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Title: Did Hitler have a base in the Antarctic? John Whitfield wonders why fringe fantasies get attracted to the edges of the Earth.
Source:
nature.com
URL Source: http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070326/full/070326-14.html
Published: Mar 30, 2007
Author: John Whitfield
Post Date: 2007-04-01 13:34:47 by Destro
Keywords: Hitler, Antartica
Views: 1170
Comments: 81
Published online: 30 March 2007; | doi:10.1038/news070326-14 muse@nature.com: Did Hitler have a base in the Antarctic? John Whitfield After the initial flurry of interest, International Polar Year (IPY, launched this March) seems to have gone a bit quiet. I propose pepping things up with a good conspiracy theory. Handily, a recent paper in Polar Record1 describes one. The Nazis, some believe, established a secret base in Antarctica to which they spirited Hitler at the war's end, fought off British special forces and an American military taskforce, partly by shooting down US planes using flying saucers. The Americans eventually destroyed the base with nuclear weapons in the 1950s. Since then, various governments have striven to conceal this. In this light, it's no effort to re-imagine Antarctic explorations proposed under the aegis of IPY. A quick tour of the website reveals a project entitled 'Exploring Antarctic Dry Valleys in Preparation for Mars Landings'. It seems scarcely less unlikely that this could really be a mission to recover Nazi treasure or technologies. Like all good conspiracy theories, this one is built on a skeleton of facts. There was a German expedition to Antarctica in 1938-39. There was classified British military activity in Antarctica during the war. In July 1945, two months after VE Day, the German submarine U-530 appeared at the Argentine naval base of Mar del Plata. The next month, U-977 did the same. In 1946-47 the US military mounted Operation Highjump, the largest ever Antarctic expedition, consisting of 4,700 men and 13 ships. And in 1958, they carried out three nuclear explosions in the southern hemisphere that were meant to stay secret, but didn't. Dashed debunking However, when you see a paper titled "Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality," you know that reality is going to disappoint. Using documentary evidence and first-hand experience of Antarctica, Colin Summerhayes of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, UK, and Toronto-based Peter Beeching puncture every last bit of the story. To give just a few of their points: the Germans' pre-war visit to Antarctica, concerned mainly with establishing a whaling base, was fleeting, never spending more than a day on the ice shelf. The wartime British force in Antarctica was tiny, and concerned mainly with observation and securing territorial claims to the islands around the Falklands. The U-boats were in the southern ocean during the Antarctic winter, when the pack ice would have made it impossible for them to reach the coast. The US atomic tests in the 1950s took place around Tristan da Cunha, thousands of kilometres from Antarctica. It doesn't help that the various conspiracists haven't got their story straight. The proposed location for the Nazi base (often a cavern under the ice) has wandered around over most of the Norwegian Antarctic territory of Dronning Maud Land. And it's not agreed whether the submarines were carrying Hitler himself, or just his ashes. Taking 21 peer-reviewed pages to address this looks like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The story ends up being indulged and damned simultaneously, in the same way that highbrow papers report celebrity goings-on by harrumphing over the lowbrow media's obsession with them (a situation which, I confess, sounds mildly familiar). And Summerhayes and Beeching face the problem of all scientists trying to engage with unreason. If the people advancing this kind of stuff — one of whom was recently jailed for holocaust denial — cared about the evidence, they wouldn't be where they are in the first place. But Summerhayes says that he needed to take a stand. "These theories are incredibly popular among Germans and Russians," he says. "You can either leave it alone, or you can say 'hang on...'." Debunking the story was "a lot of fun — I became hooked", he says. "I'm using it as an exercise to educate people about Antarctic science." Or at least to raise the icy continent's press exposure. Attracted to the fringe The polar regions are a particularly good spot for a conspiracy theory. Until recently, the people that went there had a habit of not coming back. And when they did, they told stories of unimaginable cold and wind, freezing deserts, strange creatures and mind-boggling hardship. More recently we've witnessed the collapse of thousands of square kilometres of ice shelf and discovered giant underground lakes. Small wonder that the ice has become a screen on which to project lurid imaginings. If you can imagine Amundsen's expedition eating their huskies at 40 below, it's not such a stretch to picture Adolf and Eva chipping ice from the walls of their lair to chill their G 'n' Ts. Lob in some UFOs, and all that's missing for the perfect contemporary myth is a link to 9/11. Polar myth-making has gone on for centuries. The Greeks and medieval Europeans imagined Thule, a land off the northern edge of the map. Off the top of my head, I can think of Frankenstein pursuing his monster to the Arctic, Superman's Arctic fortress of solitude, and the secret alien Antarctic bases in the X Files movie and Alien vs Predator. There's an evening I'll not get back. Many of the world's pollutants concentrate in the polar regions, carried there by wind and ocean currents. For some reason something similar seems to happen with our fantasies. References
John Whitfield wonders why fringe fantasies get attracted to the edges of the Earth.
