It is the negative of the 

gold sphere in Bogotá’s treasure: the same sphere, the same notched pattern on the encircling rim. The card 

under the stone matrix in the first story of the Museum at Istanbul says "Unclassifiable." As long as science 

refuses to accept the idea that flying machines could cross the oceans and cover the vast distances between 

the continents as early as prehistoric times, its rigid prejudice will find certain puzzles insoluble. 

One cannot say that scholars have no imagination, but the fact remains that they insist on new discoveries 

fitting into accepted patterns. 

At Cuenca I photographed a copper object, some 20 inches high, representing a figure of normal human 

dimensions. An abnormal feature is that he has only four fingers on each hand and four toes on each foot. 

However, we also find representations of the gods with some of their limbs missing among the ancient 

Indians, the Maoris, the Etruscans and other peoples. 

Yet I read in a serious scientific publication how simple the solution of this mystery is. Toes and fingers were a 

kind of adding machine. If the artist wanted to express the number "19," he left out one finger or one toe. 

Pursuing this scholarly fantasy, the number "16" was represented as a being with four plus four toes and four 

plus four fingers = 16! This ingenuous way of counting seems to me to be unworthy of a people who built 

roads and fortresses and cities. 

Why, by the gods of all the stars, did the intelligent Incas have to draw or sculpt a whole man with bands and 

feet to express the number 4? Deadly serious science gets entangled in the net of its own fantasy. To be sure 

it admits that the Incas could count, but it does not credit them with being able to represent "4" by four dots or, 

four dashes. So they had to lop off fingers and toes. O sancta simplicitas! 

As for the figure that is minus two fingers and two toes, the explanation as a childish method of counting is 

unconvincing, for according to Father Crespi, it is a representation of the "Star God." In his right arm the 

smiling sun god clasps an animal combination of hippopotamus, parrot and snake, in his left, a staff with his 

emblem, the laughing sun at the top and a decorative snake’s head at the bottom. Star-like points surround 

the god’s happy face and they can be seen, too, on his two colleagues from caves in the Australian bush, the 



two "creators". They wear overalls with broad straps around the chest. 

At some time in the future, probably after the metal library has been deciphered, it will transpire that figures 

with anatomically inaccurate limbs are really pictorial representations of traditional oral descriptions of 

phenomena from the cosmos that were different. 

The masterpiece of the Inca’s Durer, Degas or Picasso, is a metal plaque measuring 38 1/2 inches by 19 

inches by 1 inch. No matter how long one studies it, one keeps on making new discoveries. I noted down 

what I found: a star, a being with a fat paunch and a snake’s tail, a rat-like animal, a man in a coat of mail and 

a helmet, a man with a triangular head from which rays emanate, two faces, a wheel with a face peeping out 

of it, birds, snakes, bald and hairy heads, a face that grows out of another one, a snake with a face, two 

concentric circles with a face inside. A veritable riot! Paired together amid all the disorder are two strong gold 

"hinges," which bring into prominence a face above a falling bomb! 

What was the artist trying to convey? 

Was he a predecessor of Hieronymus Bosch? 

Has he perpetuated the moment of the annihilation of earthly chaos by the Star God? 

The minute fraction of the treasure from the patio of the Church of Maria Auxiliadora at Cuenca that I have 

illustrated here is a still more minute fraction of the precious objects which rest undisturbed in Juan Moricz’s 

tunnels, an orgy of human history in metal. 

What were the Incas’ metal objects for, what was their purpose? Are they simply expensive primitive toys? 

Or are they really messages from a very early age that we cannot decipher? 

Professor Miloslav Stingl is the leading South American scholar in the Iron Curtain countries; he graduated in 

the ancient civilizations of America. Today he is a member of the Academy of Sciences at Prague and author 

of archaeological and ethnological books. In Versunkenen Mayastädten (1971), for example, is highly 

acclaimed. Professor Stingl, who was a guest in my house, saw the photographs I had taken at Cuenca. 

"If these pictures are genuine, and everything indicates that they are, because no one makes forgeries in 

gold, at any rate not on such a large scale, this is the biggest archaeological sensation since the discovery of 

Troy. Years ago I myself supported the view that the Incas had no writing in the alphabetical sense of the 

word. And now I’m faced with Inca writing! It must be very, very ancient, because one can recognize the 



transition from ideograms to writing." 

"What do you make of the engravings? How do you fit them into the existing system?" 

"To be able to give a precise scientific verdict I should have to subject each plaque to a detailed and lengthy 

examination, and compare each one with material already available. For the moment I can only say that I am 

dumbfounded. The sun was often part of the scenery in known Inca engravings, but man was never equated 

with the sun, as I see time and again in these photographs. There are representations of men with sun’s rays 

round their heads and there are men depicted with star points coming from them. The symbol of ‘holy power’ 

has always been the head. But in these pictures the head is simultaneously sun or star. That points to new 

direct connections." 

"How would you interpret the bomb on the plaque?" 

The famous scholar took out a magnifying glass and examined the photograph in silence for a long time. 

"No interpretation is possible; all this is absolutely new. Explained in totemistic terms, I would say the radiant 

figures with the stars above and the snake symbols below indicate a connection between heaven and earth. 

And that means that the stellar beings and suns had a relationship with the inhabitants of the earth." 

"What else?" 

"I cannot say any more. Of course, the solar wheel is well known, but here it is not clear whether it is a solar 

wheel, for there is a face inside it, which is quite contradictory. At all events, all the figures, birds, snakes, 

helmeted figures and everything else that can be seen on the plaque seem to originate from a dream world, 

from a mythology." 

"A mythology that is daily acquiring a more tangible and realistic background!" 

The professor laughed: "I, have to admit that you have arguments in your jigsaw puzzle that disconcert even 

an old fox like me and give me cause for reflection." 

Who is going to study the tunnels and treasures underneath Ecuador, who is going to bring this sensational 

archaeological discovery into the searching light of scientific examination? There does not seem to be anyone 

available as rich and enthusiastic as Heinrich Schliemann, who excavated Troy I and Mycenae. When Moricz 

discovered the tunnels he was as poor as a church mouse. Since then he has discovered iron and silver 

mines and leased them to metal firms to exploit. He has become comparatively rich, but he lives extremely 



simply and uses all his wealth for his research work. But Juan Moricz is not rich enough to engage expert 

assistance and continue his work on the extended scale that is essential. He knows perfectly well that he 

could immediately get the help of speculators, Wild West type gold-diggers; he would only have to show them 

a fraction of the alluring gold treasures in the tunnels below Ecuador. He does not want that kind of 

assistance. It would degenerate into plundering and would not benefit mankind. That is why it is difficult to 

organize a disinterested expedition that would be exclusively devoted to research. Even in 1969 when Moricz 

invited guests to visit the site, he had the group accompanied by armed guards. Moricz and Pena said that 

the further the group penetrated into the labyrinth, the tenser and more febrile grew the atmosphere, until 

finally the guests were afraid of the guards, who had caught gold fever. They all had to turn back. 

Why does Ecuador do nothing to encourage a scientific expedition that would bring fame to the country? 

Ecuador, with its five million inhabitants, is one of the poorest countries in South America. The plantations of 

cocoa, bananas, tobacco, rice and sugar cane do not bring in enough foreign exchange for the purchase of 

modern technical equipment. Indian agriculture on the plateau produces potatoes and corn, and there is some 

sheep and lama breeding. The wild rubber obtained from the eastern forests is no longer in demand. Perhaps 

government-aided exploitation of mineral wealth (gold, silver, copper, lead and manganese) may bring in 

some income in the years to come, as may the petroleum found offshore. But even then, all the surplus will be 

used in the first place to alleviate the wretched poverty; as yet the government shows no interest in projects 

that do not directly help to overcome the problem of hunger. 

Juan Moricz estimates that inspection of the tunnel system alone, without detailed research, would cost more 

than one million Swiss francs. An electricity station would have to be set up, security measures would have to 

be taken and some form of mining machinery would be necessary. 

My knowledge of this buried treasure, which has so much to tell us about human history, induces me to 

repeat the challenge I issued in Chariots of the Gods? In 1968: 

"A Utopian archaeological year is due! During this year archaeologists, physicists, chemists, geologists, 

metallurgists and all the allied branches of these disciplines would concentrate on one question: did our 

ancestors receive visits from outer space?" 

So that no individual or institution can say that it is out of the question to go in search of nebulous mysterious 

caves, I reprint lawyer Pena’s visiting card. He will gladly put any serious investigator in touch with Juan 

Moricz. 



Nearby, in the Peruvian Andes, Francisco Pizarro (1478—1541) discovered cave entrances closed with slabs 

of rock on Huascaran, the mountain of the Incas, 22,203 feet above sea level. The Spaniards suspected that 

there were storerooms behind them. 

Speleologists did not remember these caves until 1971, when an expedition was organized. The periodical, 

Bild der Wissenschaft, gave an account of the expedition which descended in the neighborhood of the 

Peruvian village of Otuzco equipped with all the latest technical equipment (winches, electric cables, miner’s 

lamps and hydrogen bottles). Two hundred feet below the earth the scientists made a staggering discovery. 

At the far end of caves, which had several stories, they suddenly found themselves confronted with watertight 

doors made of gigantic slabs of rock. In spite of their tremendous weight, four men were able to push the 

doors open. They pivoted on stone balls in a bed formed by dripping water. 

Bild der Wissenschaften reported as follows: 

"Vast tunnels, which would leave even modern underground constructors green with envy, began behind the 

‘six- doors. These tunnels lead straight towards the coast, at times with a slope of 14 per cent. The floor is 

covered with stone slabs that have been pitted and grooved to make them slip-proof. If it is an adventure even 

today to penetrate these 55 to 65 mile-long transport tunnels in the direction of the coast and finally reach a 

spot 80 feet below sea level, imagine the difficulties that must have been involved in the fourteenth and 

fifteenth centuries in transporting goods deep under the Andes to save them from the grasp of Pizarro and the 

Spanish Viceroy. The Great Ocean lurks at the end of the underground passages of Guanápe, so called after 

the island that lies off the coast of Peru here, because it is assumed that these passages once led under the 

sea to this island. After the passages have gone uphill and downhill several times in pitch darkness, a murmur 

and the strangely hollow sounding noise of surf is heard. In the light of the searchlight the next downhill slope 

ends on the edge of a pitch-black flood which is identified as seawater. The present-day coast also begins 

here underground. Was this not the case in former times?" 

Scholars think that a search on the island of Guanape would be pointless, because there is nothing there to 

indicate that a passage from the mainland ever emerged on to it. "No one knows where these subterranean 

roads of the Incas and their ancestors end or whether they lead the way to the bursting treasuries of worlds 

that vanished long ago." 

Francisco Pizarro and his rapacious followers had already suspected that gold treasures existed in 

impenetrable Inca hiding places. In 1532 the noble Spaniard promised the Inca ruler Atahualpa his life and 

freedom if he filled two-thirds of a room measuring 23 by 16 by 10 feet with gold. Atahualpa believed the word 

of the ambassador of Her Christian Majesty Juana the Mad (1479 - 1555). Day after day the Incas fetched 



gold until the room was filled to the required height. Then Pizarro broke his word and had Atahualpa executed 

(1533). 

In the same year the Spanish Viceroy elevated the Inca Manco Capac to the rank of shadow king. (He, too, 

was murdered by the Christian conquerors in 1544.) His death saw the end of the Inca dynasty, which had 

entered history with its legendary founder of the same name. According to the historians, 13 "Sons of the 

Sun" are supposed to have ruled the Inca kingdom between the first and the last Manco Capac. If we date its 

historically established beginning to around A.D. 1200 and its end to 1544, the year when the last sun king 

died, then this mighty empire that stretched from Chile to Ecuador, from the Andes north of Quito to 

Valparaiso in the south, must have ‘been built up in barely 350 years. During this period, the first 

pre-Columbian empire in South America must have been welded together. For the conquered territories and 

peoples were not considered as occupation zones, but were integrated into the prevailing constitution. 

Progressive achievements in agriculture were, passed on by trained officials, as were the smoothly 

functioning rules of a communal economic order. 

Did the Incas equip a network of 2,500 miles of well-built roads with rest houses during the same span of 

time? Did they simultaneously build cities such as Cuzco, Tiahuanaco, Macchu Picchu, and the cyclopean 

fortresses of Ollantaytambo and Sacsahuamán? Did they also lay down water mains and work silver, tin and 

copper mines, whose products they alloyed to make bronze? And did they develop the goldsmith’s art, weave 

the finest cloth and make pottery with noble shapes "on the side," as it were? I hardly dare speak of the high 

culture which they nurtured in addition during this limited 350-year period. But if it was not the Incas but their 

ancestors who should be credited with these wonderful achievements, surely the culture and tool technology 

of the pre-Inca peoples must have been higher than the Incas who came after them. 

No, the chronology cannot be blindly pasted together like that, because there are so many indications to turn 

the arbitrary (re)construction upside down. 

I assert that the tunnel system existed thousands of years before the Inca kingdom came into being. (How 

and with what tools are the Incas supposed to have built hundreds of miles of passages deep under the 

earth? The Channel tunnel has been planned by the engineers of our highly technological century for fifty 

years and they still have not decided which method should be used to build this comparatively minor tunnel.) 

I assert that the age-old tunnel systems were known to the Inca ruling classes. (After Atahualpa’s murder, the 

last Manco Capac ordered the metal treasures scattered throughout the kingdom to be collected in the 

Temple of the Sun and deposited in the existing caves, which were known to him, to keep them safe from the 

white invaders,) 



I assert that the metal treasures under Ecuador and Peru came from a period long before the rise of the Inca 

kingdom and its culture. About 1570 the Spanish chronicler Pater Cristobal de Molina tried to fathom the 

motives behind the Incas’ tunnel building. In his book Ritos y Fabulos de los Incas, published in 1572, Molina 

tells us that the original father of mankind withdrew into a cave after he had done his work, i.e. after the 

creation was completed. But this secret retreat became the birthplace of many peoples who had appeared out 

of an "endless night." Molina related that these caves were also used for generations as treasuries for hiding 

the peoples’ wealth whenever they were oppressed. Absolute secrecy in the circles who knew about the 

caves was an iron law, non-compliance with which was punishable by death. (How potent this law still is today 

I was able to experience on my journey through Ecuador in the year of grace 1972.) 

Let the Vatican grail guardian Father Crespi of Cuenca be the key witness to the pre-Christian origin of the 

metal treasures. He said to me: 

"Everything that the Indians brought me from the tunnels dates to before Christ. Most of the symbols and 

pre-historic representations are older than the Flood." 

Three kinds of treasure await excavation in the tunnels and halls under Ecuador and Peru: 

1. The inexhaustible legacy of the builders of the actual tunnels; 

2. The stonemason’s work of the first intelligent men, who were presumably pupils of the tunnel constructors; 

3. The gold and silver treasures of the Incas that were hidden here from the Spanish Conquistadores after 

1532. 

But the question of questions is: 

Why were the tunnels built? 

Stan Grist’s comments, insights and opinions about this book: 

The following dialog and comments, found posted on the internet, perfectly express my own conclusions and 

opinions: 



Date: 1999/11/07 

Mike Hutchinson wrote: 

> In article , Erik A. Mattila 

writes: 

> >I'm glad you mentioned those old programs. I couldn't remember their producers or titles. 

> >What sticks in my memory on Von Daniken: 

> >The protagonist interviews a man in the Peruvian Andes who crafts stones with 'Inca" >>designs for the 

tourist. He is shown a picture of Von Daniken, and responds "Yes, I >>remember him. He ordered several 

stones that would show brain surgery and (here >>my memory fails). Very strange order." Then the film 

shows Von Daniken being >>confronted with this fraud, and he argues that it is legitimate. "Sure, I had the 

evidence >>manufactured. But that’s OK, because my premise is true and it is a means to >>overcome the 

skepticism of the reader." I'm paraphrasing, of course. 

> Erik, you are confusing two issues. It's easily done, especially if you haven't seen the >programme since it 

was originally broadcast in the late seventies. (Its copyright date is >1977.) I've stopped being amazed by the 

number of times I've misremembered >something I've seen on video, which is why I normally check videos 

before posting. 

Undoubtedly -- the past seems to fuse together into one splendid panoramic memory the older I get. 

Maybe this process, which some call senility, explains the origin of some of these fantastic stories. 

But what I think is important about this, if I have remembered correctly, was VD's reasoning about it 

being OK to fake evidence since 'the premise is true.' I see some of this same type of 'reasoning' 

going on in these threads. 

> Anyway, having a copy of the tape I thought I'd post some detail from it. 

> In 'The Gold of the Gods' Von Daniken claimed that he had visited plastic artefacts from a >long lost 

civilization. A 1976 British expedition explored the caves mentioned in Von >Daniken's book, and declared 

that they are completely natural formations, not man-made >at all. They found none of Von Danikens 

artefacts, only the crudest carved figures. >Although the caves visited by the British expedition are identical to 



those described by VD >he says they went to the wrong place. 

> In his book Von Daniken says he visited the caves with the Ecuadorian explorer Juan >Moricz who later 

emphatically denied that Von Daniken had entered the caves or seen >the treasures he describes. 

> Challenged about this by 'Horizon', Von Daniken said: 'The cave which we see here, the >photograph in my 

book, is a place I have never been. I was not here. I said in the end of >this book that this photograph was 

made by Juan Moricz and this is a photograph which >was made at the expedition of Juan Moricz in 1969. 

_I_ was never here. I was on a side >entrance on a complete different place." 

> 'Horizon': "But that's not what the book says. Von Daniken clearly describes descending >by ropes and 

switching on his light to visit the underworld of a strange unknown race, >illustrated by this very photograph." 

Now see, I would have sworn it was Laura Croft who had explored this cave. 

> To 'Horizon's' question "When you describe standing there dumfounded as he switched >on his light in the 

big hall, did that actually happen?" Von Daniken said: "No, that did not >happen. I think when somebody 

writes books in my style and in my sense who are not >scientific books - we call it in Germany, 

"sachsbucher/sachsbooger "(sp?) - it's a kind of >popular book, but it's not science fiction because all of the 

facts do exist (garbled) but >then an author is allowed to use effects. So some little things like this are really 

not >important because they do not touch the facts, they are simply stimulating the reader and >one is 

allowed to do this." 

> (Amazing that he should say that considering the opening paragraph of the chapter in >question: 

> "To me this is the most incredible, fantastic story of the century. It could easily have >come from the realms 

of Science Fiction if I had not seen and photographed the >incredible truth in person." 

> Well, since by his own admission he didn't see and photograph this 'incredible truth' I >can only assume that 

it _is_ science fiction.) 

> Von Daniken also claimed there was evidence of heart transplants in old stone >engravings which are 

collected in a museum. Although Von Daniken knew that there was a >local person (Bazilio or similar) 

producing such carvings he claimed they were different >from those in the museum. 

> Bazilio produced a carving of a heart transplant in around an hour. It was aged by baking it >in donkey 

dung. 



> He didn't recognize Von Daniken but did recognize some of his own carvings from >photographs in the 

book and produced a newspaper photograph of the museum which >had a thank you note written and signed 

by the owner of the museum. The note thanked >Bazilio personally for his co-operation in providing stones for 

the museum. 

> Although 'Horizon' were not allowed to film in the museum the owner presented them >with a stone carving 

which he 'vouched for as being very old and genuine' according to >'Horizon'. The stone contained a carving 

of a dinosaur and was examined in London by the >Institute for Geological Sciences. They looked at the 

grooves and reported: 

> "...the sharp and relatively clean cut edges of the grooves are notable, a feature which >could not be 

preserved for long under normal weathering conditions." 

> They examined the oxidation on top of the stone which in time should have covered the >grooves. It did not: 

> "...the grooves are seen to cut into this surface layer, indicating a carving which >post-dated the 

development of the surface weathering.' In a comparison of the 'ancient >stone' with one of Bazilio's it was 

noticed that the physical structure was the same. 

> The IGS concluded: "...the similarity of the 'old' and 'new' pebbles petrographically, in >surface rock powder 

and in sharpness of grooving is evidence against any great antiquity of the carving on the 'old' pebble." 



2. Excerpt From "Beyond The Andes", by Pino Turolla CHAPTER 7 

The Jaramillo Incident 

In archaeological research, accumulation of data alone is not sufficient for the process of understanding an 

ancient culture if it is not accompanied by intuition, insight, and a good deal of imagination. Legends and 

tales, ignored by many investigators as figments of the primitive mind, have always stimulated my 

imagination, for I believe that they are born from a fundamental truth. One might easily discount such legends 

as the fabled city of Manoa or stories of buried Inca gold, but there was one tale I had heard on a previous 

visit to Ecuador that had never left my mind entirely: Major Petronio Jaramillo’s account of the Cueva de los 

Tayos. Back in Quito in the summer of 1968, I decided, on a hunch, to get in touch with Major Jaramillo. I 

called him on the phone and we made arrangements to meet at his home. 

On the appointed evening, a cab dropped me off before a modest apartment house in one of Quito’s 

middle-class districts known as El Dorado. The sound of the doorbell had not yet faded away when the door 

flew open and an imposing, matronly-looking woman in a yellow dress announced, "I am Señora Jaramillo." 

She ushered me through a long corridor to the sitting room, where the major was waiting for me. The light 

was low, and a strong smell of onions pervaded the apartment, a smell that obviously had not come from one 

recent meal but hung in the air permanently. The overstuffed furniture was covered with red corduroy, well 



worn and ragged in a few places. As I entered the room, a thin man, not more than 5 feet 10 inches tall, 

wearing tweed pants with a black jacket and tie, came toward me and introduced himself: "I am Major 

Petronio Jaramillo-Abarca, at your service." He offered me a chair and we sat facing each other, while his wife 

took a seat across the room. 

I began our conversation by telling Major Jaramillo that his account of the Cueva de los Tayos to my friend 

Andrea Salvador had interested me greatly. "Yes," he replied, "my cave may prove to be one of the most 

important discoveries ever made in South America. I was taken there by a Jivaro Indian chieftain, a great 

cacique named Samakache, and his son Mashutaka. These two are very powerful Indians, and they are the 

only ones in the Amazon who know the location of this incredible cave. They were my guides. They led me 

throughout the caverns of the Cueva de los Tayos, and I tell you, Señor Turolla, it was an experience that has 

changed my whole life." 

Major Jaramillo warmed to his subject and we talked at some length. But always, he skirted mention of the 

contents of the cave and carefully avoided revealing its exact location. At one point Señora Jaramillo broke 

into the discussion to clarify the location of the home territory of Mashutaka’s clan. She let drop the name 

"Pescado," and I remembered it carefully. But throughout our conversation it was clear that Major Jaramillo 

had had considerable practice in protecting the details of his secret. 

During a lull in the conversation, my eyes wandered to the fireplace. Hanging over the mantel was a crudely 

done painting, a primitive, showing the flag of Ecuador on one side, the flag of the United Nations on the 

other, and in the middle, in an oval panel, a portrait, barely recognizable, of my host, with his name written 

underneath. Major Jaramillo noticed my interest in the painting and said, "Yes, that is how I see myself. I feel 

it is my duty to bring forth the truth that will help unify all peoples, to be a bridge, so to speak, between the 

people of Ecuador and those of the rest of the world." 

As the evening wore on, I realized that Major Jaramillo had told me all he intended me to know about the 

Cueva de los Tayos. Finally I said that the cave sounded very interesting, but that I couldn’t undertake any 

cooperative venture with him to explore it without more specific information. "Yes," he said, "I understand that. 

I have been thinking of writing an account of my journey through the caves with the two Indians. I will do this, 

and the next time you are in Quito I will have it ready for you." With that we said goodnight. 

On my way back to the hotel, I began to doubt the wisdom of my visit. The image of Jaramillo’s self-portrait 

between the Ecuadorian flag and the flag of the United Nations hung before my mind as a perfect 

crystallization of the man’s grandiose ideas, ideas that exceeded all bounds of plausibility. Yet he had spent 

years in the Oriente, and the discussion between him and his wife concerning the Indians, Samakache and 



Mashutaka, had a definite ring of credibility. 

During the next six months I spoke with Jaramillo several times on the telephone. Always the story was the 

same. He hadn’t been able to put his mind to the narrative; he had had other things to do. But he would try to 

get it out shortly. 

Finally, I suggested that we sit down together with a tape recorder and he could simply narrate his story just 

as he had experienced it. He agreed readily, and the head of the publicity department of Ecuadoriana, the 

Ecuadorian airline, offered me recording facilities and the president’s office for our recording session. 

As soon as we entered the office, Jaramillo’s eyes fell on the president’s chair. He walked over and assumed 

it like a king taking his throne, chin high, looking around the room, one arm straight out with his hand on the 

desk, the other hand tucked in between the buttons of his coat a Ia Napoleon. He watched as I set up the 

microphone and turned on the tape recorder. Then, when I told him everything was ready, he took the 

microphone and rose, paced as far away from the desk as the cable would allow, threw back his shoulders, 

inhaled, and began in a firm, robust tone: 

"I am Major Petronio Jaramillo-Abarca. I am an Ecuadorian citizen, and for some years have been retired as 

an officer of the Ecuadorian armed forces. I am a man of scant intellectual resources. I have not studied 

ancient civilizations. During my army career, I studied only artillery; upon my retirement, five years ago, I went 

to the university and obtained my degree in International Affairs. I obtained this degree because I wanted to 

make diplomatic contact with other countries and obtain scientific support to investigate and bring to the world 

the great secret I am now going to tell you about…" 

At this moment he looked inquiringly at me to see if he was doing all right. I nodded approvingly and gestured 

for him to go on. He resumed pacing, and continued: 

"The background of this story begins in 1941, when I was barely twelve years old. I lived with my uncle, a 

captain in the Ecuadorian army, in Loja, the capital of Loja Province in the south of Ecuador. One day my 

uncle brought into our home a Jivaro Indian boy, about my age. The boy was given by his father to my uncle 

to be educated. The little one’s father was Samakache, who was a cacique—or chief—of a large number of 

clans of the Jivaro tribe. This tribe lives in the south Oriente, and they are very savage, uncivilized Indians. 

The little boy’s name was Mashutaka. Later he acquired the name of my uncle, Gilberto, so that he was then 

called Gilberto Mashutaka. That is a custom among the Indians of this area, giving a godchild the name of the 

godparent. 



"Mashutaka and I established that very cordial and sincere friendship which comes naturally to the young, and 

he once told me that in the eastern jungles of his homeland there was an enormous cave inhabited by big 

birds. That is just how he described them—big birds with large eyes called ‘Tayos.’ He said it was a very 

deep, dark cave, and only a few of the most powerful leaders of his tribe knew where it was. That is all I can 

tell you about the start of my story, in 1941. But the memory of this cave, this description, has stayed with me 

all my life. 

"Many years later, in 1956, I was an artillery lieutenant stationed in the Oriente. In that part of the country it 

was our practice to go out on routine patrols, and on one of these patrols I had a very strange 

experience—very dangerous and very impressive. My patrol and I were on the eastern side of the mountains, 

in the eastern jungles, and we woke one morning to find ourselves surrounded by fifty Jivaros—fifty menacing 

men, threatening my soldiers and me…" 

At this point in his narrative, the major was no longer in the room with me. He had a look of reverie on his 

face, and his eyes were focused far beyond the walls of the office. He was back in the jungle, many years 

before. 

"… I looked at the man who was leading this group, and I saw a face that had not changed a great deal. It had 

only grown older with time. It was Gilberto, my friend of former days. He recognized me, and it was this 

recognition that saved my whole group from being killed. 

"Gilberto explained that he would have to take us prisoners and lead us back to his compound to request 

permission from his father, Samakache, to spare our lives. This was something that could only be granted by 

the cacique. When we reached the compound, there was one more requirement. Gilberto demanded of me 

that I repeat his Indian name, so that he could be fully convinced that I was really his boyhood friend. I can 

assure you that, in other circumstances, to retrieve that Indian’s name from my memory would have been 

very difficult. But standing before him and seeing his face, it came back automatically, and I could call out his 

name, Mashutaka. Then Mashutaka came over and embraced me, and was reconciled with me…" 

Jaramillo glowed as he relived this memory. His face showed the flush of relief that he felt when Mashutaka 

recognized him, and the gratification that must have flooded through him as this powerful Jivaro, an object of 

fear for other white men, warmly accepted him, Jaramillo, in the middle of the Indian compound. 

"When we were released and left his compound, Mashutaka invited me to come back some day. I did so later, 

and that is where this story really begins. 



"After I returned to my garrison, I applied for permission to visit the compound of Samakache again. This was 

granted and, shortly afterwards, I made the necessary arrangements. With me I had the badge of army 

captain to present to the great cacique, Samakache. By tradition we, the military, bestow the insignia of rank 

of captain on the chiefs or caciques of high authority in the jungle. This, enormously pleased Mashutaka. We 

spent the next few days discussing the customs, myths, and legends of his tribe—a tribe that in the past, 

Mashutaka believed, was descended from the fearsome nation known as the Auchins. 

"Slowly I guided the conversation to that large cave he had told me about in his youth, with the big black birds. 

After much discussion with his father, Mashutaka told me he would take me to see the cave. We started out, 

Samakache, Mashutaka, and myself, on a two-day walk to reach this cave, far in the interior. No one else but 

my two guides knows the secret of the cave, and even today I cannot reveal its exact location. I will not do so 

until the proper time comes, when an organization will appear which, under God’s protection, may support the 

full investigation of this secret, not only for the benefit of my own country, but for all humanity. Until then, the 

location of this cave must be deeply guarded, in the depths of my innermost being." 

At this point Jaramillo stopped, thought for a moment, then turned to me and said, "Is it all right?" I said it was 

just fine and asked him if he was tired and would like to sit down. "Oh, no," he said, "it is better for me when I 

am on my feet." I gestured for him to go on, and he continued: 

"As we walked, my guides told me more of this cave, and in my mind it became transformed from a rustic 

black hole into an immense underground cavern. They said that it had many entrances; some of them 

separated by a distance of a two-day hike, or even three, four, or five. It was an immense cavern, with 

chambers fashioned by the hand of man, possibly in an epoch long before the Christian era. From what they 

told me, I calculated that it must have been approximately sixty-four square miles in area. If we gathered 

together a hundred basilicas of the Roman Catholic world, even then you would not have an idea of the 

immensity of what I later saw. 

"This cave was just one of hundreds that honeycomb the eastern mountain range of Ecuador where the 

Andes meets with the lowlands of the Amazon Basin. They are enormously large caverns, very deep, very 

long, with a great number of hillocks and peaks inside, a great number of levels, and many mysteries. All of 

this awes the spirit, much more so when one enters suddenly—as I did when, late in the second day, we 

reached our destination, and Samakache and Mashutaka led me into one of these caves. 

"For two days we had hiked and climbed for many kilometers into the interior. We crossed deep ravines and 

gorges, and then a plateau surrounded by high peaks known as ‘penas blancas’—white peaks. Finally we 

climbed over the top of another small plateau and looked down and saw at our feet a good-sized stream. We 



jumped into it from a considerable height—something I had never done before in my life—and crossed it. 

Then we came to what looked like the entrance to a small cave. But as we entered it, leaving the water 

behind us, I realized I was treading on steps made in perfect symmetry. Now we found ourselves in a great 

vault, a basilica, hewn with architectural lines. On the right side of the entrance were several torches standing 

against the wall, left there previously by the Indians. We each lit one and walked toward a large round 

platform, which in turn led to a great number of levels. We walked ahead and came to a canal through which 

water was flowing at a depth of three to four feet. We lowered ourselves into the water, forded this canal, then 

moved up onto the other side of the cave. We had been climbing steadily through a series of caves that 

apparently followed the crest of one of the ranges of the Andes. We came to a great vaulted chamber that 

was quite light, as the sun shone through many crystal rocks. These were not natural rocks forming this 

chamber. They had been worked and formed by hand—shiny rocks, white rocks, greenish rocks, some of 

them black—perfectly arranged as if the result of some architectural design. This vault was wider than any of 

the others we had seen, and had the dimensions of the largest of the cathedrals in the city of Quito. Right in 

the center of the vault was a large curved seat, big enough to accommodate twelve slender persons, or seven 

stouter ones. 

"We continued along the left side of this vault, up some steps, and then found ourselves on a higher level until 

we finally came to a plateau, from which there were several different ranks of steps leading in different 

directions to other rooms. We followed one of these and came to the door of a large room. Samakache and 

Mashutaka told me not to enter, but to look inside. 

"The room showed all the colors of the rainbow— yellow rock, white, pale pink, sky blue, red, and purple rock. 

On the floor were many bolitas, or balls, known in this country as ‘jorutos’ or ‘pildas,’ which are said by the 

Auchiris to have been a traditional toy of their ancestors. They were scattered on the floor, and clustered on 

the side of the room—some of them were of yellow metal, and others yellow-green. I looked closely and saw 

that all had inscriptions on them in a strange script, something like modern shorthand. 

"Then Samakache told me to step back to a safe place, and he threw a rock at the threshold of this room. As 

the rock hit, a great stone slab rolled down—a rush of black stone which splintered Samakache’s rock. 

Samakache told me that this stone door would roll back to its raised position overnight. As they explained it, it 

used light and darkness to close and then open again. I have no other way to explain it." 

Jaramillo paused for a moment, then glanced at the clock. It was noon, and he had been talking for a long 

time. I asked him if he was hungry and would like to take a break for lunch. "Yes," he said, "I was thinking of 

that." 



Thus far, Jaramillo’s account was so graphic that I could almost see the colorful vaults of the cave and the 

great stone door that, triggered by a touch on the threshold, came crashing down and then rose again 

mysteriously. But I was becoming aware of the same feelings that I often had when listening to stories of 

ancestral times told by the Indians—a sense that I was listening to a beautiful legend. 

During lunch Jaramillo expostulated further on the great significance of the cave and the benefits that would 

befall all mankind from its secrets, the most profound of which I had not yet heard. After a nourishing meal, 

we returned to the office, and he picked up the microphone and resumed where he had left off: 

"We went back down the steps, then up to a second room. We walked in—there was no stone door in this 

room to fall on us—and there we found ourselves surrounded by a great number of carved stone animals. I 

touched them with my hands. There were representations of elephants, mastodons, reptiles, snakes, coyotes, 

jaguars, horses, and birds. Some of these statues stood on small stands; others were placed on the floor. 

Nearly all were about thirty centimeters high. But there was one animal that impressed me exceptionally, due 

to the purity of its form. It was a brown cat standing on a triangular pedestal, and it had brilliant red eyes. 

"Strangest of all, lying in the center of this room was a large crystal coffin, its sides about 2.5 centimeters 

thick. Inside was a human skeleton fashioned in gold. It was quite large—2.8 meters long; I measured it with 

the spread of my hand. It was complete with all of the bones of the human skeleton, and each bone was 

fashioned of gold, as if to preserve the form of human beings who lived in another time. These large men 

would be like the Achuyanos, a tribe living in the deep Amazon today, slaves of the Auchiris. The Achuyanos 

have white skin, yellow hair, and blue eyes, and they are all more than 2.5 meters in height, very strong and 

high in spirit. So I imagine that the Achuyanos are the descendants of the people who made this skeleton in 

the crystal coffin." 

Jaramillo paused momentarily, lost in his reverie. Then he looked at me and asked, "Would it be possible to 

listen to what I have just said?" 

"Of course," I said, and backed up the tape to where we had begun following lunch. Jaramillo took a seat, and 

we listened again to the description of the room with the stone animals, the crystal coffin, and the gold 

skeleton. It was the first time that Jaramillo had ever heard his recorded voice, and he sat, rapt and smiling, 

as his words filled the room. When the recorded passage came to the end, he said, "Yes, that is very good. 

Very good!" Then he rose and picked up the microphone, and with new determination resumed: 

"We went back to the central room, then took another rank of steps, even a greater number, to a third room. 

This room was something to terrorize any spirit. There were perhaps eighty figures—half human and half 



animal. Some had the upper half of a hawk and the lower half of a horse. There were figures of men who had 

wings instead of arms, and elephants’ feet, pigs’ hocks, or large fowls’ feet. In a corner of this room was a 

large cauldron on a stand, both made of a yellow metal that must have been gold, or very like gold. Behind it 

was the figure of a man with a head like a monster, and gold teeth. His mouth was open, his hair hung down, 

his ears and feet were very large. He was sitting behind the cauldron, staring into it. I looked inside, and saw 

in the pot some ten or twelve figures of children. I was deeply shocked and my mind raced to those strange 

times when children may have been cooked and eaten. 

"We left this frightening room and went back to the central chamber. It was becoming dark. Night was falling, 

and the light that normally came in through cracks and openings in the rock, refracting and multiplying as it 

spread from one crystal rock to another, was fading. Here we spent the night, and slept…" 

It seemed to me that something about the character of Jaramillo’s narrative was now beginning to seem too 

smooth, too rehearsed. It was as if he had worked it out very carefully beforehand, and was reciting details he 

had already gone through many times before. 

"The next day we got up very early and spent all the morning, into the early afternoon, examining another hall. 

This hall was not made of pink, yellow, blue, and red rock as the others had been. The new chamber had an 

arch completely made of crystal of a very special color. The arch was supported by about fifteen cylindrical 

columns, between twenty and twenty-five meters high, some of which were reddish crystal, some yellow, 

some blue— but all similar in that they had at the center a core of completely white crystal, like the steel 

frame within a reinforced concrete structure. 

"We walked through this vaulted chamber, and my guides led me into a wide room, some twenty by twenty 

meters square. I looked around and felt fortunate indeed. The room was filled with shelves, as in a library. 

There were shelves on all the walls, and also standing in the middle. And all the shelves were made of yellow 

metal. 

"On these shelves were books of yellow metal with deep red backs. The books measured about two feet 

square, and were about six inches thick. The pages were sheets of very, very thin greenish-yellow metal, with 

inscriptions impressed or engraved into the metal. On some of these sheets there was writing in the same 

strange script, resembling shorthand, that we saw on the balls in the first room. Other sheets had 

symbols—curved and straight lines, broken lines, geometric figures, triangles, trapezoids, circles and half 

circles, tangent lines. In other words, they resembled books of geometry. 



"In all, there were about two hundred of these books. I took some down from the highest shelves, but could 

not put them back up again. They were very heavy; they seemed to weigh about fifty kilos, and it was quite 

impossible to heave them back into place. Samakache said it was quite all right to leave them on the floor. I 

wanted to uncouple one of the sheets, but my guides said that I could not possibly take anything with me. 

Everything was sacred…" 

By now there was something very familiar about Jaramillo’s narrative. Then it hit me. He was working in every 

essential element of the legends of Atlantis, the mythic ancient civilization: the great benefit that would be 

bestowed upon mankind when its secrets are again revealed; the tall, blond, blue-eyed people, strong and 

intelligent; the great numbers of golden books containing secret writing. Every important feature of the 

legends of the "record room" of Atlantis was here. 

"They told me there were other such libraries, far away, and that it would take a long hike to reach them. This 

was impossible; my leave was coming to an end, and I had to get back to my garrison. 

"Our departure from the cave was as extraordinary, frightening, and dangerous as our arrival. We had to 

retrace our steps through all those strange chambers and again ford the canal in order to get out. I returned to 

the village, to my garrison, and this was the end of my experience in the Cueva de los Tayos. But among all 

the hundreds of caves that exist in the area of the Tayos, this cave is a very special one. This cave I believe is 

El Dorado. Francisco de Orellana, the great Spanish discoverer of the Amazon, heard this legend and left 

Quito with four hundred Indians in 1542, traveling east, to find it. He was unsuccessful, but he did discover the 

Amazon River, and took this information back to Spain. Later, he returned to the New World to look for El 

Dorado again. On his last expedition he vanished in the jungles of the Amazon. 

"We all have read about El Dorado, believing that it is a city. Now I can say, yes, El Dorado is a city, but a city 

that is deeply buried…" 

Jaramillo paused, and I took this opportunity to tell him that although El Dorado was originally thought by the 

Spaniards to have been a golden city, it was actually a legend born from the Chibcha Indian nation in the area 

of Lake Guatavita in Colombia. There, in ancient times, their great ruler, on the most important ceremonial 

days, had himself covered first with a layer of grease and then with a layer of gold dust. And once coated with 

gold, he became El Dorado—"the golden one." Later, the name El Dorado came to be applied to the religious 

center where these ceremonies had taken place, and eventually it came to signify a great sacred city. 

