Figure Eight: Project One
Figure Eight has located this very positive site on the island of Negros in the Philippines. The site is very secluded and can be reached only by narrow and steep footpaths. A major Japanese base was located about a mile from this site.
THE HISTORY OF THE SITE
This is a chronological outline of the site's history:
- Our eyewitnesses as children were familiar with the area which included a natural cave.
- The cave was rather shallow, extending laterally only about 50 meters, then terminating with a large "room".
- The Japanese Imperial Army camped within 20 meters of the mouth of this cave. This was apparently a long-term encampment as evidenced by their care in crafting a kitchen area out of stone which exists today.
- After the War, the local landowners returned home. They discovered that a narrow portion of the cave passageway had been sealed with cement. This was about 15 meters into the cave.
- They soon found that the cement was unbreakable, having been set with a special hardener.
- The cave with its seal sat dormant for about 50 years.
- In 1995, a team of Filipino treasure-hunters dug around the cement seal. They concluded that the cave had been dynamited from within as it
was now impassible beyond another 15 meters. It may have been backfilled beyond this.
- The team decided to dig straight down in an attempt to find the large room. They dug a hole about 14 meters deep and 3 meters in diameter.
- A radio playing inside the cave can be heard from within the vertical hole.
- The project was suspended due to the poor health of the team's leader and financier. It is now impossible for him to personally supervise the project.
- In October 1997, Figure Eight founder Zach Anderson met this leader, spent about a week as his guest, and was led to the site by an 80-year-old guide who also had known the cave in his youth.
- Figure Eight was enlisted to supervise a renewed effort of the excavation.
HARDENED CEMENT IN DOLLAR TERMS
Perhaps the most convincing aspect of this site is the cemented passageway. What were the Japanese trying to hide inside the cave?
For over 1000 years, the Japanese had used a hardener in their pottery and tableware industries. The Golden Lily team routinely used this additive at their sites, apparently at the suggestion of Major Eike Kabarugi. During the War, it was made from a type of clay that was mined in northern China. The resulting cement would set very quickly and not shrink during hardening.
Usually, the hardener was mixed with the removed soil and crushed rock and lime and marine cement in such a way as to visually blend it with the surrounding rock. The resulting barrier is impossible to break or even chip with common tools. It can be drilled only with diamond-tipped bits. It can also be loosened to some extent with alkali.
Although there are many minor sites throughout the Philippines, known as officer sites, the typical officer would not have had access to the ceramic hardener. This is why we believe that Project One may be a major site known only to Golden Lily agents.
If in fact this were a Golden Lily site, its contents would be almost inconceivable to anyone unfamiliar with the full history of the War. Such a major site would contain at least one billion grams of gold, or one thousand metric tons, and occupy the volume of a cube of 12.20 feet per side. This equates to a minimum of over 32 million troy ounces. At $312.50 per ounce, this would be valued at over . . . well, you do the math.
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