NOCTURNAL ACTIVITY AT GIZA QUESTIONED
Claims that Dr Hawass has been stealing Egypt's heritage from newly found secret chambers at Giza should be treated with caution
Andrew
Collins Reports
Cairo.
On April 29 some new
age researchers made dramatic claims regarding what they see as the clandestine
removal of Atlantean artefacts under the cover of darkness from clandestin eexcavations
in front of the Sphinx at Giza. It was stated that someone, a local contact on
the plateau, had risked life and limb to video this nocturnal activity which allegedly
took place during the early hours of April 28. A version of this phone video was
placed online, as were enhanced stills from the same. The video showed a location
in complete darkness. Plant machinery is vaguely seen in the process of going
about its business. There was no time or date stamp on the footage to confirm
when it was taken, while the soundtrack was clearly added afterwards - it consisting
of a continuous loop of sounds made by JCB style diggers.
It
was was also claimed that later that at 10am the next morning a huge explosion
was reported by a resident of Nazlet el-Samman, the village next to the plateau,
suggesting that this was in some way connected with the clandestine activity.
Within 48 hours of these announcements my Facebook wall and message box was flooded with requests for me to comment on what was going on. Has the hall of Records been secretly discovered, its contents removed into oblivion? Were they dynamiting the el-Kahf e-Hanesh caves beyond the Tomb of the Birds (NC2) that you discovered at Giza back in March 2008? Was Dr Zahi Hawass, prior to his official retirement as Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, attempting to steal whatever he could from Giza's hidden record chambers?
Of
course, I could not answer these questions, and so made enquiries with individuals
I know worldwide who have contacts both at Nazlet el-Samman and on the plateau
at Giza.
My contacts came back to me and said that they were unaware of
any unusual activity taking place on the plateau over the period in question.
In addition to this, they
said they had no knowledge of any underground explosion being experienced by the
inhabitants of Nazlet el-Samman at the time in question.
It was pointed out that if activity involving heavy plant machinery was taking place on the plateau at night, then the chances are that it has a quite mundane explanation. At night it is cooler, and there are no tourists about who could get hurt, or who might get in the way, or take an undue interest in what was going on.
An example of such activity on the plateau is featured in a blog on the site Talking Pyramids. It reports on an operation in 2009 to clear away heavy rock debris from the area in front of Menkuare's pyramid. This involved the employment of a JCB and trucks that took away tonnes of ballast as can be seen from an accompanying picture seen by clicking here.
Although the blog does not state that this activity continued into the night, it does provide an adequate example of the type of industrial activity that can take place on the plateau.
Update: As I write these words, I have just beem told the following by John van Auken, a director for the Association for Research and Enlightenment, the research wing of the Edgar Cayce Foundation who work closely with Egyptian officials and organisations attached directly to the village of Nazlet el-Samman:
"My people at the Giza Plateau have gotten back to me today. The action at the Sphinx with the trucks and large boxes and tents is all in preparation for the annual desert 4X4 rally that happens every year in Egypt. No one is doing any excavation or extraction in or around the Sphinx at this time."