Jaramillo said that was very interesting. Then he turned, gazed at the floor thoughtfully for a moment and, 

entirely ignoring what I had said, resumed his narrative. 



"And now I would like to investigate the great ancient culture that inhabited this cave, in a scientific manner, 

without offending the interests of my country, and above all without offending those Jivaros I love and respect, 

especially Mashutaka, my boyhood friend, who will someday be the tribal cacique of his clan. 

"The first son of Mashutaka was born when the night sky was tinted with red flashes, and the tribal legends 

said that this was to be the omen that he was to be named Yucalchiri—’Yu-’ meaning God, and ‘-chin’ 

meaning son. He is the son of God. When Yucalchiri grows up, not only will he be cacique of his tribe but he 

will also acquire the knowledge to decipher all those hieroglyphs, all those passages written in the strange 

script I have seen in the Cueva de los Tayos. 

"Mashutaka, following in the tradition of his own father, brought his son, Yucalchiri, to me to educate as 

Mashutaka himself had been educated by my uncle many years before. To pay for the education of his son, 

Mashutaka gave me a large golden piece shaped like a pear, and many other gold pieces through the years. I 

sold them, and with this money I was able not only to educate Yucaichiri but also to travel to many countries 

in South America to increase my knowledge. I know Peru, Chile, the Argentine, Uruguay, Brazil, and 

Colombia…" 

Jaramillo’s mention of a golden piece shaped like a fruit immediately brought to mind the historical description 

of Pizarro’s arrival by ship at the mouth of the Rio Tumbez in 1527, which today marks the official 

demarcation line between Peru and Ecuador. An emissary, Pedro de Candia, was sent ashore to verify an 

earlier account of the incredible wealth of the Inca town and fortress of Tumbez. Candia reported back to 

Pizarro that Tumbez was indeed a magnificent place. Among its other splendors, he described a complex of 

structures surrounded by walls that included a temple emblazoned with gold and silver decorations, a 

residence for the virgin brides of the Peruvian nobility, and a garden resplendent with facsimiles of 

vegetables, flowers, animals, and fruits—all made of pure gold and silver. 

The tone of Jaramillo’s voice changed and my attention was drawn back again to his narrative. 

"It was in 1966, ten years after he brought his son to me, that Mashutaka came out of the Oriente to my town, 

snatched Yucalchiri away from me, and took him without giving me any explanation." 

Jaramillo stopped. I thought he was through, but before I could say anything he turned, faced me squarely, 

and continued with great emotion: 

"I have kept the secret of the Cueva de los Tayos for many, many years on account of my boyhood friendship 

with Mashutaka. Yet now he has taken his son away from me with no explanation, and he has threatened to 



kill me. But I do not think the Jivaros are the sole proprietors of that great archaeological museum. They are 

only the guardians, because they do not know just what it means. I am very resentful about Mashutaka taking 

his son away from me. I protected that boy morally and intellectually, and I received financial support from 

Mashutaka for us both. It was this support that allowed me to travel in many countries. And now I am unable 

to travel and this secret, which belongs not only to Ecuador, but to the world, remains unknown. I have 

thought long and deep on this, and I believe there should be an organization of international scope, which can 

provide the scientific support to achieve this discovery. The secret must be told, and in you I sense a man I 

can trust. Yes, I am determined to take you to the cave, although I understand that it will involve great and 

imminent danger for me. I am not afraid; this is simply a fact. But we must go forward and overcome these 

difficulties." 

As the reverberations of his last words faded away, a vague uneasiness crept over me. The room was silent 

except for the hum from the tape recorder. I moved to the desk and switched it off, my mind racing for a 

moment as I pondered how to proceed. Putting aside all thoughts and decisions, I told Jaramillo that his story 

was indeed an extraordinary one, and that when I had had time to think about it carefully, I would be in touch 

with him again. 

I left him that afternoon feeling that the whole of life had suddenly become unreal. I returned to my hotel room 

and there I sat, lit a cigarette, and settled down to try to separate the rational from the irrational in Jaramillo’s 

narrative. His years of military service in the Oriente I knew to be true. And the details of his association with 

the Indian, Mashutaka, could have happened. Andrea Salvador, and many others, had told me of the 

existence of numerous caves in the Oriente and throughout the east Andean range. But it was Jaramillo’s 

description of the artifacts he said he had seen inside the Cueva de los Tayos that seemed to me to be totally 

incredible. 

On the other hand, such a cave might actually contain archaeological remains of extinct civilizations, and only 

Jaramillo’s imagination changed them into a crystal coffin, a library full of gold books, rooms filled with 

strange-looking animals, and a slab of stone that operated from the forces of light and darkness. Jaramillo 

was educated enough to have read the tales of the Arabian Nights, and the many versions of the legends of 

Atlantis. He certainly possessed enough imagination to have put all this into a hodge-podge of fable. But what 

were his motives? Fame, money? He had mentioned that he had lost his financial support from the Indians. 

Could that have any bearing on his story? Was he, perhaps, not quite sane? 

I was in no position to mount an expedition into the Oriente to explore the Cueva de los Tayos, even on the 

assumption that it existed and Jaramillo could find it. Proof of my archaeological ideas would have to rest on 

facts, not on fables. Still, I could not help but wonder if Jaramillo’s narrative was, at least in part, true, or 



whether he was just a wonderful spinner of yarns. 

Chapter 8 

The Good Padre 

It had been two years ago, while having lunch with Father Julio Herrera in the small village of Guapulo near 

Quito, that he had mentioned the name of Father Crespi to me. He was the old priest who in his earlier years 

had founded La Mision de Maria Auxiliadora in one of the oldest towns in southern Ecuador, Cuenca, the 

beautiful capital of Azuay Province. Father Crespi, Father Herrera had said, was an inveterate collector who, 

during his more than forty years of missionary work, had amassed an incredible number of "old things" unlike 

anything else known in Ecuador. Looking intently through the sparkling glass of white wine he was holding in 

his right hand, Father Herrera said he didn’t want to go into much detail about the collection. I should go to 

Cuenca and see it for myself, and then when we met again, I could tell him what I thought of it. 

I had decided to follow his suggestion, and a few days later when I arrived in Cuenca, a cold wind drifted 

across the town, tossing the rain against the stained-glass windows of the Maria Auxiliadora Mission. I found 

the father superior, Father Pedro Lova, and introduced myself; he told me that Father Crespi was too ill to see 

anyone, but that he would be glad to take me into the barn where the collection was kept. We walked together 

to a long, tin roofed structure with windows built along only one wall, and Father Lova unlocked a rusty old 

padlock that looked as if it wouldn’t be able to withstand two blows of a hammer. He turned on the light 

switch, but no light came on. "Probably the storm is responsible," he said. "But I hope you’ll find there is 

enough light to see something. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much about the collection." 

We stepped inside; I looked around, and was overwhelmed. Built along both of the long walls of the barn were 

benches that were completely buried under heaps of artifacts. Shelves had been built between the benches 

and the ceiling, and in the darkness I could discern that they, too, were loaded with artifacts. A row of tablets 

and plates was hung immediately under the ceiling, slanted down so that they could be seen in the dim light 

below. At first glance, I had the impression of an incredible treasure. But the great mass of material looked 

very odd, totally unlike anything I had seen before. The amalgamation of clay, stone, and metal artifacts all 

seemed to be in a strange and indefinable style. If they were authentic, I wondered, why have no pieces in 

this style shown up anywhere else? Instinctively, I felt that something was out of order, but I couldn’t put my 

finger on it. "Where did all these artifacts come from?" I asked Father Lova in puzzlement. 



He shrugged his shoulders a little and said, "You’ll have to talk to Father Crespi about that." 

We walked out of the barn, Father Lova closed and locked the door, and before I left the mission he said, "I 

hope you will come back when Father Crespi is well because there is another room full of more pieces, but 

only he has the key." Thanking him for his trouble, I wondered what the other room contained, and made a 

mental note to query Father Crespi himself about his collection when I was able to return to Cuenca. 

Now, two years later, I had almost forgotten about Father Crespi, but soon after my meeting with Major 

Jaramillo, I thought of him again. If there was any truth in Jaramillo’s tale—if there had ever been a civilization 

in the southern Oriente capable of producing such objects as he had described—then the possibility had to be 

considered that some of the pieces in Father Crespi’s collection came from, or were at least influenced by, 

this culture. That might account for their strange and unique style. I decided to try to see Father Crespi again. 

I returned to Cuenca to find that the church at La Mision de Maria Auxiliadora had been almost completely 

destroyed by fire a year before, but the generous hearts of the citizens of Cuenca had supplied the means to 

rebuild it. Fortunately the building that housed Father Crespi’s collection was untouched, and Father Crespi 

himself was well and able to meet me. 

From everything I had heard about the extraordinary work that he had done—his establishment of a mission 

that by now included a school and a body of twelve or fourteen priests, his well-known impact on the 

Indians—I had expected to find Father Crespi a very pious and well organized, methodical man, who was 

fluent in the Indian tongues. I was presented with quite a contrast when he finally stood before me. His frock 

was so old that it had faded from black to a sort of grayish-green and looked as if it hadn’t been washed for 

months; spots of oil and food ran all the way down the front, only partially covered by his long, scraggly beard. 

After I had talked with him for a few moments, I noticed that he kept repeatedly spitting, not expectorating 

saliva but expelling the hairs of his mustache from his mouth. He said a few words, then, pouf, the hairs of his 

mustache would flutter out in the air for a moment, then settle back into his mouth as he continued talking. 

His age was indeterminate; he must have been at least seventy. And I was amazed to find that after all his 

years in Ecuador; his Spanish was still very poor. When I suggested that we speak in Italian, his native 

tongue, he said, "Oh, of course. That’s the best way to do things." I wondered how he was able to deal 

effectively with the Indians without a fluent command of Spanish, let alone their own tongues. But then, as the 

minutes went by, it became clear: he didn’t have to deal too closely with them at all. We were standing in the 

courtyard before the church and a stream of Indians passed us continually, asking his blessing as they 

entered the church. He spoke with all of them with hardly a break in his train of thought: "Oh yes, Señor 

Turolla—benedice domini—I am delighted. First— benedice domini—I want to show you our . . ." Evidently a 



few words of Latin, spoken automatically, maintained his relationship with the Indians. 

Father Crespi led me to the same long, barn like structure that I had previously visited with Father Lova, and 

took out the same rusty key to open it. We entered and he began to show me his collection. He pointed first to 

a shelf containing several large urns with distinctive geometric designs. "They come from the Ingapirca area," 

he said, "from a culture that existed before the Inca arrived." 

I examined the urns, which appeared to be authentic pre-Columbian pieces, but then with a gesture toward 

the hundreds of other artifacts in his collection, I asked how he had amassed such an enormous quantity of 

objects. 

"When my father passed away in Italy," he replied, "he left me a legacy, and I could think of no better way to 

use it than by salvaging these ancient treasures from greedy traders and black marketeers." Then he 

launched into a long diatribe on the histories of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, the Phoenician 

maritime expansion, the Mesoamerican and Inca cultures of the New World, and even a smattering of 

present-day history. As he talked and we walked the length of the big barn, he pointed out many objects to 

illustrate and emphasize the significance of what he was saying: small, ceramic, pyramid-shaped depictions 

of Phoenician royal crematories topped by the effigy of the God of Eternity; crudely carved stone tablets with 

images of the sun, pyramids, snakes, and humans; a complete collection of ceramic musical instruments 

(saxophone, flutes, clarinets) held by lifelike pottery figures; a winged centaur made of metal lying next to a 

clay figurine of a woman on her knees with hands clasped together in an attitude of prayer; Sumerian-like 

winged lions along with Greek-looking pottery; hammered copper figures and grotesque stone-carved objects 

of no discernible style or period: a bishop’s mitre complete with a cross and Christian symbols, diadems and 

crowns; a helmet with extended horns reminiscent of the headgear of Viking warriors. Thousands more of 

these weird objects unfolded before my eyes in a chaotic display, among them, here and there, artifacts from 

known Ecuadorian cultures. I began to feel a little uneasy as I looked at all of this. 

Father Crespi then turned to me and said, "I want to show you the treasure room." Apparently this was the 

room to which, as Father Lova had told me on my previous visit, only Father Crespi had the key. He opened 

the door, flicked on the light, and the impact of what I saw was staggering. The entire room was paneled with 

sheets of plywood on which were hanging thousands of metal objects. Rough-hewn cabinets built along the 

walls housed even more objects of every description. There were dozens of boxes, each containing from four 

to six gold-colored metal sheets on which had been hammered in relief dragons, camels, elephants, palm 

trees, pyramids, half-moons, stars, the sun symbol, gods and deities, warriors and stylized boats. "These are 

my gold and silver treasures," Father Crespi proudly announced, rubbing his hands together. 



My attention was drawn toward a heavy yellow metal sheet, approximately 51 centimeters high by 13 wide, 

which was divided into fifty-six squares, and in each square, depicted in relief, were different symbols. Father 

Crespi solemnly declared that this tablet contained the commandments of the Egyptian Pharaohs. Then from 

one of the boxes he retrieved a greenish metal object, which depicted an Egyptian-looking bird balancing a 

disc on its head framed by a snake. "A very ancient calendar," he said. Lying on the floor in the center of the 

room was some kind of boat or canoe with what seemed to be elaborate gold carvings. Pointing to the object, 

Father Crespi said: "This was the ‘bark’ that the ancient sun god used when he was traveling on the 

waterways." He then explained that he was convinced the ancient tribes of Ecuador were the descendants of 

a great and very old civilization. The objects in his collection were the treasure, the patrimony, of this 

civilization brought here to Ecuador for safekeeping. 



Pino Turolla & Father Crespi (left) holding a gold artifact 

Father Crespi rambled on as I walked back and forth in the barn, examining his strange collection. Apart from 

a few pottery pieces, everything was of dubious authenticity. Why, then, did some of the pieces seem familiar 

to me? Suddenly I knew why. Many of the objects that Major Jaramillo had described in his fantastic narrative 

of the Cueva de los Tayos stood before my eyes on Father Crespi’s shelves. Of course, Jaramillo had been 

here and seen the collection. He had spent many years in this area, was fascinated with anything that was 

said to be ancient, and the fame of Father Crespi’s collection was certain to have attracted his attention. I had 

come to Cuenca hoping to find corroboration for Jaramillo’s tales in Father Crespi’s collection. I found, 

instead, just the opposite. 

If I needed any further proof of the doubtful origins of the collection, it came when, with a rather hushed 

reverence, Father Crespi removed a yellowish metal orb from a concave plate, extended it toward me, and 

said: "Very ancient, my son, very ancient—with glyphics." I looked closely at this mysterious orb and it proved 

to be a float from a toilet mechanism, bearing the legend "RF" (Republique francaise). I chuckled and looked 

at Father Crespi, thinking he was playing a joke on me. But his face was very serious as he said, "Very old, 

my son, probably three thousand years before the birth of our Lord." 

Father Crespi went on to point out other pieces, and the inconsistencies between historical facts and his 

bizarre interpretations of the objects he had collected began to reach a disturbing level of absurdity. I had 

seen enough of the collection; but Father Crespi was not through yet. "Come with me," he said. "I have 

something else I want to show you now." He led me out of the barn, locked it, then took me to his spartanly 

furnished room in the priest’s dormitory. There he unlocked a box, pulled out a large sheet of parchment, and 

handed it to me. "This," he said, "is a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci." Though my credulity had been severely 

stretched by now, I looked at it and saw an anatomical drawing of the human hand, in a style very much like 

da Vinci’s. Perhaps it was authentic. But then Father Crespi pulled out a painted canvas and said, "This is by 

Raphael." Then another and another: "This is by Cimabue. . . and this is a Botticelli Madonna. . . and this is a 

Tintoretto." Forty or fifty Renaissance masters, lying unprotected in a fragile box in one corner of a priest’s 

room—that was beyond belief. 

Still, I tried to conceal my doubts and asked him confidentially how all those wonderful paintings had come to 

be in his possession. "My order," he said, "the Salesian Order, is one of the oldest in Italy. Many of our 

founders were sons of great Italian families—families that go back to the Renaissance and before. Their 

families had these paintings. But times were very troubled in Italy then, and they were gathered together by 

our order and brought here for safekeeping." 



When Father Crespi and I parted that day, I went in search of Father Lova. I wanted to ask him about Father 

Crespi’s collection; but one has to start very softly, very tactfully, with such questions, so I said: "Father Lova, 

if everything Father Crespi says is true, why are such priceless artifacts kept in an old barn behind thin glass 

windows with no protection?" 

Pino in one of the store rooms housing Father Crespi's collections. 

Father Lova gave a sort of knowing smile and said, "Well, actually, we don’t have money to build the kind of 

place Father Crespi ought to have for his things." Not until many months later, when Father Lova and I had 

become better acquainted, would he confess that Father Crespi’s voluminous and ever-growing collection, 

and his strange ideas, were an embarrassment both to him and to the order. 

"Do you know where they came from?" I asked him then. 



He looked at me and said, "We don’t know. Father Crespi is very secretive. Perhaps you, if you have time, 

could find out. Would you do that for me?" 

At first, I found myself confronted with a wall of silence as I checked around, talking to old-timers in the area 

about Father Crespi. There was a definite reticence on their part; but gradually the story emerged. Decades 

ago, Father Crespi’s mind began to change and he became fascinated with the idea that the ancient 

Ecuadorian civilizations had sprung from Egypt. He believed that one of the Pharaohs had left Egypt and 

sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the mouth of the Amazon. Then he navigated this great river, crossed the 

east Andean range, and established himself with his court in the southern part of what today is known as 

Ecuador. Father Crespi gathered together books and pictures of Egyptian, Phoenician, and other Old World 

cultures, gave them to the natives, and said: "If you ever find anything like this, bring it to me, and I will reward 

you." 

The Indians and mestizos, being only too glad to oblige, took the pictures and made artifacts according to the 

designs they had been given. Then they brought them to Father Crespi, telling him they had been found in 

tolas, tombs, landslides, or whatever. This exchange had been going on for many decades; Father Crespi’s 

collection continued to grow and some of the native craftsmen had become quite expert in the fabrication and 

decoration of "ancient" objects made from very modern bronze, brass, copper, and tin. 

It hardly took an expert to discover that Father Crespi was living in a dream world of his own creation. I knew 

that the day he showed me his collection. But what of Jaramillo? Was he equally convinced that every word 

he uttered about the Cueva de los Tayos was true? I began to doubt it when I returned to Quito and we spoke 

again of mounting an expedition to explore the cave. Jaramillo had now become curiously reticent about 

sharing his great secret with the rest of the world. Yet, apart from his fanciful descriptions of crystal coffins 

and golden skeletons, at least one part of his tale might be true: I felt instinctively that the two Indians who 

had guided him to the cave, Samakache and Mashutaka, actually existed. And the name "Pescado," that 

Señora Jaramillo had inadvertently dropped, kept ringing in my ears. Legends always have some basic truth; 

had not Heinrich Schliemann discovered the golden treasures of Troy because of this belief? Samakache and 

Mashutaka were the key to the puzzle. I must try to find them. 



Chapter 9 

The Cueva de los Tayos 

How was I to find two Jivaro Indians who lived, supposedly, somewhere in the jungles of the mighty Amazon? 

Father Herrera was, as always, ready to be of assistance. He made no comment when I told him of my visit to 

Father Crespi’s collection. But when I related Jaramillo’s description of the Cueva de los Tayos and told him 

of my determination to seek the two Indians, Samakache and Mashutaka, whom I believed really existed; he 

became fascinated by the story and asked, "What clues do you have to their whereabouts?" 

"The name ‘Pescado’ that Señora Jaramillo dropped during her conversation," I said, "and the names of two 

towns: Loja, the birthplace of Major Jaramillo, and Zamora, where he was based during his military service." 

Father Herrera brightened. "If you plan to travel to Zamora," he said, "my good friend Monsignor Maschera is 

the head of the Franciscan mission there. I’m sure he’ll be happy to assist you. I’ll contact him by radio and 

tell him you’re coming." 

A trip to Zamora necessitated a return to Cuenca, and there at the airport I was met by Oswaldo Mora, a 

young man in his late twenties to whom Father Lova had introduced me on one of my previous trips. As I 

arrived and was walking toward the terminal, I spotted him standing squarely in the doorway, indifferent to the 

passengers and airport personnel who were struggling to pass through. But that was Oswaldo, handsome, 

short of stature, resourceful, always self-assured, and in a certain sense, a modern reincarnation of his 

lineage—the Spanish conquistadors. He had agreed to accompany me on the journey to Zamora. 



Oswaldo Mora 

He had already found a Jeep for the journey, and we left early the next morning en route to our first stop, 

Loja, about 215 kilometers from Cuenca. The road twisted up and over several mountain ranges, at times 

reaching an altitude of 3000 meters. The weather was clear and our view ranged across valleys, ridges, and 

peaks looming up into the sky all around us. Broad slopes covered with flowers swept down away from us into 

valleys far below. Patches of reclaimed land were being worked by native peasants dressed in heavy 

ponchos to protect themselves from the chilling wind. From time to time a lonely traveler followed by his 

faithful burro crossed our path. Sporadically, signs would remind us that we were driving on a segment of the 

ancient Imperial Road built by the Inca, hundreds of years before, to connect their empire with its capital city, 

Cuzco, in Peru. We reached Loja before noon, and passed through the entrance gates of the old colonial 

town that had been founded in 1536 as a settlement on the slopes of one of the highest massifs of the 

Andean mountain range, the Villonaco. 



Photo of Oswaldo Mora taken by Stan Grist, who interviewed him to verify Pino's story. 

From the window of the small café where we stopped for lunch, I could see dozens of Saraguro Indians 

dressed in ponchos and broad-brimmed hats passing by on horseback or on foot, coming to the weekly 

market. The women wore their hair in ponytails and were resplendent in trinkets of shiny gold or silver. The 



men carried machetes in scabbards hanging from their colorful high belts. On a festive day they gather in 

groups, rope a young calf, cut its jugular vein, and collect its blood in a pan. They then mix the warm blood 

with aguardiente, a strong homemade alcohol brew, and drink it as part of their ancient rituals. 

More than 4000 years before, I reflected, this same land had seen the beginnings of a flourishing culture 

known today as Chorrera, named after a small settlement where one of its important sites was discovered on 

the banks of the Rio Babahojo in the foothills of the Western Cordillera. When first uncovered, this culture was 

believed by many authorities to have originated and developed on the coastal plain. In 1943, however, Donald 

Collier, curator of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, together with John Murra, described the 

discovery of potsherds in the Andean highlands that were strikingly similar in some of their characteristics to 

those of the Chorrera. 

Such evidence suggested that the ancient Chorreras might have descended from the southern highlands— 

between the Eastern and Central Cordilleras—in places named Alausi, Cerro Narrio, and Descanzo. But what 

intrigued me the most were the Chorrera sites discovered in the area of Loja near the banks of the Rio 

Zamora, a river with direct access to the lowlands of the Amazon Basin. Moreover, Chorrera ceramics display 

elements traditionally associated with the tropical Amazon forest: human figurines with ear spools, a tradition 

of some of the Indian tribes still seen today; prehensile tailed monkeys; tropical forest birds; and jaguar 

effigies. The artifacts of the Chorrera culture, in particular, seemed to offer substantiation of my theories that 

early Ecuadorian Cultures may have originated in the Amazon. 

If such a cultural migration took place, no doubt the natural topography of the country through the millennia 

played an important role. There is a complex interrelationship between the multiplicity of rivers found in 

Ecuador and much of its terrain. Most of the country is composed of volcanic or sedimentary rock that retains 

water very poorly, and since so much of the country is mountainous, most of the voluminous rainfall runs off 

the land rather than soaking into the ground. Because of this, swift-flowing rivers have carved great passes 

and canyons through the Andes, between the massives of the highlands, the Amazon to the east, and the 

coastal plain to the west. Could these passes have provided natural routes of access from the Amazon to the 

Mesa and from the Mesa to the coastal plain? Such routes, I reasoned, could have been provided through the 

Central Cordillera by the Rios Aguarico and Coca in the north which are affluents of the great Rio Napo; by 

the Rio Pastaza in the center, affluent of the Maranon (the Peruvian trunk of the Amazon River) and in the 

south by the Rio Zamora affluent of the Rio Santiago which like the Rios Napo and Marañon becomes part of 

the great Amazon River. Thus there are three great corridors from the Oriente into the Mesa, and other lesser 

ones, formed by the ubiquitous rivers. 



The first appearance of pottery making on the South American continent was associated with the beginnings 

of) the Valdivia culture which flourished in the lowlands of the Pacific coast of southern Ecuador. It was, 

however, from the Chorrera that there emerged a very complex and spectacular ceramic tradition. Ornate 

pottery vessels, whistling bottles, stirrup bottles, and far advanced techniques of iridescent pottery painting 

appeared in the Chorrera culture far earlier than in the cultures of Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. 

The Chorrera culture spread from the foothills of the western range of the Andes to the coastal plain, both to 

the south and north. And stylistic traits of Chorrera figurines and ware can be seen in artifacts from cultures 

that flourished in Colombia and in Mesoamerica to the north, and in Peru to the south, at least 1000 years 

later. But again the question arose: Where had the Chorrera originated? And how had such a highly 

developed, expansionist society supported itself? The only crop capable of sustaining such a culture is the 

high-yield staple, corn, but as yet investigators have found no evidence that the Chorrera cultivated corn. 

Perhaps, I thought, somewhere in the Cordillera, or further east into the Amazon, the answer to both 

questions could be found. 

After lunch, Oswaldo and I took a brief look around Loja, Jaramillo’s birthplace, and then set out on the road 

to Zamora, 54 kilometers away. As a provincial capital, Zamora, on the map, is indicated with a prominent 

geographical symbol; in reality it is a frontier town with a total population of 1300, including the cats and dogs, 

where the largest building is the Franciscan mission. What distinguishes Zamora is its location near the 

headwaters of the Rio Zamora—one of the major waterways to the Amazon Basin—which makes the town 

the southern gateway to the Oriente. 

Oswaldo and I went directly to the mission where Father Herrera’s friend, Monsignor Maschera, made us 

welcome. When I explained, as succinctly as possible, that I was searching for two Jivaro Indians named 

Samakache and Mashutaka and asked him if he had ever heard of them and a place called Pescado, he 

replied that he hadn’t. But he referred me to Emmanuel Garbo, the young doctor at the mission hospital, who 

confirmed that in about 1956 an officer named Jaramillo had been with the military in Zamora, and then 

mentioned that there was a Jivaro woman patient who spoke Spanish in one of the wards. I questioned her, 

and she told me that there was a settlement named Pescado (in Spanish, "fishing place") 30 kilometers 

northeast of Zamora on the shore of the Rio Cumburatza. She also said that she had heard of a Jivaro man 

named Samakache who supposedly lived in Los Enquentros, halfway between Zamora and Gualaquiza, a 

small settlement across the Rio Bombaiza. 

I was elated by her answers, and early the next morning, with a Jivaro guide supplied by Monsignor 

Maschera, Oswaldo and I set out for Los Enquentros. It was a difficult and frustrating journey that took us, 

finally, up a steep and muddy trail to a Jivaro compound. Just before we reached it, our guide told us to stop 



for a moment while he whistled a series of modulated signals. A few seconds later an answering whistle was 

heard from the bushes, and that indicated we could proceed. It is essential to make your presence known at 

some distance from the settlements to avoid any possible misunderstanding of your intentions. 

Samakache was not living in this settlement. We learned that he had moved only a week before to Ansasa, a 

small settlement about 20 or 25 kilometers back in the direction of Zamora. We also learned that he was a 

young man, too young to have a full-grown son like Mashutaka. That disturbed me, but I thought perhaps that 

he might be a member of the old Samakache’s family, and still hoped he would be able to tell me something 

about the Cueva de los Tayos. 

Our spirits dampened, Oswaldo and I started back down the same muddy trail, and tired and disappointed, 

reached Zamora as the sun was settling behind the high peak of the Sabanilla range. 

The following morning we drove to Ansasa, impatient to resolve the Samakache question, one way or the 

other. From there we were directed to the banks of the Rio Zamora, which we crossed with two Indians in a 

canoe, and then began another hike up a narrow trail that led to high ground where Samakache was said to 

live. After half an hour we approached a clearing with a Jivaro hut, but Samakache was not there either. We 

were told that he lived in another settlement, and so we followed a different trail, crossed a turbulent mountain 

stream, and climbed up to a small hill on which we saw another Jivaro hut. We approached it, and there, 

standing before the hut, was Samakache. 

It was the wrong Samakache. He had never heard of Mashutaka, and he knew of no other man named 

Samakache who had a son by that name. He told us that Samakache means, simply, "deadly snake"; 

Mashutaka means "wise one" or "strong one," and both were commonly used by Jivaro warriors as battle 

names. He said that he had once lived in Pescado, but I also learned that Pescado is a very common name 

for any place along a river where fish are abundant. 

It was a great disappointment. Oswaldo and I wearily returned to Zamora. My hopes of finding some 

confirmation of Major Jaramillo’s story of the Cueva de los Tayos were completely dashed. To all 

appearances my journey had been a failure. Everything about it seemed to prove that there was no tangible 

reason to pursue my search for the cave further. But fate, unknown to me, had already set in motion events 

that by their very nature would compel me to resume my search. 

It was months later, in September of 1969, that I was startled back into the realm of the mysterious and 

unknown. I had received an unexpected phone call from Oswaldo, and flew immediately from Miami to Quito, 

and thence to Cuenca where he was waiting for me at the airport. The reason for my trip was a report that 



had appeared in the Cuenca newspaper, reprinted a day later in the Quito press, about the discovery of a 

great series of caverns called "Las Cuevas de los Tayos," located in the third range of the Andes in the 

Oriente region. The man who announced the discovery was Juan Moricz, and I recognized his name 

immediately. When Andrea Salvador first told me of Jaramillo, he had mentioned that Moricz, an Argentinean 

(originally Hungarian) who was interested in tracking down the legends of the Indians in the interior, had also 

heard the major’s story. I thought now that, perhaps, he had received more information and clues from 

Jaramillo, which had enabled him to discover the caves after all. 

The report went on to say that the Cuevas de los Tayos were situated in a very inhospitable region on the 

slopes of the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes. They were part of a multi-level stone city, it was claimed, each 

level interconnected with passages and tunnels, and the existing stone walls were built of perfectly made 

blocks covered with mysterious inscriptions. The place was inhabited by a rare species of birds called by the 

Jivaro Indians "Tayos," and the ruins were said to extend deep into the surrounding jungle. In his 

announcement Moricz offered a theory about the significance of the discovery: he believed that this lost city 

was once inhabited by a mysterious people known as the Vela, who were said to be the ancestors of the 

lamas now inhabiting Tibet. That struck me as somewhat fanciful, but if the descriptions of the caves were 

true, they would certainly be as momentous and significant a discovery as the mountain stone city of Machu 

Picchu in the Peruvian Andes by Hiram Bingham in 1911. 

Sitting in the café "El Correo" in downtown Cuenca, Oswaldo filled me in on the rumors, speculation, and 

excitement triggered by Moricz’s announcement. Government officials were skeptical, he said, but 

discussions were in progress at the various ministries, and it was possible that an official investigation would 

be opened. That was the reason for his urgent call. He knew that if I wished to make any determination of the 

significance of the caves in my own research, we would have to move quickly. Once the government had 

initiated its investigation, the caves would surely be cordoned off to prevent outsiders from entering. 

We decided to make the journey immediately, although we knew how difficult it would be. But first I had to see 

the chief of the South Military Zone, Colonel Antonio Moral, to obtain a permit for travel in the Oriente. 

According to the reports, the caves were located close to the border with Peru, and no travel was allowed in 

this area without a special permit. Colonel Moral also gave me a note of introduction to the commanding 

officer of the military post at Teniente Ortiz, which would provide a good jumping-off point for our expedition to 

the area of the caves. 

Then preparations had to be made. All the food, equipment, and supplies we would need had to be carried in, 

because Teniente Ortiz was a very small and remote military outpost. The best way to reach it, we decided, 

was to rent a small Cessna and land on an airstrip that had been cut in the jungle near the post. There was 



one other route—by land and water, taking trails and dugout canoe. But that was at least a ten-day journey 

and time was too pressing. 

It was a very difficult task to find a pilot with a small plane who would fly us to the Ortiz airstrip. The flight is 

perilous. It is not possible for a small plane to fly over the Central Cordillera of the Andes that separates 

Cuenca and Teniente Ortiz. The plane must fly through the mountains, using passes between the mountain 

peaks that at this time of year were usually cloud-covered, with zero visibility. Over the years many planes 

have miscalculated and smashed against the mountainside; on a clear day one can still see their twisted 

wrecks strewn over the bare rock. 

We finally found a pilot, Julio Ortega, who was very familiar with the route to Teniente Ortiz and agreed to fly 

Oswaldo and me there as soon as the weather cleared. When at last we were airborne and rose over the floor 

of the mesa, the spectacle below was overwhelming. The savage beauty of the Andes, in the clear morning 

light, was stupendous. Huge peaks rose ahead of us, and then, suddenly, they surrounded us from all 

directions as Ortega maneuvered through passes and canyons where cloud cover at any point would spell 

disaster, and only the most experienced pilots can stay alive. When we saw the Ortiz landing strip below us, it 

looked like a small garden plot surrounded by tall, dense trees. I could not imagine how Ortega could put the 

plane down on such a short strip. But he skirted over the tops of the trees on the near side, dropped like a 

rock to within a few meters of the ground, pulled back and touched down, then brought the Cessna to a stop 

within 5 meters of the trees at the far end of the strip. 

The officer in charge of the military post at Ortiz was not very interested in our arrival. In spite of the letter of 

introduction from Colonel Moral of Cuenca, he had no time to help strangers. Perhaps, he suggested, we 

could walk with all our gear a few kilometers north to the Santiago Mission where the Salesian brothers, 

surely, would offer hospitality to two stranded gringos. We decided to take his suggestion, and happily, we 

received a very different reception there. Juan Arcos, the brother in charge, welcomed us with a big smile, 

immediately offered us accommodations for our stay, and said he would like to do whatever he could to help 

us. Brother Arcos, we learned, was a laico—a Catholic who had at one time trained for the priesthood, but 

hadn’t finished and was now serving the church in another capacity. A mestizo, he spoke Jivaro perfectly and 

had served missions in the interior for around twenty-five years. He had built this mission on the banks of the 

Rio Santiago with the help of young Jivaros. 

Brother Arcos was almost as familiar with the surrounding terrain as the Jivaros themselves, and we decided 

that the best way to reach the area in which the caves were supposed to be located was to travel down the 

Rio Santiago by canoe to the place where it meets with the Rio Coango, a small torrent that flows from the 



Cordillera Cutucu to the south. From there we would have to continue on foot, hiking up to a pass in the 

Cordillera Cutucu where on one of its western slopes the Cuevas de los Tayos were said to be located. 

Brother Arcos offered to provide us with a canoe and two Jivaro guides who would take us downriver and pick 

us up again when we returned from the caves. But we would not be able to have an Indian guide for the hike 

from the river into the Cordillera. For some reason the military had issued a proscription against Indians 

traveling in that direction. 

We spent the rest of that day learning as much as we could about our intended route from Brother Arcos and 

the Indians, and getting our gear ready for the trail. The following morning the sky was clear, the canoe was 

loaded, and we hurried into it to take advantage of the good weather. The Indians pushed the canoe away 

from the mission pier into the current and by mid-morning we reached the junction of the Coango. The Indians 

leaned on their paddles and our canoe glided to the left bank of the river, where we landed and unloaded our 

gear. We said goodbye to our guides, placed our packs on our backs, and began to look for the trail that was 

supposed to go from this point up into the Cordillera. But there was no trail in sight. Finally, I discovered a 

faint animal track that went almost vertically up the side of the mountain through the trees and dense 

vegetation. We decided to follow it, and the ascent proved to be formidable. The mud was so slippery that our 

feet slid out from under us with every step. In order to make any progress, we had to grab trees and heavy 

plants and pull ourselves up. We had hoped to reach the pass later that day, but we were forced to spend the 

night on the mountainside, and did not reach the pass until the following afternoon. 

It is very difficult to describe the physical pain we felt as we hoisted our bodies hour after hour and only a few 

feet at a time up this muddy animal track. It was more than the ache of weary muscles; after the first strain 

and fatigue set in, it became a brutal, throbbing pain that grew steadily worse with every wrenching beat of 

our hearts. We kept going on spirit alone, only our will to find the caves sustaining us as we climbed. When 

we finally reached the pass, we collapsed for a few moments to allow our bodies to recover, and considered 

what direction to take next. We didn’t know exactly where the caves were, and we had to make a choice. I 

decided that we should continue following the animal track; intuition told me that it led into terrain where caves 

were most likely to be found. 

After another hour or so on the trail, there was very little light left and we started to look for a place to spend 

the night when, suddenly, against the dark silhouette of the mountain on our left, I saw the light of a fire. An 

Indian camp? A military patrol? And if so, was it Ecuadorian or Peruvian. We didn’t t know but to our tired 

minds and bodies the light was too inviting to ignore. We decided to take our chances and began to walk 

toward it. 



"Ola!" came a stern voice as we approached the fire. "Ola!" I called back and with that exchange we found 

ourselves standing in front of three members of the Policia Civil from Gualaquiza. Oswaldo and I were 

astonished and so were they. They asked us what we were doing in this remote section of Ecuador, and after 

explaining, we asked them the same question They said that they were there on orders from the 

Commandante General of the police to guard—the Cueva de los Tayos! As hard as we had worked to locate 

this cave, I could scarcely believe that we had actually found it. 

The soldiers invited us to join them around their campfire and told us that they had been sent here to work 

with an Indian party that would arrive the next morning to prepare a landing place for a helicopter. It was due 

to fly in about a week later with government officials and a military party to inspect the caves. Oswaldo and I 

looked at each other, and at that moment we realized how fortunate we were to get there ahead of them. 

I asked Sergeant Spinoza, the leader of the patrol, about the caves and learned that, as far as he knew, there 

was only one. There were no stonewalls with mysterious inscriptions, no ruins in the surrounding jungle. 

Apparently Juan Moricz had greatly exaggerated the description of his discovery. Still, I couldn’t resist the 

urge to have a look at the entrance of the cave. Spinoza offered to take me there, so we lit our torches and 

started down a freshly hacked trail. A few minutes later there it was, the entrance of this famous cave. It was 

not impressive. The cave is deep underground, and the opening, against the wall of the mountain, looked like 

an odd-shaped well, a deep hole or shaft into the earth, partially covered by a rocky overhang and surrounded 

by brush, trees, and vines. 

I beamed my light into the opening, but I could see nothing. The shaft disappeared into darkness. The only 

things visible were rocks protruding from its sides. A rudimentary platform had already been built by Spinoza 

and his men near the opening; ropes and cables were hanging from it down into the shaft. 

When we returned to the campfire, Spinoza mentioned that he had orders to prevent anyone from entering 

the cave without a written permit from the Minister of the Interior. We showed him our permit and asked to be 

allowed to make the descent, but he was still reluctant because the permit didn’t specifically say we could 

enter the cave. Nothing further was said for the moment. From our packs Oswaldo and I took out some coffee 

and condensed milk, tins of sardines and tuna, and a bottle of trago, and invited Spinoza and his men to 

share our dinner with us. As we ate, Oswaldo struck up a conversation with Spinoza and quickly found out 

that he had relatives in Cuenca. They began trading stories and comparing observations on their mutual 

acquaintances until, finally, Oswaldo gained Spinoza’s trust and friendship. By the end of the evening we had 

reached an understanding. We would be allowed to enter the cave, but we would receive no help from 

Spinoza and his men, and we had to leave our cameras behind. 



Rain delayed our descent the following day, but Oswaldo and I were able to assess what faced us. We saw 

that the cables and ropes hanging in the mouth of the cave were connected to a series of pulleys to facilitate 

descent and ascent, and as we peered into the shaft, we heard a muffled murmuring that came from the very 

depths of the cave. It was the cooing sound of thousands of tayo birds, the inhabitants of this mysterious 

subterranean world. 

Early the next morning we stood again at the entrance to the cave. I shook hands with Oswaldo, tied the 

safety rope around my waist, crouched at the edge of the opening, grabbed the cable in my hands, and 

started to lower myself into the shaft. When I was no more than 50 feet down, the light of day was only a 

small halo above me and I descended into darkness. I felt a shiver down my back. Who knew what lay below? 

