A Brief History of the Mysterious Monuments

         Impossibly huge and geometrically precise stone constructs,
         withstanding the ravages of time as if by the will of the gods. Unlike
         the Bermuda Triangle and Atlantis, of course, pyramids are decidedly
         real. What is in question is their origins, their possible mystical
         properties, and whether any may have been found on the ocean floor
         as Atlantean relics.

         It has long been argued that the ancient Egyptians and Aztecs could
         not possibly have built the pyramids on their own; therefore, they are
         evidence of some greater intelligence, possibly extraterrestrial. But the
         earthly tools used in their construction have been found, and, while the
         pyramids represent an astonishing feat of engineering that required
         untold years of labor, it appears that early humans were capable of
         the task.

         Some have focused on the amazing structural and geometrical
         properties of the pyramids. First there is their incredible longevity: the
         pyramids have remained intact while other structures of a comparable
         age have crumbled away. This is largely attributable to the inherent
         durability of their characteristic shape. "It is, in fact, the form that a
         structure takes when it falls down!" James Randi has observed. "In
         other words, having tumbled to a pyramid-shaped mass, it cannot
         collapse much further." So their well-preserved state owes more to
         their architects' wisdom than to any mystical force.

         Pyramid enthusiasts have divined remarkable mathematical formulas
         from the monuments' heights, lengths and angles. This is especially
         true of the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Writers such as Erich von
         Daniken and Charles Piazzi Smyth have wrung all manner of figures
         out of this pyramid's measurements, including the Earth's polar radius
         and its distance in miles from the sun -- but their calculations take
         liberties that keep them from holding up under close scrutiny.
         Furthermore, one can play with any set of figures and eventually
         produce falsely meaningful results that were never intended to be
         there. Martin Gardner demonstrated this by calculating the speed of
         light from the height and capstone weight of the Washington
         Monument.

         Then again, maybe some geometrical phenomena were built into the
         pyramids -- if inadvertently. For instance, if you double the length of
         one base side of the Great Pyramid and divide it by the height, the
         result is very close to the value of pi. There is no evidence that the
         ancient Egyptians ever measured pi. One explanation is that the
         builders used a wheel tool to measure lengths, and using a circle's
         diameter as a unit of measure could lead to pi being "hidden"
         throughout the structure.

         Pyramids have historically been viewed as repositories or conduits of
         otherworldly power. Egyptians used them to honor the dead and
         Aztecs performed ceremonial sacrifices atop them, suggesting that the
         structures held a great deal of spiritual significance in both cultures.
         These supposed properties were brought to the attention of the
         modern world by Karl Drbal, a Czechoslovakian who in 1959
         founded the notion of "pyramid power." It became fashionable to use
         miniature pyramids for the supposed purposes of magical healing,
         augmented psychic powers, and communion with alien beings. People
         believed that a wish written on a slip of paper and worn inside a
         pyramid pendant would come true, and that old razor blades placed
         within a pyramid would spontaneously sharpen overnight.

         Edgar Cayce, the prophet and Atlantis supporter, determined with his
         psychic powers that the Great Pyramid had been built by a team of
         Egyptians and Atlanteans. He said the Atlanteans helped by levitating
         the stones during construction, and that they recorded the whole of
         human history -- past and future -- within the pyramid. This
         comprehensive documentation ran up through 1998, Cayce's
         projected Second Coming of Christ.

         If the folks from Atlantis were this interested in pyramids, it stands to
         reason that they would have built some of their own. There have been
         sightings of undersea objects that looked like pyramids from above
         the surface, which turned out to be natural formations with no pyramid
         shape at all. An elaborate Atlantis pyramid hoax was perpetrated in
         Charles Berlitz's 1978 book Without a Trace, the follow-up to his
         notorious The Bermuda Triangle.

         Berlitz presented sonar tracings of the Atlantic ocean floor near the
         island of Bimini as evidence of a giant sunken pyramid. Bimini lies
         within the Bermuda Triangle, and is in the exact area where Edgar
         Cayce placed Atlantis. Berlitz indicated that the pyramid reached 470
         feet above the ocean floor and was 520 feet long at each of its four
         bases -- comparable in size to the 450-foot-high Great Pyramid.

         The sonar chart, obtained by Captain Don Hen "authenticated by
         Dr. J. Manson Valentine of the Miami Museum of Science does
         indeed appear constitute impressive proof... at least,until you know
         how to read it properly. The tracing shows a
         cross-section of a distinct, symmetrical pyramid shape rising above an
         otherwise flat surface. But sonar tracing of the type Henry used
         produces a readout with a greatly exaggerated vertical axis, to make it
         easier to detect horizontal surface changes. Thus, what appears to be
         pyramid sides sharply rising at 45° angles is in reality a gentle slope of
         no more than two or three degrees. The furthest thing from 470 feet,
         the apex of this "pyramid" is really only a few feet tall.

         To add to the deception, Berlitz pointed out the bottom line of the
         chart as representing the ocean floor. It was actually just an arbitrary
         line where the chart cut off; on such sonar charts, the line showing the
         true ocean floor runs off the bottom of the chart and reappears at the
         top. The contrast of the sharp slope against this false ocean floor
         made the map's subject much more pyramid-like.

         It is also possible that Henry made this sonar tracing by running his
         scanning boat in one direction, then abruptly reversing his direction.
         Doing so would produce a symmetrical pyramid-shaped sonar chart
         from practically any part of the ocean floor (although sometimes the
         pyramid would appear upside-down, depending on the slope and the
         boat's direction).

         Berlitz also reported another alleged Atlantis ruin, the "Bimini Road."
         An undersea ribbon of parallel rock formations running for 1,000
         miles off the Bimini coast, it was the remnants of a highway paved by
         Atlanteans, Berlitz claimed. While the Bimini Road's patterns do make
         it look man-made, it is actually just an aggregation of beach rock,
         which naturally forms this way in many parts of the world.

         One can't say whether Berlitz genuinely believed the pyramid was
         there and the Bimini Road was real, or if he was intentionally twisting
         the facts for the sake of another exciting bestseller -- although one
         wonders what kinds of experts in their fields Captain Henry and Dr.
         Valentine were if they failed to point out Berlitz's wild misconceptions.

         The three legends of the Bermuda Triangle, Atlantis and the pyramids
         are remarkably complimentary. Pyramids were built in both Africa
         and the Americas, and Atlantis serves as a possible bridge to bring
         that concept -- as well as the needed architectural skills -- to both
         sides of the ocean. Atlantis's technological wreckage gives cause to
         strange occurrences in the Bermuda Triangle. All three stories deal
         with mysterious energies, ancient secrets, spirituality and death -- and
         possibly aliens, who might well be responsible for the whole shebang.

         In science, when the findings of disparate fields of study dovetail into
         a harmonious whole, the result can be a mutual affirmation of validity.
         It may be tempting to follow the same line of thinking in the case of
         these three phenomena: "It all fits together so well, there must be
         something to it!" But when the pieces include myths, half-truths and
         deception, the completed picture will be just a bunch of lies... or, at
         best, some really cool mythology.