Summerhayes C. & Beeching P. Polar Record , 43 . 1 - 21 (2007).
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#41. To: BTP Holdings (#17)
hehehehehe...empty cranium syndrome. What a dickhead.
I told you don't try this at home.
"People like truth, it gives us a fucking benchmark." - dakmar
Stormfront? That's your answer to everything.
"People like truth, it gives us a fucking benchmark." - dakmar
UFO cults, Destro? You are the only person here that yammers on about UFO cults.
"People like truth, it gives us a fucking benchmark." - dakmar
Go easy on our resident illegal alien, Dak. He might haul ass back to herzegovina, lickety split.
Not a Yugoslavian - but I may help them on occasion. It's OK most Americans can't find Washington, DC on a map let alone an obscure region in the Balkans.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
I agree that it does not fit using the French system started by the first National Assembly during the French Revolution, where liberal (small L) deputies from the Third Estate generally sat to the left of the president's chair, a habit which began in the Estates General of 1789. The nobility, members of the Second Estate, generally sat to the right. In the successive legislative assemblies, monarchists who supported the Ancien Régime were commonly referred to as rightists because they sat on the right side. In that sense the Founding Fathers were liberals (again the term is different that how Americans have begun to use the term in their own country) because they were anti power to clergy and anti monarchists. In modern day usage the term rightist and leftist varies from how it applies to each nation's political spectrum. It is not my fault that the Nazi types are called extreme right wingers, I understand that many on the right would prefer they be called extreme left wingers along with the Commies. I did not classify the Nazis as extreme right wing - it is a usage that was inherited and for me to change the meaning would confuse people. With that in mind. the term far right is usually applied to those who support authoritarianism, usually involving a dominant class (which may be aristocratic or defined along racial or other lines), and/or an established church (although some forms of far right—for example, elements of the militia movement in the United States—are devolutionist). Their favored authoritarian state can be an absolute monarchy, but more often today it is some form of oligarchy and military dictatorship (see fascism). This is most true in regions and nations that have no real history of monarchy, such as Central America (discounting the Pre-Columbian era), Switzerland, and the United States. The term "far right" also embraces extreme nationalism, and will often evoke the ideal of a "pure" ideal of the nation, often defined on racial or "blood" grounds. They may advocate the expansion or restructuring of existing state borders to achieve this ideal nation, often to the point of embracing expansionary war, racialism, jingoism and imperialism. In the English-speaking nations this is often a nationalism descended from the militant aspects of British New Imperialism. Hence the groups labelled far- right often embrace state churches, harshly retributive justice, and militarism. More generally, the term "far-right" has been applied to any stream of political thought that rejects democracy in favour of some form of elite rule (including monarchy, plutocracy, and theocracy).
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
I hear you; you have no answer to my question. Thank-you Mr. Destro. Your log back to Bosnia awaits your confused butt.
Oh bullshit. All an American needs to do to find DC is look for highly concentrated herd of non-working Blacks, with a small group of elitists in the middle of them.
Suck it Nazi fag.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
Nazis are the extreme right wing. Deal with it Nazi fag.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
same with the engine block on my car. You've just proven beyond any doubt why the WTCs did not collapse from fire. It doesn't take a physics professor to figure it out. Evidently the sheople are pretty damned stupid.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Nazis are National SOCIALISTS...the left wing. Thou doesn't know thine history or thine culture.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition George Washington is also on the left wing of the political spectrum of the French Assembly. Economics is not a determinant.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
All it proved is that you guys suck at science and such thinking discredits you types as ill educated kooks and rubes.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
What does George Washington have to do with you erroneously thinking Nazis are on the right?