My hands were wound around the cable so tightly that I could feel the pain all the way up my arms. The shaft, 

narrow at the opening, grew to at least 50 or 60 feet in diameter as I continued to lower myself. I had a light 

hanging from my belt and turned it on, but I couldn’t direct it around the shaft. I didn’t dare release my grip 

from the cable. 

Slowly I continued down. Over me, making the cable shake and move within my hands was Oswaldo. Every 

few seconds he shouted: "Have you reached the bottom?" And the answer was always: "No." I was sure that I 

had descended about 200 feet when finally, down below, my light flashed on something. I looked down, and 

in horror I saw that it was water. If it was a deep underground river, I knew it would be impossible to land. 

Praying, I put my feet in the water, let myself down a little more, and hit the bottom. The water reached just 

below my knees. I heaved an immense sigh of relief, released the cable, and flexed my hands to get the 

blood circulating again. Looking up, I yelled at Oswaldo: "I’m on the bottom now!" 

Oswaldo didn’t lose any time joining me on the bottom. After attaching two homing blinking lights to the cable, 

we followed our light beams out of the water and up a slope for a few meters. Then we stopped and looked 

around to see where we were. We were both breathing as deeply as possible, and perspiring as if we had run 

for miles. 

During our descent the hundreds of tayo birds that inhabited the cave had squealed and flown all around us, 

their phosphorescent eyes gleaming in the dark. They objected to having their domain invaded by strangers. 

Now, as we sat on the rocks and looked up, their darting shadows crossed the faint light that penetrated the 

cave from the mouth of the shaft. I knew that, for the Jivaros of this region, the tayo is far more than a simple 

bird; from time immemorial Jivaros have descended twice a year into the darkness of this cave to capture 

them. The fat of the bird is a very important part of their diet and, in time, this twice-yearly harvest evolved into 

a sacred ritual with chanting, drum beating, and invocations to the cave and jungle spirits by the tribal brujo. It 

was clear to me why this cave came to be regarded as sacred ground by the Indians. 



Oswaldo and I directed our lights around the cave. Large stalagmites, blocks of stone, and thick tayo 

droppings came into view. On one side a crude ladder bore witness to man’s presence in this dark world; the 

Jivaros apparently used it to reach the tayos that dwelled in the cracks of the cave wall. Cautiously, we moved 

ahead between the rubble. Somehow we sensed that we were entering an enormous chamber, but our lights 

were not strong enough to define its size. The entrance to this chamber was a phenomenal sight: it seemed to 

be a huge portal built with massive square stones. It looked like the entrance to a stadium, and here the 

squealing of the tayos became more and more intense. 

The floor of the chamber was uneven and covered with all sizes of stones and rocks that had fallen from 

above. Then the sound of a waterfall reached us, revealing the source of the water we had encountered at the 

bottom of the shaft. It also explained the air movement we felt inside the chamber. Warily we moved toward it 

and, unexpectedly, found our way obstructed by a sheer wall. The Sound now came from above. Pointing our 

lights toward it, we saw high above us the entrance to a tunnel. It was then that we realized that this huge 

cavern had many entrances at different levels. Where did they all lead—to other chambers and caverns? At 

the mission, Brother Arcos had told me that the Indians believed the cave continued for 20 to 30 kilometers 

underground. 

We followed our lights through passageways into other underground chambers and I looked intently for any 

sign of human habitation: hieroglyphics, drawings on the rocks, charcoal, and signs of carving or construction. 

There was nothing. But in a corner of one of the chambers there was a pile of granite stones, perhaps several 

tons each that appeared to have been cut. Some were square, some rectangular, and to one side of them 

was a rocky outcropping that bore some resemblance to an altar. These great stones struck me as 

remarkable; it seemed impossible that their square corners and perfectly flat sides could have occurred 

naturally. But I was puzzled because there was absolutely nothing else in any of the chambers that looked 

manmade. 

I thought again of Juan Moricz’s account of his discovery of the cave and marveled at the power of his 

imagination. There were no signs of human construction here, or dwellings that indicated a fabulous 

underground stone city, no discernible evidence that this underground world had once been inhabited by a 

mysterious ancient civilization. It was impossible for Oswaldo and me to explore all the many tunnels and 

chambers, but I had a strong feeling that they would not disclose anything more than we had already seen. I 

was convinced that the cave was a completely natural occurrence. It was a subterranean lair of incredible 

magnitude, but its mystique had probably been created by the reverence of the Jivaro Indians for the tayo 

birds. 



We retraced our steps to the blinking homing lights on the cable. First Oswaldo, and then I, made the ascent. 

Foot by foot, straining and sweating, we climbed up into the arch of daylight and finally reached the top of the 

shaft. Sergeant Spinoza was relieved to see our faces. Exhausted by our adventure, we returned to the camp, 

lay down around the fire, and told the sergeant and his men what we had seen. I said that there seemed to be 

no reliable signs of any ancient inhabitants of the cave; it was simply an outstanding example of what nature 

can do. Spinoza mentioned that in an area called La Esperanza, about 20 kilometers away, there was a large 

boulder with petroglyphs that were believed by the Indians to illustrate the exact location of the entrance to 

the Cueva de los Tayos, and that the Jivaro brujo of the area, Zukma, had the same glyphics tattooed on his 

face. The thought came immediately to my mind that perhaps these were the "mysterious inscriptions" 

reported in the newspapers as having been seen inside the cave. A small error, no doubt. 

Oswaldo and I spent the night at the camp. The following day we began retracing our steps up to the pass, 

and from the pass down to the Rio Santiago. Our descent was remarkably swift; we could hardly believe that 

this was the same mountain that had offered such incredible difficulty three days before. It was simply a 

question of balance; with all the mud on the trail, it was like going downhill on skis. We reached the mission 

after dusk, and after a cold bath in the river and a good meal offered by our friend Brother Arcos, we felt 

rejuvenated and in good spirits. Two days later when the weather was clear, Julio Ortega made another 

skillful landing at the small Ortiz airstrip and we boarded the Cessna for the return flight to Cuenca. Clouds 

were forming in some of the canyons and passes of the Central Cordillera and the trip was hair-raising. It was 

raining when we finally reached Cuenca, and we felt very fortunate to be back on the ground safely. There, 

parked in front of the maintenance building at the airport, we saw the helicopter that in about a week’s time 

would fly government officials into the Oriente to investigate the Cueva de los Tayos. For us the adventure 

was over, at least for now; for others, it hadn’t yet begun. 

I later learned that the extended government expedition, which included geologists with equipment for 

exploration and rock sampling, reported that the Cueva de los Tayos was nothing more than an extraordinary 

geological formation; the great stones and the portal to the central chamber had been carved by water and 

earthquakes, not by man. The official exploration of the cave, like ours, produced no evidence of any human 

construction or habitation. 

Had my search for Samakache and Mashutaka, and my expedition to the Cueva de los Tayos, been entirely 

fruitless? I did not think so. If nothing else, the Cueva de los Tayos proved the existence of hidden 

subterranean caves in the Andean mountain jungles. Certainly, I had learned to be suspicious of the fantasies 

of men like Major Jaramillo, Father Crespi, and Juan Moricz. But I remained convinced that among the myths 

and legends of the Indians themselves there were fragments of truth. And I was still certain that the Oriente 



bore rich evidence of ancient cultural development. My investigation there had to be pursued. The End 

Stan Grist’s opinions and comments on Pino Turolla and his book, Beyond the Andes: 

After exhaustive research, travel and interviews with Oswaldo Mora (Mishu) and Renee Turolla, Pino’s widow 

I have come to several personal conclusions about Pino Turolla and his book. I believe that Pino’s 

investigation of the Cueva de los Tayos was far too brief and under researched for him to have drawn the 

conclusions that appear in this book. Did he ever know of, or did he forget about the secret entrance to the 

cave, from underwater? 

I have also uncovered other stretches of the truth as found in his book. His story about an encounter with "Los 

Monos Grandes" in a cave is totally refuted by his past assistant, Oswaldo. However, I also believe that much 

of the information in his book is unique, accurate and useful for future investigators who follow in his 

footsteps. 



3.The Lost Gold of Ancient Ecuador By J. Golden Barton (excerpt from Ancient American Magazine) 

On July 21, 1969, Juan Moricz, an Argentine citizen by naturalization, born in Hungary, deposited a legal title 

deed with a notary in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He wanted to secure a legal claim to a number of caves, tunnels, 

and ancient artifacts discovered quite by accident in 1965. 

At that time, he was prospecting for gold in the lowland Ecuadorian jungles bordering the Amazon. In addition 

to his mining pursuits, Moricz was an amateur archaeologist with an abiding interest in the Indian cultures and 

history of the Amazon. He claimed to have discovered a network of underground tunnels stretching for 

hundreds of miles deep below Ecuador and Peru as far as Bolivia, with some reaching into the Peruvian 

Andes. He believed his discovery belonged to an ancient and lost civilization unknown to history and science. 

At least part of the underground caverns, he speculated, may have been a dried-up, subterranean riverbed. 

Moricz petitioned the government of Ecuador for legal custody of any artifacts he discovered, including stone 

objects, metal plates and large plaques engraved with signs and curious writings, together with numerous 

other objects of apparent antiquity. He also requested the appointment of a scientific commission to 

accompany him to the site for verification of the sites’ archaeological authenticity. His requests went 

unanswered. The following October, he telexed the Buenas Aires government for assistance from federal 

emissaries, and suggested that his own country might receive the archaeological treasures he found, and 

declared his willingness to share any discoveries with the Argentine authorities. He never received a reply. 



Two years before, Julio Goyen Aguado related the efforts of his fellow countryman to Rex N. Terry, Mission 

President of the Latter Day Saints’ Church. 

As the discoverer’s confidant, Aguado learned of his frustrations first hand. Intrigued by the tale, Terry invited 

Moricz to attend a meeting in Curraso, Uruguay, where mission presidents from other South American 

countries were gathering with Elder Spencer W. Kimball. Moricz accepted the invitation and lectured about his 

curious finds. He recalled later, "Kimball took a great interest in me and offered me every type of help and 

backing, in order to find out about the subterranean cave and its antiquities. After talking a little while about 

religion and philosophy, he introduced me to Elder Avril James Jesperson, who at that time was the Mission 

President of Ecuador. I liked Kimball very much and instinctively knew he was an honest man. A Mormon 

(sponsored) expedition was agreed upon and planned." 

After the meeting, Moricz returned to Ecuador and in February of the following year received a cable from Mr. 

Aguado stating that he was coming to Ecuador to arrange for the enterprise under the direction of President 

Jesperson. When Aguado arrived, he and Jesperson told Moricz that everything was ready for an exploration 

of the site. Moricz recalls "that the idea was not to go on a second or third test, but I was told that I either have 

it, or I do not have it. I accepted this challenge because I believed them to be wholesome people, and I had 

the best impression of the great apostle, Kimball. So I said, ‘why not, let’s make the attempt.’ We went to 

Quito (the Ecuadorian capital) and arranged financing of the expedition through Mr. Robert Wells, who at the 

time was general manager of the First National Bank. I told them to meet me in Mendez, where we would 

begin the exploration." 

Such a trip would require a minimum of seven days in the jungle, and Wells had not made arrangements for 

being away from his banking duties for so long, so he and his son, Robert, dropped out of the project. 

Meanwhile, Jesperson sensed that Moricz was unfamiliar with the village of Mendez and doubted the man’s 

real familiarity with the area in question. Moricz had certainly impressed his benefactors with the need to keep 

their enterprise low-key, as part of his concern to preserve all knowledge about the whereabouts of the 

caverns to himself. Strangely perhaps, he also exhibited real apprehension of the Jivaro Indians, who 

inhabited the vicinity. 

Because they did not entirely trust their jittery guide, Jesperson and Wells had previously worked out a secret 

code that would keep the expedition in touch with the outside world as at least some safety measure, while its 

members traveled through hostile, little known territory. Whenever possible, Jesperson secretly wired Wells 

with reports on their progress and position. The code seemed a prudent necessity, given the uncertain 

circumstances. Unfortunately, they did not know that the already suspicious Moricz had overheard a 

discussion of the code, and regarded their machination behind his back as treacherous. He would later use 



their secret arrangement as an excuse for the non-performance of his promise. 

In his own words, "They went by plane and I followed in a car. We met at the appointed place and by this time 

had spent a minimum amount of $500 or $600. They then bought three or four machetes. How much it costs 

to rent a plane, I do not know. But in Mendez, I had a very unpleasant surprise. I had not at that time 

disclosed the location of my subterranean discoveries. I was very careful to whom I revealed any information 

about the chambers. I was concerned that unscrupulous people would steal the valuables, so I did not take 

them to the right place, rather I took them on a nice trip through the jungle. I gave them a ride. Mr. Jesperson 

began to look very good, as he had lost about seven kilos of weight. We had a nice trip, we saw some caves, 

also some rapids in the rivers. It was all very pretty, but not what they wanted. I took them in circles. I finally 

told them to take their machetes and leave. He said it was very easy to spend somebody else’s money, and 

he became very upset. This happened in front of the military camp and surprised everyone very much. I felt 

very bad, and it was such a little thing to get upset over. 

"Jesperson then got involved in buying souvenirs. His enthusiasm in bargaining suggested to me he was in 

the wrong business for exploration. The group broke up and I returned to my prospecting a great deal wiser, 

determined never again to trust anyone with the location of my discovery." 

The up-shot of his inquiry brought Chessman to Ecuador to photograph all the Moricz finds deposited in the 

safekeeping of a Catholic priest, Father Crespi. As a result of the photographs and report made by 

Cheeseman, Peterson expressed renewed interest in the Moricz items on behalf of not only himself but the 

Mormon Church, as well. Petersen had already been influenced by arguments for "ancient astronauts" made 

by Erich von Daniken. Peterson said that the claims made by the famous author of Gold of the Gods should 

be investigated, because of alleged finds made in Ecuador. But Peterson shared nothing with me about the 

earlier expedition commissioned by Kimball. 

In 1975, Dr. Cheeseman, two friends from the Salt Lake Valley and I flew to Ecuador for the sole purpose of 

interviewing Juan Moricz in person. Our appointment was arranged by Dr. Cheeseman with a Dr. Pena, 

Moricz’s attorney. We arrived at his office in Guayaquil at the appointed hour on August 18, but were 

profoundly disappointed to learn that Moricz could not be reached, because he was deep in the jungle 

attending to his mining enterprise. Our long-distance trip had been in vain. Two years were to pass before we 

attempted another meeting. 

On Christmas Eve, 1977, I received a telephone call from Dr. Cheeseman. He said he was finally able to 

arrange another possible interview with Moricz on the 29th and invited me to attend. He called again the day 

after Christmas to tell me he could not make the meeting after all, due to unavoidable circumstances, and 



wondered if I would be willing to go without him. Of course, I accepted, but brought along an old friend, Ben F. 

Holbrook. We were joined by both our twelve-year old sons, and it was for their sake as much as our own 

enjoyment that we decided to combine the meeting with a holiday among the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu. 

Holbrook, a member of the Kaysville East Stake Presidency, turned out to be a more helpful traveling 

companion than I realized at the time. 

We entered Dr. Pena’s Guayaquil office on the Thursday afternoon set aside for our appointment. Beside the 

attorney stood a tall, well-dressed gentleman with graying hair and a gentle disposition. The meeting was 

joined by Jay Looke, from Kaysville, Utah, and an Elder Rigby, both Ecuadorian missionaries for the LDS 

Church who served as interpreters. I began by saying that news of the Ecuadorian discovery of a 

subterranean chamber containing archaeological valuables had aroused the interest of Dr. Cheeseman, a 

member of the faculty at Brigham Young University. He had presented a report and shown his photographs of 

some of the alleged items, I added, at a recent symposium in the United States attended by Professor Barry 

Fell of Harvard University. 

Dr. Fell’s book, America B.C., then newly published, featured written scripts similar to those described by 

Cheeseman. The significance of this find, if it proved to be real, might radically alter all current ideas about 

American prehistory, because many of the artifacts appeared to be Near Eastern in origin. I finally spoke to 

Moricz directly: Would he take us to the chambers? I assured him that we intended to only photograph and 

document the alleged inscribed metal plates at no personal profit to ourselves. We had come to Guayaquil 

only to arrange for a private expedition to the chamber site, an expedition composed of scientists from 

Brigham Young University and led by Mr. Moricz. 

The attentive prospector smiled pleasantly throughout my presentation, then answered in fluent English. "I 

have understood everything perfectly, he said. "Ten years ago, I traveled to Curraso, Uruguay to meet with 

the great Apostle Kimball..," and then he related the story of the original, unsuccessful expedition with 

President Jesperson and the bank president. I was totally taken by surprise. I knew nothing about this earlier 

attempt to find the underground location. It then occurred to me that a letter had in fact been stashed in a far 

corner of Dr. Cheeseman’s file drawer. The correspondence, I recollected was from some mission president 

in Ecuador telling of an unhappy excursion in the jungles. 

Now things were all too clear. We were plying former trails and had opened an old, unsuspected sore. 

Suddenly, my assignment took on a new dimension. Moricz was kind and considerate as he explained " that 

events of the previous years" would not allow him to honor my request. "There are many things I haven’t told 

you and I can’t. If I can’t help you, I’m sorry." I apologized for any misunderstanding regarding the Jesperson 

group, and reaffirmed that the LDS people were still sincerely interested in his discovery. 



Following our discussion, Fred and Mr. Moricz engaged in a conversation only those familiar with mining 

could understand. I was clearly out of my league in such technical talk and unable to contribute anything. 

Nevertheless, it was apparent that both men were avidly interested in gold mining. I hoped my friend might be 

able to open a few doors that had been shut by earlier experiences. And indeed he did. After our return to the 

United States, Fred arranged for several American corporations with mining interests to examine the Moricz 

claims. An exchange of business letters between the two men followed, and both Dr. Cheeseman and I were 

provided copies of the correspondence. It showed that Moricz was about to receive assistance from the 

contacts made for him by President Holbrook. 

During my visit with Pena and Moricz in December 1977, I was allowed to read through a thick file folder 

which the attorney presented to me. The file was filled with dispatches between Pena and an official 

representative of the government in Great Britain. The letters revealed that the Scottish Academy of Science 

proposed sending and financing an expedition into the jungle caves, if Moricz would lead the way. The 

purpose was to map and document the underground passages and verify them for the world. Eventually, 

mutually acceptable terms were formalized. Moricz was supposed to be the leader of the venture and the 

English agreed to accept his judgment on all significant decisions. The site could be photographed but not 

disturbed. 



Juan Morizc in his library (photo by Stan Grist). 

Neil Armstrong, the celebrated American astronaut, was to accompany the group. His presence was intended 

to lend the discovery credibility and significance. The inclusion of such a person was one of the terms Moricz 

had insisted upon from the very beginning. His demands were precise and direct in this, as in everything he 

specified. The British proposed a major expedition with all expenses to be paid for by their government. I was 

shocked and impressed by the scope and detail of the entire agreement. It appeared that at last Moricz had 

found an organization in which he could trust, with all terms clearly spelled out in a contractual agreement. 

However, the last letter from England made a major change in the formal contract that had been drawn up by 

Pena. 



The British now insisted on a co-expedition leader. This new requirement was unacceptable to Moricz and 

rejected by his attorney. A reply from the British astounded their Ecuadorian partners. They affirmed that they 

would come anyway, in spite of objections, stated they knew the location of the underground chamber, and 

had no further use of Moricz or Pena. Newspaper articles in the file confirmed that the British expedition did 

indeed take place. Its official name was "The Lost Tayos Expedition". 

Neil Armstrong was a member of the group, as originally planned. He and dozens of scientists came in Royal 

Air Force cargo planes and unloaded a great deal of technical instruments, and spent several weeks in the 

Ecuadorian jungles, surveying and mapping miles of subterranean tunnels. Moricz smiled as I read the 

information from the thick file. He remarked, "I knew they would never find the bulk of the chambers. They 

explored a relatively unimportant area and were not successful without me. They discovered only a few minor 

cult objects, because most of the antiquities and gold had been looted from this particular area by Indians 

long ago. My discovery is safe until I choose to reveal it. I am very unhappy that this expedition disturbed an 

altar at the entry to the cave they surveyed. They were very careless." 

After reading the entire file, I thought, "Mr. Moricz has found an ancient chamber filled with pre-Columbian 

treasures, but it will remain hidden until he is ready to reveal it. He will see to it that he alone will direct and 

lead any expeditions and decide what will be photographed, touched, or examined." 

Von Daniken, whose "ancient astronaut" theories were then a source of merriment among professional 

scientists, was outraged after learning of the British attempt, and jibed at the famous modern astronaut, "Did 

Armstrong know he was being duped? He obviously did not!" 

Then a professor at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, in 1977, Armstrong responded with a public letter: 

"The Lost Tayos Expedition,’ a joint project of the British and Ecuadorian expedition, was formed to conduct a 

scientific study of the ‘caves of Los Tayos.’ It is my understanding that the British Army was involved in some 

400 such expeditions in 1976. Because of my Scottish ancestry, and the fact that the U.K. side of this project 

was largely Scottish, I was invited to act as honorary chairman of the expedition. I accepted. I visited the 

exploration site in early August this past summer. I had not read your books and did not know any connection 

that you might have had with the caves. 

"I made no statements regarding any hypotheses that you may have put forth. I understand that there have 

been magazine articles in Germany and Argentina which reported on the expedition and related it to your 

theories. Pictures were included which showed me at the site. I was not interviewed by representatives of 

either publication. I was asked in Ecuador whether I had observed any evidence of highly developed societies 



having been in the area, and I answered that I had not. 

"I accept no responsibility for anything you may have read in the European press. 

"I appreciate your kind invitation to join you in your forthcoming expedition, but I am unable to accept." 

Neil A. Armstrong. 

Months after I read about the major British attempt to find Moricz’s underground chambers, I learned that he 

met in Salt Lake City with Dr. Cheeseman and Holbrook. They accompanied him and Pena to a meeting in 

the office of LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball. All members of the First Presidency were present, 

including Elder Mark E. Peterson of the Council of the Twelve, and Brother Haycock, secretary to the 

President. 

Referring to his subterranean discovery, Moricz said, "I have decided to dedicate my efforts and my life in the 

coming years to make possible a congress, and I am working this year and I will work next year in order to 

prepare the economic and financial backing for this congress. I am thinking, I am planning to present in that 

congress the real history of mankind. This is my idea. Obviously, with all the physical proofs, it is like turning 

on the light in a dark room." 

The LDS leaders were particularly interested in the alleged metal plate "library with hieroglyphic writing," 

Moricz mentioned. President Kimball wondered, "Would you be willing to describe some of these objects, 

particularly the metal plates that you’re talking about?" 

"There is such a great amount of large-scale plates," Moricz explained, "that I have to call those plates a 

‘library,’ because they are packed together like a book." 

Turning to a facsimile of the gold tablets from which the Book of Mormon was translated, a replica sitting on 

the conference table, Kimball asked, "Are they like this?" 

The prospector responded at once, "Yes, and like the ones that have been published in von Daniken. I call 

them a ‘library,’ because it has a fabulous amount of knowledge, and because in the writings, as you have 

seen, you have to consider even the ancient shorthand written on some of the plates. There are some that 

look like modern Morse code. There are even a great amount of relics and statues that have the same kind of 

writing as the Sumerians and the Egyptians." "Has anyone beside Mr. Moricz seen these plates?," Kimball 

inquired of the group surrounding the table. 



"Yes," Moricz volunteered, "but they are not people who belong to our civilized world," referring to the 

primitive Indian tribes of the Amazon, who supposedly knew the exact whereabouts of the caves. 

Dr. Cheeseman then interjected, "His claim has been reported by a man named von Daniken in a recent 

book, and you mentioned this to Brother Peterson, and we discussed it many years back. We have been 

corresponding with Mr. von Daniken, trying to get further information, and I have written and requested 

photographs of the plates to determine if we could start to interpret them, or study their relationship with 

ancient languages. But he doesn’t want to send photographs and allow us to study them. I don’t know his 

present position on this subject and of course that is what we’re meeting here for." 

"During ancient times," Moricz authoritatively chimed in, "many things were written in golden books, made 

from plates of gold. They always tried to record their knowledge of their culture for future generations. You 

can find examples of that all over in the pyramids in Mexico. Even today modern man is trying to do the same. 

Our libraries are trying to conserve knowledge. The difference is that in ancient times the most important 

things were preserved on the most important and precious metal." 

"That is exactly what we believe," Peterson said. "The record of this continent was put on some metal plates 

(The Book of Mormon) but we think that there may be other records on metal plates, and you are telling us 

that you know where other metal records are. That, of course is of great interest to us, and we would like to 

know at this point in time what we can do to help. What would you like us to do?" Then, pointing again to the 

replica of the Angel Moroni gold plates in the center of the conference table, he asked Moricz, "Is this the way 

the records you have are, Senor Moricz? 

"Yes," he replied, "they are the same thing, more or less. Some are larger and some are smaller." 

Dr. Pena added, "There are so many packages of metal plates that he has examined only a few. 

The room with the library is enormous, gigantic. He has been in rooms where this church office building would 

easily fit. There are many other entrances he has not yet explored." 

"Are the caverns all pre-Columbian?," Dr. Cheeseman asked. 

"Yes, everything is pre-Columbian, everything. I’ve seen ancient Roman cars." 

"Do you mean ‘carts’ or ‘chariots’?" said Peterson. 



"Yes, there are chariots there." 

"I think the President would like to know what we can do to help you," Peterson offered. "Do you want us to 

help try to translate some of this material or what would you like us to do?" 

Dr. Pena explained, "When the British organized their official expedition to the caves three years ago I asked 

of them only four conditions. First, the absolute leadership of Moricz, with his absolute authority, once inside 

the caverns, second, a definition of the relationship of ownership and guardianship from the various countries. 

Third, to join together important personalities from all over the world, in order to preserve the integrity of the 

finding. Fourth, immobility of the objects in order to make this place a sanctuary of ancient mankind. Neither 

the British party nor anyone up to this day has accepted these conditions. The British expeditions, with 

scientists from all over the world, went down into one of the caves." 

Moricz said, "Two of the scientists, if you want to call them that, witnessed the destruction of a very interesting 

altar that had been built inside that cave more than five or six thousand years ago. It was an interesting place 

because it has been built under an opening in the cave from where the sun in its orbit hits exactly on the altar 

at certain times. This was destroyed. That expedition cost the British government more than three and 

one-half million dollars. 

Neil Armstrong, the astronaut, was inside the cave for more than three days. They were looking for the library 

but they will never find it without me. This expedition with more than 60 scientists, army officers, proper 

equipment, and the first thing they do is destroy an ancient altar. Who is guilty for that? Myself, because I 

gave them the information about how to find the entrance. There was no gold down there, only stones and 

pottery. Can you imagine such an army with gold fever!" 

Peterson then interjected, "We are not interested in anything about the gold, only the records and their 

translation. We should be able to study and perform our work from photographs. We are not interested in 

disturbing the artifacts, taking them out. We would like to photograph and examine them. That is all!" 

With everyone in apparent accord, Moricz promised to let them know when he would be ready to take them to 

the site, and agreed to include at least five LDS scholars in some future expedition, but no specific date was 

mentioned. 

Although I missed the important meeting just described, Dr. Cheeseman was kind enough to send me a 

transcript of what was said. It was clear that the Church authorities were still very interested in the claims of 

Moricz. It also appeared that he was interested in sharing the discovery with a research team selected by the 



Church. Elder Peterson was designated by the Church President to select candidates for an expedition to 

Ecuador, but he died before plans could be finalized. So too, many of the other major players in this strange 

drama have since passed away. President Spencer W. Kimball, President Romney, Elder Peterson, Dr. 

Cheeseman, and Moricz are no longer with us. 

Holbrook set up camp only seventy five miles from the Moricz enterprise. He was mining gold on claims of his 

own. Perhaps because of their close proximity, the relationship between the two deteriorated. By this time, 

Holbrook firmly believed in the existence of a subterranean civilization, although today he seriously questions 

the elusive prospector’s motives. Had he really seen what he claimed, or was he merely repeating stories told 

him by his Indian friends in the Amazon? Why didn’t Moricz keep his bargain and show us the chambers? 

Would he have just taken us on another wild goose chase? Did he perhaps, like von Daniken, merely repeat 

the stories told him by jungle natives? Will the stories of treasures in the Amazon jungle just drift into 

obscurity, leaving the mystery of the subterranean world to the hostile tribes of the jungle? Perhaps the 

answers to these questions may be found in a completely different source. 

The Incredible Crespi Collection 

High in the Andes mountains of Ecuador lies beautiful Cuenca, a peaceful city with red Spanish tile roofs and 

worn cobble stone streets. Townspeople go about their daily business happily trading with each other and the 

native Indians who populate the hills and valleys surrounding the village. The Indians speak the tongue of 

their "Quechua" ancestors, who watched the sun rise over the Amazon hundreds of years before. With 

weathered and rosy cheeks they radiate simplicity of harmony with the rugged mountains where they have 

worked time out of mind. The men of the tribe wear a single long braid of hair down their back underneath a 

Panamanian hat. Men, women and children are dressed in the same black and brown earth-tone cloth, edged 

with bright colored trim. Each shuffle along the paths long known by their forefathers, carrying them back and 

forth from village to village. Not many tourists travel this way and the service is unrushed but thorough. 

A few blocks from the center of the village stands a Catholic "College of Salesino." Young men and women 

from prosperous families attend this secondary school, its classrooms facing a clay and terrazzo tiled 

courtyard. Entering through a side door, we found ourselves in a small open-air enclosure facing stately, 

hand-carved wooden gates. A friendly young man bid us enter through old wooden doors and ushered us into 

a private chamber. A few moments later, a bearded, monkish-looking man with twinkling eyes and a benign 

smile arrived and embraced Dr. Cheeseman. Although an octogenarian, he appeared in lively good health, 

despite his quaking robes which betrayed a shaky hand. We had heard that he was senile, but his personal 



behavior only radiated complete mental competence. So this was Father Carlos Crespi. Ecuador’s unlikely 

focus of a unique archaeological controversy that continues to baffle everyone who has heard about it. 

He led us into an inner court of the schoolyard, where old Spanish wooden doors faced inward, and the 

oft-scrubbed floors gleamed with sunlight bouncing off the polished terrazzo. We were unprepared for what 

was to come. Father Crespi took a large key from a ring that hung from a braided belt around his robe, then 

moved to an obscure wooden door and turned the lock. Together with a single helper, he disappeared into the 

dark room. Both soon reappeared with a large piece of metal that had been molded and hammered into a 

long sheet, it looked like it might be made of gold. The sheet was inscribed with a curious artwork beyond 

identification. 

An inscribed gold sheet from Father Crespi's collection. 



Next, they dragged something from the darkness too large to be carried, and only with strenuous exertions 

were they able to lean it against the stucco wall. It stands twenty-two inches high and about seven inches 

wide its weight must have been prodigious. I reached my hand to touch the object and noticed it featured a 

dark covering, as if it had been painted. At first, I supposed it must have been made of lead, because it was 

soft and almost pliable. Then the nails of my fingers bit into the body of the figure through the paint and the 

gleam from the telltale scratch left no doubt that it was made of pure gold. 

Our cameras began to click, and in the excitement Father Crespi talked excitedly, hardly stopping to breathe. 

He was our enthusiastic instructor, showing us each new piece as though it had just been brought to the light 

of day for the first time. 

Inscribed gold sheet and crown from the Crespi collection. 

What other wonders did his black vault contain, we wondered? The old man’s nimble fingers joined the ends 

of two barren electric wires and the chamber was instantly revealed in the radiance of an incandescent globe. 

The gleam of gold, silver, and bronze everywhere added to the brightness of its interior. Shelves of dusty, 

worn ceramics, starry-eyed idols posturing in hideous stances or strange proportions. Stacked from floor to 

ceiling were hundreds of large cardboard pieces on which were wired metal bracelets, earrings, nose rings, 

and necklaces, some untarnished by time. Hide scrapers, tools, implements of war, spears, axes, clubs, of 

wood, metal and stone were stacked everywhere. Father Crespi’s mysterious room seemed overburdened 

with the treasures of an unknown antiquity. It literally overflowed with bizarre artifacts, many wrought in 



precious metals. Most intriguing were the innumerable plates of bronze, brass and gold. Many bore strange 

inscriptions and hieroglyphic symbols. Others were replete with the engravings of incongruous animals - 

elephants, snakes, jaguars, wild beasts of every kind. The images of horse-drawn chariots were clearly 

etched into metal, calling to mind Juan Moricz’s description of "a Roman chariot" in his underground chamber. 

Gold tablets with symbols. 

We photographed a plate inscribed with representations of what appeared to be Egypt’s step-pyramid. Still 

more plates contained artwork with what looked like Assyrian or Babylonian symbols. We grew dizzy with the 

gleaming opulence and historical anomaly all around us. Newell Parkin, a banker from Bountiful, Utah, Dr. 

Paul Cheeseman, Wayne Hamby, an undergraduate student from Brigham Young University, D. Craig 

Anderson, a Utah State University Research Associate, who acted as our interpreter, and I spent the 

afternoon amid these otherworldly splendors. In all my travels throughout the world, my visit to the Crespi 

Collection was to be their crowning experience. All the while, my mind kept flashing back to the story of Juan 

Moricz and his unseen Ecuadorian discovery. These astounding artifacts perfectly matched his description of 

the items he claimed were in his subterranean chamber. For years, we only had his word to go on. But now, I 

could see and touch the same kind of objects, apparently, he only told us about. 



Inscribed gold sheet from the collection. 

Assyrian or Babylonian figures from the collection. 



We asked Father Crespi how he came by such marvelous things. He said he headed the local parish for over 

fifty years after studying at Italy’s University in Milan, where the subject of archaeology had caught his 

interest. Following graduation, he became a priest and was assigned to Ecuador’s beautiful city of Cuenca to 

work among the Indians. In time, he came to love them. Moreover, in South America he had opportunity to 

further his archaeological interests. To his great surprise and delight, the religious celebrations over which he 

presided brought a host of Indians bearing gifts to the kindly man who performed baptisms and marriages and 

was their friend in trouble. Aware of Father Crespi’s enthusiasm for archaeology, the grateful Indians brought 

him ancient objects long hidden in the jungle. Soon, his collection steadily increased until, after fifty years, it 

filled many rooms. 

Father Crespi holding a gold moon artifact. 

A museum was constructed to house these remarkable gifts, but a few years before our visit it was seriously 

damaged by an arsonist’s fire. Father Crespi managed to salvage three full rooms of the relics, one of 

relatively obscure and unimportant tributes, another filled with Items of curious antiquity, but the last was a 



treasury of gold artifacts. Residing high among the Andes Mountains in an obscure village, the old man had 

no interest in fame or fortune. Few travelers knew of his collection and even fewer scientists. He was a private 

person with a big heart and a deep interest in the past. 

Inscribed gold sheet column from the collection. 

Where and how do the Indians find these incredible things?," we wondered. 

"Oh, they just get them from the caves and subterranean chambers in the jungles," he answered in an 

offhand manner. "There are over 200 kilometers of tunnels starting here In Cuenca. They run from the 

mountains down to the eastern lowlands near the Amazon." My thoughts again turned to Juan Moricz and his 

claims of a subterranean world. 



Wayne Hamby, an assistant to Cheeseman, spent a few more days with Father Crespi to catalogue and 

photograph the entire collection. His results went into the files of Dr. Cheeseman, who died after his 

retirement from the faculty of Brigham Young University. 

Two years following our visit to the kindly priest, I returned to Cuenca with Ben Holbrook, our two young sons, 

and a pair of Ecuadorian LDS missionaries acting as interpreters. We were greeted by a young priest, who 

informed us that Carlos Crespi had passed away, and his collection was no longer available for public view. In 

spite of my efforts to convince him that we had traveled a long distance to view the relics, he stubbornly 

refused to allow us to see the treasures. He insisted that the room with the artifacts could not be shown on 

orders from the Vatican. To my knowledge, no one from the outside world has seen the treasure since the 

death of the old Padre. 

A few blocks from the College of Salesino, where the Crespi Collection was kept, is a government museum, 

and it was there that we hoped to determine if any objects similar to those amassed by the priest might be still 

be displayed. The curator greeted us at the entrance. I asked him if he had any information about the Crespi 

Collection. He replied that he had seen the Father’s artifacts and was aware of their genuineness. Since 

Crespi’s death, he explained, he believed that many of the items left Ecuador and were shipped to Rome. The 

Ecuadorian government had in fact intercepted a number of boxes addressed to the Vatican, he said, and 

confiscated the artifacts as national treasures. I was unable to either confirm or deny the curator’s suspicions. 

Brought out from the jungle obscurity of untold centuries by grateful natives for their beloved priest, ancient 

treasures worth far more than the gold of which they were made may today lie secreted in stony darkness 

beneath the Vatican. 

The End 

Stan Grist’s comments and opinions on this article… 

I have serious doubts about Juan Moricz’s truthfulness when it comes to the metallic library. I have found no 

witnesses or other solid evidence that Juan Moricz told the truth or found anything of historic value in the 

Cueva de los Tayos. Anything is possible but I refuse to base any belief on "faith" alone. 

When it comes to the story and Father Crespi, I tend to side with Pino Turolla’s conclusions. I think that 

Father Crespi was probably quite senile and ignorant about his historical conclusions. I also believe that the 

vast majority of his "metallic" artifacts are frauds. Most of his ceramic artifacts are authentic; I have seen and 

examined them myself. 



4. The American Origin of European Settlements By Juan Moricz 

Introduction 

Today, in spite of scientific and cultural advances, nations still settle their disputes with weapons, and at this 

juncture we seem to be alone. There seems to be nobody on the earth that dares to lift their voice against 

these violations of the weakest. The strongest weapons dictate the ultimate truth. 

However, amidst so many world problems, suffering and trouble, a ray of light has appeared, sublime hope for 

us who possess noble wishes and desires. 

Investigators and scientists travel to the most remote places on earth searching for man's origin... 



Interestingly, in these troubled times when our homeland faces a permanent threat of war, a single voice rises 

to declare that Ecuador is the origin of the ancient Kingdom of the Kitus: the two parents. It was, for 

thousands of years, the cultural center of the earth and from this center, culture spread throughout the 

settlements of the Americas and the entire World. 

It gives us pleasure to present to fellow Ecuadorians the famous Argentinean investigator Juan Móricz, and 

as a result of his investigations, he has made one of the largest contributions ever concerning man's 

prehistory. Sr. Moricz' investigations have been conducted in different countries of the Americas and the 

world, and finally they have culminated successfully in 1965, here in Ecuador. 

The Argentinean investigator Juan Moricz' extraordinary discoveries have worldwide repercussions. These 

discoveries are currently changing our understanding in scientific centers all over the world for they are 

fundamentally revolutionizing our concepts of prehistory. 

For this reason, it has become necessary to review and revise all our knowledge of history, philosophy, 

religion, etc. 

Writing this introduction to the presentation of the study of "The American Origin of European Settlements", by 

the famous Argentinean investigator Juan Móricz, makes us proud. We know that with his work, Ecuador 

gains a weapon much more powerful that any atomic or hydrogen bomb or any other type of weapon, and 

much nobler. All this due to Sr. Moricz' discoveries which elevate our country to a high level among the 

nations of the Americas and all of the world. 

Guayaquil, April 15 1968 

The Association of Historical Studies 

The American Origin of European Settlements 

By Juan Moricz 



The exclusion of the American continent from our current view of ancient migrations and settlements, is the 

keystone to the distortion of our current understanding of prehistory. 

The complex problems of our understanding of the origin of prehistoric settlements and cultural migrations 

cannot be resolved when excluding the American continent from the picture. From our global perspective we 

can see that prehistoric settlements migrated, settled, diffused, colonized and eventually filled the globe as we 

find it today. 

Today our current studies and understanding of prehistory suffer from chronic failure of the "global vision" of 

original settlements, how they migrated and formed around the entire planet. 

The predominant confusion is even increased in the niche scientific disciplines where, in each, discoveries 

are made and announced regularly. Today, the successful archaeologist will have discovered one or more 

cultures. And in this successful career, the archaeologist seeks pots, vessels and cooking implements; he 

studies hardness, color, engraving, printing, etc. They seek to place their discovery in context. They attempt 

to understand the discovery in relationship to other cultures already classified. 

