spiritofatlantis.com | Duane K. McCullough

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INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR:
Duane K. McCullough 12/99

by Duane McCullough


This eighth interview was written by the author in response to possible questions regarding the book: SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS / The Treasure Adventure. Although there are three fictional reporters asking questions about the many views presented in the book, the questions asked are meant to inspire the public into discovering the truth and reality about Atlantis. The public is welcome to republish this "press conference" - however, any republication of this interview should include this web site address or HTML link to the www.spiritofatlantis.com web site.


Dateline: December '99 / Place: Key Largo, Florida

Duane: Before I begin to answer questions about my SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS book project, I would like to read the following announcement regarding the availability of my book and CD computer program...

Version 3 of SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS / The Treasure Adventure, is now available in paperback and CD. Quantities are currently limited to three sets per order due to startup cost. For further information about ordering, just visit www.spiritofatlantis.com and click on the SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS Demo link... Now, your first question?


Reporter 2: As the new millennium arrives, do you have any comment for your readers regarding the radical discrepancy between the new timeline data within your book project SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS and the conventional A.D. timeline data of Western History?

Duane: Yes, I do - however, trying to find the few summery words that would clarify my new timeline data from my book project is not easy. The primary idea that I would ask readers to do while trying to study my research work is to "suspend" all knowledge of recorded event dates within Western History beyond about five centuries ago. Essentially, I believe all the conventional A.D. timeline data from before the Renaissance to be "faulty" because I have discovered an important and influential historical document published during the early Renaissance that incorrectly valued and packaged the "official" event dates of ancient history.


Reporter 2: Is this important and influential historical document published during the early Renaissance you refer to the NUREMBURG CHRONICLE by Hartman Schedel?

Duane: Yes - and again, for those who are not familiar with my timeline argument with conventional Western History, I believe that because no historian has ever challenged or corrected the recorded event dates within the influential NUREMBURG CHRONICLE document since it was published some five centuries ago, the conventional A.D. timeline value of Western History needs a "major update" so that scholars can truly understand global history. If scholars would take the time to verify my new timeline data, they will come to realize, like I have, that the conventional A.D. timeline count value of two-thousand years since the birth of Christ is far from being true.


Reporter 3: Even if your new timeline discovery could be scientifically proven somehow and historians began to - as you put it "realize" that we are not living some two-thousand years after the birth of Christ, it will take many years for teachers and students to understand the significance of the discovery and rewrite the event dates of Western History. And many will never believe in your new timeline discovery simply because they find it too difficult to try. They will find it more comfortable in believing the idea that recorded human history is at least five-thousand years old - rather than the one-thousand year timeline value you suggest. How do you plan to announce your new timeline discovery of global history to the public - and just as important, have you received any recognition to date of your historical revelation from any reputable educational institution?

Duane: Now that I have a new comprehensive book and computer program to share with the public, I plan to announce my discoveries by e-mailing the administrators of several educational institutions and inviting them to visit my website. Version 3 can now be acquired from my address or other sources. I have already just sent some announcements to some major news media groups, but have not had any response yet. I am quite aware that many, if any, will not respond because of the radical nature of my historical data - but I should not be discourage. The discovery of the true timeline of recorded human history will reveal the real timeline of our Atlantean heritage.


Reporter 3: Trying to find the proper university administrator that would consider your book project and new timeline data should be challenging. Have you tried to explain your new timeline theories to any local college professor - and if you have, what was the response?

Duane: Yes, but that was years ago before what I know now. Over the years, I have discovered the interesting phenomenon that persons with complex knowledge of recorded ancient history, like many history teachers, are less likely to have an open mind about accepting my new timeline discoveries. At first thought, one would conclude that this phenomenon is telling me that I need to study the details of ancient human history more and learn about how the conventional A.D. timeline fits together - but, I have gone beyond that stage of understanding. I now see the timeline of recorded ancient history just as complex as ever - its that I believe in a much smaller annual timeline value than what is believed by conventional scholars. Perhaps this phenomenon will change when more historical information is understood by the general public as to how and why I discovered my new timeline data.


Reporter 3: Without official recognition from a reputable educational institution, the timeline theories within your SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS book project are probably not going to be accepted by any news media groups. And any peer review or recognition from an educational institution will take time. It may take years before any significant recognition can help you in your quest to share your new timeline theories with the public. Are you prepared to wait a long time before your new timeline theories are understood by the public?