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Ad hominems is all you can muster? Get back in the can.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Yea, I did @#34. Here it is again. What the steel industry says about steel and fire. http://www.livingsteel.org/structural- safety-3 Find out about the important aspects of structural safety with regard to steel buildings. As the rate and amount of heat flow from the fire environment to steel members increase, the temperature, and thus the risk of failure for the structural member, will also increase. Since the steel has a very high thermal conductivity, exposed member surface easily transmits the conveyed heat flow from the fire source to the whole structure in a short period of time. It also is a well known fact that heat is transmitted in between elements having different temperatures. Even if materials are referred to as non-combustible, like structural steel, this does not guarantee the fire safety of a structure. Steel structural properties and its yield strength considerably decrease as it absorbs heat upon exposure to a high temperature level. On the other hand it must be kept in mind that, steel building members may easily collapse during a fire if the temperature is allowed to reach a critical value. The fire resistance of a steel member is related to some important factors including the section size, the perimeter of the section exposed to fire, place of the member in the protective structural assembly and the steel material thickness. Depending upon structural assembly and the fire occurrence, even the exposed steel may resist fire up to 30 minutes. However the structural steel needs to be protected against fire using the proper insulating materials and methods to control the situation and resist for longer periods. In essence the structure's fire safety is measured by the time of resistance regarding the supplied evacuation time and the level of failure. It also is important to assure that the fire resistance time is sufficient as such that the structure is able to carry the building loads during the duration of the fire. As previously mentioned, steel loses strength and stiffness at high temperature levels just like any other building materials. (That's what I termed steel turning to wet noodles to describe it to simpelton Americans like Christine).
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
Let's assume I give you the argument that a steel building will melt [and collapse] from a kerosene and office furniture fire. [laughable] Then how do you explain the information in this article? www.freedom4um.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=49362 How do you explain this fact: Excepting the three 9-11 collapses, no fire, however severe, has ever caused a steel-framed high-rise building to collapse. Following are examples of high-rise fires that were far more severe than those in WTC 1 and 2, and Building 7. In these precedents, the fires consumed multiple floors, produced extensive window breakage, exhibited large areas of emergent flames, and went on for several hours. The fires in the WTC towers did none of these things. These and many other steel-building fires were of far greater intensity than the fires observed at WTC-7, but those other buildings didn't so much as bend, let alone collapse symmetricaly and perfectly vertically. OH I know! The laws of chemistry and physics changed on 9-11!!!
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition LOL! Yeah right. Totally destroyed by common sense and high school physics. So they are vulnerable...not proof the WTCs collapsed due to fire. Besides, it's already been proven the pancake collapse was impossible without help.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Simple, simpleton. A) They were built differently internally. B) No friggin jetliner crashed into them at full throttle which damaged the structural integrity and at the same time stripped off the fireproofing that the above buildings had in place. Why do you friggin retards always bring up skyrise fires and ignore the fact that the steel beams in them had their fireproofing remain intact which was a major factor in the structural failure of the Twin Towers.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
Then you must work for the steel industry, right?
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
A. A) They were built differently internally Really? So the WTCs were built at a much lower quality level. No friggin jetliner crashed into them at full throttle which damaged the structural integrity and at the same time stripped off the fireproofing that the above buildings had in place. Stripped off the fireproofing all over the building and at the bottom? Yeah right. Your only rebuttle is strutural dmage and fireproofing damage. Which I guess is the diversionary factor that caused TheStateInc to throw in a few airplanes so wingnuts like you would rationalize the impossible collapse of 3 steel buildings, one of which was NOT hit by a plane moron...there goes your only rebuttle.. None of your fantasy explains the impossible free fall which you've conveniently omitted from your rebuttle.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Same tired argument. By your twisted logic, firemen are not experts in structural fires because they don't work for the steel industry. Tell me asshat, just how does a paycheck from a Corporation affect the laws of physics? Your tired bullshit is so fricking obvious. Go shill on ElPee or FRaud where you belong. By the way, you don't work for the steel industry do you? Didn't think so. That just killed every one of your arguments as well. And even if you did work for the steel industry, are you an engineer, a chemist or a toilet cleaner?