Accordingly, we have ended up this way documenting hundreds of cultures in relatively small areas. However, 

no proper global investigation has really ever taken place. Nobody has yet ever taken all of the small pieces 

of the puzzle and put them together into a great whole. 

Linguistic investigations are not much better. We have classified on only a part of the American continent, 396 

different languages, arbitrarily divided in groups and subgroups, creating a type of linguistic map. There are 

still many remote, little-studied regions in the world today such as the Amazon jungle where such a profusion 

of different languages are spoken in such a small area that it seems like there is a different language spoken 

behind every tree. 

About the supposed arrival of mankind to the American continent, such a surprising uniformity exists that 

accepts the "theories" of migrations through the Bering Strait. 

Cultural Unit 

The American continent exhibits a wonderful Cultural Unit that extends to Polynesian, Melanesia, and 



Micronesia. Further on and below the equator. This Unit continues on to India and Lower Mesopotamia, as 

well as to Central Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. 

In this line that follows the "path of the Sun", mankind recorded his history, and in the North, as in the South, 

the large cultural centers of antiquity began to diminish in size. 

This same "path of the Sun" was used by the ancient inhabitants of America to migrate throughout the world 

by ocean. Following the equinox line they created ancient settlements with a view of the necessary 

constellations from this latitude. By day they navigated following the "path of the Sun." 

The extraordinary knowledge they possessed of the four basic elements: earth, water, air and fire, is reflected 

in that only in the American continent are the respective temples erected, confirming the Cultural Unit of the 

prehistoric settlements of the continent. Two of the temples are in the Southern hemisphere and two in the 

Northern hemisphere. 

Having knowledge of marine currents and trade winds along with having the best materials for sailing such as 

balsa craft, they made regular transoceanic trips a common feat in spite of the time that was required. 

The ancient American settlements have a rich marine history that has been recorded in their oral traditions. 

Recently, long journeys by balsa raft have been conducted on the coasts of the Pacific, from Tumbez, 

Guayaquil to Panama and Mexico and they were able to carry loads of a hundred tons and more. 

Great capacity for long transoceanic trips has now been demonstrated in modern times. 

These same ancient settlements have never given us reason to think that, in order to arrive in the Americas, it 

was necessary to cross the ice or land connection of the Bering Strait. If they had crossed the Strait, there 

would be far more evidence of it in their traditions and legends. Their ancient transoceanic voyages are quite 

worthy of our admiration. Even today, these trips are not easy for well-equipped expeditions. 

Cultural Diffusion from America 

In the cultural complex of our planet, it is most important to understand and restore the American continent to 

the ancient role it played in the migrations of settlements which has brought the world to where it is today. 



The high crests of the Andes Mountains reveal the remains of an extraordinary culture that, because of their 

location and their cultivated fields situated in practically inaccessible areas today, there is much evidence that 

a remarkable civilization survived the unfortunate days of the universal flood, in the cities and strongholds that 

crown the high summits of the Andes Mountains. 

In many other places on the earth, clusters of humans also survived the great flood. But the vast majority of 

survivors had their asylum on the American continent. Many of these survivors later migrated to other parts of 

the world. 

7.000 - 8.000 years B.C., an Andean settlement arrived by balsa raft in Lower Mesopotamia, populating 

various sites in the area. Soon these settlement spread over a larger area and were absorbed by other 

settlements. The Andean migrants shared their advanced knowledge with all the others in this region. This 

general region then became known as Sumir, Shumir and/or Sumer. The local people were instructed in an 

ideographic and cuneiform type of writing and also were taught about human history. Their origins are 

currently unknown and therefore, are attributed to the great Eastern deserts where medieval documents 

suggest. 

The settlement of Sumer had its origin in South America. The American migrants arrived in Lower 

Mesopotamia by way of oceanic navigation. In the Ecuadorian Provinces of Azuay, Canar and Loja, evidence 

of Mesopotamian roots can be found in artifact designs and in place names such as Sumer, Zumer, Shumir, 

Sumir and Zhumir. 

In northern Peru, in the Department of Libertad, a city exists in ruins, covered in desert sand; it is Chan Chan. 

It covers an approximate area of 20 square kilometers. In spite of its antiquity and erosion, as well as damage 

caused by looters, the old city with its water channels and wall decorations remains, giving us an example of 

advanced urban development that many times you won't even find in our own modern cities. Chan Chan and 

the culture that prevailed there, are Sumerian. Their extraordinary ornamental wealth, the ceramics, the 

embossed gold and jewels, the sophisticated burials, the print stamps and paintings, the urban development 

of the city and their concept of life, are all faithfully reflected in Lower Mesopotamia. 

The Two Parents 



In India, Lower Mesopotamia, Asia and Europe, there are many towns and settlements that have their origin 

in South America, from where some people migrated many millennia ago, distancing themselves from their 

linguistic and racial roots. However, in their new surroundings, they preserved their ancestral language and 

American customs. 

Among these settlements we find the Magyar, who currently live in Europe, in the basin of Karpathos. The 

Magyar community descends in its genealogy from the two parents Gog and Magog, and its traditions are 

found in its native solar ancestry at "La Mitad del Mundo" (Center of the Earth). This tradition is found in the 

city of Quito, also known as "Mitad del Mundo". The word "Quito" holds the traditional name of its parents 

which goes back to the ancient "Kingdom of Kitus", which in the Magyar language means - its two parents: 

KIT = two and US = parents. In Magyar, this is actually spelled "Két - ós". 

One of the largest cities in Ecuador, Guayaquil, contains in its name, a beautiful and significant memory. Its 

correct etymology is, according to its ancient name, Uaya: U = "old" or "ancestral", and AYA = mother, in 

ancient Magyar. Therefore, its meaning is actually: "ancestral mother" or "ancient parent". In Magyar this 

would be written as: "o - anya". 

Ancient South American place names and artifact symbols are still found among the Magyars. This is 

especially obvious in regions that have been less affected by modern civilization in places like Bolivia, Chile, 

Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, etc. In fact, this is the case from Ushuaia up to the Bering 

Strait. 

The celebrated captain Quisquis, who valiantly fought against the Spanish conquest, in spite of the phonetic 

distortion, had the clearly Magyar name of: quis = kis = "small" or "boy". In Magyar, this is correctly spelled 

"Kis - Kis". 

The name of the capital of the Incan empire, Cusco or Ccosco, is related to a settlement in Veszprem, 

Hungary. The town's name is: Usko or Osko and means: us = os = the ancient name of "cu" = "Ko" = rock / 

stone - or - "ancestral stone". 

Even in today's Ecuador, there are some indigenous settlements that still speak the old Magyar language. 

Among them are the Colorado Indians of Santo Domingo. This settlement, in spite of being near the highway 

that connects the city of Quito with Guayaquil, has maintained their traditions and their ancient language 

intact. 



Also the Cayapas Indians that live on the riverbanks of the Santiago, Cayapas and Onzole Rivers maintain 

their old Magyar language, as well as groups that live far from civilization in the Amazon jungle regions on the 

east side of the Andes Mountains. 

The understanding of the ancient Magyar language that is still spoken in remote South American groups and 

tribes is much more easily recognized by people who have been exposed to this language in certain more 

remote Hungarian regions that still use the vowel "U" instead of "O" and the "I" instead of "E", etc. 

Ancient place names and South American artifact symbols are found throughout all of India, Lower 

Mesopotamia and especially in Hungary. These place names and symbols were diffused throughout these 

regions due to the ancient transoceanic migrations from South America, exactly as occurred with the Spanish 

Conquest throughout all of Latin America in more recent times. 

There has always been a large Magyar nucleus in India that has maintained permanent contact with the 

American continent as found in ancient writings such as the Rig Veda, the Puruanas, the Bhagavad Gita and 

others. These Magyar clusters were commonly known as white Huns or Kunos, Heftalitas, Sakas, Kmers, etc. 

Once again, in the 8th century, a large part of India became the "White Hun Kingdom". 

For this reason, researchers of the ancient Magyars focused their attention on India where they spent their 

greatest energy. However, the researchers have not paid much attention to the origin of this region and have 

therefore been mystified by the seeming appearance and disappearance of certain settlements in history that 

left little or no evidence of their destiny. This same investigative problem has also plagued researchers of 

Basque history who were led back to India but who were then stumped as to any earlier origins. The Basques 

belong to the same racial and linguistic branch as the White Huns, which has its origins in America. 

In the twilight of the 8th century, a Magyar settlement, the Karas who were Cumans (Scythas), returned to 

India and prepared a fleet in which they planned to return to their solar motherland of the ancient Magyars. 

The mysterious disappearance of the Karas bothered researchers for centuries. They knew that if they could 

discover where the Karas went, they would then understand the origin of the ancient Magyars, for they had 

returned to their ancestral motherland. 

In 1965, pursuing my investigations of prehistory, I arrived in Ecuador where I discovered that one of the big 



problems that has concerned Ecuadorian historians and investigators, was the mysterious arrival by sea of a 

group of Caras (Karas) at the end of the 8th century. They arrived at Bahia de Caraquez in the Province of 

Manabi. One of the greatest Spanish historians and chroniclers, Juan de Velazco, documented the fact that 

with the arrival of the Caras, came the linguistic introduction of the vowel "O" replacing the "U" as is found in 

many regions of Hungary. 

(Juan of Velazco (1727 - 1792): History of the Old Kingdom of Quito - Quito, Ecuador 1946) 

Ancient Indian documents richly narrate, in detail, that the Cunados (Kunos) have their true ancient ancestry 

in America, to which they made regular trips by sea. In Todd's Annals, on p. 250, we read, "Bappa, knowing 

that he left secure bases in his dynasty, returned by sea to where his ancestors had come from, Kaniska and 

Kanaksén, the true homeland of the Scythas Khomanos" (Kunos - Magyares). 

Colombia has a dense indigenous population of Kuns, that is to say the ancient inhabitants of Colombia are 

the Scythas Kunos. 

Ancient Indian documents also speak of the Mayas. They affirm that the Mayas were excellent builders and 

that they arrived by sea and built the ancient cities of Moenjo - Daro and Harappa and that these cities are 

great examples of their skills. 

Investigators of prehistory have not been able to make many connections because they have excluded the 

American continent as part of the big picture in ancient migrations. They have also excluded many ancient 

oral traditions and legends, and classified them as being unscientific. 

"A good example is Schliemann who discovered Troy based on oral traditions gathered by Homer. Many 

thought these were mere fairytales and fantasies. For this reason, prehistory investigators have been 

stagnated by their closed minds. Much information exists about the ancient Magyars and other groups within 

myths and legends. If researchers would pay more attention to these stories, they would be able to make 

greater progress in their investigations." 

(Arnold Ipolyi: Magyar Mythologia - Budapest 1853) 



Many times I have looked into seemingly scientific studies and often found that they don't have the slightest 

relationship to reality and what actually happened. 

One very sad episode eclipses the Spanish conquest of America; The Crown of Spain. The Spanish once 

knew the true historic reality of America and probably due to political reasons, decided to hide an important 

discovery made by Colombus. 

Once Spain had secured its domain in the New World, it proceeded to purposely erase and hide the true 

linguistic and historic facts of ancient migrations from the American continent. 

This political fact confuses our modern understanding of history, distorts reality and keeps historians in the 

dark. 

When modern Spanish researchers finally focus their investigations on the town of Iberia, which gets its name 

from the peninsula, they will find that it is of American origin. 

In spite of tightly kept secrecy today, very important documents exist in America proving the truthfulness of 

these facts. 

Diocesan Synod of Quito 

In the year 1593, the Diocesan Synod of Quito, presided over by Bishop Brother Luis López of Solis, only 

sixty years after the arrival of Benalcázar in Quito, sent a message to the governing diocese, contained in the 

third chapter of the statutes: 

"By way of experience we have found that in our territories there is a diversity of languages that are different 

from those found in Cuzco and Aymara and so that these people don't lack the Christian doctrine, it is 

necessary to translate the Catechism and Confessional ceremonies into their own languages. Therefore, 

conforming to this need, we direct that the Provincial Council supervise the carrying out of this translation 

work. The following should take care to carry out this work: 

"Alonso Núñez of San Pedro and Alonso Ruis for the language of Los Llanos and Atallana: and Gabriel of 

Minaya, for the language of Canar and Puruai: and to Brother Francicso de Jerez, of the Order of Merced, for 



the language of the Pastos: and to Andrés Moreno of Zuñiga and Diego Bermudes, the language 

Quillaisinga." 

(Quito Synod of 1593 - (the original is found in) Ms. Biblioteca Jijon y Caamaño - Quito, Ecuador) 

The respective translations of the Catechism and Confessional ceremonies were then carried out, but in the 

languages into which the translations were made, which were all different dialects of Magyar, the Christian 

faith never spread well in America. Therefore, the Crown of Spain advised Bishop Luis López de Solis to 

order a complete linguistic change in the New World, which was completed according to the Letters of Orders 

and Real Identifications. 

Up until the end of the 17th century, the Puruhá (Magyar) language was alive and well. But as of November of 

1692, by way of the Province of San Francisco's Order, Brother Nicolás de Guevara and Castañeda, in 

obedience to the letter of Orders of the President of The Real Audience, Don Mateo Mata Ponce de León put 

the order of the language change into effect. The order read as follows: 

"That in the country of the Puruaes where neither the general language of the Inca is spoken for the most 

part, and only the maternal language is spoken, you must put much greater effort, including punishment, so 

that the Natives only speak Spanish." 

(Compte. Fray M. Marones Ilustres of the Seraphic Order in Ecuador: Vol. 1. p. 298 - Quito, 1885) 

Chroniclers of the Indies 

Among the chroniclers of the Indies, many tried to relate the events that occurred during the Spanish 

conquest of the American continent, keeping to the truth and facts of which they were eye-witnesses. Among 

these was Father Fray Gregorio García of the "Order of Preachers". Brother Gregorio García investigated the 

origin of the Indians for many years. He wrote an interesting book called "The Origin of the Indians of the 

"New World". After deeply investigating all the theories and possibilities, he declared in his book that the 

Indians are Scythas, Huns, Kunos, Magyars, etc. 

Brother Gregorio García lived for many years among the Cañaris of Ecuador. It would be surprising to think 

that he dedicated himself to the linguistic investigation and study of the origin of the Indians for so many years 



without writing an important work of his studies. 

In the edition of Garcia's book published in Madrid in 1729, the reader is informed that certain "favorable" 

changes have been made to the book because "certain aspects" were rather hard to believe. When studying 

this extraordinary work conscientiously, one gets the impression that the censorship erased some things that 

some people didn't want known. 

In spite of the changes, it is a work worthy of being studied and I will highlight some passages that will help 

you to see that the Huns, Kunos and Magyars are place names of towns in America and this was very well 

known by Brother Gregorio García. 

(Fray Gregorio García: Origin of The Indians of the New World, West Indies - Madrid 1729) 

Fourth Book - Chapter 11. 

Of the Scythas and the other nations descended from them that went on to populate the Western Indies to the 

North and East… 

"The first reason for this conjecture, is the incredible multitude of Huns whose name was spread in the 

conquered nations. They ended up propagating 103 Families from an initial 7 Families and for that reason, in 

Niceforo Calixto they were called: Chagano, King of Seven People and Seven Climates or Regions. They 

spoke Magyar: And Cedreño spoke of them as Moageres to Gorda's brother, King of the Huns of Bosforo, 

who gave rise to the Kingdom. 

The Tartars are said to have the same origin as the Scythas also know as the Seven Lineages, Hordes or 

Families, all supposedly descended from the same root and then spread throughout Europe, which were the 

last of Scythas, according to Krantzio, just as were those that migrated to the East, the Mogores, whose 

names are very similar to the Magiarios or Huns, and whose individual family names are also similar, 

observed Hornio." 

(Page 282) 

Fourth Book - Chapter 12. 



Of the occasions in that the Huns and Scythas could travel East to the Western Indies… 

"It is likely that more recent and numerous migrations were made by the Huns, Avares, Tartars, Mongols, 

Partos and other mixed nations with the Huns, which it seems settled a number of coastal areas in Asia, near 

the Mongol Empire, in the provinces of Cunad and Ung, whose residents are known as Huns, Cunados, or 

Cunadanos, who were residents of Cunad, as they were called in Hungary." 

(Page 291) 

"The province known as Funotian has also been called Hunotian, Unchia sounds like the name of Tuchan, 

neighboring settlement of Quivira: The Huyrones and Soythas, mentioned by Vicente Bellovacente, no doubt 

are the Hurons, Indians of the five Nations of Canada whose main settlement was Carragouba: and the 

settlement of Unotisaston of the Neutral Indians, begins with the name of the Huns (Hunos). 

(Pages 291 - 292) 

(below, find excerpts from:) 

Marcel Brion: Attila's Life: by Luis de Armiñan - Editions Plow - Madrid 1958 - Spain) 

The Huns 

"They were small, unsightly, of wild appearance, their yellow, flat and beardless faces; the strange weapons, 

the incomprehensible language, the Latins found them repelling. Where did they come from? The common 

belief is that they were from the other side of the world." 

(Page 9) 

"They had long arms, enormous torsos, flat faces, with eyes like that threw astute and cruel gleams. Their 

skull, deformed in childhood by an apparatus of irons and belts, leaned forward; they were beardless, 

because of furrows tattooed in their cheeks in order to impede the growth of the hair. Clothing of animal skins 



and leather sandals, these little men looked savage had sowed terror in all the towns of Asia and Europe." 

(Page 10) 

Memory of their feats filled the Chinese chronicles. 

They made brief and terrible appearances in the life of the Chinese dynasty and the historians attributed a 

mysterious origin to these strange beings that came from the Kuei - Fong, country of spirits. Their race was 

divided in numerous independent tribes: the most important, governed by an old imperial family, inhabited the 

plateau of Danubiana." 

(Page 14) 

Our Cultural Inheritance 

The generous American cultural contribution to the world that has benefited the whole earth and resulted in 

numerous settlements contributing to the development of our entire modern civilization, cannot end up without 

its just recognition for much longer. 

Political reasons can no longer be given as an excuse to hide the truth about a great kingdom of the past. 

Today, the reality of what really happened in the past, must prevail and we must come to know about the 

ancient migrations that forged our history and brought us to where we are today. 

Mankind has now elevated his sight toward the stars but should not leave his small planet in the dark, which 

is his home and in which for millennia there have been wars, bloodshed and fire, recorded for all of history by 

humanity. 

This history has to be known by all the settlements of the world, and the Sun that illuminates the way of the 

intrepid American settlements, will shine even more brightly on the day those settlements of the world see in 

the majestic summits of the Andes, their ancestral native home, the culture of which we all are heirs. 

Buenos Aires, July 1967. 



5. My Two Trips to the Tayos Caves, by Gaston Fernández Borrero 

Stan’s Comments… 

First I’ll say that this book was quite poorly written in Spanish with run-on sentences and run-on paragraphs. I 

tried to change as little as possible while still trying to make the text somewhat readable. The read isn’t easy, 

but hopefully it is at least understandable. 

I am still not sure why Juan Moricz even led an expedition into the Cueva de los Tayos. If he really did know 

where the metallic library rested, I don’t believe he ever intended to show this group its location. This is a 

mystery to me and not addressed by the author. 

That said, the book does reveal some unique information about the cave. The comments about the author’s 

relationship with Juan Moricz and the descriptions of Juan’s theories are particularly interesting to me. 

I hope you like it… 



MY TWO TRIPS TO THE "TAYOS CAVES" 

PREFACE 

TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS AGO ON TWO OCCASIONS I WAS LOWERED INTO AND EXPLORED THE 

"CAVE OF THE TAYOS". SINCE THEN I HAVE BEEN PLAGARIZED BY WRITERS LIKE ERICH VON 

DANIKEN, AUTHOR OF "GOLD OF THE GODS". WHO PUBLISHED MY PHOTOGRAPHS WITHOUT MY 

PERMISSION, AS WELL AS THE SPANISH MAGAZINE "MAS ALLA". 

DUE TO THESE UNFORTUNATE CIRCUMSTANCES, I HAVE BEEN FORCED AS AN ECUADORIAN TO 

WRITE THIS BOOK TO HIGHLIGHT MY TWO TRIPS TO THE CAVES TO REVEAL THE TRUTH ABOUT 

THE INTERNATIONAL PLAGERIZER TO MY FELLOW ECUADORIANS. 

I dedicate these notes to my fellow Ecuadorians and especially to our youth who should know a little more 

about our Underground World and the Territorial Truth. 

Gaston Fernández Borrero 

"My Two Trips to The Tayos Caves" by Gaston Fernández Borrero 

Around 1869 to 1875 when Gabriel García Moreno occupied the Presidency of the Republic, there was a 

member of his army that held the position of General with the last name of Proaño, originating from the 

Province of Chimborazo. General Proaño was assigned by President García Moreno to the Ecuadorian 

Oriente or jungle (it was customary in that time). General Proaño possessed a friendly manner and 

personality, and quickly became a friend of the native Shuaras who lived on both sides of the Upano river. 

This is according to a book by Piedad and Alfredo Costales, entitled "General Victor Proaño." 

After some time, General Proano requested a geographical transfer from President García Moreno. The 

President refused and this was the reason for which General Proano eventually abandoned his post in the 

Canton of Macas, taking with him many of his friends, the Shuaras. He made his way along the Upano River, 

many times exposing his life to dangers, and after many days of navigation and walking, ended up climbing 

the mountain range called the Cutucu Mountains. This is a gigantic, forested plateau near Tambachi peak. In 

this area, local residents knew about the existence of a cave called the Cave of the Tayos. General Proano 



entered into the caves without caring much about the danger of doing so. This General knew much about 

engineering and cartography and during his exile, created a map that, according to historical data, is the first 

map ever of the third mountain range of THE CONDOR MOUNTAINS. 

The map clearly showed the location of the CAVE OF THE TAYOS. Knowledge of this map was related to me 

by our dear folkloric dancer friend, Patricia Aulestia, who was also a very good friend of Piedad and Alfredo 

Costales, the previously mentioned authors. Patricia also discussed these matters with Mr. Juan Moricz and 

Captain Petronio Jaramillo, who, up until then, I had not met. 

Mr. Moricz, according to them, was of Hungarian and Argentine nationality, that is to say, born in Hungary, 

nationalized in Argentina and at that time, when he had recently arrived in Ecuador, was dedicated to the sale 

of imported cattle. 

As an important historical part of this story, I feel it important to mention a story told by Captain Petronio 

Jaramillo to Ms. Patricia Aulestia, the archaeologist Costales, Juan Moricz and to my good friend Don Andrés 

Fernández Salvador Zaldumbide. Let us first remember that we Ecuadorians, in past times, had the custom of 

raising our children together with the Jivaro Indian children. When Captain Jaramillo graduated as Second 

lieutenant (customary at that time), the recently graduated military officers had to complete at least one year 

of service in our Eastern jungle. One night having dinner in a Jivaro village very near the fork of the rivers 

Santiago and Cuangus, there was a certain Jivaro native that gazed and stared at Capitan Jaramillo until they 

finally recognized each other and realized that they had been raised as children together in the home of the 

Capitan. Later on, due to this former close relationship, the Jivaro offered to take the Capitan to a secret 

place. The Jivaro had previously promised his father not to ever show it to anyone as it could result in an 

enormous punishment for him and the family. 

Jaramillo promised not to tell anyone about the secret of his childhood friend and they organized a little trip 

along the Santiago River. According to the story, they had to dive down a few meters, swim a short distance 

under the water and come up into a small cave, where there was apparently not anything special. Some 

further meters into the cave, the path widened and they continued walking until entering a very large 

chamber. Here, the Capitan saw very big metallic animals such as giraffes, elephants, etc. But, the most 

important thing were not these figurines of animals, but THE METALLIC LIBRARY, written in Magiar (a form 

of ancient Hungarian), on pages of some unknown metal. 

Moricz indicated (sometime later), in his petition to the Ecuadorian Secretary of Finances, that the pages of 

the books are made of a very fine metal (as you will read in this document, further on in the book). Captain 

Jaramillo pointed out that that they then left that cave and never returned and that he never would again 



return. 

It is quite interesting that in the book, "GOLD OF THE GODS" Erich Von Daniken leads his readers to believe 

that he visited the Tayos cave and he even allowed the publisher to print "FIVE PHOTOGRAPHS" that were 

taken by my brother Hernán Fernández on the first trip that we made to the caves. Take notice that the 

engravings of the big stones had to be traced with white chalk to be able to photograph it and that these are 

the same images tattooed on the Cacique NAJAMBY’s face as you can observe in the photos. The other 

three pictures where my image appears were taken on my second trip to the caves accompanied by two 

members of our army as you can see. 

The other photo that was published in von Daniken’s famous book, which is full of lies and where Juan Moricz 

appears, is taken many kilometers from the true entrance as you can see in the photo that we present in this 

book. 

This gentleman, von Daniken, never entered the Cave of the Tayos and all that he wrote in relation to the 

same is what he gleaned from discussions with Juan Moricz and Doctor Gerardo Pena. How many books did 

he sell in four languages? It is said that he sold eleven million copies. Who gave him my photos? The same 

ones that were taken on my first and second trip. 

Today I have seen the Magazine "MAS ALLA" copy number 46 from December of 1992, entitled "THE 

ARRIVAL OF THE GODS IN AMERICA" Chapter 34, Volume 4 published in Madrid, Spain. In this edition on 

page eight hundred eight, you can see two pictures where I appear. In the first, I appear alone. In the second, 

I am accompanied by General Antonio Morals M. and the pilot of the helicopter of ECUAVIA that flew us to 

the caves. The pilot is of Colombian nationality. 

Von Daniken and those from the Spanish Magazine "MAS ALLA", the former being a liar and the latter being 

confused, ignore that in my two trips to the caves I took more than a hundred photographs, eighty slides and 

a nine millimeter black and white movie of one hour. Maybe the English gentlemen (from the 

British/Ecuadorian expedition) are the only ones that have more footage than I. 

I wonder who authorized the publication of my photos. Truth is a very strange thing. 

Hopefully Mr. von Daniken doesn't continue distributing pictures of places where he has never been and that I 

won’t be forced to take the legal action that I should have taken years ago. 



It is worthwhile to tell you here that when I took my first trip to the caves with Juan Moricz, he had never told 

me about Captain Petronio Jaramillo and before my second trip with my military friends, I coordinated with my 

good friend Don Andrés Fernández Zaldumbide to take an expedition to the caves accompanied by Captain 

Jaramillo whom I located in the city of Esmeraldas. I went to visit him and invite him on a possible expedition 

and very politely he answered that he would not go. 

These are my experiences, some before and some after I knew anything about Juan Moricz, with whom I 

always maintained a cordial friendship. Juan Moricz passed away in 1991 in the city of Guayaquil. 

NARRATIVE OF THE FIRST EXPEDITION (TRIP) TO THE CAVES IN 1969 

The origination of the first expedition or "TRIP" as I have entitled it, is as follows: It was 1969, the President of 

the Republic, Dr. José María Velasco Ibarra and I who write these words was the Manager of The Ecuadorian 

Corporation of Tourism CETURIS, as it was called at that time, and later I occupied the position of American 

Regional President of the U.I.O.O.T. (International Union of Official Tourism Organizations) that 

encompassed everything from Canada to Argentina. Therefore, I occupied those two positions from 1969 to 

1970 and I was reelected unanimously in Dublin, Ireland, again as American Regional President of the 

U.I.O.O.T. When I presided as General Manager of CETURIS in our country of Ecuador, through our 

distinguished friend, Mrs. Lilian Ycaza Pérez, I had the opportunity of meeting Mr. Juan Moricz, who was 

living in Guayaquil. Moricz probably spoke with me, over a period of twenty-five days, some ninety hours in 

total, about how he had discovered the caves, that he knew the tribe chief of the region and the tribal faith 

healer or sorcerer and still other Jivaro Indians. He also knew the local guides, having been with them on 

many occasions. 

The geographical location of the caves is 3 degrees 05 minutes of south latitude and the 78° 13' of west 

longitude. An approximate altitude of nine hundred meters above sea level. Thirteen minutes by helicopter 

from the military outpost that carries our national hero's name, Lieutenant Hugo Ortiz, right at the foot of the 

Santiago River in the province of Morona Santiago, Capital of Macas. 

Please allow me to explain Mr. Juan Moricz’ theory as it is an interesting element of this book and, speaking 

of the caves, I have thought and still do think that they would make a great national and international tourist 

destination. I will discuss this more, further on in the book. 

The theory of Mr. Moricz and very originally his, includes arguments difficult to rebut, that MAGIAR is a 

language that originated in America, near the center of the world (equatorial line) and that the origin of 

civilization is recorded in the Metallic Library that exists in the Caves of the Tayos and that it was written 



before the great flood, hidden as many other secrets are currently hidden underground throughout the world 

in Space Centers such as Cape Canaveral and N.A.S.A. in the United States, in Japan, Russia, etc., In these 

Centers are kept the secrets of Rocket Science and other secrets of Space Science, secrets that are known 

by very few people and kept very private. These secrets have always been kept in private, underground 

locations. Underground is also where the secret of humanity's origin and civilization written in MAGIAR within 

the Metallic library that exists (or existed) in the Caves of the Tayos before the arrival of the British expedition. 

Moricz says this library was hidden in the caves before the flood. 

Continuing with the theory of Moricz, trying to prove that MAGIAR originated in America, Juan asked me if I 

knew what the word "QUITO" means. I answered that it is the Capital of Ecuador but Moricz corrected me and 

explained that it is a MAGIAR word that has two roots QUIT and US, similar to the FIRST MARRIAGE. TWO 

PROGENITORS (or two parents), likewise he asked me about the name of the river that originates in the 

Ecuadorian highlands in the province of Chimborazo, the river CHAN CHAN, and he told me that it means 

Rey de Reyes, because KING is not king (in Magiar), KING means BIG, KHAN means king, and the river is a 

REY DE REYES, that is to say KHAN KHAN, just as was GENGIS KHAN. We could go on and on continuing 

to point out Juan’s theory and the translation of the ancient words of our country. 

When we decided to carry out the expedition, that is to say the FIRST TRIP TO THE CAVES, we made the 

plan and we organized the trip. We went on expedition with the following people: Mrs. Lilian Ycaza Pérez, Mr. 

Juan Moricz, my brother Hernán Fernández Borrero, Dr. Gerardo Pena Matheus, Dr. Mario Polit (at that time 

a medical student), Pedro Luna Fernández, the journalist and architect, José Rojas, a Chilean, Captain of the 

Tourism Police, Carlos Guerrero Guerron, a sub-lieutenant named Ortiz, a sergeant of the Tourism Police 

named Herrera, two other Tourism Police named Benunciano and Sanchez, Segundo Guevara and Julio 

Cambizaca and the author of this book, myself, Gaston Fernández Borrero. 

GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT PARTICIPATED IN THE EXPEDITION 

Lilian Ycaza Pérez. - Mrs. Lilian is very balanced when dealing with serious subjects. Her conversation is 

interesting and always remained attentive when speaking of the caves. I remember a very entertaining 

experience which resulted in the only relief that I truly felt after my journey from the Guarinza airport, where 

biting insects produced painful sores on the parts of my legs that had been uncovered. She gave me her 

hairspray to spray on the sores. That was the only thing that cured me within twenty-four hours. 

Juan Moricz. - Skeptical by nature, quite learned and if the people around him wanted to talk, he did not 

interrupt them. He could talk intelligently about any topic. When he talked about the caves, he could always 

clearly present his theories, based on real evidence and with much faith. 



Hernán Fernández Borrero. - As it was the first expedition in his life, he was always concerned that his filming 

came out well. It was the same with his photography. He enjoyed the expedition but suffered disappointment 

with the results of his filming and photography, something that wasn’t his fault. We didn't know the 

tremendous darkness of the caves that we would encounter, similar to a tomb. 

Dr. Gerardo Rock Matheus. - The truth is that I didn't know him well and I thought that he would be serious 

and quite introverted, but after seeing him interact with the rest of the expedition, I totally changed my opinion 

and I recognized his worth. 

Dr. Mario Polit. - This youth provided very professional service and I want to point out; nobody imagined that 

Mario would ever take such an excess of medicines on the expedition. Let us remember that he was a 

medical student at the University of Guayaquil at the time. You will notice in the photos that we present in this 

book that the Shuara children of the region have extended abdomens caused by parasites. 

Dr. Mario Polit was able to treat the parasites, leaving the childrens’ abdomens in a much-improved condition 

due to the quantity of parasite medications that he gave them in a professional manner. We always joked that 

the only Shuar that he could not cure was JUKMAN the Sorcerer of the region. JUKMAN was always 

practicing polygamy and Mario Polit didn't have any medication for this illness. 

Pedro Luna Fernández. – He was basically my brother's Hernán’s assistant in their filming and photography. 

He was very modest in nature and demonstrated great cooperation the whole time with exemplary behavior. 

Arq. José Rojas. - This great Chilean friend had the kindness to accompany me in my two trips to the caves, 

without any personal interest. His great affection was demonstrated to all his friends on the expeditions. His 

good advice was demonstrated on both occasions as well. He is a gentleman and always responds with a 

positive attitude. 

Captain of the Tourism Police, Carlos Guerrero Guerrón. - Just listening to him after being the first to descend 

about fifteen meters into the entrance of the cave while testing the tripod, was enough to perceive his bravery. 

Of the sub-lieutenant with the last name of Ortiz and the five other Tourism Policemen, we don't have any 

complaints, excluding the one that shot his gun inside the caves, trying to kill a Tayos bird. 

Before continuing with the review of the two trips, the British expedition and the territorial conflict with Peru of 

1995, I will point out the following: 



1. When the first map of the third Mountain range was made, the same geographical information was already 

known as is shown on modern maps of the area, especially concerning the caves, and that was around A 

HUNDRED YEARS ago in the time of our President Gabriel García Moreno. There are also other "Caves of 

the Tayos", very near Twintza and the South Military Base whose geographical position is 3 degrees, 30' 

south latitude and 78° 15' west, in another geographical location, different from the location I have been 

describing. 

2. In 1969 we mounted the first and the second expeditions to the caves and I made them known to the world 

in my position as Manager of the Ecuadorian Corporation of Tourism CETURIS and the following year 1970, 

in my position as Regional President of American Tourism "INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OFFICIAL 

ORGANIZATIONS OF TOURISM" U.I.O.O.T., and in the first Latin American convention in Peru. I also made 

it known that we planned to promote the caves for tourism in the future. 

I was unanimously appointed in Dublin Ireland as President of American Tourism encompassing an area from 

Canada to Argentina and I made known the existence of the caves and that I had visited them twice and that 

they are located in Ecuadorian territory. 

3. Seven years later the British organized an extraordinary expedition in all aspects, with our government's 

permission, as is natural, and we confirmed it by looking at the documents. They took Neil Armstrong, the first 

man to set foot on the moon. He expressed to the world that our caves were wonderful, being a specially 

invited guest of the British. 

WE CONTINUE WITH THE NARRATION FROM THE FIRST TRIP TO THE CAVES 

We organized this expedition emphasizing that Juan Moricz was the one who induced us originally to 

organize the first expedition or trip. This expedition was named by Juan Moricz and was called "Expedition 

Moricz 1969 taltosok Barlangja". I left my home in the city of Guayaquil in the month of June 1969. We made 

the trip by road in four vehicles passing through Cuenca in the province of Azuay. We finally arrived at a place 

called Lemon-Indanza. At this location we spend the night in an army barracks where they treated us like 

kings. The following day I had to go to Quito because they called me urgently for reasons of administrative 

order in CETURIS and I planned to return within forty-eight hours to meet up with the expedition at a 

preplanned place, The Union (junction), the confluence of the rivers Santiago and Cuangus. 

This next part of the expedition was the most difficult. A part of it I did on foot and another by mule. I will now 

explain my return from Quito back to join up with the expedition at the predetermined meeting place, The 

Union, and from there, on to the caves. Indeed, I left Quito by plane to Cuenca. Then I took a light plane that 



belonged to the H.CJ.B. in Quito, managed by a young American pilot connected with the North American 

Evangelists Mission. He explained to me that we would arrive at an Airport in the third mountain range called 

Guarinza, very near Paquisha. We began the flight and when we passed very near a certain village, the pilot, 

in a very educated manner, requested that we land for a moment at the home of his friend who was a North 

American missionary. I answered him that it would be fine with me and that he should remember that I was 

also a light plane pilot. 

We landed at the home of the missionary and after conversing for some minutes the missionary asked me if 

he and his son could accompany me to the caves. I responded that that would be fine and I felt lucky to be in 

the company of people who knew the general area well and who spoke the language of the region. So we got 

on board the two-person airplane, the pilot and I sat in the normal seats and the missionary and his son 

climbed into the luggage compartment. 

I should point out that before getting aboard the plane, the missionary's son took a paper bag into which he 

put some rice, in another bag some sugar and a flask of powdered coffee and also took a totally rudimentary 

single shot shotgun. I don't know the pleasant missionary's name, neither that of his son, I never worried 

about knowing their names in those moments as I was totally concerned with reuniting with the expedition as 

soon as possible. It is really too bad to not have been able to identify these two gentlemen that behaved so 

kindly toward me. 

When we arrived at the small airport called Guarinza, two Jibaro Natives with pony tails came near and since 

the missionaries spoke their language perfectly, they asked the Jibaros if they knew where the Cave of the 

Tayos was. The Jibaros answered that they didn't know. Deeply concerned because it was quite a distance to 

the place where I was supposed to join up with the expedition at The Union, I asked the Jibaros where 

JUKMAN lived, the medicine man of the region. Then, one of the Jibaros answered affirmatively to the 

missionary. He pointed out the direction and I asked to hire two Jibaros to guide us up to where JUKMAN 

lived. This new expedition included the following participants: the two missionaries, the two Jibaros, and this 

author. 

The pilot of the light plane told me that he would return after two days to the same Airport of Guarinza. We 

said goodbye and we began the trip; it was 16H00 o'clock. 

We advanced and I experienced something extraordinary when seeing how the Jibaros communicated at a 

long distance. They communicate with deep screams that they cut off suddenly. Then they are silent and wait 

for the echo. Then they are answered in the same form and the message has a melody. We eventually 

arrived at a Jibaria (Jibaro village) and we slept there. Early the following day we continued the trip. I should 



relate that this extra expedition lasted two nights and three days on the way to meet my associates. It would 

be worthwhile to write a book about this expedition, but unfortunately, I don't have any photos, neither the 

names of the missionaries, neither the names of the Jibaros. 

This was an extraordinary odyssey accompanied by my infantile and simple belief that the Guarinza airport 

was only five or six kilometers from The Union. No gentlemen, this was very different. Our jungle is very thick 

and beautiful, you always go up a hill and then you go down, cross a river and then go up another hill, and 

again go down and cross another river, always in wonderful pairs. I will now point out two important things: 

first, before crossing a river at 17H00 on the second day, it rained so much that the river rose, without any 

exaggeration, three or four meters in its channel and we could not cross. However on the other bank of the 

river, a Jibaro, with extraordinary athletic ability and agile form, offered to cut down a tree with his machete 

which allowed us to cross over on its trunk and branches. 

The following day after sleeping in the middle of field with a slight rain drizzle, the missionary's son with his 

shotgun hunted a squirrel that didn’t weigh more than a pound and a half, but with the rice that he had taken, 

one could eat lunch and dinner very well. I should mention that on this small expedition I lost 20 pounds in 

three days. 

The next morning an unexpected thing happened: At 05H00 o'clock we woke up and the missionary and his 

son told us the following: Mr. Fernández, we have to return now, together with the Jibaros. I asked them to 

believe me in what I expressed next: I don't have words to thank the missionaries and the Jibaros that 

accompanied me. I admit that without them, I could not have found my expedition that waited for me at The 

Union. 

When saying goodbye to the missionaries I asked everyone how much I should pay the Jibaros that guided 

us. The Jibaros answered me: Whatever you, Mr. Fernández, believe to be convenient. Understand the 

situation of I, who writes these lines to you. Remember that I took the money to pay to the Jibaros that 

transported my gear from Limon Indanza to The Union. I gave two thousand sucres to each Jibaro and to the 

missionaries I gave a hug. Always during my moments of meditation, I ask God to help them, not only in their 

noble mission that they perform in the Ecuadorian jungle, but in their private lives and that they continue doing 

well for humanity. If these missionaries ever read the words of this book, I ask them to get in touch with me. 