Duane: The new timeline concepts I have discovered are not just theories like you say, they can be "proven" or "verified" if only other historians will take the time to understand them. I am prepared to do what is necessary to significantly help the public better understand a new way of seeing the true annual record of global history. This quest has already taken several years - and without a doubt, will take a few more. My website presence on the Internet should help share my new timeline discoveries directly with the public. Perhaps the reputable educational institution or "university" you say I need recognition from to be accepted by any news media groups is now the Internet protocol medium - and the "professors" are the web users who grade my essays by repeat visits to my website "classroom". If this analogy sounds true, then Version 3 of my new SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS "textbook" is now available and can explain my new timeline discoveries better than even my website can.


Reporter 1: Your website seems to have less activity this year than last year. Can you explain why visits to your website have tapered off this year?

Duane: I have been slow to update the SPIRIT OF ATLANTIS website this year because the lack of available quality time. I did register the name "www.spiritofatlantis.com" last summer and have done some updates - but without a completed newer version of my book to sell, I did little to "push" or announce the book project. I have also noticed that knowledge of my website address within some search engines seems to be now buried under many new website layers that also use the subject of Atlantis. More effort in advertising my website should again increase visits to my website.


Reporter 2: It seems that several times a year the subject of Atlantis appears in the news only to fade away again from publicity. And although many new theories about what and where it was are speculated by scholars every year, the conventional view that Atlantis is nothing more than a glorified myth about the lost Minoan Civilization which disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea some thirty-five centuries ago. Does this popular view among professional historians aggravate you - and how do you plan to convince them that the subject of Atlantis is much more than just a myth?

Duane: Many mythical events are based on factual events, but because the facts of the original events have been obscured by the ravages of time, historical writers have had to replace the details of such events with speculation - which can further corrupt the original facts of historical events. The story of Atlantis is a classical example of how false speculation has buried the truth of the original story. According to the original author - Plato, the continent of Atlantis existed in the western ocean opposite to the entrance of the "inland sea" of the Mediterranean Realm. Any modern map will show the New World continent is where Plato said Atlantis was. Conventional historians just don't see the bigger picture - they are looking at a map of the Aegean Sea where Plato lived and are still assuming the continent of Atlantis was an island that blew up because of a volcanic explosion long ago. My view that Atlantis was a prehistoric seaport in what is now Central America fits the larger understanding of the subject. Plato also suggest that Atlantis was a maritime kingdom that controlled not only the continent of Atlantis, but also much of the known world of what is now Europe and North Africa in ancient times. Again, look at a modern map and see how the maritime kingdom of Atlantis is like what is now the N.A.T.O. group of countries that share the common Latin alphabet. As to what happened to Atlantis, well that's another story.


Reporter 2: And what is that story?

Duane: Plato said that the city of Atlantis - which was surrounded on three sides by mountains, was engulfed by earthquakes and floods in one day and that, according to my translation of his work, "a shoal of mud now makes it impassible to find the city". Look at a modern map of eastern Guatemala in Central America and study how a prehistoric seaport could have been engulfed within a major earthquake fault line that runs through the area. As I've stated before in my essays on my website, the epicenter of a 7.5 earthquake in 1976 is only a few miles from where I believe the prehistoric capital seaport of Atlantis is now. I also have suggested that the 1976 earthquake, like the one that engulfed Atlantis, was the result of an astronomical event when a significant comet crashes into the Sun - thus causing solar flares that react with the earth's atmosphere and crust somehow. So, in the aftermath of such a major global event, the trade links across the Atlantic Ocean - which once united the maritime kingdom, were lost and the continent of Atlantis apparently "disappeared" in the western Atlantic Ocean from the Old World point of view.


Reporter 2: According to your website essays, you don't think much is left of the sunken seaport that is worth digging for. You've suggested that the unique biosphere of the site area is more important than excavating and possibly destroying the plant and animal life there. How could one verify the site you suggest without excavating the area?

Duane: All that should be needed to do the job would be to establish from high above a visual record of a circular ring pattern measuring about 1.25 nautical miles or less in diameter - which are the parameter values of Plato's description of the city layout. It may take years using special scientific equipment to register a circular pattern within the swamp area as evidence of such a prehistoric seaport. Directing such a project would require professional help from those who could afford and want to participate in such an expedition. I just hope the site area is not destroyed by the greed of some treasure hunters before it's too late.


Reporter 1: Are you planning to visit the site area anytime soon?

Duane: Not anytime soon, but that may change if proper funding is establish. Perhaps someday soon, some group of visionary scholars with "deep pockets" will understand the value of my book project and help fund "Project Eureka".


END EIGHTH INTERVIEW 12/99
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