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Never in a million years of spinning his obfuscations would he be able to do so. "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
See #47.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
Please explain how national socialists are right-wingers, my bloviating Bosnian bastard.
Is he not a dickless wonder? No wonder he finds solace at LF, where one can "rate" fellow posters and pretend a Libertarian party still exists.
Destro, Destro, Destro.....why didn't Mr. Hitler's ovens melt when he was using all those Jews as kindling wood??
and a simple way to prove it was an inside job is to simply observe if criminal investigation protocol was followed, or ignored upon orders of those in charge. the same is true of OKC.
“All of us should treasure his (John Dillinger) Oriental wisdom and his preaching of a Zen-like detachment, as exemplified by his constant reminder to clerks, tellers, or others who grew excited by his presence in their banks: "Just lie down on the floor and keep calm."” --- Robert Anton Wilson “Intelligence is the capacity to receive, decode and transmit information efficiently. Stupidity is blockage of this process at any point. Bigotry, ideologies etc. block the ability to receive; robotic reality-tunnels block the ability to decode or integrate new signals; censorship blocks transmission.” --- Robert Anton Wilson
I gave John Deere the benefit and assumed that the ratings system functioned as intended at some point along its time line, but, I've read enough accusations from the founders that were made before the board went public I believe, and they were gang fanging each other even when peopled with the Polly Purehearts of the Libertarian/libertarian fringe. And now only mods have the power to rate, and those that use it are revisiting already failed behavior modification experiments and becoming predictable petty tyrants. JD would dookey in his flat hat (navy expression, except they don't say "dookey"-heh heh) if he saw the crimes being committed in the name of small "ell" libertarianizzim! or is that "zism"? The current interpretation of the Terms Of Service or TOS has resulted in the mods following individual paths of least resistance. They argue, threaten and bully each other in ways that would no doubt result in mass "resignations" if JD was here to request them. But, these mods can't be shamed and they all seem to regard hanging on to the badges as essential to healthy self esteem. In short, blind, unprincipled (or paralyzed by conflicting principles) immature hall monitors of yesteryear are back in power and the teacher is out of the room at LF. And, the website is now a virtual soul mate to the annual desert freak gathering known as BURNING MAN. If you want to admire your butts with mirrors and share them with everyone in the midst of serious discussions, LF and THE BURNING MAN FESTIVALS are two places to come and be your real asshole admiring selves. Both have reached the noteworthy goal of being some of the worst examples of free expression, and their pseudo-intellectual trolls take perverse pleasure in pretending to be free and having nothing to say worth defending freedom for.
"Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters."__Harry J. Anslinger
On that we agree - I don't deny a cover up and I do implicate the powers that be. Just this fanciful super duper multi-part Rube Goldberg - ignorant of science loose change series of events you hayseed rubes have latches on to.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
Like Pearl Harbor, or the Gulf of Tonkin?
The US Navy worked with the Japanese navy to carry out Pearl Harbor?
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
Did they? I learned it was FDR who knew of the pending attack via intercepted cables from Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto. AmeriKan history is amazing isn't it? Nearly the same number of Americans died in the cover up of PH as did those killed on 911.
That's the best critique on LF I’ve read yet. I was never comfortable there. I suppose that went back to the battles I had w/OWK on tFR. I understand he now sleeps with the fishes as does the integrity of LF. Why would anyone remain there?
We have not yet confirmed about OWK, and we're still very concerned.
"Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters."__Harry J. Anslinger
FDR leaving himself open is not the same as saying he planted bombs inside teh battleships and detonated them as the Japanese attacked. Leaving yourself open to attack is what I have postulated regarding 9/11 - you guys add in the BS of demolition charges. So in citing Pearl Harbor you back my view and shut down the planted demolition BS.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
I understood his son? posted a comment on LF - something about an automobile accident?