I joined the expedition at The Union and we walked to the bank of the Cuangus River and then up to the 

caves. At this time the following thing happened. When the whole expedition was gathered to cross the 

Cuangus River to proceed to the caves, the Jibaros didn't want to cross the river in their canoes because it 

had grown and had been high for two days; two Jibaros had died trying to cross it. Then I made a maneuver 



that was a little risky but solved the problem: I announced that I would cross the river swimming to 

demonstrate to them that there was no danger. I proceeded to remove my clothes to my underwear 

(underpants). I jumped into the river and I crossed it without any difficulty. Then the Jibaros had us cross the 

river in their canoes with all our gear to the other side. 

We arrived at the Jibaro village and you can appreciate that Mr. Moricz knew the main inhabitants of the 

region, JUKMAN, NAJAMBI (Leader of the Region), PUNIN, GUAJARE and the other guides, also the pretty 

Shuara by the name of PAQUEISHA. I only need to comment on one more event before starting the 

explanation of the caves. It concerns a conversation between Juan Moricz and Mrs. Lilian Ycaza while 

traveling in the same automobile with me from Guayaquil - Cuenca - Lemon - Indanza. 

Their conversation always dealt with his theory on the Metallic Library that was in the caves written in 

MAGIAR and whose discovery and large-scale distribution would be a true revolution in the world. Moricz 

always insisted on breaking down Ecuadorian place names to compare with our MAGIAR roots. He made us 

break down the words QUITO AND CHAN CHAN, He also asked me what the word Guayaquil means. I 

replied that it was related to the male native GUAYAS and his woman QUIL. Juan said that I was wrong and 

that GUAYAQUIL broke down in three Magiar roots: GU = Primera, HAYA = Mother and QUIL = Town. It 

means THE FIRST OLD TOWN. 

Allow me to give you a few more examples of different place names in Magiar. I asked him about the tributary 

to the river Santiago called Cuangus. He answered that CUK in all the languages of the world means kitchen; 

that anciently stones were warmed to be able to cook; CUK means stone and ANGUS means Angels. 

Therefore, the river CUANGUS basically means ANGELS OF STONE. 

I then told Juan that I needed to travel to Budapest, Hungary very soon in order to attend a World Conference 

of Tourism. Mr. Moricz, told me that while visiting his homeland, I should do three things: 

1) That I should take a city map of Budapest and that I certainly would find an area named Pomasqui, 

identical to the same name that exists in our Ecuador. 

2) That I should ask at least fifteen Hungarian soccer players their last name and I would find that at least two 

of them have the last name of QUISPE, a last name that is commonly found in Ecuador. 

3) I didn't have time to do this third thing which consisted of going to the museum and requesting that they 

show me the shield of Hungary when it was a Monarchy and I would find that, as Ecuador, it has a Condor on 

the Hungarian Shield. 



The first two things I was able to do but the third, I didn't have time for. Juan Moricz’ theory, uniquely his, 

insisted that in the Caves the famous Metallic Library existed written in MAGIAR hidden before the flood and 

that when made known to the public, would revolutionize the world and even all religions. We believe that this 

thesis belongs exclusively to Juan Moricz. 

Before beginning the trip, while in the city of Guayaquil, the members of the expedition signed a commitment 

of honor that I have reproduced in the book, being sure that once having found the famous Library, we had 

agreed to fulfill our commitment of honor. I want to make it very clear in this book that the theory belongs 

exclusively to Juan Monicz. 

Having made this reference to the trip from Guayaquil - Lemon – Indanza, we now return to the Jivaro village 

where we built a bonfire and began a conversation among all those present. I should point out that the Chief 

of the Region, NAJAMBI, spoke Spanish perfectly as did the guides PUNIN AND GUAJARE. The one that did 

not speak Spanish was JUKMAN, the sorcerer. 

We ate dinner around the bonfire and I told the whole expedition that the following day at 06H00 we would set 

up the tripod and pulley with the 1½-inch rope to descend into the caves. Moricz stated that it would be better 

to wait twenty-four hours more to be able to rest after having made such a trip. I responded to him that we 

had come to complete a mission and we didn't have a lot of time. I confirmed to him that we would go down at 

06H00 on the following day to prepare the descent to the caves and that we take advantage of the moment to 

use the radio that had been provided to us by the National Police to be able to communicate the details of our 

expedition to the main cities such as Quito and Guayaquil. 

In that point Moricz told us that there was a possible new entrance that we should investigate first and that it 

was located very near the Jivaro village. We undertook the trip immediately arriving at the entrance. But after 

trying to enter and walk only about 20 or 30 meters, we had to return because it was too difficult and wasn’t 

really an entrance at all, but only a small, very narrow tunnel. 



The Cave Entrance 

The following day at 06H00, the entire expedition, less Moricz, began to arm the tripod and other gear. We 

finished at about 16H00. When everything was ready, I sent a policeman of Tourism to advise Mr. Moricz to 

come to the cave so we could begin to lower everyone. Before calling Mr. Moricz, we performed a test with 

the Captain of the Police of Tourism, Carlos Guerrero Guerrón. We lowered him about fifteen meters and as 

he was descending, we were impressed with the expression on his face. When he came back up, he related 

the noise that the Tayos birds make and how he felt strange while being hung in a dark hole of which he didn't 

know where the bottom was. 



Juan Moricz came down from the village to the entrance of the cave where all the members of the expedition 

met. The tripod was ready to work. I invited Juan to be lowered first and so he put on what we called the 

diaper or "baby canvas". It is like a comfortable seat in which to be lowered. Indeed we lowered him slowly 

and at the end Juan communicated with us through the telephone from the bottom of the cave, where you 



arrive perpendicularly from the entrance. Next we lowered one of the Jibaro guides named Punin. We lowered 

him in the "canvas baby's diaper" as you can imagine. Then we lowered my brother Hernán with his film 

camera and we took advantage of the opportunity to measure the distance from the entrance to the cave floor 

and the result was sixty-three meters. 

Looking up through the cave entrance. 

Later on I organized shifts among the personnel to lower everybody, one at a time, leaving enough personnel 

at the top to operate the tripod, the pulley and the canvas baby's diaper. Then I went down and after me, Dr. 

Mario Polit, Dr. Pena Matheus, José Rojas, Pedro Luna Fernández and two more Jibaros. We calculated that 

we should walk about three hours. Inside the cave one doesn’t know if it is day or night, only with a watch and 

lantern could we know the time of day. 

We began the walk illuminated by our rudimentary 8-battery lanterns and we soon realized, especially my 

brother Hemán, who is a tech in filming and photography, that we had not calculated the total darkness that 

exists in the caves and that was the reason for the problems with results that were too dark. The same thing 



happened with the still photos of the First Trip too. 

The light that we used was only enough to light our path. Outside of that, you can only compare it with gloom. 

In our two journeys we walked approximately four and half kilometers with an average depth of TWO 

HUNDRED METERS BELOW THE EARTH; telephones work only when connected by wire, the same ones 

that were used in the First World War. If our caves were narrow with the narrow paths, the lanterns that we 

took on the first trip would have been enough, but the caves are so big and majestic that that type of light is 

insufficient. 

I also want to express that when one has walked some hours underground in the caves, a moment arrives 

when consciously or unconsciously, a high is felt due to fatigue and it becomes necessary to stick to the 

indicated route. In those moments one can listen to, my dear readers, the SILENCE that I am sure very few 

people in the world will ever be able to say that they have heard. 



Inside the cave. 

Continuing with my narration: We found, after the second slope, that is to say after descending sixty-three 

meters walking about eighty meters parallel to the surface, we found a second slope of approximately ten 

meters and then we came to a lintel of twelve meters and sixty centimeters. Of this lintel the wall is about 

thirty meters high with two apparent designs of very big windows and when we looked on the other side of the 

lintel we saw the caves begin to open up more and we also noticed something growing that looked like our 

tropical rice, the seeds of which were apparently brought in by the Tayos birds during their nightly incursions, 

the same seeds that always fall into the guano that is accumulated in the bottom of the caves, in the 

entrances or holes like the main entrance and the Tayos makes its nightly journey to feed and they always 

leave by the nearest hole. 

The Lintel 

The climate inside the caves is quite pleasant, due to their immensity and to the different holes that exist at 

considerable distances that allow ventilation that is sometimes called SHOT, but they don't produce enough 

light to see for very far. These SHOT are also called bouquets such as we present in the Cover of the book. 



As we explained previously it is possible for animals of different species to exist in the caves. They are similar 

to those that exist on the surface of the earth. 

We observed well formed passageways whose walls and ceilings are almost perfect, we were not able to 

reach the end of any of them as they went too far and we could not figure out for what reason they were built. 

We prohibited that the members of the expedition advanced further than was possible to see them and hear 

them. It is not known if the walls and ceilings were made or if they were formed geologically. Were these 

made by man's hand or were they made by nature? This was the question that was asked of me by the 

reporter from National Geographic when I was interviewed after the first trip and it was published in an 

Ecuadorian newspaper too. 

The Ceiling 

We also were impressed on our journey with these enormous stones that it seems were cut for some 

purpose. We examined the surrounding area in the caves to investigate if the rocks could have fallen from 



somewhere, but there was no evidence of it. I asked Don Juan Moricz, "For what reason did they cut these 

stones and bring them to this place?" 

Cut Stones 

We continued progressing through the caves and noticed something quite attractive on the walls. They have a 

special color and when light is reflected on them, they are impressive and infuse respect. They contain 

something that is not easy to explain, but it is very interesting to live among them for a short time. If we spoke 

of unforgettable experiences that have occurred in our lives, he who writes these lines has had two 

experiences that are impossible to forget. The first one is an experience with different characteristics than the 

second, and that I experienced in the company of two valuable friends, the first deceased and the second 

alive, José and Ernesto Estrada Ycaza, spending time flying a light plane, Piper, 60 Hp., and driving in a 

convertible Ford, cruising the beaches of the resort of General Villamil; (and, second…) to experience the 

SILENCE and to respect "THE CAVE OF THE TAYOS". The two examples are very different, but very difficult 

to forget. Witnesses of the two experiences exist, of the first, Ernesto Estrada Ycaza and senores Jorge 



Avegno Christiansen and Jaime Vinueza Moscoso, and of second, those that I have pointed out previously in 

this book. 

Originally when Moricz spoke to us of the caves, I always thought that they could be used for tourism and I 

continue thinking that serious success could be enjoyed BUILDING A TOURIST COMPLEX inside the caves, 

building some lodging next to the Jibaro settlement and very near the heliport, and establishing an elevator to 

descend within the cave interior, similar to the caves in Europe that have been called the "Pater Noster" 

caves for some time now, and then to build a small electric train on rails that travels through the caves to the 

place of the stalagmites and stalactites. Then to illuminate the walls and roofs of the caves indirectly, to make 

the journey to the stalagmites and stalactites and during the tour, tell of the adventures of the Shuars, Juan's 

theories and point out that Neil Amstrong also walked in our caves, as well as on the moon. Similar things 

could be done with the caves as are done in Egypt with the pyramids: They illuminate them at night with 

different colors and they tell stories like those of Napoleon Bonaparte at the foot of them. 

Continuing on our journey, we arrived at the stalagmites and stalactites. We could appreciate the coloring and 

the beautiful form of these formations. I have a piece of stalagmite taken from the caves from my second trip 

in. I took this piece while it was still growing. At this particular spot we all believed that the caves had ended 

and I happened to look toward the left side of the stalagmites and about eighty meters away, more or less, I 

found an enormous hole and again the caves opened up without us ever being able to discover their end. 

According to some Ecuadorian and foreign geologists, all the Andes are hollow and personally I agree with 

this view. I explained my experiences to the English expedition leader who descended seven years after I 

had. He descended with the English expedition after we had been down twice in 1969, at that time the 

President of the Republic was Dr. José María Vehasco Ibarra. From the area of the stalagmites that I 

mentioned, the British traveled double the distance that was traveled by us due to the very sophisticated 

equipment that they used in their expedition in the first place. From the hole that I previously mentioned, it is 

necessary to descend about forty meters more to be able to continue walking, using expert climbers that the 

Englishmen brought, the same ones that organized the expedition. 



The Stalactites 

Being unable to continue further for the reason mentioned above, we had to return. 

We returned to be able to appreciate the ray of light that is about a hundred and twenty meters high and the 

diameter of the hole is not less than sixty meters. This is where something happened that is worthwhile writing 

about: 

Most of us in the expedition were inspecting the light shaft, some Tayos flew about near us due to the noise 

that we had caused at the back of the caves and one of the tourism policemen that was part of the expedition, 

pulled out his Mauser rifle and shot one of the Tayos birds that flew near us. Just calculate the loud echoing 

noise of the shot and the danger the bullet bouncing off the roof and walls of the caves! The Tourism 

Policeman was strongly reprimanded for his mistake that could have produced a real tragedy. 

We returned past the enormous lintel and prepared to return to the surface again, one by one, pulled up by 

the personnel on guard at the surface, without even realizing the luck we had being inside the caves without 

any possibility of establishing any communication as we have previously explained. 



End of First Expedition… 

Gaston Fernández Borrero 

6. They Can Call Me Crazy, But There Superior Beings Below the Earth" 

Interview with Juan Moricz ( translated from the original Spanish version) 

El Universo, Friday, August 6, 1976, Guayaquil, Ecuador 

"The veil has finally been lifted on what up until now has been a mystery, but what reveals an irrefutable 

truth", said Juan Moricz yesterday referring to the work that is being carried out by the Ecuadorian - British 

scientific expedition and of the North American astronaut's (Neil Armstrong) declarations that the Tayos, "is 

humanity's great step in the knowledge of the underground world." 

Even while in some circles, people have doubted Moricz’ statements that such caves exist and said that these 

were simple hollow spaces or geologic faults, Armstrong "the only human being that has experienced the 

sensation produced by putting his feet "on the powdery lunar surface", when speaking about the caves of the 

Tayos, uses the phrase "a subterranean world." 

Moricz told us that there are rivers and gigantic lagoons within the extensive caves. Interrogating Móricz 

further, the man who is credited, along with a group from Guayaquil, for the modern discovery of the Tayos 

caves, I asked if the Englishmen would find those rivers and lagoons. He responded: who knows, there are so 

many tunnels that can pass above or below those natural formations. 

We also found out that during the first days of the Ecuadorian – British expedition, doctor Stanley Hall, 

expedition director, had not yet advanced within the caves due to his leadership responsibilities. Recently, 

with the cosmonaut Armstrong’s arrival, Hall decided to accompany him exploring the caves. 

And with relation to Armstrong, we discovered that this scientist was chosen to participate in the expedition 

back in 1974. 



WHERE THE CAVES ARE 

To have an exact idea of the location of the Tayos caves we refer to an explanation formulated Moricz’ 

lawyer, Gerardo Pena Matheus. The entrance hole is next to the Shuara Community near the fork of the 

Santiago River and the Coangos (in the Province of Morona - Santiago) 30 kilometers to the south of the town 

of Teniente Ortiz. That is from where the helicopters leave for the expedition operations. 

RESPONSIBILITY 

Through documents, we learn that in 1974 is when the first correspondence between doctor Hall and Móricz 

occurred. Then Dr. Hall asked Moricz if he would help with an expedition to the Tayos caves. Moricz made a 

list of his conditions to do so. The British response is that there should be two expeditions to the caves, the 

first with Moricz as leader and the second with a Dr. Brown as the leader. The Hungarian – Argentinean 

investigator then declared that he would not share the leadership position with anyone and therefore, no 

agreement was ever reached. 

FANTASTIC VISION 

Once again, Móricz asserts that the tunnels within the caves are bored out by machines. These machines 

were brought and operated by superior beings from outer space who wanted to offer protection to humanity. 

Do you believe that there are men down below? 

Yes, with an immortal god. 

But how do you conceive of them physically? 

They have flesh and bones, but genetically superior to us. 

Have you seen them or been with them? 

That is how I can give you the details of the matter. 

And what do they do in that underground space? 

There have factories of advanced technology. 



And flying saucers, do they come and go from the inner earth? 

Who knows? 

Have the Shuaras also seen these beings? 

It is possible; they are their gods, and the tattoo that they have on their faces reveal the form of those superior 

beings. 

If your conditions were accepted, would you lead a group to visit this super civilization? 

First I would have to select the expedition members. 

And would that be enough? 

No. I would have to establish contacts to investigate the possibility of being well received. 

You must realize that this story sounds incredible to most people. 

Yes, I do. For some time now people have called me crazy; nobody even believed in the existence of the 

caves. Now they say that the caves are a marvel. So, I imagine that with what I have told you, they will 

consider me crazy even more. However, the underground world exists and the beings that I speak of are 

below. We cannot see them, but they can see us. 

(End of interview, below is a scan from the actual El Universo newspaper article in Spanish) 





7. A translation and scanned image of the original secrecy agreement 

signed by all members of the original 1965 expedition into the caves led by 

Juan Moricz. 

Those whose signatures appear below, members of the expedition to the caves discovered in Ecuador by Sr. 

Juan Moricz, we hereby formally agree to the following: to not make any declarations or statements to any 

journalist, radio station personnel, television or media personnel, or others of similar nature. We agree to 

neither publish photographs related to the expedition, nor of any other related events, nor of the beautiful 

objects inside the caverns, nor to reveal the geographical location of the caves, nor to discuss the theories or 

hypotheses of Juan Moricz. All or any media statements concerning the success, failure, consequences, 

results, objectives, realizations, etc., of the expedition, will be made exclusively by the discoverer Sr. Juan 

Moricz who the sole leader of the expedition. Those whose signatures appear below agree that Sr. Moricz is 

the only one who may make statements or reveal photographs of the expedition to the media or public. 

Only the discoverer, Mr. Juan Moricz, may make any changes to this agreement at his sole discretion. 

In good faith we do sign the present document in Guayaquil on the twenty-third of June, nineteen sixty-nine. 

THE SIGNATURES (see scanned document below) 



Juan Morizc's secrecy agreement 



8. "Exceptional Declaration" by Stanley Hall. 

(The original 4 page document was distributed to the Delegates of Congress and written in Spanish) 

Scan of Page 1 Translated in to English below: 



10 of July 1997 

STANLEY HALL 

"EXCEPTIONAL DECLARATION": CONGRESS 49: JULY 1997: QUITO 

Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen: 

PROJECT TAYHUANTINSUYU 

My name is Stanley Hall, of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1976, I was the British Director of the great 

military/scientific expedition to the Caves of the Tayos in the southeast region of Ecuador. The honorary 

president and participant of this expedition was the professor - astronaut Neil Armstrong. Also participating in 

the expedition were dozen of universities and international and national institutions. I am an International 

Fellow of the Explorers Club with headquarters in New York, "Honorary Member" of the Federation of Shuar 

Nations and their International Representative for the project TAYU WAA, whose objective is to place the 

traditional territory of the indigenous Shuar and Achuar of Ecuador and eastern Peru under the protection of 

Humanity's Patrimony. 

One important condition of the 1976 expedition was that no attempt be made to look for the legendary, 

supposedly hidden treasure inside this enormous system of caves that, in its entirety, runs from Venezuela to 

Argentina. However, I should admit a fascination with historical mysteries, even though I have a skeptical 

Scottish background. I don't believe in UFO’s, nor in Loch Ness monsters, nor in hidden treasures, unless 

somebody brings one to my door. 

There are treasures such as Tutankhaman’s Tomb, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Letters of el-Amarua in Egypt, 

the Ras Shamra Tablets in Lebanon, the Akkadian - Sumerian cuniform clay tablets of Henry Rawlinson and 

other discoveries that have changed our vision of ancient history. Then why not historical treasures from 

America? 

To be able to find a single metal plate with ancient writing on the American continent would be wonderful. But 

to find a great metallic library, and a great deposit of artifacts, and, seemingly, sealed tombs representing a 

civilization lost to history? Well! This is exactly of what I am speaking! 

Everything that the discoverer requires is as follows: 



1) Protect the discoverer, his rights and the discovery according to the Civil Code. 

2) Publish a manuscript of the project along with photos and illustrations for the benefit of both the public and 

the scientific world. 

Scan of page 2 with the English translation below: 



3) Prepare the Expedition of Occupation and, for obvious reasons... 

4) Agreement that the exact position of the discovery cannot be revealed until proper documentation, the 

control committees, and all national and international contracts for the Expedition are well-defined and in 

place. 

DON PETRONIO JARAMILLO ABARCA: 

I met the discoverer, an Ecuadorian gentleman of excellent family in October of 1992, His name is Petronio 

Jaramillo Abarca. During several conversations with me, he described in detail the contents of a great deposit 

of artifacts and historical records, located in underground caves in eastern Ecuador. Entrance is gained 

through an underwater opening in a river. During 5 years of collaboration, I arrived at the unavoidable 

conclusion that my friend was telling the truth and that I should feel privileged to help him and pleased that he 

placed such great trust in me. It didn't seem possible that he could invent a story so incredible if he had not 

experienced it himself. 

Some of you will recall the speech presented to the National Geographic Society in London last century by 

the famous Englishman, Richard Spruce, about the document called the "Derrotero de Valverde" that 

described the history of the fabulous treasure of Atahualpa and Rumiñahui, supposedly hidden in the 

mountainous region of the Llanganatis of Ecuador. All the investigators agree that this document was altered 

and many are the seekers that died in the search of this legendary treasure of Atahualpa. Therefore, the 

objective for this project is an "Occupation" and not an "Exploration". The key words for this project will be 

good will, trust and organization. Who knows, could Atahualpa’s treasure and Petronio’s treasure of 

Tahuantinsuyu be identical? 

Petronio and I decided that the best moment to announce this important discovery would be during this World 

Congress #49 and, as Coordinator of the project, I should assume this responsibility. 

The general plan includes the formation of 4 control units: 

1) A Consulting Committee of International and National Ambassadors. 

2) An international board of scientific, linguistic and legal experts. 

3) A Committee connected with UNESCO and... 



4) A Scientific Expedition of Occupation and an International Security Team, 

The necessary conversations with important embassies, UNESCO, the Ministry of External Relations and the 

Explorers Club have already begun. Any initiative for international help should be begun by the Ecuadorian 

authorities and controlled under the Ecuadorian law, 

I cannot explain how difficult the past few years have been, as much for the discoverer as for myself, and our 

families. It is important now to begin the project at the public level to avoid accusations, threats and distortions 

and to protect our families. The James Bonds and the Indiana Jones' are not of the real world. We are 

vulnerable because treasures are rarely sought by scrupulous treasure hunters. We need your good will, your 

advice and your scientific and linguistics help. 

Now, I want to give you some information that the discoverer has authorized me to transmit: 

1) He has decided to write a book about events, before, during and after the discovery in a style that he calls 

"para-historic", with the intent of protecting the integrity of the treasure and its historical truth. 

2) The book is to be entitled "The Last Secrets of the Tahuantinsuyu". It will include 7 Chapters, 300 written 

pages and dozens of illustrations that support the truthfulness of the book in spite of it being written in the 

style of a novel. 

3) For the same reason that Neil Armstrong, first man to step on the moon, is not owner of a single square 

meter of the moon, Petronio Jaramillo Abarca, although he has been inside the underground caves of the 

Treasure of Tahuantinsuyu, does not consider himself the owner of this treasure. In both cases humanity is 

the owner. 



Scan of page 3 translated to English below: 

4) The metallic library script is very similar to modern shorthand and all the letters are written in vertical 

columns, seemingly, without uppercase letters. 

5) The metallic pages contain all the geometric figures that humanity can invent. These figures are present in 

straight lines, vertical and oblique. An important detail is that there is not one of these figures that is not split 

in two parts, as: (please see the correlating scan of the document showing the geometric figures mentioned 



above...) 

Scan of page 4 translated into English below: 

6) The metallic library is of great scale and the pages measure approximately 60cm x 50cm x 10 to 15cms. 

The weight of the books is approximately between 40 and 60 kilograms each. 

7) There is one very curious colonial historical element! Between the sheets of one metallic book, there is a 

document written in old Spanish and signed by a military man named Juan Ruiz, one of Francisco Pizarro’s 

personal guards. 



The document was placed there by an indigenous person and not by the same Juan Ruiz. This document 

states that there are 2 additional legitimate children fathered by the Inca Huanya Capac. In other words, the 

first heir is Tankarhuaypac and the second heir is Huancarhualpa. In this document, the military man, Juan 

Ruiz, suspects that his supposed uncle, Bartolomé Ruiz, visited in 1523, 1525 and 1527 at the general site 

where the treasure of Tahuantinsuyu is hidden, but for not honoring the agreement of help to protect 

Tarikarhualpa, the first heir of Tayuantinsuyu, he was not allowed to enter the cave and visit the exact location 

of the treasures. 

I will feel honored to receive the letters and the resumes of expedition participants and their respective 

institutions, who are interested in the scientific part of this project. Please use this address: Stanley Hall, Box 

No. 17-21-1324, Quito. 

We believe that for the fiftieth Congress, Petronio’s book will be ready and the Expedition of Occupation 

should be ready as well. 

During the hours of the 49th Congress, I will be available in the Abya Ayala bookstore to answer any 

questions of the delegates. 

Please contact Sr. Humberto Jacome about press interviews. Phone number: 509-586 

Sincerely, 

STANLEY HALL 

PROJECT COORDINATOR 

Passport No. 700937628 



9. A rare article, "THE FOURTH REICH, FATHER ADOLPH AND THE LOST TREASURE OF THE NAZIS" 

By: Sean David Morton ©1997 

"His fall was destined to a barren strand. A petty fortress, and a dubious hand. He left the name, at which the 

world grew pale, To point to a moral, or adorn a tale." 

~VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES~ Samuel Johnson 

In the beginning, Colonel Stevens found it difficult to believe any of this. But after years of discussion, debate 

and deliberation, the Colonel found it difficult to deny that a substantial amount of supporting evidence really 

did exist for these 'wild' theories about German super science. He also found that everything he discovered 

about the German disks would almost always seem to tie back into the establishment, building and planning 

of what is supposedly a "Fourth Reich". 

There is a level of intelligence and power that manipulates both sides in all conflicts and has for many 

hundreds of years. This level is the one that finances, and has financed, virtually all modern wars on both 

sides. Just as the financier Warburg brothers sat on opposite sides of the negotiating table to pound out the 

disastrous treaty of Versailles, which virtually guaranteed the creation of a leader like Adolph Hitler and the 

Second World War. They maintain their level of power by keeping both sides indebted to it, and assuring that 

there is a key "Balance of Power", so that whichever side does not pay it's debts, or doesn't do as it's told, 

becomes forfeit and loses the war. These powers that be had decided, many years before the conflict even 

began that possible advancements in German science would threaten their vise-like grip on the world, and 

that Germany would ultimately be utterly destroyed. 



These "Primary Powers", or ruling elite families and societies, became incensed at Germany's use of the 

Haunebu and Vril disk crafts in the spectacular and mysterious Schwinfurt Raid. The Nazi's had used the 

disks without the Shadow Government level, the true Puppet Masters, having any knowledge of what 

Germany was about to do. The Nazi's were ordered to stop the use of all such advanced weapons 

immediately. That is why the Germans decided to evacuate all disk craft and facilities after that fateful night. If 

they did not, all operations would be seized, and the Germans did not want to lose this technology, either for 

themselves or for all mankind, to the 'Allies', or to this Dark, Ravenous Brotherhood. 

The Schwinfurt Raid triggered the evacuation and all these assorted craft were flown or shipped to new 

destinations. Construction of these evacuation destination facilities had been underway for quite some time 

already. Initial development of the New Schwabenland facility was begun as early as 1938 or 1939, less than 

two years after the German expedition and exploration of Antarctica in the summer of 1936. Work was also 

already underway on the rocky islands in Canada's northern territories, above Baffin Island near the Arctic 

Circle. A German weather station (and who knows what else) had been installed there even before the United 

States entered the war. And again, the submarines stationed in Northern Norway had been working with 

large-scale excavating equipment all along -- busy at work under solid rock in a maze of those thousands of 

icy fjords. There was also another Island between Spitzbergen and Russia that had man-made underground 

tunnels. The Germans had occupied that Island at one time as well. 

Earlier we discussed the strong Germanic influence in various regions throughout South America. The 

Germans could go anywhere there and could move around quite freely without the North Americans (U.S. & 

Canada) knowing a whole lot about what they were doing. This may have been because the folks in South 

America liked the Germans, and they hated us. 

All the South Americans got from the Gringos in El Norte, was a lot of talk, broken promises, and the 

continuation of the same kind of colonial patronizing and oppression that they had suffered under the Spanish 

and the Portuguese for hundreds of years. When the Germans said they were going to do something, they did 

it, and when they made a deal, stuck to it to the letter. They built dams, brought hydroelectric plants, 

telephones, heavy industry, and contributed most of what has brought South America into the 20th Century. 

All that they brought in science and engineering expertise cemented their friendly relations with all of South 

America, but most especially with Juan and Evita Peron of Argentina. 

When the Germans brought all of this advanced technology over to South America, they weren't about to 



release any information as to the type of technological advancements they actually had to any of the peoples 

of that continent. The countries benefited from the Germans, and the Germans greatly benefited in return. 

They had gotten a lock on resources and the use of their land, and had virtually unlimited money to finance 

their projects from decentralized German industries -- and South America thought that they would gain a 

secure economic base as a result. So the factories were installed and for a time they were selling goods all 

over the world. Naturally the South Americans loved them. 

The only thing that held the Germans plans back were North American Missionaries repeatedly and insistently 

demanding that all Hispanic peoples (and in turn their countries) deal with Canadians and Americans -- 

instead of the Germans. How does one change the sentiments of the Vatican and the Catholic Church? Well, 

one way is to the change the sentiment of their missionaries. Oddly enough, Lt. Colonel Wendelle Stevens 

(Ret.) found himself running into a great deal of convincing evidence that made it harder and harder for him to 

deny the strong possibility that a Catholic Missionary Priest, whom he had met and who's church he had 

visited in Ecuador, had a greater connection with the Third Reich than anyone could ever imagine. 

Colonel Kevin Stapleford had bought a house and property from a man that just so happened to be a friend of 

Colonel Stevens. Regrettably, Colonel Stapleford died of a heart attack shortly after he had purchased the 

house. This all happened right after Stevens had taken an extensive investigative trip to Ecuador. When the 

Colonel returned home he received a call from the friend of his whom had sold the Staplefords the property. 

His friend said he had a problem and asked if the Colonel could help. He told Steven's that the man was a 

Retired Air Force Colonel and that he had a German war bride. He said she probably didn't know anything 

about U.S. Military Affairs and asked the Colonel if he'd go over and help her sort through it all. He felt rather 

bad for Magda, the widow of the dead colonel, and knew that it might be difficult to sort through all the 

"Military Affairs". Wendelle felt that he could help her arrange the military burial, and assist Magda with getting 

the proper insurance and benefits that were due her after her husband's long decorated career. 

When Colonel Stevens arrived at Magda Stapelford's house, the first thing he noticed was a fabulous 

collection of exquisite fine art including a big wall plaque about 6' long by 2-1/2' high in deep relief in solid 

silver hanging on the wall behind a carved oak dining table that had 12 high back chairs with plush cushions 

and fine appointments. They had solid silver table servers and there was a solid silver fruit basket at the 

middle of the table. Being an art aficionado and rather somewhat of an expert amateur art historian, he 

immediately recognized the taste, time and money that had gone into such a fine collection. 

Magda invited Stevens into the sitting room and came out of the kitchen with a tea service on an ornate silver 



tray, and delicately poured the Colonel a cup of tea. 

"The art in your home is really magnificient," Stevens said looking around, as Magda settled in and poured 

herself a cup with two lumps and cream. 

"My husband respected and appreciated nice things," she said in a deep, melodic German drawl, sounding 

like Marlena Dietrich. 

"They look almost familiar", Stevens said, still looking about. "They look very much like so many of the pieces 

I just recently saw down in Ecuador." 

Magda Stapleford stopped drinking her tea in mid sip, gently put down here cup, raised her head and looking 

intensely at Stevens with her crystal blue eyes, and said softly, "Ecuador?" 

"Why...yes..." Wendelle was taken aback by her sudden interest. "Oh, my...it was incredible! There were 

masterpieces from all over the world there; almost a billion dollars in priceless artwork, all stored in a little 

Catholic Church. The Church is of the Saliciano sect, who are the poorest of the poor among the Catholics, 

taking the very severest vows of poverty." Wendelle chuckled, "It's almost funny that they are so poor and yet 

are sitting on all this treasure!" 

Magda leaned forward in fascination, warming to Wendelle, and one thing the old Colonel loved to do was tell 

a story to an interested audience. 

"We met with a man named Father Krespi, who wore a cassock that was frayed on the bottom, and his toes 

stuck out of his shoes so that he had to put cardboard in to cover the holes in the sole." Wendelle went on. "It 

was part of their discipline that they have to wear clothes until they completely fall apart. They're not allowed 

to waste anything." 

Wendelle stopped and put his hand to his chin in thought. He and Magda were getting on so well, he thought, 

What the hell! "Say, on my way over I stopped by the photo shop and picked up the pictures from my trip." 

Magda's eyes lit up. "If it wouldn't bore you, I've been dying to show them off to someone!" 

Magda clapped her hands together in a grand gesture. "Wonderful!" she exclaimed, and Wendelle, like a kid 

going to fetch a new toy, hurried out to the car to get the slides. 



Some time later, some 60 slides were spread out over the grand dining room table, and they took turns 

holding them up to the light of the ball room sized Austrian crystal chandelier. 

Magda carefully picked up one slide in particular. Wendelle looked at it sideways, as she held it to the light 

and adjusted her glasses to focus her eyes. 

"Oh that one was a beauty!" Wendelle said, showing off his knowledge of art history. "It was painted by 

Raphel when he was only fifteen years old in the early classical style, in 1498 or 1499. An amazing piece!" 

The painting was set against a pastoral country background in a grove of trees growing up to the right, open 

blue sky on the left and a river and some low hills rolling off in the distance. The painting itself was of a young, 

cherubic, round faced shepherd boy with curly golden hair and a halo above his head. He is wearing a 

tattered skin, hanging loosely from his right shoulder, leaving his left arm and breast bare. On his left, he has 

his hand around the neck of an adoring sheep nuzzling his side. In his right hand is a staff, just a little taller 

than himself, ending in the sign of a cross, with a ribbon flowing from the cross bar, which appears to read 

"Jesus Rex" in Latin. 

Magda gave a little gasp and put her hand to her mouth. 

"Oh my God!" she whispered into her hand and the color began to run from her rosy cheeks. Her already 

Nordic complexion paled. 

"Are you alright?" Wendelle said, stopping his revere, noticing her sudden change. 

She slowly put the slide back on the table shaking her head from side to side in utter disbelief. 

. "It hung over his shoulder. Over his shoulder...." 

"Whose shoulder?" Wendelle asked, not sure he had heard her correctly. 

She ignored his question, and began to look feverishly through the rest of the slides. She recognized another 

one, and brought it to Wendelle's attention for him to explain. 



"Well, ah," Wendelle was now a bit taken aback by Magda's sudden demeanor and insistence. "It was a 

painting done on Moorish translucent marble. The piece had been taken out of a wall -- it had to be mounted 

in a wall with the sun behind in order to see the painting. The whole thing was raised and had to be chiseled 

in reverse." 

"Was there a frame or anything around it?" she asked. 

"No, it was...." 

"Were there anything that looked like numbers or symbols of some kind along the edges?" 

"Well, yes," Stevens said, surprised she would know something of such detail. Who was this woman? He 

thought getting suddenly suspicious. "But I don't read German and I wasn't sure which they were...numbers, 

symbols or some kind of identification markings...." 

Magda went into the next room and came back with a pad of ornately decorated colored and perfumed 

stationary. She half wrote and sketched something on the pad and then turned it towards Stevens. 

"Is that it? Is that what you saw?" she insisted. 

The old Colonel looked down at the paper in surprise. 

"Why yes! That is exactly what I saw!" 

"Mein Gott!" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands, then jabbing at the pad. "That piece had been in my 

family for generations. For hundreds of years! They looted it from our ancestral castle in Bavaria. Bastards!" 

"Who? Who took it?" Stevens was really confused now. 

"The Nazis!" she said like an expletive. "The Nazis. They took everything!" 

Stevens thought for a long moment before he went on. 

"We went to Ecuador to look for old Spanish art, " he said, now trying to match up various stories in his head. 



"There seemed to be other evidence that indicated that many of the other paintings had also come from 

Europe. I saw one that had brass marks on the back of it indicating that it was "Property of Gran Montrouge, 

Paris." 

Magda nodded her head, and waived her hand in confirmation. 

"There were a lot of French Colonials." Stevens went on. "Mostly all masters. Some were just the stretched 

canvas frames, some were in very lavish decorative frames, and others were just loose canvasses cut loose 

from their frames with a few slashes from a bayonet. Some were in rolls. Some were laid flat in a stack, with 

others on top of them. I was told that there were 3,200 in all. I didn't count them, obviously, but it sounded 

about right because they filled an entire room very large room, right up to the ceiling." 

Magda leaned forward, deadly serious, and fixed Wendelle Stevens in a glare that almost froze his blood. He 

was beginning to feel like an American POW being interrogated. This seemingly warm, soft, gentle, elegant 

woman had now turned to glacial ice and snow. 

"Tell me", she said, slowly choosing her words, "all about this Father Krespi." 

"Well," Colonel Stevens started taking a breath, turning his photographic memory, trained by 26 years of 

aerial Reconn, to the problem. "Father Krespi is little over 5 feet tall. About 5'2" or 5'3". Slightly shorter than 

me, and I'm 5'-6". He had long unkempt hair, just a little past his shoulders, gray, combed straight back off his 

forehead. He had a long beard that came down to his chest. He wore a Saliciano cassock that was frayed at 

the bottom, the soles of his shoes had holes clear through, like I told you before. I saw other priests in that 

order who had soles almost completely worn through. As I said, they all had taken vows of abject poverty. 

They couldn't own a ring, or anything else for that matter. Krespi slept in a cell on a stone floor with only one 

blanket" 

"His features," Magda pressed. "Tell me what he looked like. Go into every detail you can possibly remember. 

Leave out nothing." 

"And I'm not boring you?" he said, trying to lighten up the conversation. 

"Remember, I am German." she said. "Leave nothing out!" 



The Colonel described very carefully, every detail of Krespi's largish dimpled ears, his teeth, his chin his high, 

sweeping, wrinkled forehead, his eyes, with deep bags, that drooped down at the sides under a very 

pronounced eyebrow ridge. 

"How did he walk?" Magda interrupted. 

"How did he...?" 

"His walk....please", she gestured with her hand for him to get up. "Please, show me!" 

Wendelle got up and went to the far side of the long table, thinking about how to get it just right. 

"Well, he kept his hands behind his back, and sort of swaggered, kind of kicking out his knees," Stevens 

began to laugh as he demonstrated, feeling like he was someone modeling clothes. "Come to think of it, it 

seemed a little odd...his walk I mean, for this humble little priest." 

"Show me how he sat down and got up", Magda asked, and Wendelle did so, his curiosity getting the better of 

his manners. 

"Alright," Stevens said in a polite, but firm manner. "Why don't you tell me what this is all about?" 

Magda sat in silence for a long while, swimming back through many painful memories and years. Then she 

told him her story. 

Hitler did not make a single speech after late 1943, and his public appearances became virtually nil. With his 

amazing gift to sway the masses with his hypnotic rhetoric, one would think he would be constantly speaking 

and rallying the people and the army on to victory for his dream of the thousand year Reich, even for what he 

might have felt was a lost cause. In fact, his last public appearance, to a small group of school children and 

Hitler youth was in February of 1945. It was extensively filmed, and he shook their hands as he strolled along 

the row of children in a straight line, with a pleased, happy, almost idiotic, grin on his face, looking as if he 

didn't have a care in the world, barely saying a word. Since Hitler, or his doubles, weren't anywhere to be 

seen after this time, it led the Allies, and even the doltish Russians, to believe that he had already escaped 

long before the Communists butchered Berlin. 



