Ep 235: Mel's Hole Part 2
Listener Discretion Warning: At around 1:49:00 and ending around 1:57:00 in the audio file is a description of an experiment with an animal that some sensitive listeners may find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.
“The West is the kind of place where you can walk up to the edge of a tree line and feel like you’re staring into another world — it’s filled with equal parts wonder and danger.”
Description:
As we dive further into the epic of Mel's Hole, we learn that in the third phone call to Art Bell on the Coast to Coast AM radio show on April 24, 2000, Mel reveals what had happened to him since his initial calls in 1997. After supposedly taking the deal from the US government to relocate to Australia and receive a compensation of $250,000 per month for the lease of the land he received in a divorce settlement from his wife, Mel was happy to continue his research with medicinal plants and efforts with wombat rescue near Perth. However, upon Mel's return to the US and helping his nephew move from Tacoma to Olympia on the day he was scheduled to return to the program for a follow-up interview, there was an altercation on the bus he was riding. Mel was detained for questioning and told he would be transported back to Tacoma once authorities concluded their investigation. The next thing Mel remembered is waking up in an alley in San Francisco, missing his wallet, keys, belt buckle, and all of his back molar teeth. There was evidence that Mel was administered an IV for the twelve days he was blacked out. He had also discovered that his land lease was revoked, ironically for improper use of the property while he was away. Now broke and struggling to continue his endeavors, Mel would call Art two more times with an update, on January 29 and December 20, 2002, and his story would only get weirder and wilder. In the time leading up to these calls, Mel was contacted by Native Americans in the northern Nevada region who offered to collaborate on medicinal herb research. While sharing knowledge, they made him aware of another mysterious hole that may have enhanced their plants, this time on federal property used as grazing land for a community of Basque shepherds. Mel would continue captivating Art with tales of fiery ice exhibiting cosmically dense properties and a sentient, otherworldly creature exiting the hole. Not only that, but Mel possessed US dimes that might be proof of a parallel reality, the same ones that he'd affixed to his stolen belt buckle. Like almost every unbelievable tale we've come across, there are a couple of logical assessments when we get to the bottom. If this was all a hoax, it was well-crafted, consistent, meted out with increasingly enthralling details over five years, and managed to engross one of America's premier presenters of the paranormal along with the broader audience. If all or any part of Mel's story is genuine, then the implications are astounding. But no matter if you believe "Mel" or his story made you roll your eyes and chuckle, for most of us who enjoy this kind of fare, it's proved to be a classic astonishing legend.
Location:
The approximate, general area that “Mel Waters” described as the location of the hole on his property. Mel said it was about 9 miles west of the town of Ellensburg, Washington, on the Manastash Ridge.
Reference Links:
A comprehensive compilation of Mel’s Hole interview audio and items on raidingoaks.com
“Maury Island UFO Incident” from the Northwest Museum of Legends and Lore
Mel’s route of travel between Tacoma and Olympia and SR-512 Park & Ride
“Basque culture leaves its mark on Nevada” from the Las Vegas Review-Journal
“Ask Wellington: What is the Whalebone Tree?” on CWU’s Crimson and Black website
“Discover Ellensburg's Mysterious Whalebone Tree” on YouTube
A video of a seismograph & the recording of the sound of the earth on Vimeo.com
“Expedition seeks paranormal pit” from The Seattle Times archives
Mel Waters interviewed by Art Bell on Coast to Coast AM on Tuesday, January 29, 2002
Mel Waters’ final two calls into Coast to Coast AM from 2002 on YouTube
Comprehensive notes on the Mel interviews from the archived site HideousMonster.com
“Getting to the bottom of Mel’s Hole” by Mike Johnston for the Ellensburg Daily Record
12-minute documentary from University of Washington Video on Vimeo
“Whatever happened to Mel Waters and his bottomless hole?” on the Unsolved Mysteries subreddit
“That Basic Law of Attractive Nuisance and Premises Liability” from stimmel-law.com
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CREDITS:
Episode 235: Mel’s Hole Part 2. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2022 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.