What if he saw to it that they were lined up on battleship row? (He did)
"Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters."__Harry J. Anslinger "Actually Harry, my brain is more like Alice beyond the looking glass...."__HD
Standard way to moor battleships. What is probably more accurate is that FDR expected an attack but goofed on guessing the the magnitude and location of the attack. Pearl Harbor was a great feat of planning in its own right - and while the power of carriers in the new way of fighting at sea was understood it was still a new concept and not fully grasped.
"The desire to rule is the mother of heresies." -- St. John Chrysostom
#42. To: Esso (#15)
My oven melted last night when I tried to cook a frozen pizza. Then I tried to make some soup and the pot melted, then the grates that hold the pot off the fire melted.
#43. To: Destro (#36)
#44. To: Destro, Jethro Tull, christine (#39)
I wonder why Jethro Tull here freaked out at the notion of these esoteric Hitler UFO cults
#45. To: Dakmar (#43)
#46. To: Jethro Tull, Dakmar (#45)
(Edited)
Go easy on our resident illegal alien, Dak. He might haul ass back to herzegovina, lickety split.
#47. To: Jethro Tull (#40)
Please explain how the fascism of national socialism is right wing?
#48. To: Destro (#47)
I did not classify the Nazis as extreme right wing - it is a usage that was inherited and for me to change the meaning would confuse people.
#49. To: Destro (#46)
It's OK most Americans can't find Washington, DC on a map
#50. To: Jethro Tull (#49)
#51. To: Jethro Tull (#48)
#52. To: gengis gandhi, all (#31)
indeed. and somehow jet engines contain a very hot jet fuel fire, in terms of combustion and dont melt...and how bout those afterburners shooting out jets of blue hot flame, yet the plane doesn't melt.
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
#53. To: Destro, jethro tull, all (#51)
Destro: Nazis are the extreme right wing
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
#54. To: IndieTX (#53)
the left wing. Thou doesn't know thine history or thine culture.
#55. To: IndieTX (#52)
You've just proven beyond any doubt why the WTCs did not collapse from fire. It doesn't take a physics professor to figure it out. Evidently the sheople are pretty damned stupid.
#56. To: Destro (#54)
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
#57. To: Destro (#55)
All it proved is that you guys suck at science
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
#58. To: IndieTX (#57)
(Edited)
#59. To: Destro, jethro tull, robin, lodwick (#58)
(Edited)
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
#60. To: Destro (#58)
(Edited)
Find out about the important aspects of structural safety with regard to steel buildings.
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
#61. To: IndieTX, jethro tull, robin, lodwick (#59)
How do you explain this fact
#62. To: IndieTX (#60)
LOL! Yeah right. Totally destroyed by common sense and high school physics.
#63. To: Destro (#61)
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
#64. To: Destro (#62)
Then you must work for the steel industry, right?
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
#65. To: Jethro Tull, Destro (#40)
Please explain how the fascism of national socialism is right wing?
#66. To: BTP Holdings (#65)
#67. To: Destro (#51)
Nazis are the extreme right wing. Deal with it Nazi fag.
#68. To: BTP Holdings (#65)
#69. To: Destro (#62)
#70. To: IndieTX (#52)
#71. To: Jethro Tull (#68)
Is he not a dickless wonder? No wonder he finds solace at LF, where one can "rate" fellow posters and pretend a Libertarian party still exists.
#72. To: gengis gandhi, IndieTX (#70)
and a simple way to prove it was an inside job is to simply observe if criminal investigation protocol was followed, or ignored upon orders of those in charge.
#73. To: Destro (#72)
Just this fanciful super duper multi-part Rube Goldberg - ignorant of science loose change series of events you hayseed rubes have latches on to.
#74. To: Jethro Tull (#73)
Like Pearl Harbor
#75. To: Destro (#74)
The US Navy worked with the Japanese navy to carry out Pearl Harbor
#76. To: HOUNDDAWG (#71)
#77. To: Jethro Tull (#76)
#78. To: Jethro Tull (#75)
#79. To: HOUNDDAWG (#77)
We have not yet confirmed about OWK, and we're still very concerned.
#80. To: Destro (#78)
FDR leaving himself open is not the same as saying he planted bombs inside teh battleships and detonated them as the Japanese attacked.
#81. To: HOUNDDAWG (#80)
What if he saw to it that they were lined up on battleship row?
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