Martin Borman was the second ranking member of the Nazi Party. He masterminded the decentralization of 

German Industry. Borman conducted several meetings with the industrialists, in Berlin and other places, 

which resulted in the actual movement of these companies -- moving them out of Germany -- and not placing 

them in one centralized location. Decentralization was one of the Nazi's original goals, but no large-scale 

efforts to achieve it were ever made prior to 1943. Martin Borman then disappeared from the scene. He was 

given sanctuary by the Vatican, which we have definite proof and evidence of, and they arranged for his 

safety and travel plans out of Europe to South America. He went to Argentina first, where he supposedly set 

up headquarters and made arrangements for others to follow. He apparently moved from there to Cuenca, 

Ecuador. Magda believed, from her own sources and those of her OSS/CIA husband, that a Fourth Reich had 

successfully been created, run by Martin Borman himself, and its headquarters were there in Cuenca. The 

same location, Magda observed, as Colonel Stevens's, Father Krespi. 

The name of Krespi was actually an alias that was given to Hitler in 1943, when all this was going on. It was 

the German derivative of St. Crispin, and it was on St. Crispin's day that one of the most famous battles in all 

history was fought. Hitler was a keen student of history, and an avid fan and aficionado of Shakespeare. It 

would not be lost on him that the Battle of Agincourt, fought by King Henry V, pitted a small band of English, 

fighting on foreign soil, against thousands of French. Hopelessly outnumbered, outflanked and in the face of 

certain death and defeat, the soliloquy made by Good King Harry in Henry V, Act V, scene 3 is worth 

repeating as one of the greatest inspirational speeches of all time, and takes on an eerie significance in light 

of these events, the break up of Germany, and the flight of Hitler and his top political cronies. 

"He who hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart; his passport shall be made, And crowns for convoy put 

into his purse: We would not die in that man's company. That fears his fellowship to die with us. This day is 

called the feast of Crispian: He that outlives this day and comes safe home, Will stand a tiptoe when this day 

is named, And rouse him at the name of Crispian. 

He that shall live this day and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors, And say, 'Tomorrow is 

Saint Crispian": Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, And say, 'These wounds I had on Crispin's 

day." Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages. What feats he did that day. 

Then shall our names, Familiar in his mouth as household words, Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, 

Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester, Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered? 

This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the 

ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered; We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he 



today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile This day shall gentle his condition: 

And gentleman in England, now a-bed Shall think themselves accursed they were not here, And hold their 

manhood cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day! 

Of course the small band of Britons defeated the entire French army that fateful day with not a single 

casualty. Was the opening line, ""He which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart; his passport shall be 

made, And crowns for convoy put into his purse: We would not die in that man's company That fears his 

fellowship to die with us." the opinion of Hitler held by his associates in the High Command, the ones who 

were sending him away, or was the rest of the speech to represent some grand future resurrection and victory 

at some future time? 

Despite these romantic, heroic visions, the top ranking Nazi officials knew they couldn't win the war. They 

were all desperately trying to preserve the birthing of the Fourth Reich and at the same time trying to figure 

out a way of escape for themselves. There is a great deal of evidence that seems to indicate that they were 

making extensive plans to go underground for quite some time, even from before the beginning of the war, 

should their machinations fail, the DREAM of the Reich would continue. 

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) stems from an organization once known as the OSS, Overseas 

Secret Service also originally called the Office of Special Services, which worked very closely with Allied 

Intelligence forces throughout WWII. The then head of the OSS in Germany directly after the war was Colonel 

Kevin Stapleford. He was approached by a Senior SS Colonel, a female Nazi Intelligence Officer named 

Magda Zeitfeld, who wished to offer her services to the United States Government. She worked in 

Berchtesgåaden, and was apparently one of Germany's top intelligence agents. She had also been sending 

the Allies information since the spring of 1944, acting as a double agent, because the SS she worked for had 

murdered her father and brother, under very mysterious circumstances. When the war was over, she stripped 

off her uniform, put on a fetching red dress and surrendered to the Allies offering her services. The man she 

surrendered to, due to her counter-intel espionage for the Allies, was Col. Stapleford himself, and the head of 

the OSS and this former SS Colonel, later got married and settled in Tucson, Arizona. 

Her father had the biggest plastic surgery clinic in Berlin. He was a pioneer in the field, and well financed by 

the Nazis, due to their obsession with physical perfection, and was doing a landmark business. He pioneered 

and specialized in implanted facial prosthetics, using highly advanced silicates to build up weak jaws and 

noses to fit the German fashion of chiseled strength. The father had put her and her brother through medical 

school to eventually join the family business. Soon there was a whole family of plastic surgeons. Though she 



showed exceptional artistry and talent, the war thwarted her medical ambitions. 

Magda was cashiered into the military, received a direct commission into the German Army and was then 

hand picked by the SS due to her beauty, intelligence and medical background. She told her soon to be 

husband Colonel Stapleford, about three men, exceptionally high level Nazi officials, that were brought to her 

father's clinic under a veil of extreme security and secrecy in the fall of 1943. Her father and brother were 

required to drastically alter the appearance of each of the men. 

The father and the son studied the faces of each of them for a few days, becoming intimately aquatinted with 

their features and bone structure. Unbeknownst to the Nazi's, her father and brother consulted Magda for her 

artistic abilities and opinion and asked her assistance in the final drawings. Three different sketches were 

drawn for each man, indicating the potential changes that could be made to each of their faces. 

Strangely enough, they each chose faces with very large, exaggerated Semitic, Jewish noses. (One wonders 

if they didn't also give them the black horned rimmed glasses with the glued on fuzzy eyebrows to complete 

the disguise!) Through various bits of information they deduced that these men were preparing to board a 

submarine that was being prepared at Bremerhaven. They had to be ready by a certain time, a schedule the 

doctors barely met. 

When their faces were altered, the post-op performed and the stitches were removed and the scars 

sufficiently healed, the three men disappeared, just as stealthily as they had arrived under the same supreme 

security. 

Through local connections, and Magda's high security clearances, she picked up clues that the submarine 

was in the intelligence service, and that it had put out to sea in Bremerhaven, and that the sub had 

successfully run the Atlantic blockade and was in the South Pacific. 

The men's names were never given to the plastic surgeons. No identities, nothing. The doctors were only 

given as much information as they would need to conduct the surgery requested. They worked on important 

"men". There were no documents, no paperwork, no nothing. Although the father, son and, unknown to the 

SS, Magda, were very well aware of who these "Men" were after such intimate study and contact. 

Two of the men were Martin Borman and Adolph Hitler. 



Magda had access to and supervised a program, which created four "doppelgangers" or doubles for Hitler. 

Some of that work was also performed earlier at her family's clinic. This was all just considered a smart 

security decision. The four doubles, were all the same height and same build as the Führer, which was not a 

problem because he was a very 'average' looking man. The doubles were given voice and movement 

instruction, and they mastered Hitler's soft conversational voice and distinctive walk. Their faces and dental 

work were altered, and even their spines were broken in the same place where Hitler had been injured in the 

First World War. German efficiency left nothing to chance. 

But the one thing that none of these doppelgangers could ever hope to duplicate, was Hitler's hypnotic, 

charismatic public speaking style. His ability to sway a crowd had never been matched or equaled. The 

doubles would be good for public appearances, parties, or maybe meetings or briefings where Hitler was not 

expected to have that much interaction with his underlings. 

"The doubles never addressed a crowd." Magda emphasized. "Statements were always read for them. That 

was the only way you could tell if it was really Hitler. The doubles just didn't have his charm. That's why you 

won't find Hitler speaking to a crowd on any WWII News Reels at any time after September of 1943. He had 

gone underground and if one of the doubles were to have given a speech everyone would have immediately 

realized the deception. Hitler was gone, the staff was running Germany, and the doubles were the figure 

heads." 

It is an established fact that Hitler never gave a public speech after the fall of 1943 and most of his personal 

private staff were dispersed, relocated or given other assignments. 

Two weeks after the "Men" left her family's clinic, and sufficient time had passed to be sure there was no need 

to go back for follow up treatment, the hospital was raided and the entire staff, including both Magda's father 

and brother, were brutally murdered, and the clinic was burned to the ground, files and all. Magda knew that it 

was the Nazi's who had done this, if fact it was a division within the SS for whom she worked. She knew they 

wanted to remove all the evidence and ensure that no one could describe what these men looked like then, or 

forever after. Well, this was her own family. She wasn't loyal enough to the Nazi's to let this go without feeling 

some desire to avenge the brutal murder of her father and her brother. 

In fact, there was not a single record left in all of Germany that could be used to identify Hitler after the war. 

Every doctor that had ever been affiliated with him, having even second hand knowledge, had simply 

vanished into thin air. The one exception to this was a lone dental assistant who been called in to help the 



dentist she worked for, clean Hitler's teeth on two occasions. When the "bones" of Hitler were brought out of 

their Berlin bunker, the Bolsheviks asked her to draw a picture of what she remembered Hitler's teeth to look 

like. After ten hours of deliberation, which followed days of brutal interrogation of the hapless nurse, with 

Patton breathing down their neck, and the eyes of the world upon them, the Russians decided the sketch and 

the teeth they had matched. Stalin was not convinced, but went along with the public version of the story, not 

wanting to tarnish the Russian victory or embarrass himself or his country, by letting the world know that they 

had let Adolph Hitler slip through their fingers. 

He was in fact, by then, history anyway. 

Magda continued to work for the SS, even though she was rapidly becoming a potential asset to U.S. 

Intelligence, and began to leak information to the Allies. When the war ended she had no family to go back to. 

Germany had collapsed. She had nothing left. That's when she approached the OSS. She no longer feared 

what the Fourth Reich could do to her, there was nothing left for them to destroy. They had already taken her 

life. Upon offering her services to the United States, she found herself spending a great deal of time with 

Colonel Stapleford (the Head of the OSS) who couldn't wait to find out how much she knew. She knew a great 

deal and there was much that she wanted to tell him. He was intrigued by Nazi intelligence, but he was even 

more intrigued by Magda's intelligence. They fell in love and were married and moved from the bad memories 

of war torn Europe to the American Southwest. 

The Colonel & Magda Stapleford moved to Arizona and took up residence in the northern part of Tucson, in 

the foothills there. The OSS went out of existence and was replaced by what is now the CIA. After that, 

Colonel Stapleford ended up going to work for Howard Hughes, as head of the Hughes Intelligence Network. 

The Colonel retired and then decided it was time for a change, so they sold their house and bought a new 

one. 

"Whose shoulder did it hang over?" Wendelle Stevens asked her, breaking her reverie and bringing her with a 

jolt back to the present. "You said the painting of the Shepherd boy, the Raphel, hung over 'his' shoulder. 

Who?" 

"Mein Führer", she replied flatly. "Adolph Hitler. I was in his office hundreds of times, and that was his favorite. 

It hung on the wall over his right shoulder every day that he was Chancellor." 

She thought for a moment and jumped up. "Just a moment!" and she bustled into the next room. 



Stevens had been all over the planet seeking out the strangest of the strange for most of his adult life, and 

now he truly marveled at what he might have gotten himself into!! Could it be? Could this unassuming little 

priest be...? 

Magda came back into the room with a pair of scissors in her hand, which she laid down on the table. She laid 

flat a black and white portrait that was over laid by a white sheet of paper. She had cut a large kidney shaped 

piece of the paper out, so that only the eyes, forehead and ears of the man in the picture were visible. 

"Look at this very carefully." she said. "Examine every detail. You analyzed pictures for your American Air 

Force for many years, yes? Use all those talents to look at this now." 

Wendelle leaned forward getting very close studying every facet of the obscured portrait. An involuntary 

shiver went through his body, his eyes went wide and a space began to open in his head as a terrifying 

realization dawned. 

"Is that not your Father Krespi?" Magda demanded. "Are those his eyes? His forehead? His ears?" 

"Why...yes. That is him exactly," Stevens said, his head swimming. "This man is much younger..." He reached 

for the slide on the table and held it up to the light, glancing back and forth. "But yes, without the wrinkles or 

liver spots...I would say that this is definitely the same man." 

Magda dramatically took away the cover sheet like a magician pulling a cape from a successful illusion. 

"There is your 'Priest!' "she exclaimed, almost spitting out the last word. 

The picture was Adolph Hitler. 

"This is impossible!" Wendelle at last protested. "Hitler shot himself and his body was burned in that bunker!" 

"Oh, dear man," Magda clucked, "we expected to fool the dull stupid Russians with that story. Not you clever 

Americans." 

"But Father Krespi spoke fluent Italian, with a perfect accent to all the other priests and the people on his 

staff," Stevens protested. "Hitler didn't speak Italian." 



Magda slowly smiled to her herself. "Did you know that Hitler's mother was a staunch Roman Catholic from 

northern Italy? Did you know that his first language was Italian, and it was all he spoke until he was 12 years 

old?" 

Stevens was in shock. 

"In any of the news reels or films," Magda went on slowly, "did you ever see an interpreter between him and 

Mussolini? No. Never. He used to speak Italian to his staff in the Chancellor's office all the time. He would 

even revert to it when he got angry. It's where he got that rhythm that so hypnotized people." 

Stevens sat deep in thought for a long moment, then took a gamble. If this was all true it was one of the 

greatest stories he had ever heard, but it needed absolute confirmation. 

"Come with me," he said suddenly. "Come with me to Ecuador. You can confirm it for your self, and meet him 

face to face." 

Magda thought about it for a considered moment. "No...no, I cannot" she concluded at last. "If I was to go with 

you, it would be like signing my own death warrant. The Forth Reich is very real and very powerful. If I was to 

meet him my life would not be worth, how do you say, 'a plug nickel'." 

"But," she raised her finger to make a point, "If Father Krespi and Adolph Hitler are one in the same, which I 

am convinced of, and the reports that Martin Borman later moved to Cuence, Ecuador are true, then that 

would confirm my intelligence that that the headquarters of the Forth Reich is in that place." 

She paused for effect and continued more ominously. "They have an almost all powerful intelligence 

operation there, and they do control politics throughout South and Central America. They make and break 

political parties and presidents down there. No. I am quite certain that if I was to go with you I would not be 

able to successfully get out again." 

Father Krespi's background is even more mysterious, but correlates directly to the story told by Mrs. Magda 

Stapleford to Lt. Colonel Wendelle Stevens. Krespi claimed to have come from an Italian/Austrian family in 

Northern Italy, and came to the Vatican to study in 1943. He took seminary, did his time as a novitiate and 

was ordained into the priesthood, all within the protective walls of the Vatican, an unheard of practice, that 



have never been repeated before or since. In fact, Krespi never set foot outside Vatican City, which has the 

status and diplomatic immunity of a Sovereign Country, recognized by every nation state in the world, until the 

mid 1950s. 

Krespi was given a position far out stepping his humble rank and status as a Novitiate, of Art Curator of the 

Vatican Archives, more popularly called 'The Catacombs', because they consist of a series of highly secure 

tunnels and vaults under Vatican City. This made him responsible for viewing and cataloging a collection 

valued at billions of dollars, and put him in the singularly unique position of being the receiver of the priceless 

collections that had been looted by the Nazis in Europe, much of which some how fell into the Vatican's 

hands. 

Those who might think that the Vatican would be above receiving the stolen goods of a ravished Europe or 

harboring high level Nazis, even Hitler himself, have not been keeping abreast of current events. 

Switzerland's largest bank confirmed on Monday, July 28, 1997, that documents discovered in its shredder 

room by a night watchman may have been related to property sold by Jews under the Nazis. 

The Union Bank of Switzerland had previously maintained that the documents salvaged by the guard, 

Christopher Meili, were unrelated to dormant accounts of Holocaust victims. 

But a statement Monday acknowledged the documents might have some relation to the victims. Jewish 

groups have criticized Swiss banks for not being forthright in revealing records of Jewish gold and assets that 

disappeared in Switzerland following the war. 

Some of the shredder room documents were relevant to the research of an international panel of historians 

investigating Switzerland's dealings with the Nazis, the panel's secretary, Linus von Castelmur, told The 

Associated Press, but he declined to elaborate. 

Union Bank said it had copies of documents relating to "the case of three properties, for the purchase of 

which a German bank in 1937 acted as intermediary and whose previous owners were possibly Jews." 

Since Jews were under Nazi pressure to sell their property in Germany at prices well below market values, 

the mortgages for a 1937 sale of property, possibly by Jews, could well come under the scope of the 

commission's work. Documents related to the sale were in the shredder room. 



Meili, who lost his job after turning the documents over to a Jewish organization in January, is under 

investigation for breaking Switzerland's banking secrecy rules, has fled to the United States with his wife and 

two children because he said he felt their lives were in danger. The U.S. Congress has moved to give them 

permanent residence status. 

Union Bank admitted that its chief archivist shredded documents earlier this year, but it is not known how 

many or which documents were destroyed. 

The bank also admitted the documents' destruction violated a law requiring preservation of any evidence that 

might relate to investigations into the World War II era. 

Just last week, Swiss banks broke their tradition of secrecy, publishing a list of 1,872 names of holders of 

dormant accounts from the WWII-era - a move intended to help heirs of Holocaust victims trace assets buried 

in bureaucracy and silence. 

The published accounts add up to about $42 million kept in 67 banks. The banks previously said they could 

find only $27 million. 

Today's statement by the bank for the first time gave statistics on the documents salvaged by Meili. It gave no 

details on any documents that had already been shredded. 

The statement said Meili took a total of 65 property files, and that 47 of them related to the period before and 

during the war. The rest were from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Twenty-two documents were from the 1930s and 

40s, the bank said. The Nazis came to power in 1933. 

The bank declined to state definitively if documents taken by Meili related to Holocaust victims, saying that is 

"ultimately for the (panel of experts) to decide." 

In a related story to this, the Associated Press reported later on that same week: 

Vatican Denies Holding Gold 



WASHINGTON (AP) -- Swiss banks aren't the only facilities accused of safeguarding plundered Nazi-era 

gold. A newly declassified document identifies the Vatican as a postwar repository used by the ousted Nazi 

puppet government of Croatia. In the first evidence of Vatican complicity in the handling of Holocaust loot, a 

document uncovered by researchers points to 200 million Swiss francs, mostly in gold coins, held for 

members of the deadly Ustasha after the fall of Nazi Germany. 

If the 200 million Swiss francs were still held today, it would be valued at about $170 million, plus hundreds of 

millions more in accumulated interest. 

The Vatican today denied the accusation. "There is no basis in reality to the report," said Vatican spokesman 

Joaquin Navarro-Valls. He said it is based on an anonymous source "whose reliability is more than dubious." 

The Ustashas who controlled Croatia during the war exterminated hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews and 

Gypsies, and historians have denounced the Vatican for maintaining ties to the regime led by Ante Pavelic. A 

Croatian cardinal was convicted by the postwar communist government of abetting war crimes. 

The document, disclosed by researchers for an A&E Television documentary, is an internal U.S. Treasury 

Department memo kept secret for 50 years. It is among 15 million U.S. documents related to the safekeeping 

of Nazi-plundered gold, mostly by Swiss banks. {Emphasis mine.} New details of the scandal continue to 

emerge as various researchers pore over the trove. 

"Approximately 200 million Swiss francs was originally held in the Vatican for safekeeping," says the 

declassified Oct. 21, 1946, memo from Treasury agent Emerson Bigelow to his superior, Harold Glasser, 

identified as director of monetary research. 

The document surfaced after A&E producers Stephen Crisman and Gaylen Ross finished a two-hour 

documentary on Switzerland's handling of Nazi gold, so it is not reported in the program, which is being 

shown on the cable channel July 26. 

The program details shipments of gold ingots by the fascist Romanian government to Swiss banks to keep 

from the Allies and dealings of the secretive Bank of International Settlement, run by American Thomas 

McKittrick, which Ross said laundered gold for the Nazis in Switzerland. 

Ross provided a copy of the memo on the Vatican to The Associated Press, and other researchers vouched 



for its authenticity. It contained declassification markings dated Dec. 31, 1996. 

Other documents establish that Bigelow received reliable information from the American Overseas Special 

Services, precursor of the CIA, on Nazi wealth held in specific Swiss bank accounts. 

The memo quotes a "reliable source in Italy," apparently a U.S. intelligence source, as saying the Ustasha 

organization removed 350 million Swiss francs from funds it had confiscated in Croatia, then part of 

Yugoslavia. 

The memo says 150 million Swiss francs were impounded by British authorities at the Austrian-Swiss border 

and the balance was held in the Vatican. 

While stating that as a fact, the document cites rumors that a considerable portion of the Vatican-held money 

was sent to Spain and Argentina through the Vatican's "pipeline," but says the rumors might be a 

"smokescreen to cover the fact that the treasure remains in its original repository" at the Vatican. 

A number of Ustashas, including Pavelic, found refuge in either Spain or Argentina after the Nazi defeat. 

Several investigations are following the trail of Nazi plundering after World War II. 

In another development, the Swiss Bankers' Association is trying to resolve claims to looted gold by buying 

space in newspapers around the world this week to list owners of all dormant accounts dating to World War II, 

The Times of London reported today. 

Surviving account holders or their heirs will be encouraged to come forward to settle the accounts, the 

newspaper said. Any money unclaimed a year from now will be donated to charities chosen by the 

association and Jewish groups. 

'End Story' 

Once ordained in 1956, Father Krespi was sent to a remote jungle station in the Jivaria, Montaña Region of 

Eastern Ecuador. Here he met the Jîvaro Indians a tribe famous for their fierceness and their head shrinking. 

Living in the tropical forest, they hunted with blowguns, and the ancient Inca of Peru probably taught the 



Jivaro how to keep llamas and guinea pigs for food and wool. The villages were fortified with trenches filled 

with spears, and they would usually only personally fight to avenge the honor or death of a relative. The 

victorious warrior would cut off his fallen enemy's head and shrink it to be worn as a battle trophy or adorn the 

doorway of his hut. About 10,000 Jivaro live in Ecuador today, having mostly given up warfare, living 

peacefully thanks in part to the Catholic missionaries. Krespi discovered the Jivaro were a special racial type, 

which seemed unique, even in blood chemistry, from the other South American Indian Civilizations. They 

have rather large cranial capacities and are extremely intelligent. Krespi found them to be a pure race, with 

good strong physiques who were very loyal and trusting to those they accepted as part of their tribe. 

You may recall that one of Hitler's original pet projects had been a youth program. He had wanted to raise a 

race of pure Germanic youths and thus actively recruited young men and women (as well as boys and girls), 

and put them in camps, where they were selectively bred to produce this pure racial type. This was done in 

conjunction with various German scientists from the previously noted scientific societies. This project failed, 

(we think), because it was found by the rest of the world to be quite repugnant. From there the program, like 

everything else we are finding out about Germany, went underground. But here it's a new time, a new place, 

and a new race and Krespi, now on his own, has another go at it. 

Father Krespi's first act was to establish a boys school where these Jivaro children would be taught to read 

and write and were provided a level of education that would adequately prepare them to move forward to 

another Catholic mission, further up the line, where they would attend an elementary school. This was 

reportedly the first time that Jivarian Indian children had actually had any schooling, of any kind. Father Krespi 

served in a lower capacity as a teacher and administrator for only a few months, and was then moved forward 

to the next school. 

The Vatican found out about his "hobby" of breeding a pure racial strain, and relocated Krespi once again. 

He later shows up as the head of the Saliciano Order at this church in Cuenca, Ecuador, in, of all places, the 

same city where Martin Borman had set up the headquarters of the Fourth Reich. This unassuming man was 

now the head of the poorest of the poor churches in the region, with all the priests having taken the severest 

vows of poverty. They denied themselves even the most minimal of living comforts. Krespi slept in a cell on a 

stone floor, rolled in only a blanket, as did most of his local Indian parishioners. He also ate what they did, 

hard grains and a kind of small hard bread. 

Krespi was a beautiful old man, at the time Wendelle Stevens first met him. He was said to be 87 years old, 



but was spry, erect and had startling clear blue eyes. His hair was long and he had a flowing white beard. His 

cassock was frayed at the hem, and his shoes were so worn they cracked open at the sides. His sleeves 

were also frayed and had been turned over once and hemmed 

His congregation was composed of a group of mostly old men and Indian women; most of them carrying 

babies on their backs. There are very few men in the entire town, and all of these were very old, with 

apparently no young, healthy men to be seen. Krespi's church had a board door, had no pews and every one 

stood for the services. There were some Spanish paintings hanging on the walls on display. The Indians 

would come in the back door, stand against the wall, and Krespi would begin to say the daily mass for them. 

Colonel Stevens went to the services and noted that they were quite routine and mundane. 

"I attended several of his masses and they were mechanical, they weren't devote at all", Stevens said later. 

"You know, the Catholic Priests I've known are usually quite devoted... when they elevate the host and adore 

it before they consume it. This priest raised it mechanically, looked at it, lowered it, put it in his mouth and 

masticated it, then sipped the wine, wiped off the wine glass... he did everything correctly, but not adoringly. 

Like a bored robot." 

It didn't make any difference to the Indians though, because the whole service was in Latin anyway. At the 

end of the service, when Father Krespi said, "Go in Peace" they turned toward the door and waited. The old 

Father would remove his ceremonial vestments, then go down through the crowd and take his position at the 

door. 

He was wearing a cassock with deep pockets on either side, and as each member of the congregation left he 

would reach into one of those pockets and come out with something. He'd take the hand of each Indian in his, 

and put his other hand over the top of theirs and then say something to them. He'd then bless them and they 

would leave the church, taking with them whatever it was that he had had in his hand. It turned out that he 

was giving them each one of the big Ecuadorian coins. It was enough to buy a bottle of papaya juice and a 

pancita (a loaf of hard bread), and that would be enough to buy them food for the day. 

"Father, I've got to say that this is the strangest Church I've ever been in, " The Colonel remarked to Father 

Krespi later on. "You don't pass a collection plate, and when the people leave you give them money." 

Father Krespi looked away and sadly shook his head. "My son," he said in his strangely accented Spanish, 



"these people have nothing. What little money I give to them is all they have. There is a mass every morning, 

and every day they come, and when they leave they receive just enough money to last them one more day." 

He put his hands behind his back and raised up on his toes. "It's all I can do for them." 

"Here is a man," Stevens observed, "who is sitting on billions of dollars worth of art yet he's wearing the 

poorest of clothes, and giving out a small coin to each of the Indians as they leave his parish. Was it 'all he 

could do', or was it 'the least he could do?'" 

Later, the little priest led Stevens and his party down a narrow corridor to an inner court, up two flights of 

stairs, around a balcony to left and opened a locked wooden door. In the room there were some beautiful old 

Spanish Colonial paintings, their subjects in pain and sorrow over the plight of Christ. 

The painting containing all the keys to finding the great Kinara Treasure was also there. More than 40 chests 

of gold and silver in a caravan bound for Quito from Cuzco were buried in the Kinara Desert during a civil war. 

A local artist painted the clues to its recovery into a beautiful landscape scene and hung it in the parish 

church. A subsequent earthquake changed the landscape and two of the clues. To this day, no one has 

deciphered the altered topography correctly and the treasure still lies buried. 

Stevens's friend and guide, Osvaldo, had seen another room full of paintings on the same floor. He asked to 

see them, too. The priest hesitated, but was finally persuaded, and he agreed to bring some of them out if the 

men would wait in the library nearby. 

He brought in several Spanish Colonials that were similar to the ones from the walls of the little church, and 

as he gathered them up to bring out some others, Osvaldo said, "Let me carry those for you," and followed 

the priest out of the room, winking at his friends. When they returned, among the Spanish Colonials--which 

were much better than the paintings from the first collection--were some Flemish and Venetian-style works. 

They quickly photographed everything they could. 

When Osvaldo went to help the priest return the paintings, he followed him out of the room, then winked and 

jerked his head at Stevens and his friend to quietly follow them. 

Inside the room they saw thousands of paintings. Some were in partly opened wooden boxes; hundreds were 

stacked on their sides, like books on a shelf, others in heaps in the corner, all without frames. Some were still 

on stretchers; others were rolled up, while some had apparently been cut out of their frames with a knife. 



The old priest was upset that the men had snuck into his room and he shooed them out and locked the door 

behind him. However he did let them look at the paintings that Osvaldo was already carrying out. Some 

looked like Biblical paintings and others had the unmistakable fine detail, composition and color of the 

classics. One pair was painted in reverse on the back of heavy glass so that the painter had to start from the 

front, and then finish off the painting working backwards. This was the piece that Magda Stapleford claimed 

was looted from her family's ancestral home in Bavaria. Another was painted on a slab of translucent marble 

and had to be viewed with back lighting like a stained glass window. Another was the bust of an old hairless 

gentleman with a brown robe over his shoulder which still had an engraved label on the back which read in 

French "Property of the Gran Montrouge" and a number branded on the stretcher frame. 

"I came into possession of these paintings quite by accident," Father Krespi explained. "I was the Superior of 

a missionary whose parish was a small jungle village on the east side of the Andes, about six kilometers from 

the coast." He shrugged his shoulders as he sat. "The missionary had given the sacraments to a new convert 

in the village, who then died and left his home and possessions to the church. It seems the convert had no 

heirs, but had lived there a long time. He arrived about 30 years ago in a truck with his possessions, built a 

house and lived there the rest of his life. 

""He was a white man," the priest said stroking his beard and looking off in the distance, who at first spoke 

with a foreign accent, but over the years he blended in and attracted little attention. He was unmarried had no 

children, lived alone, never received visitors, was retired and lived on his pension. 

"When the man fell ill" he continued, "I tried to help him, but he refused to let a doctor treat him and he would 

not leave his home. He asked for the sacraments and I baptized him. 

"After he died, he left us everything. I went to take inventory and under the floor I found a room with several 

large wooden boxes and I was surprised to find...." he made a gesture to the paintings in front of him and 

back to the room they had just left. 

"I notified my Superior and they were all taken here, to the parent parish." he concluded, looking a bit weak 

from having told such a long story. He smiled, slyly and stroked his beard. 

Three weeks later Stevens was in Guayaquil, when he stopped into the only American hamburger stand in 

the whole city, as he was feeling homesick and needed a treat. The owner, an American widow named Betty 



Mann, struck up a conversation with him, both of them happy to meet a fellow American and speak English 

again. 

Wendelle mentioned the story the priest told and all about the amazing paintings he had seen, and Betty said 

she had a story to tell that might fill in a few puzzle pieces for him. 

Sometime in late 1943, a foreigner with a thick German accent contacted her late husband, a mining 

engineer, who owned a small yacht, and hired him to take the German deep-sea fishing. He chartered the 

boat and he and Mr. Mann sailed out to a precise spot south of the Galapagos Islands. The German had 

given Mann exact coordinates and wanted to be taken to the precise spot. 

About 4:00 PM that afternoon, a huge black unmarked submarine surfaced just to the port. Men came out of 

the conning tower onto the deck and hailed them. A man came aboard; followed by a crew of sailors who 

loaded a number of heavy boxes aboard the yacht. Mann was now ordered to sail to a coastal point indicated 

on a map. When they arrived, Mann helped the two men haul the crates ashore until they were all on the 

beach, which took several hours. Then the newcomer was left on the beach and Mann and his charter 

customer sailed back to Guayaquil. 

The German paid Mann exceptionally well, almost three times his rate, and reminded him that he was an 

American in Ecuador, and that he had just become party to a smuggling operation. 

"Our friend and those boxes will never be found and no one would believe you if you decided to go the 

authorities anyway," The German chuckled evilly, patting the American on the back. 

Mann never told anybody but his wife, and he passed away and that was all Betty ever learned of the strange 

adventure. 

"I can tell you that I personally know that Martin Borman lived in Cuenca and I have been to the address." 

Wendelle Stevens said emphatically at one point in our interview. "I know who he is. I know what he was 

doing. Since we were strangers in town, asking a lot of questions, we had a difficult time trying to prove to him 

that we weren't Nazi hunting. But we were meeting with Krespi all the time and they were very upset about 

that. 

"We were 'asked' to go home. A group of very tall blond men broke into our hotel, gathered us together all in 



one room and held us at gun point, ordering us to leave the country or they would be back in a 'not so good 

mood.' " Wendelle concluded, shaking his head, remembering the experience vividly. 

Father Krespi passed away in 1993. By tradition, the Saliciano Order, simply wrapped their priests in a 

shroud, with no coffin or pomp and circumstance, and buried them with only a small humble wooden cross to 

mark the site. Over two thousand people coming from all parts of the world mobbed this small town to attend 

his funeral. Father Krespi was interned in a beautifully ornate polished teakwood coffin, with baroque gold 

handles placed in a gleaming white marble mausoleum, on a hill over looking the church and the entire city 

where he had lived and worked for so many years. His funeral had all the trappings and ceremony of that of a 

president or king. The white marble sepulchre is polished and cleaned every week, and is constantly adorned 

with flowers. All this largess from "Anonymous Admirers". 

Colonel Wendelle Stevens was back in Ecuador for the funeral, only to watch, a few days later, the entire 

magnificent collection of Father Krespi and the Saliciano Order, be loaded, lock stock and barrel, onto two 

airplanes stuffed to the brim, to be flown to join their brethren in the Archives of the Vatican. 

"We watched the Boeing 707 jet transports being loaded with treasure from his storage room," Stevens said 

sadly, shaking his head at the loss to all mankind. "It included gold plaques and solid gold statues and many 

of the paintings looted from Europe and the rest of the world. All gone. All right there, slipping through our 

fingers. Never again to see the light of day." 

Father Krespi and Adolph Hitler. 



According to Magda Stapleford, Hitler's nose was surgically altered by members of her family to look "more 

Semetic" before he was smuggled out of Germany in late 1943 or early 1944. Notice the remarkable similarity 

of the ears, eyes, forehead, shape of the head, cheek and jowl line. Obviously changing slightly with maturity 

and age. 

The picture of Hitler was taken when he was in his 40's and the picture of Father Krespi was taken when he 

was in his 80's. Is this the same man? 

10. An article translated from a Spanish magazine, "The Cave of the Tayos" by Pablo Villarrubia 

Mauso. 

Guayaquil, Ecuador. 

Jaime Rodríguez, popular researcher and reporter of UFO phenomena and other mysteries of humanity on 

Ecuadorian and Chilean television, received me in his house to talk. One of the basic topics was that of the 

Caves of the Tayos, a famous subject, supposedly a treasure trove of gold and silver that also contains a 

"hidden history" of humanity, according to its main activist, the Hungarian-Argentinean deceased Juan 

Moricz. 

"Some years ago I produced a documentary for television about The Cave of the Tayos. We were in the area 

but we didn't have enough resources to go in very far. We spoke with the natives that live in the region and, 

among other things, they assured us that there, below the earth, their gods live." 

"And what can you comment on the cyclopean constructions that appear in some of the photos of the 

expeditions? 

"Ceilings of very refined granite are found that demonstrate a high level of engineering knowledge. There are 

structures of perfectly worked blocks and andesite vaults. Everything suggests the presence of gigantic 

machines and unknown tools; angles in the ceilings that make one think of the advanced architectural designs 

of privileged minds. The Japanese cave explorers say that they have never seen anything like it." 

"What did they see? " 



"They went in very well equipped and they traveled more than 7 Km into the caves, although much more 

remains to be explored. The Japanese found a type of living room about 50 meters high and taller stone 

statues that a normal person. 

Jaime Rodríguez suspects that in the expeditions that Moricz made to the Tayos Cave, besides the scientific 

and cultural interest, "there was an economic interest as well. Some people said that near the Tayos there 

was petroleum. Notice that, (not) surprisingly, the conflict of the 90's between Ecuador and Peru took place 

exactly in the region of the Tayos, that which was bombed savagely", Rodríguez mentioned with concern. 

In the conversation the name of another key character also came out in the los Tayos history: the lawyer 

Gerardo Pena, friend of Juan Moricz. "I interviewed him and he confirmed that the expeditions also searched 

to confirm the existence of a network of tunnels that may even reach as far as the cave of Caripe, in 

Venezuela. I was tempted by an offer of von Däniken, of $200,000 dollars, to finance an expedition, but, 

according to declarations made by Moricz recorded on video in the 70's, we know that Moricz took von 

Däniken on a tour around the Ecuadorian town of Cuenca and its surroundings, but that von Daniken was 

never with him in the Tayos Cave. Moricz loaned photos of the Tayos Cave to the Swiss writer that were then 

published in his books." 

Quito, Ecuador. Jijon and Caamaño Museum. 

I had arranged an interview with Ernesto Salazar, director of the museum. During two hours we spoke of the 

fabulous archaeological relics of Ecuador and it gave me the opportunity to ask him about the Tayos Cave 

and about Juan Moricz. 

"In the years of the 60's and 70's the media often spoke of Moricz with certain regularity. He lived for a time in 

Loja, in the south of the country. In that city I spoke with some students that had worked with Moricz. He 

taught them to dig and they went to Quinara, an area where it is said that a hidden treasure of the Incas 

exists. The Hungarian started them digging everywhere and assured them that shortly they would find the 

treasure, but they didn't find anything." 

"Do you believe that megalithic constructions exist in the Cave of the Tayos like those that Moricz describes 

and that appear in the photos?", I asked Salazar. 

"There are several different Caves of the Tayos. I saw the photos taken by the deceased father Porras and 



they seemed like sedimentary formations that being plane and horizontal, only appear to be cyclopean walls 

made with big blocks. However, they are still impressive... and if there were people in the cave in the remote 

past, as father Porras confirmed, they likely left ceramic objects and tools of stone." 

Salazar pointed out, among the archaeological pieces of the museum, those "seats" from Manabi, 

constructed in stone whose use is a mystery. Salazar stopped and recalled a memory: "When I worked in the 

Museum of the Central Bank, one day a gentleman brought me some photos of tablets, those of Glozel 

(France), and told me that they resembled those of father Crespi in Cuenca and those of Moricz. That man in 

question had come from Scotland." 

Could it have been Stanley Hall who visited Salazar those years ago...? We remember that Hall was the 

leader of the expedition to the Cave of the Tayos in 1976, whose godfather, astronaut Neil Armstrong is also 

of Scottish origin. 

Or could it have been some other friend or associate of Hall? The writing and tablets of Glozel have been a 

topic of many debates as far as their authenticity and antiquity, possibly one in the oldest written records of 

humanity. 

The certain thing is that the enigma of the metallic pages of the Cave of the Tayos is that it has been a 

continuously active subject over the years. There are more than 400 caves with that same name between the 

territories of Ecuador and Peru. The secret of the exact location within the cave that contains the fabulous 

treasure of the intraterrestrials might as well be buried next to its main investigator: the 

Hungarian-Argentinean Juan Moricz, deceased in 1991 or the Spanish-Argentinean Julio Aguado Goyen, 

deceased in 1999. 

Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

There I met with Javier Stagnaro, friend of Julio Aguado Goyen - collaborator of Moricz - who commented on 

interesting aspects of the deceased cave explorer who died in an accident in the province of Mendoza. The 

friendship between Aguado and Moricz from 1967 was due to that both shared similar ideas regarding the 

intraterrestrial origin of humanity and to the supposed existence of a network of tunnels that exists below the 

entire western side of South America. 

The Argentinean magazine "Siete Dias" published certain opinions for several years of Aguado in this respect 



of the metallic pages of the Tayos: "The metallic pages should contain a history of the 'men of the red race' 

that emigrated from 'Lemuria' or a southern country. A continent existed for thousands of years and extended 

from Australia, Melanesia and Polynesian, to the south of Asia, and to America. The Pacific Ocean at that 

time didn't exist. Everything was mainland, but it was sinking little by little and those Lemurians then 

emigrated toward The Andes. They became accustomed to the natural caves of the mountain range and they 

even cultivated crops in the higher regions. They also built earthquake-proof structures, of those we still find 

vestiges. And they didn't stop in America, they also migrated to Egypt, India, the Pyrenees, commented 

Aguado to the previously mentioned newspaper. 

On Moricz, Stagnaro made some very interesting comments. "He was a nationalized Argentinean but 

continued to maintain an Ecuadorian nationality, although he felt Argentinean. According to Aguado, in 1968 

he reached an agreement with the lieutenant-general Juan Carlos Ongania (later president of Argentina), to 

form an expedition with the government's support. Aguado was the mediator in the negotiations and had filled 

a file with confidential documentation that then disappeared from the Presidency of the country. In the file 

were pictures of the pages of gold, images that were never published. Aguado always maintained that nothing 

in the file had anything to do with metallic pages possessed by father Crespi in Cuenca (Ecuador). Moricz, in 

order to convince Ongania, offered Aguado a metallic page from the library to show Ongania. Aguado told 

him that he didn't want that responsibility. When they wanted to recover the file that was left in the Presidency, 

this it had disappeared." 

