The Prometheus Objective

Notes to the Reader

Antarctica, which makes up more land mass than Europe and is twice the size of Australia, is for all extensive purposes, a place of unexplored mystery under all that ice. But was it always so? The Piri Reis Map is a real thing, and definitely shows the true coastline, bereft of ice, which begs the question of where such knowledge to draw that came from — psychics or was it handed down from a time when there had been a seafaring civilization before a cataclysmic pole shift? Perhaps because of its inaccessibility, Antarctica is ripe for theories: conspiracies, UFOs, secret experiments and other phenomena; reports of strange lights, crafts rising from the ice, pockets of unusual heating, vegetation and fresh lakes; satellite imagery showing unusual circular masses giving off radiation; allegations that Nazis were directly searching for an entrance to a Hollow Earth, believing they could find the legendary land of Thule and contact ancient races or learn secret technology from their records to help conquer the world.

Additionally, reports that in 2017 many top world leaders, including Secretary John Kerry and Pope Francis, visited Antarctica and returned, visibly shaken and with their outlooks changed on many things. Operation High Jump, led by Admiral Byrd in 1946-47, was ostensibly to set up an Antarctic base, but many speculate that to do so didn’t require 4,700 men, 13 ships, and 33 aircraft, and that their true purpose was to confront either a Nazi base of operations, or prevent advanced tech and weaponry from falling into the wrong hands. Speculation has even included the possibility that Byrd went up against some other unworldly force — or at least that the Nazis had harnessed some sort of anti-gravity propulsion system, and the battle was fierce. Byrd later warned of the potential for invasion from the poles, and since the area has been hotly contested, it became mostly off limits by treaty (although often violated). Maybe the truth will come out soon.

This artifact, for my purposes here, was modeled after the jewel component of the Imperial Regalia of Japan.

The jewel, Yasakani no Magatama was a comma-shaped bead or jewel, one of three items of cosmic origin, supposedly used by the ancient gods to coax the sun goddess Amaterasu out of hiding after the world had plunged into darkness. Since there's evidence that the mirror may have been destroyed in a fire in 1040, and the present sword is likely a replica, many believe that the imperial jewel may be the only remaining piece of the original Regalia. It now resides close to the Imperial Family in Tokyo’s Imperial Palace within the Three Palace Sanctuaries, which are used for ceremonies and especially transfers of power.

One legend has it that after a naval battle with a rival clan in 1185, the ruling dynasty threw the items into the sea, and that divers eventually recovered the jewel. I took liberties with this part, namely where it had been lost and subsequently recovered, and also with what the jewel actually represented, theorizing it could have been part of the fabled second Emerald Tablet, complete with its own brand of powers — in this case, leadership and control of others.

This is a fascinating concept, and a natural destination and end point for the central character of this series. Fascinated with knowledge and libraries especially, Caleb’s quest for the greatest ancient library began this series, so I thought it was only fitting that by the end we’ve come to the ultimate library — what New Agers, Theosophists and pseudoscience-lovers all embrace, called the Akashic Record. In a nutshell, it’s a storehouse of everything (from each soul’s every single thought, action, word and emotion — to knowledge of the working of the universe itself, all saved in the ether, in some other non-physical plane of reality. And, most importantly, it’s accessible by those who have the right ‘key’: whether that’s being psychic or knowing the right mantras or trances or what have you. Mystics, buddhas, ascended masters, or just plain intuitive people who might have been labeled ‘crackpots’… maybe this ‘library’ is what they’re able to tap into, seeking answers to mysteries, to questions, to just knowing things that shouldn’t be knowable otherwise.

For this novel, I felt the wisdom tempted by the serpent in the Bible’s Tree of Life was comparable enough, and that these two were basically one and the same; and from that premise it followed that the cautionary tale of expulsion from paradise was equitable to being denied full access to the Akashic Record, or what have you, and it only made sense that those seeking the truth would ultimately find their way back to make that decision once more.

According to astronomers, the huge space rock called Icarus, which has been monitored by NASA since 1949, could one day hit us and has the potential to wipe out a hemisphere. It could strike with a speed of almost 66,000 miles an hour — more than 28 times faster than the Moon's orbit speed of 2,300mph. Fortunately, its next pass isn’t scheduled until in June 2043, but the distances have been known to vary and it could pass further away, or it could be thousands of years before it actually strikes. I of course took liberties with its path and the nature of its catastrophic potential.

This has been covered before, but it’s still intriguing to me. Theories and allegations abound that NASA and some of our astronauts witnessed not only UFOs, but a base on the far side of the moon, and that aliens somehow communicated that we were to ‘stay the hell away’ (my words). And there is also the report (discussed in an earlier book) that remote viewer extraordinaire Ingo Swann had a vision of something quite similar when given sealed coordinates and told to report what he saw up there.

What is also fascinating is that, as of the writing of this novel, China’s ‘Chang’e-4’ mission is planned to make the first ever landing on the far side, sending a rover to explore the surface, and including other satellites to allow communication back. Expectations (and fears for some) are high…

This ‘Venice of the Pacific’ in Micronesia is an incredible place, an engineering marvel and considered one of the greatest archaeological wonders of the world. It comes all wrapped up with a rich history, a plethora of baffling mysteries, and a boatload of speculation. How and why they moved the giant volcanic rocks from miles away over difficult terrain, and then stacked them 50 feet high and almost 20 feet thick, has never been answered. The platinum coffins are well documented and were targets of Japanese investigation and retrieval during WWII. Local legends abound, and the only historical civilization residing there, from 1100–1600, claimed the city was there when they arrived, and relate tales of giants, levitation, magic and ghosts, and claimed the ancient kings had ‘supernatural powers’ that would curse any who disturbed their tombs or sought their treasure. The story of German governor Victor Berg, who entered one of the tombs, is based on fact. He supposedly found remains of giants measuring two-three meters tall, and he died the following morning after a night of torrential storms. There is also a fringe theory that the island of Pohnpei, attached to Nan Madol, has unique and subtle seismic activity, which generates piezoelectricity — and it’s this electromagnetism, combined with the ‘strangely magnetized basalt’ blocks that make Nan Madol special in ways that I theorize in the plot: allowing for an interplay of consciousness and technology that could explain the negation of gravity (and the amazing constructions we see there). Whatever the truth, the mysteries remain — enticing and thought-provoking. If only we could see into the past…

But again, it’s exactly that thought which started this whole series, and again I thank all you readers for coming along for the ride.

David Sakmyster

7/6/18