In a conversation that Stagnaro had on the telephone with Moricz, Moricz commented that he could not reveal 

the secret contained in the metallic library of the Tayos. "Moricz wanted to make an agreement with a neutral 

country to rent a satellite to make a single transmission only. This was the method that he preferred to inform 

the world of the content of the library. What would be outlined in that message was the origin of humanity." 

Continuing, Stagnaro commented further: "Moricz spoke of a 250,000 year-old culture related to the 

Atlanteans and a race of giant beings. That was his theory. Not arriving at any agreement with Ongania, his 

expeditions were Iimited to those he organized with friends." 

Cave Experiments 

Aguado was not a common explorer. His knowledge permitted him to carry out diverse projects for the 

Argentinean government, especially the "National Underground Map", in 1972. Before, in 1970, he had 

founded the Argentinean Center of Speleology (CAE). With help from the medical community, he was able to 



carry out several isolation experiments in caves and also certain mineralogical studies. 

In 1988 Aguado initiated the "Expedition Coppers '88" together with the noted anthropologist Dick Edgar 

lbarra Grasso, the biologist Jorge Genise, the bat scientist Horacio Casellas and the topographer Gustavo 

Dejean, along with some field assistants and the logistical support of the Genderarms. By the end of 

November of that year, the group had retrieved 203 archaeological pieces. The newspapers billed it this way: 

"They discovered in Salta, the oldest aboriginal site known." They spoke of a culture that inhabited the region 

between 500 B.C. and 700 A.D. and that in a cave they found human vestiges more than 9,000 years old. 

The place in question, they called "El Portrero", 4,200 meters above sea level, in the area of "The Coppers", 

in the department of La Poma, about 80 km. from Chile. 

In 1997 I spoke with Dick Edgar Ibarra Grasso - deceased in 2000 - and he confirmed that "the discovery of 

remains of corn made me think that this plant would have origins in the Argentinean northwest and of the 

south of Bolivia, and that it should extend through the mountain ranges to Mexico. It was also the highest 

point where corn had been cultivated before Columbus times: to 4,200 meters", the professor told me in his 

apartment in Buenos Aires. 

Grasso dedicated his book on Indigenous South America to me. Among its pages is the reproduction of a 

man on an animal from the ancient culture of La Tolita, in Ecuador. Later there is another image, but this one 

is Indonesian and about 1,000 years old with a person in a scene similar to the Ecuadorian one. 

"Any new archaeological material was always donated to the local museums - continues Stagnaro -, they 

never kept anything. In their expeditions, field Gendarmes always went along, in general they belonged to 

government intelligence." 

Akashic Archive 

Less well known was the facet of Aguado as an investigator of UFO phenomenon. He was the director of the 

Institute of Technical Scientific Investigations of the Armed forces (CITEFA, created in 1954 although 

nonexistent in an official way), the only civilian that rubbed shoulders with military Juan Carlos Mascietti 

(president of the group). 

During a meeting with Stagnaro, a UFO investigator Rubén Roman was present that for several years had 

been engaged in an elaborate process of evaluating UFO questionnaires filled out by other UFO 



investigators. "Aguado completed one of my surveys in the past said Roman - and, although he seemed very 

scientific, he was also very spiritual. Those who did not know him thought that he was somebody skeptical in 

relation to the topic of UFO's. Only few people knew that Julio was born in Spain and came to Argentina at a 

very young age", commented Roman. 

Stagnaro continued adding more little known comments about the explorer. "He was a very learned person. 

He had read thousands of books, the same as Moricz and that they had studied at the University of La Plate, 

here in Argentina. Moricz was also a very cultured man, spoke several languages, knew ancient languages 

such as Sumerian, had a library of 70,000 volumes and Aguado, another library of about 25,000. They shared 

an idea of forming, in some place in The Andes, a great library, a kind of Akashic File, in the case of an 

eventual cataclysm." 

Sacred Mountain 

The magazine, "El Cronista" of October 10 1988, announced another expedition of CAE toward the volcano 

Llullaillaco, in the province of Salta, also with the support of Direccion Nacional de Gendarmeria. Among the 

participants were the same ones from the expedition to the Cave of the Witches. The announcement spoke of 

the possible existence of a cavern of walls covered with ancient art, an archaeological site about 15,000 years 

old. 

In one of the most barren places on the planet exists the legendary mountain, Llullaillaca, the second highest 

volcano in the world and the seventh highest mountain in the Americas with an altitude of 6,739 meters above 

the level of the sea. The cavern, about 500 meters in diameter, was like a bubble of air inside the mountain, 

formed between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago during one of the eruptions of the volcano, now apparently 

inactive. There was the highest Inca sanctuary in the world. In the lower hillsides of the mountain, tambos 

(areas of rest) have been discovered, small stone refuges that served to give cover to the messengers of the 

Inca and to provision them with grain. In 1938, doctor Eduardo Jorg and professor Salvador Mazza went in 

search of the great cavern. Jorg learned of the existence of the cave in 1932 through an old mountain guide 

called Valeriano Pantoja. 

"On the side of Llullaillaco - Jorg wrote - there was an entrance seen reflected in a stream. The immense 

cavern of oval entrance has a length of 560 meters. The lights of the lanterns didn't even reach the cave 

ceiling, but were lost in the darkness... ". One of the expedition members compared the cavern to an 

"enormous cathedral inside the earth." 



Treasures in the Volcano 

Among the Iegends that surround the volcano is the treasure of Atahualpa. Seven cargoes went loaded with 

gold toward Cuzco when Pizarro ordered the murder of the Inca Atahualpa. For the Inca's liberation the 

Spaniards demanded that the Inca citizens bring gold from the four points of the empire. Argentina was the 

main point to the south. A shipment of seven cargoes passed Llullaillaco when the Inca guides were notified 

of the death of Atahualpa. Upon learning this, they sacrificed their animals and hid the gold. 

In the province of Salta we had the opportunity of learning of the great interest that the treasure of Llullaillaco 

held for Hans Ulrich Rudel, one of the German aviators of the Second World War. The high authorities of the 

Luftwaff, even Adolf Hitler, considered Rudel one of their best aviators. Among the combat targets destroyed 

by Rudel were more than 600 tanks and armored Russian vehicles. A version - not confirmed - accounts that 

Hitler could have chosen Rudel to follow him in the creation of the IV Reich. 



Hans Rudel 

The former pilot centered his interest in finding the treasure and conducted several expeditions to Llullaillaco. 

The first one was in December of 1953. In a brief announcement to the media - and before Juan Domingos 

Perón who had welcomed him to Argentina - he stated the object of his mission: to search for certain stone 

walls and wooden remains on the summit of the volcano. 

Two versions exist on the search undertaken by Rudel. According to the first he was the one in charge of 

finding the Inca treasure. The second outlined the possibility that he should look for a secure place to hide the 

treasure of the Nazis from Europe. The giant cave might be a good hiding place it was thought. The Nazi 

treasure was composed of thousands of art pieces and ingots of gold and silver. Almost the entire treasure 

was confiscated by the Third Reich from the governments of the nations that the Nazis invaded and from the 

wealthy families that they subjected to their régime. 



At the conclusion of the Second World War a great number of world newspapers reported that several 

German submarines had reached the Argentinean coasts where they disembarked a great number of Nazi 

government officials and holders of high positions in the Nazi party. It is possible that the famous treasure 

went came with them. But there is another version, this practically unknown, that the submarines had arrived 

on the South American coasts of Chile. From there the treasure might have been transferred to some point in 

The Andes, and one of the places could have been the volcano LIullaillaco, adjacent with Argentina. 

The End 

11. A complete list of dozens of tunnel system entrances in North, Central and South America. 

Entrances and Tunnel Systems 

Agharta (Argarti) is said to be the mysterious under ground kingdom located in Asia and linked to the other 

continents of the world by a gigantic network of underground tunnels. Although some have been destroyed 

due to world cataclysms, many are still left today and are in use. The following are thought to be some of 

these entrances and tunnels. 

Afghanistan 

According to British explorer T. Wilkins, the Mongolian tribes of Inner Mongolia believe that there are 

entrances to a great tunnel system that leads to a subterranean world of Antediluvian descent somewhere in 

a recess of Afghanistan, Hindu is an entrance to the tunnels in New Manhattan, New York 

An entrance to the inner earth tunnels is thought to be reached through an abandoned elevator shaft in 

Manhattan, New York. Only a few know where the exact location is and I am not one of them. 

Canada 

Another entrance is found in the Nahanni Valley, but many of those that have dared to enter this area have 

been found decapitated, thus giving the region its name ‘The Valley of the Headless Men’. The Nahanni 

Valley in Canada is the land of the Ojibways, the Slave, Dogribs, Stoney, the Beavers and the Chipweyans. It 

covers 250 square miles in the southern end of the Mackenzie Mountains of Canada and lies almost 550 

miles due west of Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River of northwest Canada. Hot springs and sulfur geysers 



keep the valley warmer than the surrounding areas by about 30 degrees year-round. This land of perpetual 

mist is viewed by the Indians as ’taboo’ and avoided. 

Arkansas 

In northern Arkansas, a 12-man speleological team broke into an ancient tunnel system, encountering 

inhabitants of the inner-world. 

Just north of Batesville, explorers found a tunnel illuminated by a greenish phosphorescence where they met 

a race of beings who stood 7 to 8 feet tall and had bluish skin. The beings, who have advanced technology, 

told the explorers they are the direct descendents of Noah. The Cherokee Indians also tell of this same race 

of blue men. According to the Cherokee they inhabited the areas of Kentucky as well. When the Cherokee 

came into that area, they killed these blue skinned men off. Apparently the Cherokee were wrong in their 

assumptions. 

California 

Southwestern California holds the legend of Crystal Cave, a large cavern that links to Kokoweek Peak. It was 

reportedly found by Earl Dorr, a miner and prospector who followed clues given to him by Indians. Dorr 

entered Crystal Cave in the thirties and followed a passage down into Kokoweef Mountain for about a mile. 

Here he entered a large cavern that he explored for a distance of eight miles. Flowing at the base of the 

cavern was a river and its banks were rich with deposits of gold. For reasons only known to Dorr, he 

dynamited the entrance. The exact location of this sealed entrance is unknown today 

The Liyobaa Cave 

The Livobba Cave is located in the province of Zapoteca, somewhere near the ancient village of Mictlan (the 

village of the Underworld). The village of Liyobba ,translated, means ‘The Cavern of Death’. 

The Cavern of Death was located in the last chamber of an eight chamber building or temple. This temple had 

four rooms above the ground and four more important chambers built below the surface of the Earth. This 

building was located in Theozapotlan and the tunnel entrance leads beneath the mountain. 



Catholic priests in an earlier period of time descended into the caves with lit torches. They discovered what 

seemed to be an endless passageway with bones strewn before them from others that had come before 

them. As they advanced into the mountain, they were assailed with the smell of putrid air and snakes. As they 

continued forth, a strong cold wind blew their torches out, leaving them in the dark and causing them to take 

flight hurriedly back out of the cave. In retreating from the cave, the priest claimed they heard ghastly noises 

coming from within. When they managed to finally exit, the priest declared the cave ‘home of devils’ and 

ordered the entrance be forever sealed. 

The Maltese Cave 

This entrance, known as Hypogeum of Hal Saflienti, is located on the island of Malta, near the village of Casal 

Paula, which overlooks the town of Malta. 

In 1902, workmen digging a well in Casal Paula reportedly fell into a subterranean cavern which connected to 

an entire complex of caves and tunnels. 

This discovery led to be a complex of cave, three of which were a series of chambers excavated out of solid 

rock on three even lower levels for each chamber. This series of underground rooms. When first explored, 

they found over 30,000 skeletons of men, woman and children inside. 

The tunnels under the Hypogeum were later sealed off after 30 students entered the caves on a field trip and 

disappeared without a trace. The numerous efforts of search parties looking for the children and guide were in 

vain. 

The Staffordshire, England 

Somewhere in Staffordshire, England a field exists where a man, while digging a trench, discovered a large 

iron plate beneath the dirt. The "hatch" was large and oval, with an iron ring mounted on it. This hatch 

covered an entrance leading into underground tunnels. The only clue we have to its location is that the field is 

in a valley surrounded by woods and that a report of its discovery can be found in "A History of Staffordshire" 

by Dr. Plot, who wrote the book in the late 1700s. 

The Dulce, New Mexico Base 



An underground Military Base/Laboratory in Dulce, New Mexico connects with the underground network of 

tunnels which honeycombs our planet, and the lower levels of this base are allegedly under the control of 

Inner Earth beings or Aliens. This base is connected to Los Alamos research facilities via an underground 

"tube-shuttle 

Beginning in 1947, a road was built near the Dulce Base, under the cover of a lumber company. The odd 

things is, according to sources, no lumber was ever hauled, and the road was later destroyed. Navajo Dam is 

the Dulce Base's main source of power, though a second source is in El Vado, which is also another 

entrance. This information should help you locate the underground complex, if of course you feel brave 

enough to venture onto the Dulce properties. 

Most of the lakes near Dulce were made via government grants "for" the Indians. The September, 1983 issue 

of Omni (Pg. 80) has a color drawing of 'The Subterrene,' the Los Alamos nuclear-powered tunnel machine 

that burrows through the rock, deep underground, by heating whatever stone it encounters into molten rock, 

which cools after the Subterrene has moved on. The result is a tunnel with a smooth, glazing lining.) 

*Although evidence has been found of this machine, there is no signs of molten rock and the concept ceased 

being used after 1983 There are over 100 Secret Exits near and around Dulce. Many around Archuleta Mesa, 

others to the source around Dulce Lake and even as far east as Lindrich. Deep sections of the Complex 

connect into natural Cavern Systems. (Note: The elevators, lights, and doors at Dulce Base are all 

magnetically controlled.) 

The area around Dulce has had a high number of reported Animal Mutilations." The researchers at Dulce 

Base have also abducted several people from Dulce's civilian population and implanted devices of various 

types in their heads and bodies. (Note: Livermore Berkeley Labs began producing blood for the Dulce Base in 

the mid 1980s, and human abductions and animal mutilations have now slowed considerably. 

*If interested, it may be worthwhile to check-out Livermore Berkeley Labs. 

DELTA group, from the National Recon Group, is responsible for security of all Alien-connected projects. The 

DELTA symbol is a Black Triangle on a Red Background. Dulce Base's symbol is a Delta (triangle) with the 

Greek Letter "Tau" (t) within it, and then the entire symbol is inverted, so the triangle points down, and the 

"Tau" is also inverted. 



A very active UFO base exists beneath Mt. Ranier. There are also said to be underground "vaults" containing 

records of the ancient Lemurians. The ice cap of Mt. Ranier contains a maze of corridors and caves. 

In August of 1970, scientists climbed to the top of Mt. Ranier, and entered these caverns and tunnels. 

Evidence was found indicating that a small lake exists deep beneath the ice cap. *It is possible that one could 

find a way to get beneath Mt. Ranier through these tunnels. 

The Mt. Lassen 

Mt. Lassen, Tehama County, California is an entrance leading to a large underground city. Near the foot of 

Mt. Lassen is a town called Manten. Ralph Fields, Manten, found this entrance and claims that it is in the side 

of the mountain, a little over 7,000 feet above sea level, and is near a rock outcropping. 

Death Valley, CA. 

This entrance is supported by the local Indian legend, which speaks of a tunnel that runs beneath Death 

Valley Desert and the people that used to live in the Panamint‘s caverns. The entrance is in the Panamint 

Mountains down on the lower edge of the range near Wingate Pass, in the bottom of an old abandoned shaft. 

These tunnels connect with the surface also through arched windows in the side of the mountain that look 

down on Death Valley. During ancient times, these windows were accessible by boat. The "windows" in the 

Death Valley side of the Panamint Mountains are about 4,500-5,000 feet above the bottom of Death Valley, 

and are across from Furnace Creek Ranch. From these openings you can see the green of the ranch below 

you and Furnace Creek Wash across the valley. (So, with high-powered binoculars or a telescope, you should 

be able to see the openings from the Furnace Creek Ranch, or Wash.) You can drive down Emigrant Canyon 

towards Death Valley. You can then park beside the road between Furnace Creek Ranch and the Salt Bed. 

(From here, the windows should be visible through binoculars.) 

The Brown Mountain Entrance 

Brown Mountain is in North Carolina near Morganton. Morganton is "about 15 miles north of an actual 

highway marker which has been posted by the state providing any visitor the best view" of Brown Mountain. 

Brown Mountain is an area in which many strange lights have been seen. 



Canadian UFO Bases and the Great Lakes Triangle 

Entrances at Lake Ontario may lead to underwater cities. The Toronto Tunnels lead to a subterranean city 

and Lake Ontario "Lights" Orange-colored spheres have been seen coming out of and diving into Lake 

Ontario. The area of highest activity is between Oakville and Toronto. There may be a connection to the 

Lakeview Hydro-electric plant, as many of these UFOs have been seen heading in that direction. 

Toronto Entrance: There is a small opening to the underground tunnels off Parliament Street in downtown 

Toronto. The entrance is between two apartment buildings, and leads to the tunnels via the sewers. The 

underground city beneath Toronto has its center beneath Gerrard Street and Church Street. Above this area, 

strange magnetic effects have been observed. It has been noted that this corner of Gerrard & Church streets 

seems to have a higher accident rate than anywhere else in Toronto. It is also believed that underground 

equipment utilizing powerful magnetic fields are responsible for the bizarre equipment failures that often are 

the cause of these accidents. 

These tunnels are known by the local Indians and can be found in their legends. After an iron mine, in 

Newfoundland Province, had been dug deeper than any other, strange things began occurring and the mine 

had to be shut down. It is now condemned and off-limits which the police strictly enforce. 

The mining town is located near the Newfoundland-Quebec Border. Sneaking in late at night seems to be the 

only way to gain entrance. 

BRAZIL 

You can find one tunnel in Brazil near Ponte Grosse in the state of Parana. Another entrance is near Rincon, 

also in the state of Parana. 

In the state of Santa Catarina, near the city of Joinville. Is a mountain that has an entrance to the tunnels. The 

Santa Catarina is an area alive with noises coming from underground. There are reports that in Santa 

Catarina subterranean fruit orchards can be found. There is also another entrance found in the state of Sao 

Paulo near Concepiao. The local legend is that the states of Santa Catarina and Parana are honeycombed by 

a net of Atlantean tunnels that lead to subterranean cities. 



Kentucky Mommoth Cave, in South-Central Kentucky 

Mount Shasta, California, USA 

The Agharthean city of Telos allegedly exists within and beneath this mountain. Hopi legends say that this 

mountain is one of the thirteen homes of the Lizard People, Reptoids. Native American Indian tribes of 

California claim that Mount Shasta is the inner-mountain dwelling place of an invisible race of men. 

Still more accounts describe the mountain as an inlet to the ancient Lemurian world and that the Lemurian 

survivors still live today in the tunnels of dead volcanoes. 

Some suggest that it is a meeting place for the Lothinian Brotherhood, who use a stange force, vis mortuus, 

to carve caverns out of solid rock, which sounds very similar to the equipment used at Dulce, New Mexico. 

In 1904, J.C. Brown, an explorer for a British mining company, reported that he had discovered a caved in 

hollow in the side of the mountain complete with one skeleton and hieroglyphic writings on the walls. Brown 

later quit his job and settled in Stockton, where he lived out his life selling gold trinkets that he claimed to have 

in the Mt. Shasta cave. 

In 1934, Abraham Mansfield said he encountered a tribe of Lemurians, who had dug tunnels connecting 

Mount Shasta and the Bluff Creek area. 

A man from San Jose, while hiking on the southern slope, in 1972, came across what he described as "a 

reptilian humanoid." 

Other visitors to the mountain have reported seeing various sub-human cultures including dwarfs, big-foot or 

yeti type creatures and giants dressed in white robes. 

On August 16, 1987, believing the mountain to be one of the seven major planetary chakras of spiriutual 

"tuning forks", thousands came together as part of an international "Harmonic Convergence," designed to 

bring peace to the whole world. 

White Sands Missile Base 



Rumored to have an underground complex and tunnels is in the area around the White Sands Missile Range 

in New Mexico. This area is reported to have been the secret headquarters of the great Apache Chief Victorio 

and is named after him, Victoria Peak. From what I understand, the army bulldozed the peak out and placed a 

steel door over the entrance to the mountain passageways. I don’t know if this was to keep people from going 

inside or if it was to keep someone or something inside from coming out. Maybe it was a little of both. 

Hard Scrabble and Geronimo Peak are also honeycombed with tunnels, caves and secret entrances. 

The Hard Scrabble entrance leads down a flight of steps to an underground river. 

Manaus, Brazil. 

Mato Grosso, Brazil 

Beneath its plain lies the city of Posid. 

Iguaçú Falls, Border or Brazil and Argentina. 

Mount Epomeo, Italy. 

Himalayan Mountains, Tibet 

The entrance to the underground City of Shonshe is guarded by the Hindu monks. 

Mongolia 

The underground City of Shingwa exists beneath the borders of Mongolia and China. 

Rama, India 

Beneath this surface city lies Rama, a long lost subterranean city. 

Benares, India 



While the entrance to Bhogavati is somewhere in the Himalayas, it has been asserted that Patala can be 

entered through the Well of Sheshna in Benares, India. According to herpetologist and author Sherman A. 

Minton, as stated in his book Venomous Reptiles, this entrance is very real, with forty steps which descend 

into a circular depression, to terminate at a closed stone door which is covered in bas-relief cobras. 

Tibet 

There is a major mystical shrine also called 'Patala. Hidden under the shrine is an ancient cavern and tunnel 

system, which reaches throughout the Asian continent and possibly beyond. 

Pyramid of Giza, Egypt. 

King Solomon's Mines. 

Dero Caves 

Superstition Mountains, Arizona 

Another area to be investigated is the Superstition Mountains in Arizona. Geronimo would be seen walking 

into the face of the Mountain, disappearing and then reappearing in New Mexico. The soldiers which were hell 

bent on capturing the illusive Apache Chief were mystified as to how he was able to escape the human net 

surrounding him and his band. 

The tunnel systems of the Superstitions are dangerous though and are rumored to be inhabited by 

Reptilian-type Creatures and supernatural forces. Those that claim to have penetrated the tunnel tell of the 

remains of ancient structures and a spiral staircase that leads forever down into the bowels of earth. The main 

entrance to the Superstition tunnel system links to numerous tunnel passageways which spider web out as far 

as Central America. 

Four Corners in Southwestern USA 

North and South Poles. 

Glastonbury, Britain 



Known for centuries as Avalon, Glastonbury is legended to have an entrance to Annwn, the British/Welsh 

name for the Underworld. 

Turkey 

In Turkey the discovery of a massive underground city at Derinkuyu revealed a stunning complexity of deep 

passage ways constructed on at least ten separate levels. Some estimates believe there was adequate living 

space for at least 20,000 people. Precisely what purpose this city served or when it was constructed is hard to 

determine. 

12. A list of the 100 most important Internet links to web sites about ancient tunnels, the Cueva de los 

Tayos and closely related subjects. 

Ancient Tunnel Internet Links 

Juan Morizc: 

http://www.ancient-astronaut.com/august.htm http://www.marsearthconnection.com/mysteries.html http://www.stangrist.com/giantsTayos.htm 

http://www.adam.com.au/bstett/PavonDaniken13.htm http://www.violations.dabsol.co.uk/search/searchpart2.htm 

http://bboard.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/7/6/119/6998 

http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/Theories/Electromagnetism/Worlds_Below__/Legend_of_the_Lost/Piri_Reis_Map/piri_reis_map.html 

http://www.thehollowearthinsider.com/news/wmview.php?ArtID=21 http://www.stangrist.com/Questions.htm 

http://www.marsearthconnection.com/civilizations2.html http://www.beyond-the-illusion.com/files/New-Files/990430/theHABTheory.txt 

http://mailgate.supereva.it/soc/soc.culture.ecuador/msg03674.html http://www.byerly.org/thollowt/agartha.htm 

http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg10235.html http://www.habtheory.com/hab2.php http://strony.wp.pl/wp/ky21b/nr9.htm 

Cueva de Los Tayos 



http://strony.wp.pl/wp/ky21b/nr9.htm 

http://www.thebestofecuador.com/sucua.htm 

http://www.ecuadorexplorer.com/hoteldelasflores/html/hosteria_safari.html 

http://mailgate.supereva.it/soc/soc.culture.ecuador/msg03674.html 

http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_17.shtml 

http://gustavogeissbuhler.8k.com/photo.htm 

http://www.stangrist.com 

http://www.transrabbit.com/allpacuyana/piprsa01.htm 

http://www.trekkinginecuador.com/Espanol/Trek_Summaries.html 

http://www.ecuadorhostelling.com/faq.htm 

http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/old-wildcats/spring95/January/January30,1995/06_1_m.html 

http://ssdc.ucsd.edu/news/notisur/h95/notisur.19950224.html 

http://ssdc.ucsd.edu/news/notisur/h95/notisur.19950310.html 

http://perso.club-internet.fr/alain.debord/otto_journal/tapi.htm 

http://members.aol.com/blpays/equateur.htm 

http://www.amazoniatouring.com/page0902.html 

http://www-sop.inria.fr/agos-sophia/sis/DB/countries.html 

http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/news/arc/lasnet/1995/ 

http://www.thebestofecuador.com/oriente.htm 

http://www.livecuador.com/html2/esp/morona_es.htm 

http://speleo.net.ru/lib/world-l.txt 

http://www.ecuador.com/forums/showthread.php3?threadid=496 

http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/news/arc/lasnet/1995/0070.html 

http://www.wsg.org.uk/docs/library-list.htm 

http://www.mundomisterioso.com/print.php?sid=834 

http://tpsipol.virtualave.net/19980611.html 

Ancient Tunnels: 

http://www.mm2000.nu/sphinxx.html 

http://ufoarea.bravepages.com/aas_peru_tunnel.html 

http://www.crystalinks.com/underbases.html 

http://www.labyrinthina.com/sacsayhuaman.htm 

http://www.cybernaute.com/earthconcert2000/XFiles3.htm 

http://www.ufoarea.bravepages.com/aas_death_valley.html 



http://www.hiddenmysteries.com/item400/item474.html 

http://www.stangrist.com/adventures.htm 

http://www.all-natural.com/dulce-11.html 

http://www.kilts.co.nz/tunnels_enlarge.htm 

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Lagoon/1345/valley.html 

http://www.fusionanomaly.net/tunnels.html 

http://www.michaelgoard.com/inkatrail/page60.html 

http://www.crystalinks.com/underciv.html 

http://www.ufoinfo.com/roundup/v07/rnd0718.shtml 

http://www.davidicke.com/icke/articles/bsecret.html 

http://www.borleyrectory.com/biblio/books3.htm 

http://www.factology.com/front7_08_00.htm 

http://www.souloflife.com/booksu.html 

http://www.crystalinks.com/sphinxschematics.html 

http://www.stargatefiles.com/footsteps.htm 

http://home.att.net/~gobruen/underground.html 

http://traveling.network.com.tw/taiwan/Nantou/049-1/default.asp 

http://www.violations.dabsol.co.uk/search/searchpart3.htm 

http://www.geocities.com/Baja/Outback/5018/davila.html 

http://www.soulwise.net/grey00.htm 

http://www.mslpublishing.com/about-mt-shasta.htm 

http://www.subversiveelement.com/Branton2.html 

http://home.att.net/~Berliner-Ultrasonics/bhra.html 

http://www.subversiveelement.com/Branton7.html 

http://www.onelight.com/giza/giza.htm 

http://www.sci.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/~oyo/tunnel_e.html 

http://www.100megsfree4.com/farshores/uforo812.htm 

http://jon345.homestead.com/c3.html 

http://cadaver.crosses.net/hansingles.shtml 

http://www.sxta.com.cn/lyzs/elyzs2001.htm 

http://wings.buffalo.edu/academic/department/AandL/Maecenas/italy_except_rome_and_sicily/naples/ac880737.html 

Inner Earth: 

http://www.paoweb.com/news0801.htm 

http://www.galactic.to/rune/inearth.html 



http://www.marsearthconnection.com/earth.html 

http://www.labyrinthina.com/legend.htm 

http://www.angelwater.net/y2k/inner_earth_beings.html 

http://www.hiddenmysteries.com/item/item4.html 

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/inner4.htm 

http://www.dreaman.org/earthforum/innerworlds1.html 

http://www.spiritmythos.org/EC_ie_intro.html 

http://www.mslpublishing.com/message_from_adama.html 

http://www.evenstarcreations.com/ArtINNEREARTH.htm 

http://www.livinginthelightms.com/in_search_of_shambhala.html 

http://www.unmuseum.org/hollow.htm 

http://www.vedicempire.net/html/vedicinnerearth.html 

http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe.cgi/hollowearth 

http://www.davidicke.net/mysteries/hollow/mott.html 

http://www.hollow-earth.org/cgi-bin/wwwboard/messages/87.html 

http://www.onelight.com/ 

http://www.v-j-enterprises.com/holearth.html 

http://www.totse.com/en/fringe/flying_saucers_from_andromeda/undgempr.html 

http://www.anomalycommunity.com/gl/index.php?topic=Underworld 

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=706768&sourceid=1500000000000000034760 

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6583/under015.html 

http://www.selfempowermentacademy.com.au/_disc3/000007a8.htm 

http://www.labyrinthina.com/amaru.htm 

http://www.forshang.org/016earthcoreII/earthcore2e.htm 

http://www.hollow-earth.org/cgi-bin/wwwboard/messages/109.html 

http://www.angelfire.com/nc/HUMMINGBIRD1/inner/inner.html 



13."Earth Subterranean Tunnels & the Hollow Earth, My Search for Tunnels in the Earth", 

by David Hatcher Childress 

All are architects of fate, 

Working the walls of time: 

Some with massive deeds and great; 

Some with lesser rhyme. 

-Longfellow, "The Builders" 

What if I told you that I had been inside a fantastic tunnel system that runs beneath the continent of South 

America? Would you think me a liar? Or worse yet, insane? Though I admit it is a story that seems difficult to 

believe, I am telling the truth. Read on, dear reader, and decide if I am mad or lying. 

Although it seems incredible, there is a great deal of evidence to show that a network of ancient tunnels exists 

throughout much of South America. Legends abound on this tunnel system, and I can state that I have even 

been inside some of the tunnels on this strangest of continents. 

The Gold of the Incas 

Legends of tunnels in South America surfaced almost immediately after the conquest when the Spaniards 

discovered that the Incas had hidden much of their treasure-sacred relics of pure gold either beneath the Inca 

capital of Cuzco or in a secret city known as Paititi. Either way, legend had it that a tunnel system was used. 

The history of the conquest of the Inca Empire by the Spanish is one of the most bizarre and incredible stories 

of history. That Francisco Pizarro with only 183 men could conquer a sophisticated empire of several million 

people is a feat that has never been equaled, and probably never will be! 

Pizarro made his first expedition down the Pacific Coast from Panama in 1527, attracted by rumors of gold 

and other treasure. A Greek of his company went alone from the ship into an Inca village on the coast, and 

was taken to be a returning god by the natives. They brought him to a temple filled with more gold than he 

had seen in his life. Returning to the ship, he told Pizarro about the fabulous wealth he had seen. Satisfied 



that the rumors were true, Pizarro returned to Panama and then to Spain to prepare another expedition. He 

set out again in 1531, landed on a lonely beach in Ecuador and began marching inland. He was entering the 

newly united Inca empire, which had just recovered from a civil war. The people of Peru, Bolivia, and rest of 

the Inca empire were not all true Incas, but largely Quechua and Aymara Indians. Incas were the ruling elite, 

of a different race, who believed themselves descended from "MancoCapac," a red-haired, bearded 

messenger from God. 

After taking the town of Tumbez and putting quite of few of the people to death, the Spanish conquistadors 

continued their march south. At Cajamarca, they were received by Inca royalty with great pomp, splendor, 

and gifts. The ruler of the Incas (or more correctly, "the Inca") Atahualpa was impressed by their beards and 

white skin, believing them to fulfill a prophecy about the return of Viracocha, the legendary bearded prophet 

from a far away land who had visited the South American peoples many hundreds of years before. American 

Indians have no facial hair, though the first Incas are said to have had reddish-brown hair and beards, like 

Viracocha. Therefore, Atahualpa believed that the Spanish were Incas themselves, Sons of the Sun, gods in 

their own right, just as he, the Inca, was a god. 

The conquistadors remained in Cajamarca for a time, while the Inca showered them with gifts. In fact, the 

Incas believed that the horses ridden by the Spaniards were also men, and assumed by the way the horses 

constantly chewed on their bits that these were the horses' fodder. The Incas would put bars of gold and silver 

in the horses' feeding troughs, saying, "Eat this, it is much better than iron." The Spaniards found this quite 

amusing, and encouraged the Indians to keep bringing gold and silver for the horses to eat! 

Finally, Atahualpa himself came to the Spaniards from his nearby palace. During this audience inside the 

walls of Cajamarca, Atahualpa had with him no less than 30,000 men, all under strict command not to harm 

the Spaniards, even if they themselves were attacked. This prohibition proved to be their downfall. The 

conquistadors kept many of their men in hiding, ready to attack, as Pizarro and his generals with the 

Dominican friar Vincente de Valverde had their audience with Atahualpa in the townsquare. 

The Inca welcomed them as Viracocha Incas and fellow Sons of the Sun. Then the friar Valverde addressed 

the Inca, telling him about the one true faith, and the most powerful men on earth, the Pope and King Charles 

of Spain. After a long speech translated by the Indian Felipe, the Inca asked the source of the friar's material, 

who responded by handing the Inca a Bible. The Inca placed it to his ear. Hearing nothing, he threw it to the 

ground. 

This rather un-pious gesture from Atahualpa was just what the conquistadors were waiting for. The Spaniards 

attacked in full force, many from hiding, and began a slaughter of the Incas. They killed literally thousands, 



many of whom were trying to escape. Not one conquistador was hurt, with the exception of Francisco Pizarro 

himself, who was wounded by one of his own men as he reached for Atahualpa. 

And so was Atahualpa kidnapped by a mere 160 gold-crazed conquistadors (some of the original 183 had 

died of disease and in earlier battles). To secure his freedom, Atahualpa offered to give the Spaniards gold in 

exchange for his release. Sensing that they still did not realize the fabulous wealth at his command, 

Atahualpa stood up in the room in which he was imprisoned and reached as high as he could; he offered to fill 

the room with gold to that height in return for his release. The Spaniards agreed. 

Complicating the story at this point were several intrigues. First, there was a great rivalry between Francisco 

Pizarro, his brother Ferdinand, and Don Diego de Almagro. Indeed, Francisco Pizarro and de Almagro were 

bitter enemies. Second, Atahualpa was still at odds with his brother Huascar, who by many accounts was the 

legitimate heir to the Inca throne. It had been the civil war between the two brothers that had weakened the 

Inca Empire just prior to the arrival of the Spanish. While he was still in captivity, Atahualpa ordered Huascar 

arrested, believing him to be plotting a takeover of the Empire. Both Atahualpa and Huascar now took a rather 

fatalistic attitude to the events taking place, as their father had predicted such a conflict before his death. 

Third, most of the subjects of the Inca Empire were not Incas, but common Indians of entirely different races 

and cultural heritages. Few were loyal to the Incas, and many of them eventually sided with the Spanish. 

Finally, again from captivity, Atahualpa ordered his brother Huascar killed, thinking this would save the empire 

from him, believing that the Spaniards may not release him even after the ransom was paid. All of these 

factors together set the stage for the fall of the greatest civilization extant in the Western Hemisphere at the 

time. 

It took some time for the gold to reach Cajamarca, as it had to be brought from Quito, Cuzco, and other cities 

that were hundreds of miles away. While the ransom was being gathered, Pizarro sent some of the 

conquistadors as emissaries to Quito and Cuzco to ensure that Atahualpa had not ordered an assault on 

Cajamarca. 

When they returned, they reported that fabulous wealth was to be found in these cities. The Incas did not use 

gold, silver, and precious stones for currency as Europeans and other cultures did. Instead, they were valued 

for decoration, and used extensively for religious objects, furnishings, and even utensils. Many buildings had 

interior gold-lined walls, and exterior gold rain gutters and plumbing. Therefore, when the Inca was ransomed 

for a room full of gold, to the Incas it was as if they were paying with pots and pans, old plumbing, and rain 

gutters! 



These were sent gladly, though religious objects and those with esthetic value were not. The ransom paid has 

been estimated to have been 600-650 tons of gold and jewels and 384 million "pesos de oro," the equivalent 

of $500,000,000 in 1940. Given the rise in the price of gold since then, today that ransom would be worth 

almost five billion dollars. 

Not surprisingly, once the ransom was paid, Atahualpa was not released. The Indian interpreter, Felipe, had 

fallen in love with one of Atahualpa's wives, and he was keen to see that the Inca did not survive. He spread 

the rumor that Atahualpa was raising an army to storm Cajamarca. This being the only excuse the Spaniards 

needed to execute the Inca, he was condemned to death. Spaniards who had befriended Atahualpa advised 

him to convert to Christianity before his execution, which would allow the Dominical fathers to strangle him as 

a Christian rather than burn him at the stake as a heretic. He complied, was baptized, then strangled. This 

was done even though more gold was on its way, as part of a second ransom, worth much more than the first. 

Meanwhile, three Spanish emissaries came back from Cuzco, the Inca capital, with even more treasure, 

looted from the Sun Temple. They brought an immense cargo of gold and silver vessels loaded on the backs 

of 200 staggering, sweating Indians. And the second ransom train of 11,000 llamas was on its way to 

Pizarro's camp. Loaded with gold, it had been sent by Atahualpa's queen from Cuzco. But when they heard of 

the Inca's assassination, the Indians drove the llamas off the road and buried the 100 pounds of gold that 

each animal carried. 

Sir Clements Markham, who had a particularly keen knowledge of Peru, believed that the gold was hidden in 

the mountains behind Azangaro. The Cordillera de Azangaro is a wild sierra little known to foreigners, the 

name in Quechua meaning, "place farthest away." It is believed that this was the easternmost point in the 

Andean cordilleras which the old Inca empire dominated. However, other versions of this story say that the 

treasure was hidden in a system of tunnels that goes through the Andes. 

One fantastic treasure story involves "The Garden of the Sun." Sarmiento, a Spanish historian (1532-1589), 

wrote that this subterranean garden was located near the Temple of the Sun. "They had a garden in which the 

lumps of earth were pieces of fine gold. These were cleverly sown with maize the stalks, leaves and ears of 

which were all of gold. They were so well planted that nothing would disturb them. Besides all this, they had 

more than twenty sheep with their young. The shepherds who guarded the sheep were armed with slings and 

staves made of gold. There were large numbers of jars of gold and silver pots, vases, and every kind of 

vessel." 

Shortly after the conquest of Peru, Cieza de Leon, part Inca and part Spanish, wrote, "If all the gold that is 

buried in Peru ... were collected, it would be impossible to coin it, so great the quantity; and yet the Spaniards 



of the conquest got very little, compared with what remains. The Indians said, 'The treasure is so concealed 

that even we, ourselves, know not the hiding place!' 

"If, when the Spaniards entered Cuzco they had not committed other tricks, and had not so soon executed 

their cruelty in putting Atahualpa to death, I know not how many great ships would have been required to 

bring such treasures to old Spain as is now lost in the bowels of the earth and will remain so because those 

who buried it are now dead." 

What Cieza de Leon did not say was that, although the Indians as a whole did not know where this treasure 

lay, there were a few among them who did know and closely guarded the secret. 

After seeing the fineness of the treasures in Atahualpa's first ransom, Pizarro had demanded that he be 

shown the source of this fabulous wealth before he would release the Inca. He had heard that the Incas 

possessed a secret and inexhaustible mine or depository, which lay in a vast, subterranean tunnel running 

many miles underground. Here was supposedly kept the accumulated riches of the country. 

However, legend has it that Atahualpa's queen consulted the Black Mirrorat the Temple of the Sun, a sort of 

magic mirror similar to that in the story of Snow White. In it she saw the fate of her husband, whether she paid 

the ransom or not. She realized that her husband and the empire were doomed and that she must certainly 

not reveal the secret of the tunnels or wealth to the gold crazed conquistadors. 

The horrified queen ordered that the entrance to the great tunnel be closed under the direction of the priests 

and magicians. A large door into a rocky wall of a cliff gorge near Cuzco, it was sealed by filling its depths 

with huge masses of rock. Then the disguised entrance was hidden under green grass and bushes, so that 

not the slightest sign of any fissure was perceptible to the eye. 

Conquistadors, adventurers, treasure hunters, and historians have all wondered about and pursued this 

legend. What incredible treasure did the Incas seal into these tunnels? And as to the tunnels themselves, 

when and how were they made, and where do they go? 

Researchers like Harold Wilkins believed that the tunnels run from the central Andes around Cuzco for 

hundreds of miles north and south through the mountains, as far as Chile and Ecuador. Wilkins believed that 

there were other spurs of these tunnels that ran to the east, coming out at the lost city of Paititi in the high 

jungle somewhere. Another spur was said to run to the west, down to the coastal desert of Peru. This spur of 

the tunnel system could have come out near Lima, the area of the ancient Inca city of Pachacamac, or near 

Pisac and the Candlestick of the Andes, which is further south along the coast. 



Wilkins believed, as did apparently Madame Blavatsky (a well known psychic and founder of The 

Theosophical Society), that a spur of the ancient tunnel system came out in the Atacama Desert near to Arica 

and the current border between Chile and Peru, which is further south still. Madame Blavatsky related the 

story, retold by Wilkins, of the ancient treasure and tunnel system. 

Sometime around the year 1844, a Catholic priest was called to absolve a dying Quechua Indian. Whispering 

quietly to the priest, the old Indian told an amazing story about a labyrinth and a series of tunnels built far 

before the days of the Inca emperors of the Sun. It was told under the inviolable seal of the confessional, and 

could not be divulged by the priest under pain of death. This story would probably never have been told, 

except that the priest, while traveling to Lima, met with a "sinister Italian." The priest let out a hint of great 

treasure, and was later supposedly hypnotized by the Italian to get him tell the story! 

"I will reveal to thee what no White man, be he Spaniard, or American, or English, knows," the dying Indian 

had said to the priest. He then told of the queen's closing of the tunnels when the Inca Atahualpa was being 

held captive by Pizarro. The priest added under hypnosis that the Peruvian government, in about 1830, had 

heard rumors of these tunnels and sent an expedition out to find and explore them. They were unsuccessful. 

In another similar story, the Father Pedro del Sancho tells in his Relacion that in the early period of the 

conquest of Peru, another dying Indian made a confession. Father del Sancho wrote, "...my informant was a 

subject of the Incan Emperor. He was held in high esteem by those in power at Cuzco. He had been a 

chieftain of his tribe and made a yearly pilgrimage to Cuzco to worship his idolistic gods. It was a custom of 

the Incas to conquer a tribe or nation and take their idols to Cuzco. Those who wished to worship their ancient 

idols were forced to travel to the Incan capital. They brought gifts to their heathen idols. They were also 

expected to pay homage to the Incan emperor during these journeys." 

Del Sancho continues, "These treasures were placed in ancient tunnels that were in the land when the Incas 

arrived. Also placed in these subterranean repositories were artifacts and statues deemed sacred to the 

Incas. When the hoard had been placed in the tunnels, there was a ceremony conducted by the high priest. 

Following these rites, the entrance to the tunnels was sealed in such a manner that one could walk within a 

few feet and never be aware of the entrance. 

"...My informant said that the entrance lay in his land, the territory which he ruled. It was under his direction 

and by his subjects that the openings were sealed. All who were in attendance were sworn to silence under 

the penalty of death. Although I requested more information on the exact location of the entrance, my 

informant refused to divulge more than what has been written down here." 



Another interesting story of the tunnels around Cuzco and the incredible treasure they contain involves Carlos 

Inca, a descendant of an Inca emperor, who had married a Spanish lady, Dona Maria Esquivel. His Castilian 

wife thought that he was not ambitious enough, and that he did not keep her in the style she deemed befitting 

her rank, or his descent. 

Poor Carlos was plagued night and day by his wife's nagging, until late one night, he blindfolded her and led 

her out into the patio of the hacienda. Under the cold light of the stars, when all around were asleep and no 

unseen eye was on the watch, he began to lead her by the shoulders. Although he was exposing himself to 

many risks including torture and death at the hands of the Quechuas, he proceeded to reveal his secret. He 

twirled her around three times, then, assuming her disoriented, led her down some steps into a concealed 

vault in or under Sacsayhuaman Fortress. When he removed her blindfold, her tongue was finally silenced. 

She stood on the dusty, stone floor of an ancient vault, cluttered with gold and silver ingots, exquisite jewelry, 

and temple ornaments. Around the walls, ranged in fine gold, were life-size statues of long dead Inca kings. 

Only the golden Disk of the Sun, which the old Incas treasured most, was missing. 

Carlos Inca was supposedly one of the custodians of the secret hiding place of Inca treasure that eluded the 

Spanish and other treasure seekers for centuries. The U.S. Commissioner to Peru in 1870 commented on this 

episode: "All I can say is if that secret chamber which she had entered has not been found and despoiled, it 

has not been for want of digging ...Three-hundred years have not sufficed to eradicate the notion that 

enormous treasures are concealed within the fortress of Cuzco. Nor have three-hundred years of excavation, 

more or less constant, entirely discouraged the searchers for tapadas, or treasure mounds." 

There certainly appears to be some repetition and borrowing between some of these stories. Yet most 

historians and archaeologists believe that they are based on some fact. That tunnels and lost treasure exist, 

there seems to be no doubt. But the real questions are, where are they? And, who made them? 

The treasure of the Incas is believed to still be hidden in the tunnels that run under Cuzco and the ruins of the 

megalithic fortress mentioned above called Sacsayhuaman. 

The Fortress of Sacsayhuaman 

The stories of a subterranean world fascinated me and I decided that South America was a good place to 

investigate whatever reality there might be in the many legends. Lost treasure has its appeal as well, and 

many tunnels would probably never be explored if it were not for some promised treasure at the end. 



I began my search in Peru, where I visited Ica, Pisco and Nazca to look at the mummies, geoglyphs and 

catacombs. I then continued on to Cuzco to look into the tunnels that were rumored to be in the vicinity. 

During this visit I went to Sacsayhuaman. The road leads up from the Plaza de Armas to a hill on the north 

side of Cuzco. At a leveling off of the hill, looking over the Cuzco Valley, is the colossal fortress, one of the 

most imposing edifices ever constructed. Walking around, we could hardly believe our eyes! Here was a 

stone structure that covered the entire hill; it appeared almost unworldly. It contains tunnel entrances that are 

sealed. The visitor can walk a short distance inside some of the tunnels, but they are ultimately blocked after 

20 or 30 feet. 

All over Sacsayhuaman gigantic blocks of stone, some weighing more than 200 tons (400 thousand pounds) 

are fitted together perfectly. The enormous stone blocks are cut, faced, and fitted so well that even today one 

cannot slip the blade of a knife, or even a piece of paper between them. No mortar is used, and no two blocks 

are alike. Yet they fit perfectly, and it has been said by some engineers that no modern builder with the aid of 

tools of the finest steel could produce results more accurate. 

Each individual stone had to have been planned well in advance; a 20-tonstone, let alone one weighing 80 to 

200 tons, cannot just be dropped casually into position with any hope of attaining that kind of accuracy! The 

stones are locked and dovetailed into position, making them earthquake-proof. Indeed, after many 

devastating earthquakes in the Andes over the last few hundred years, the blocks are still perfectly fitted, 

while the Spanish Cathedral in Cuzco has been leveled twice. 

Though this fantastic fortress was supposedly built just a few hundred years ago by the Incas, they leave no 

record of having built it, nor does it figure in any of their legends. How is it that the Incas, who reportedly had 

no knowledge of higher mathematics, no written language, no iron tools, and did not even use the wheel, are 

credited with having built this cyclopean complex of walls and buildings? Frankly, one must literally grope for 

an explanation, and it is not an easy one. 

When the Spaniards first arrived in Cuzco and saw these structures, they thought that they had been built by 

the devil himself, because of their enormity. Indeed, nowhere else can you see such large blocks placed 

together so perfectly. I have traveled all over the world searching for ancient mysteries and lost cities, but I 

had never in my life seen anything like this! 

The builders of the stoneworks were not merely good stone masons- they were excellent! Similar stoneworks 

can be seen throughout the Cuzco Valley. These are usually made up of finely cut, rectangular blocks of 

stone weighing up to perhaps a ton. A group of strong people could lift a block and put it in place; this is 



undoubtably how some of the smaller structures were put together. But in Sacsayhuaman, Cuzco, and other 

ancient Inca cities, one can see gigantic blocks cut with 30 or more angles each. 

At the time of the Spanish conquest, Cuzco was at its peak, with perhaps 100,000 Inca subjects living in the 

ancient city. The fortress of Sacsayhuaman could hold the entire population within its walls in case of war or 

natural catastrophe. Some historians have stated that the fortress was built a few years before the Spanish 

invasion, and that the Incas take credit for the structure. But, the Incas could not recall exactly how or when it 

was built! 

The Spanish dismantled as much of Sacsayhuaman as they could. When Cuzco was first conquered, 

Sacsayhuaman had three round towers at the top of the fortress, behind three concentric megalithic walls. 

These were taken apart stone by stone, and the stones used to build new structures for the Spanish. 

Sacsayhuaman was also equipped with a subterranean network of aqueducts. Water was brought down from 

the mountains into a valley, then had to ascend a hill before reaching Sacsayhuaman. This indicates that the 

engineers who built the intricate system knew that water rises to its own level. 

Garcilaso de la Vega, who wrote just after the conquest, said this about the tunnels beneath Sacsayhuaman: 

"An underground network of passages, which was as vast as the towers themselves, connected them with 

one another. This was composed of a quantity of streets and alleyways which ran in every direction, and so 

many doors, all of them identical, that the most experienced men dared not venture into this labyrinth without 

a guide, consisting of a long thread tied to the first door, which unwound as they advanced. I often went up to 

the fortress with boys of my own age, when I was a child, and we did not dare to go farther than the sunlight 

itself, we were so afraid of getting lost, after all that the Indians had told us on the subject ... the roofs of these 

underground passages were composed of large flat stones resting on rafters jutting out from the walls." 

There are indeed tunnels that one may enter at Sacsayhuaman and nearby Qenqo. If one walks behind the 

Inca's stone seat inside the fortress toward Qenqo, one will find all sorts of bizarre stone cuttings, 

upside-down staircases, and seemingly sensless rock carving on a grandscale. There are also tunnel 

entrances in this area. Various rock-cut tunnels lead down into the earth and at least one goes to another part 

of the mountain area of Qenqo. All of these tunnels are blocked at some point and this area of 

Sacsayhuaman is still being excavated by Peruvian archaeologists. 

The area is quite fascinating, but it seems quite clear that one cannot penetrate into the tunnels beneath 

Cuzco from these now-blocked tunnel entrances. 



The old chroniclers say the tunnels were connected with the Coricancha, a name given to the Sun Temple 

and its surrounds in old Cuzco. 

The Coricancha was originally larger than it is today and contained many ancient temples, including the 

Temples of the Sun and the Moon, and all of these buildings were believed to be connected with 

Sacsayhuaman by underground tunnels. The place where these tunnels started was known as the Chincana, 

or "the place where one gets lost." This entrance was known up until the mid-1800s, when it was walled up. 

In his book "Jungle Paths and Inca Ruins", Dr.William Montgomery McGovern states: 

"Near this fortress [Sacsayhuaman] are several strange caverns reaching far into the earth. Here altars to the 

Gods of the Deep were carved out of the living rock, and the many bones scattered about tell of the sacrifices 

which were offered up here. The end of one of these caverns, Chincana, has never been found. It is 

supposed to communicate by a long underground passage with the Temple of the Sun in the heart of Cuzco. 

In this cavern is supposed, and with good reason, to be hidden a large part of the golden treasure of the Inca 

Emperors which was stored away lest it fall into the hands of the Spaniards. But the cavern is so huge, so 

complicated, and its passages are so manifold, that its secret has never been discovered." 

"One man, indeed, is said to have found his way underground to the Sun Temple, and when he emerged, to 

have had two golden bars in his hand. But his mind had been affected by days of blind wandering in the 

subterranean caves, and he died almost immediately afterwards. Since that time many have gone into the 

cavern-never to return again. Only a month or two before my arrival the disappearance of three prominent 

people in this Inca cave caused the Prefect of the Province of Cuzco to wall in the mouth of the cavern, so 

that the secret and the treasures of the Incas seem likely to remain forever undiscovered." 

Another story, which may well be derived from the same source, tells of a treasure hunter who went into the 

tunnels and wandered through the maze for several days. One morning, about a week after the adventurer 

had vanished, a priest was conducting mass in the church of Santo Domingo. The priest and his congregation 

were astonished to hear sudden, sharp rappings from beneath the church's stone floor. Several worshipers 

crossed themselves and murmured about the devil. The priest quieted his congregation, then directed the 

removal of a large stone slab from the floor (this was the converted Temple of the Sun!). The group was 

surprised to see the treasure hunter emerge with a bar of gold in each hand. 

Even the Peruvian government got into the act of exploring these Cuzco tunnels, ostensibly for scientific 

purposes. The Peruvian Seria Documental del Peru describes an expedition undertaken by staff from Lima 

University in 1923. Accompanied by experienced speleologists, the party penetrated the trapezoid-shaped 



tunnels starting from an entrance at Cuzco. 

They took measurements of the subterranean aperture and advanced in the direction of the coast. After a few 

days, members of the expedition at the entrance of the tunnel lost contact with the explorers inside, and no 

communication came for twelve days. Then a solitary explorer returned to the entrance, starving. His reports 

of an underground labyrinth of tunnels and deadly obstacles would make an Indiana Jones movie seem tame 

by comparison. His tale was so incredible that his colleagues declared him mad. To prevent further loss of life 

in the tunnels, the police dynamited the entrance. 

More recently, the big Lima earthquake of 1972 brought to light a tunnel system beneath that coastal city. 

During salvage operations, workers found long passages no one had ever known existed. The following 

systematic examination of Lima's foundations led to the astonishing discovery that large parts of the city were 

undercut by tunnels, all leading into the mountains. But their terminal points could no longer be ascertained 

because they had collapsed during the course of the centuries. Did the Cuzco tunnels explored in 1923 lead 

to Lima? As far back as the 1940s, Harold Wilkins, in his books ("Mysteries of Ancient South America" and 

"Secret Cities of Old South America") wrote that they did. 

Tunnels to the Hidden City of Paititi? 

In my quest for the lost treasure of the Incas and the tunnel systems associated with it, I joined up in the 

search for Paititi, the ultimate lost city of the Incas according to Cuzco legends. 

While the Incas placed some of their hoard in the Cuzco tunnel system to hide it from the conquering 

Spanish, other treasure (including 14 gold-clad mummies of the former Inca emperors removed from the Sun 

Temple) was sent by llama caravan into the Antisuyo region of South America, the mountain jungle area east 

of Cuzco. The caravan's destination was a mountain-jungle city called "Paikikin" in Quechua, which is 

supposed to mean "like the other." The Spanish called this city El Gran Paititi. 

It is well known that the Incan Empire at its height stretched from north of Quito in Ecuador, south along the 

Andes and west to the coast, all the way down into central Chile. What is not generally known is just how far 

east the Incas had set up their roads, trade routes and cities. The Incas did have a trade network that 

stretched eastward deep into the jungles on the east side of the Andes. Salt was frequently carried across the 

mountains in exchange for gold and feathers. According to Jorge Arellano, director of the Institute of 

Archaeology in La Paz, Bolivia, Inca ruins have been found in the Bolivian state of Beni, which is several 



hundred miles east of the Andes and in dense jungle. He says that a series of small fortresses in the jungle 

form a line in an easterly direction. He believes that the Incas used these fortresses as stop-overs on their 

migration from the Madre de Dios area of Peru, believed by some to be the site of Paititi. 

Though there is little doubt that Paititi did exist, there is a great deal of myth surrounding this lost city. Harold 

Wilkins believes that the Incas escaped from the Spanish after the battle of Ollantaytambo by fleeing through 

a branch of the tunnel system discussed earlier, heading east toward Paititi. This may well be true, though it 

was hardly necessary for the Incas to have fled through a tunnel. They could have left by canoe, then crossed 

the mountains using the excellent Inca roads. 

Assuming this tunnel did exist, Wilkins thinks it went due east from Cuzco, through the jungles, to the empire 

of Paititi. He indicates that Paititi was a separate kingdom, ruled by mysterious white men whose king was 

known as the "Tiger King." According to Wilkins, Paititi means "jaguar." The Tiger King, or Jaguar King, lived 

in a white house by a great lake. 

In 1681, a Jesuit missionary named Fray Lucero wrote of information given to him by Indians in the Rio 

Huallagu area of northeastern Peru. They told him that the lost city of Gran Paititi lay behind the forests and 

mountains east of Cuzco. 

The Jesuit wrote, "This empire of Gran Paytite has bearded, white Indians. The nation called Curveros, these 

Indians told me, dwell in a place called Yurachuasi or the 'white house.' For king, they have a descendant of 

the Inca Tupac Amaru, who with 40,000 Peruvians, fled far away into the forests, before the face of the 

conquistadors of Francisco Pizarro's day in AD 1533. He took with him a rich treasure, and the Castilians who 

pursued him fought each other in the forests, leaving the savage Chuncho Indios, who watched their 

internecine struggles, to kill off the wounded and shoot the survivors with arrows. 

I myself have been shown plates of gold and half-moons and ear-rings of gold that have come from this 

mysterious nation." This story is independently documented in the book "Amazonas y El Maranon" by Fray 

Manuel Rodriguez, published in 1684, according to Wilkins. 

Many people seem to confuse Gran Paititi and El Dorado, though the legends locate them thousands of miles 

apart. El Dorado is often believed to be in the vicinity of the Orinoco River near the borders of Columbia, 

Venezuela and Brazil. In early 1559, the Viceroy of Peru wanted to rid his country of unemployed soldiers and 

troublesome Spanish adventurers, so he sent a party of 370 Spaniards and thousands of Andean Indians on 

an expedition down the Amazon in search of a legendary city of gold. This expedition was an utter failure, 

during which the men mutinied, and a psychopathic soldier, Lope de Aguirre, killed the leader Pedro de 



Ursua. Taking over the expedition, he abandoned the search for "El Dorado," vowing to return and conquer 

Peru itself. This wild and incredible adventure, during which the women warriors known as Amazons were first 

reported, and the Amazon River was first navigated, was made into a German movie called, Aguirre: The 

Wrath of God. 

This disastrous expedition was the beginning of the confusion between El Dorado and Paititi, the real city of 

gold. It searched in an area far removed from where Paititi appears to be located, and this is why most 

adventurers after "El Dorado" searched in the vicinity of Columbia and Venezuela instead of Peru, where the 

legends actually originated. 

One adventurer who searched for Paititi was Pedro Bohorques, a penniless soldier who pretended to be a 

nobleman. In 1659, after serving in Chile, Bohorques became a wanderer. Calling himself Don Pedro el Inca, 

he swore that royal Inca blood flowed through his veins. Bohorques set himself up as emperor of an Indian 

kingdom at the headwaters of the Huallaga River south of Cuzco. He converted almost 10,000 Pelados 

Indians into his service, and declared all Spaniards fair game. He also sent some of his followers on a search 

for Paititi, hoping to find the treasure. 

When these men did not come back with gold, Bohorques left his empire and went to Lima. Unfortunately, the 

Spaniards had heard of his decree against them, threw him in prison, and sentenced him to death. He pled for 

his life, promising to reveal the location of the Kingdom of Gran Paititi if he was released. The judges refused 

his offer, but many gold hunters visited him in prison, begging him to share his secret with them. He refused, 

and went to the gallows in 1667, much to the chagrin of the treasure hunters of Lima. 

Actually, it is not likely that Bohorques knew the location of Paititi (since his adventurers returned without 

gold), though he was in the correct area, and may have learned the general location. Also, Paititi was 

probably still a living city at this time, so it would have been difficult for Bohorques or anyone else to enter. 

Of course, the search for Gran Paititi still continues, and many explorers feel that they are getting close. 

Today, many feel that Paititi is somewhere in the Paucartambo area of Peru, east of Cuzco toward the Madre 

de Dios River. This is the same area in which Fray Lucero indicated that Gran Paititi could be found. Some 

expeditions, however, because they either found the city or disturbed the Indians too much in their search, 

end up dead. Boston anthropologist Gregory Deyermenjian and British photographer Michael Mirecki 

mounted their own expedition into this area in 1984. Their goal was a jungle mountain in eastern Peru called 

Apucatinti. I accompanied Deyermenjian. 



According to many sources, the mountain on which Paititi is located is called Apucatinti, though exactly which 

mountain is really Apucatinti is open for debate. The word means "Lord of the Sun" in Quechua, and any 

mountain with this name (there are several) is a good candidate for having Paititi on it. 

As noted above, Paititi comes from the Quechua word "Paikikin" which means "the same as the other" which 

has also been translated as "the same as Cuzco." What could it mean, "The same as Cuzco?" Deyermenjian 

thinks that this indicates Paititi is another stone city, similar in its construction to that found at Cuzco and 

Sacsayhuaman; a megalithic city like Machu Picchu. On the other hand, it may mean that Paititi is like Cuzco 

in the sense that it is the abode of the Inca kings, as Cuzco once was. If Paititi was built from scratch by the 

retreating Inca royal fringe, then the ruins are more likely to be similar to those found at Espiritu Pampa: small 

and unimpressive. Machu Picchu also has part of a tunnel that can be found off the trail on the northern part 

of the city. 

Historically, Gran Paititi was not reported as being located on top of a mountain, but rather by a lake. If these 

older reports are correct, Paititi may be further into the jungles to the east or south. Some researchers even 

believe that it may still be a living city, where the Inca tradition is still carried on. Many areas, particularly to 

the east, could have remained under Inca control for quite some time after the Spanish conquest. 

Then again, Apucatinti may well be the site of a long-dead Paititi. Demoralized and cut off from their former 

empire, the surviving Incas could have existed on top of this remote mountain in a self-sufficient city much like 

Machu Picchu, until they died out. Deyermenjian backs this theory, and thinks that the city effectively died 

about the year 1600, a mere 30 or 40 years after the Incas escaped to their refuge there. 

In June of 1986, I accompanied Greg Deyermenjian and a party of Peruvians to scale the Apucatinti in 

Mameria. It took one week by horseback to the edge of the jungle, and a further two weeks of living with 

Machiguenga Indians in effort to scale the peak. We discovered Inca buildings, ovens, tombs and coca 

plantations, as well as the first-ever structures in the Madre de Dios district of Peru, but the ascent to the top 

of the mountain was extremely difficult. The mountain has no fresh water, and is covered in thick, almost 

impenetrable jungle. We ascended the mountain for five days from the base, with Machiguenga Indians 

leading the way. However, after running out of food and water, we had to return to the Indian village. 

In August of 1986, Deyermenjian returned to Mameria by himself, and made it to the summit of Apucatinti with 

his Indian guides. To their disappointment, neither Paititi nor any other structures were at the summit of the 

mountain. It had been a false lead, but it had looked like a good prospect. Deyermenjian continued to search 

for Paititi, focusing on a nearby area that was even more remote than Mameria and Apucatinti. It turned my 

attentions to Bolivia. 



A Tunnel in Eastern Bolivia 

With several old friends from the World Explorers Club, including Carl Hart, Steve Yenouskas, and Raul 

Fernandez, I journeyed to Peru and Bolivia to discover what we could of the tunnels in South America. After a 

week in Peru, we set off one day from Cuzco for Tiahuanaco and then to eastern Bolivia to the strange hilltop 

city of Samaipata. I had visited Samaipata by myself in the mid-80s, and wrote about the strange "fort" in my 

book "Lost Cities & Ancient Mysteries of South America". 

At the time, I was the 153rd person to visit the site since it had be re-opened to the public in 1974. 

Erich von Daniken had visited the site in the early 70s and had described it as a "rocket launching pad" for his 

alien visitors. The site itself was bizarre enough: high on the summit of mountain was a large outcrop of rock 

that had been cut into various rooms, channels, pools, chairs, petroglyphs and odd, crisscross grooves. 

The whole place was extremely ancient and worn, and apparently there had once been walls and buildings 

that were now long gone. A large jaguar was carved into the solid at the western end of the "fort." Was 

Samaipata a cult center for the jaguar? Was it a mining city? Or possibly a remote fort on the eastern edge of 

the mountain highlands, watching over the lower valleys to the east? No archaeologist has so far come up 

with an answer to Samaipata, including who built the "city" and when. On a National Geographic map of 

archaeological sites in South America that I carried with me, Samaipata was not even listed. 

The strangest part of Samaipata was a feature that was hidden in the jungle about a 100 meters south of the 

main fort, a tunnel into the ground that was called by the locals the Camino de la Chinchana, or the "Path of 

the Subterranean." 

The Camino de la Chinchana was a tunnel that began as a two-meter opening to a pit that went straight down 

for about 6 meters. Once one had made the first descent down to the floor of the pit, something that would 

take a rope or a ladder, then one would find himself standing in a tunnel that was high enough and wide 

enough for a man to stand without stooping. This tunnel then descended downhill from the fort, apparently 

going in a northwest direction. 

According to the caretaker of Samaipata, the tunnel had been explored once by Bolivian archaeologists who 

had entered the pit with a rope and had advanced some 100 meters or more into the tunnel. The air became 

stale and a small cave-in had blocked a portion of the tunnel. Without proper breathing gear, the team was 



unable to advance any farther into the earth. 

The tunnel was clearly man-made, and at least around the entrance, it was dug out of dirt, rather than cut out 

of solid rock. I asked the caretaker of Samaipata where this tunnel was supposed to go. He pointed to the 

north, across the valley, to a mountain about 15 kilometers away. This mountain looked something like the 

back molar in a row of teeth. 

"There", he said, pointing to the mountain, "there to La Muela el Diablo, is where the archaeologists say that 

the tunnel goes. On that mountain is supposed to be another city, just as here." 

Using my dictionary, I translated La Muela el Diablo as "The Devil's Dimple." This tunnel was said to run from 

the top of the mountain of Samaipata down to the valley, beneath a river, and then up to a mountain on the 

other side. 

Carl, Steve, Raul and I made a brief search of the area around the Devil's Dimple but could not find evidence 

of any lost city or of a tunnel entrance. It was a cursory exploration that proved or disproved little. Still the fact 

remained that the entrance to a bizarre man-made tunnel, one that was apparently thousands of years old, 

existed at the weird ruins of Samaipata. 

Was it the entrance to a lost mine used thousands of years ago? Was it a spur of the legendary tunnels near 

Cuzco? The thought that one might be able to enter into a vast labyrinth of tunnels beneath the Andes by 

entering the Camino tic la Chinchana was an exciting thought. The entrance still exists at Samaipata, waiting 

for a bold adventurer with the right equipment to discover its secrets. But for myself and Carl, we were to 

continue on to Brazil and the even more intriguing tunnel entrance at Sao Tome das Letras near Sao Paulo. 

The Tunnel Beneath Sao Tome das Letras. 

Our WEX team had to split up, with Steve and Raul returning to Peru and the U.S. while Carl and I headed 

down to Corumba, the Bolivian bordertown with Brazil. From there we took a bus through the Matto Grosso to 

Sao Paulo, the largest city in South America. 

In Sao Paulo Carl and I visited my Brazilian publisher and various Brazilian friends. I had received a letter 

from a Brazilian woman who had read the Portuguese version of my book Lost Cities & Ancient Mysteries of 

South America and had written me a letter concerning the opening to a tunnel system at the resort mountain 

town of Sao Tome das Letras. Her name was Marli and she worked at one of the many banks in Sao Paulo. 



Carl and I met with Marli one night for dinner and she told us about the town and the tunnel entrance. Sao 

Tome das Letras is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas of the Letters" and is the rather long name of a small town 

north of Sao Paulo that, like Samaipata in Bolivia, is on the top of a mountain. Sao Tome das Letras is in fact 

a well-known tourist town in Sao Paulo state, though I had never heard of it. Being on top of a mountain, it 

had good views, was cooler than Sao Paulo, and offered hiking trails, good restaurants and an artist colony 

for atmosphere. It also had the entrance to a man-made tunnel system, a feature well known to visitors of the 

small town. 

Carl and I suggested to Marli that the three of us take a trip to Sao Tome das Letras and see the entrance to 

the tunnel system. She agreed to accompany the two of us as our guide and interpreter. We left the next day, 

taking a bus for some four or five hours out of Sao Paulo, heading on a major highway toward the city of Belo 

Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais. 

Soon the bus turned off the main road and headed up a narrow paved road for some distant, low mountains. 

Eventually the road wound its way to the top of one of the mountains and we found ourselves in Sao Tome 

das Letras. 

Carl, Marli and I grabbed our luggage from beneath the bus and stood on the cobblestone street at the lower 

edge of town. There were many quaint houses, all made of well-carved stone with tile roofs and small 

windows. I noticed that stonework and even stacks of stone slate, was everywhere. Sao Tome das Letras 

was not only a tourist town, it was also a mountaintop quarry. 

We walked up the main street and found a small hotel to spend the night, leaving our packs and other 

luggage in the hotel. By now it was late afternoon and we had only time to walk about town and familiarize 

ourselves with this pleasant area. 

Later, Marli took us to a local restaurant where a crowd of young people had gathered to hear the local 

restaurant owner talk about the mysteries of Sao Tome das Letras. He was a large man, in his 50s, who 

spoke in Portuguese to the 20 or so people gathered in his restaurant. 

The crowd listened intently as the man spoke and occasionally I asked Marli what he was saying. 

"He is talking about the tunnel that is at the northern edge of town," said Marli, whispering to me. "He says 

that the tunnel is open as far as anyone has ever walked through it. At no place is the tunnel blocked. The 

tunnel is man-made, but no one knows who built it or where it goes." 



"The Brazilian army went into the tunnel one time to find out where it ends. After traveling for four days 

through the tunnel the team of Army explorers eventually came to a large room deep underground. This room 

had four openings to four tunnels, each going in a different direction. They had arrived in the room by one of 

the tunnels." 

"They stayed in the room for sometime, using it as their base and attempted to explore each of the other three 

tunnels, but after following each for some time, turned back to the large room. Eventually they returned to the 

surface, here at Sao Tome das Letras." 

The man continued talking about the tunnel. 

Apparently he gave this lecture every night at his restaurant. 

"Now he is saying," continued Marli, "that there is a man here in town who claims to know the tunnel and 

claims that he has been many weeks inside the tunnel. This man claims that the tunnel goes all the way to 

Peru, to Machu Picchu in the Andes. This man claims that he went completely under South America, across 

Brazil and to Machu Picchu. Isn't that amazing!" 

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Carl. He nodded to me at the fantastic nature of the story. "Does this 

restaurant owner say that he has been through the tunnel to Peru?" asked Carl. 

"No," said Marli, "it is not this man, it is another man. I don't know who this other man is. But now he is telling 

another story, this time it is about himself. He says that he was walking early in the morning on the north side 

of town, near to the tunnel entrance. On this morning, he suddenly met a strange man walking in the area of 

the tunnel. This man was very tall, about seven feet, and dressed strangely, like the Indians of the Andes in 

Peru and Bolivia. The man did not talk to him, but walked away. Later, the restaurant owner tried to find this 

man, but no one knew about him or knew who he was. The restaurant owner thinks that he came from the 

tunnel!" 

As we left the restaurant, Carl, Marli and I were quite stunned. It all seemed so incredible. 

"Well, Marli," I said, "tomorrow we must see this tunnel and explore it!" 

The next morning after breakfast, we checked our flashlights, put water and snacks into our daypacks, and 

set off up the cobblestone streets of Sao Tome das Letras to the north side of town. 



It didn't take long to find the tunnel entrance; already four or five young people were gathered around the 

entrance looking into the wide cavern. 

The entrance was quite large. It was a wide mouth of a cave with a mound of dirt creating a small hill over the 

entrance. The cavern entrance faced to the west and immediately began running down hill, into the earth. The 

tunnel/ cavern would have to go downhill, as we were essentially on top of a mountain. 

With our flashlights in hand, we entered the cavern. Within a few meters, the cavern entrance narrowed into a 

tunnel which was about three meters (9 feet) high and two meters wide. The tunnel was dug out of dirt, and 

was not cut out of solid rock, as some tunnels are. 

The tunnel headed down ward at a steady slope, but it was not too steep. As mall channel, made by running 

water moving through this part of the tunnel (and perhaps by the visitors walking through it) was in the middle 

of the floor, sort of a small "trail" worn into the floor. At no point was it ever necessary to duck, stoop or crawl 

in this tunnel. 

Quite the opposite, it was quite wide and high, even for the tallest man to walk through, even someone who 

was, say, seven feet tall! 

I was amazed at this ancient feat of engineering. We were descending down into the earth in a wide, 

gradually slopping tunnel that was dug into a red, clay-type dirt. It was not the smooth, laser-cut rock walls 

that Erich von Daniken had claimed to have seen in Ecuador in his book Gold of the Gods, but it was just as 

incredible. 

It wouldn't have taken some space-age device to make this tunnel, just simple tools; yet, it was clearly a 

colossal undertaking. Why would anyone build such a tunnel? Was it an ancient mine that went deep into the 

earth, searching for an elusive vein of gold or merely red clay for the long gone ceramic kilns? Was it an 

elaborate escape tunnel used in the horrific wars that were said to have been fought in South America-and 

around the world-in the distant past? Or was it some bizarre subterranean road that linked up with other 

tunnels in the Andes and ultimately could be used to journey safely to such places as Machu Picchu, Cuzco 

or the Atacama Desert? Maybe a combination of all three. 

Marli, Carl and I continued walking through the tunnel for a kilometer or so. Other visitors to Sao Tome das 

Letras followed us into the subterranean system. The tunnel was not perfectly straight, but wound left and 

right and occasionally dropped down a few feet and continued on. It was perfectly dry and the air was fresh 

and quite breathable. 



Eventually, after an hour or so, we came to a spot in the tunnel where it suddenly dropped down about a 

meter and a half. It was not a great obstacle and we could see the tunnel continuing downward, but it was a 

convenient place to stop. We had a candy bar and a drink from our daypacks and rested at this spot and then 

decided to go back to the surface. We had no intention of continuing for several days to the fabled room of 

four doors deep beneath Brazil. We simply weren't prepared for such an expedition. 

Back on the surface, we had lunch in one of the restaurants and prepared to get a bus back to Sao Paulo. We 

talked about the bizarre tunnel. It was real, there was no doubt about that. It was man-made as well, as the 

tunnel was perfectly uniform and contained no fissures or faults of any kind. 

Did it really go to Machu Picchu and the Andes? It seemed incredible, but we could not discount this story. 

Not yet anyway. Perhaps in the future we would return to Sao Tome das Letras, and find the secret of the 

room with four doors. 

The Lost Pyramid in the Valley of the Blue Moon. 

Back at the World Explorers Club, I began investigating other tales of tunnels and lost cities in Peru. My 

search eventually led me to the strange story of the Valley of the Blue Moon and a secret monastery of the 

Andes. 

This monastery is the subject of a book, "Secret of the Andes", by George Hunt Williamson, written under the 

pen name Brother Philip. Williamson was also the author of a number of other books, including "The Saucers 

Speak" (1954), "Other Tongues, Other Flesh" (1957), "Secret Places of the Lion" (1958) and "Road in the 

Sky" (1959). He was an adventurer and anthropologist, and a believer in lost continents. Williamson was no 

doubt a fascinating person (he died in 1986), however it is clear that he fabricated much of the "true" 

information in his books and even used material typed directly from Richard Shaver's book "I Remember 

Lemuria!" as his own past life "memories." 

But George Hunt Williamson cannot be dismissed too easily. He must be given credit for bringing some of the 

popular mysteries of South American to the forefront. Williamson had made expeditions into the Madre de 

Dios jungles of Peru in search of Paititi in the early 1950s, as many British explorers were attempting to do. In 

his various books, he talked about many of the mysteries of Peru including Paititi, tunnel systems, the weird 

stone formations on the Marcahuasi Plateau near Lima, and the Nazca Lines along the southern coast. 

Undoubtedly, later writers such as Erich von Daniken, Charles Berlitz and Robert Charroux used his writings 



as early guidebooks to the mysteries of Peru. 

While at times the fact and fancy in the pages of Secret of the Andes seem to merge, the first part of the book 

makes good reading. According to Williamson, a "Lord Muru" arrived at Lake Titicaca at some time in the 

remote past, when the Andes Mountains were first uplifted in a cataclysmic event that also sank the Pacific 

continent of Mu. Lord Muru set up the "Monastery of the Brotherhood of the Seven Rays," which was to keep 

the secrets and treasures of his race in its archives. 

Among these treasures was the Golden Sun Disc of Mu. Williamson maintains that this Sun Disc was later 

given to the Incas, when they had advanced enough spiritually to appreciate it. But when the Spaniards 

conquered Peru, the Sun Disc was removed from the Sun Temple at Cuzco, and placed back in safekeeping 

at the monastery. 

There is still some indication that a tunnel system, and perhaps a hidden "monastery" does exist in South 

America. The legend of the Valley of the Blue Moon is one that has a life beyond Brother Philip and George 

Hunt Williamson. 

One story told to me by a friend from Indianapolis, Bryan Strohm, also tends to confirm that there is a secret, 

underground, "city" in the Andes east of Lake Titicaca. 

Bryan came to visit me at the World Explorers Club in Kempton while I was researching the tunnels and told 

me of his quest for the Valley of the Blue Moon some years before. Bryan arrived in Lima and flew to Cuzco 

to take the train to Puno. From Puno he took a truck to San Juan del Oro, in the rugged mountains northeast 

of Lake Titicaca. 

He continued past San Juan del Oro by truck to another small village where he met a school teacher who told 

him an interesting story of a local Quechua Indian who had wandered over a high altitude ridge in the 

mountains where he saw a small mountain lake with grassy fields leading down to it. It was a small, hidden 

valley in the Andes. 

The Indian was camping beside this lake when late at night he heard the sound of chanting. He hid behind a 

bush, and soon saw a group of men dressed in white robes. These men came walking down a trail to the 

lake, chanting and carrying some kind of lights with them. 

Terrified, the man hid behind the bush and then watched as the men in white robes began to chant around 

the lake. The water in the small mountain lake then levitated out of the lake. Astonished, the man then saw 

steps that were cut in the solid rock, going down to a pedestals and a platform made out of stone. There may 



have been some sort of door going into the earth among these stone structures. 

The men in white robes then performed some unknown ceremony. 

The man watched for some time until suddenly he was seen by the central figure on the pedestal who turned 

to the hiding man and suddenly raised his arms into the air and created a storm. A cloud immediately 

appeared and began to hail on the man. A bolt of lightning struck nearby. 

The Quechua Indian ran from the bushes and, with the hail and lightning following him, went back down the 

mountains the way he had come. When he returned to the villages below he told the strange story to others, 

and it was now well known. 

Bryan also mentioned that the Valley of the Blue Moon, which appears to be in a different location from the 

lake, was said to have a huge pyramid at the end of it. Bryan spent two weeks hiking on the trails around San 

Juan del Oro and eventually came to large but hidden valley which had a gigantic pyramid-shaped mountain 

at the end of it. 

The pyramid-mountain was distant and obscured by clouds. They thought that they might reach the area of 

the pyramid with only a day's walk after glimpsing the pyramid, but two and a half days later they had still not 

reached it. Clouds obscured their view most of time, but occasionally they would clear for a short time and 

reveal the pyramid-mountain to them. This pyramid-mountain, he believed, was the true location of the secret 

brotherhood which George Hunt Williamson had described in his books. 

Storms and lack of food eventually drove their party back to a small village near San Juan del Oro. They didn't 

reach their destination, but Bryan said that they were all convinced that they had found the Valley of the Blue 

Moon and that there was something unusual about it. 

There are plenty of people who feel that something unusual is going on underground, not only in South 

America, but in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and around the world. A huge underground tunnel system 

connecting distant points on earth is a fascinating possibility. Does it exist? Who will find it? How far back was 

it built? 

Time, shall we say, will tell. 



Copyright © 2003 Stan Grist - All Rights Reserved.

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