-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.thenoiseroom.com/egypt/giza6.htm <A HREF="http://www.thenoiseroom.com/egypt/giza6.htm">The Noise Room - Official Statement Regarding O </A> ----- Many embedded links at site. Om K ----- An Official Statement Regarding Operation Hermes By Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, Colin Wilson, Andrew Collins, Christopher Knight, Robert Lomas, Simon Cox And Alan Alford. Updated : 4th August 1998 Dear readers, friends and colleagues around the world, As many of you may be aware, there has been a great deal of controversy and confusion surrounding the publication of the book 'Hall Of The Gods' (the "Book") by William Heinemann of Random House, UK (the "Publishers"). The Book, written by Mr. Nigel Appleby, was published on the 2nd June 1998 and withdrawn for sales as from the 5th June 1998 by the Publishers. This was on account of complaints from several published authors (12 to this date). See articles in The Observer of 14 June 1998, the Daily Mail 15 June 1998 and the Daily Telegraph 20 June 1998. Nigel Appleby is also the Chairman of the newly created HERMES FOUNDATION INTERNATION and a director of the HERMES OPERATION Ltd. (the "Company"), the latter a company registered in November 1997 at Company House in the UK. The principal activities of Hermes Operation Ltd. was declared on the Hermes Operation Website The first announced activity was to be an expedition in Egypt to survey a region next to the city of Cairo in Egypt in where Mr. Appleby believed the legendary 'Hall Of Records' of a lost civilisation was located (see also the Daily Telegraph of 30 May 1998 and the Daily Mirror of 15 June 1998). To this effect, Hermes Foundation International (HFI) solicited funds, donations and sponsorships from private individuals and companies around the world. HFI also recruited fee-paying members from the general public. According to Mr. Appleby the 18-strong team of Hermes Operation Ltd. was scheduled to fly to Cairo on the 27 June 1998 (see H.O. Website, and also the Sunday Mirror of 14 June 1998). Due to lack of official permits from the Supreme Council Of Antiquities in Egypt (see Documents 4 & 5 here attached. Also see Egypt's newspapers Al Ahram 15 June 1998; Al Goumhoria 15 June1998 and Akhbar Al Yom 15 June 1998), the Hermes Operation Ltd.'s 'expedition' to Cairo was aborted in late June 1998. In respect of the above, the authors and researchers (the "Authors") GRAHAM HANCOCK, ROBERT G. BAUVAL, COLIN WILSON, ANDREW COLLINS, ROBERT LOMAS, CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT, SIMON COX AND ALAN ALFORD, wish to make the following official statement and declaration to their readers, friends and colleagues around the world regarding HERMES FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL and its affiliated company OPERATION HERMES LTD., its directors, partners, associates and sponsors. 1) Attention was first brought to the Authors re: Mr. Appleby and Hermes Foundation International & Hermes Operation Ltd. through an article in the Sunday Times of 12 August 1997 written by reporter Cherry Norton and entitled "Raiders Of The Lost Archives 'Find Pharaohs' Records' ( for a full text of the ST article see Document 1 here attached). 2) In view of the very controversial nature of this Sunday Times artcles, Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval asked Simon Cox, a researcher and author of Egyptological subjects, to make contact with Mr. Appleby to ask him more about his forthcoming expedition to Egypt to find the 'Hall Of Records', as advertised in the Sunday Times article by Cherry Norton (see Document 1 here attached). 3) We, the Authors, namely Graham Hancock, Robert G. Bauval, Colin wilson, Christopher Knight, Robert Lomas, Andrew Collins, Simon Cox and alan alford hereby confirm that we have absolutely no affiliation orbusiness involvement --nor intend to have in the future-- with the Hermes Foundation International, Hermes Operation Ltd. and/or its associates, partners, directors or sponsors. 4) In view of the mounting controversy of this matter in the Internet rumour mill and in the media, we feel that it is important to keep the general public fully informed on this matter, and be fully aware of the facts. 5) In this respect, we have here below attached the following unedited documents in chronological order and in their entirety: DOCUMENT 1: REPORT ON THE HERMES FOUNDATION BY SIMON COX, September 1997. DOCUMENT 2: HERMES FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL Publishing Volume 1 Issue No.6 Dec 1997 OPERATION HERMES NEWSLETTER DOCUMENT 3: STATEMENT BY CHRIS OGILVIE-HERALD, ex-editor of Quest Magazine Dated July 1998 DOCUMENT 4: Letter-E Mail To Dr. Jaromir Malek (from Robert G. Bauval) dated 27 July 1998 DOCUMENT 5: 'TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN' Statement by Dr. Zahi Hawass Ph.D under-secretary Of State For The Giza Monuments, and director-General For The Giza Pyramids & Saqarra dated 7 June 1998. N.B. a) All Authors have only recently examined the above listed documents in their entirety. b) The above listed documents are reproduced in their entirety for the sake of clarity and to avoid any misrepresentation. We ask the readers to bear with this, but it is important that these documents 'speak' for themselves without commentaries or interpretation by the Authors, or anyone else. Thank You. Signed: Graham Hancock, Robert G. Bauval, Colin Wilson, Andrew Collins, Christopher Knight, Robert Lomas, Simon Cox and Alan Alford. Document 1: Report of the Hermes foundation for Robert Bauval & Graham Hancock Copyright owned by the above named authors By Simon Cox September 1997 The Hermes foundation Please also refer to web pages (hard copy provided) Raiders of the lost archives', screamed the headline from The Sunday Times. What followed on the page was a story so fantastical it must have been pure fantasy, wasn't it? Sunday 10th August 1997. The Sunday Times. Section 8 news. 'Raiders of the lost archives find pharaohs records' two British Egyptologists believe they have found the site of an ancient underground chamber containing evidence of a lost civilisation. Nigel Appleby and Adam Child, already dubbed the raiders of the lost archives' are preparing an expedition to investigate a site near the great pyramids which they say the hall of records lies buried in the sand. They have been given permission by the Egyptian authorities to survey an area north of the great pyramid of Cheops using sensitive scanning equipment capable of detecting underground chambers. The hall of records, according to legend, is made of granite and sheathed in gold; it is said to contain artifacts and documents on the history of mankind whose discovery will herald a new dawn for civilisation. It is alluded to in the bible and other ancient texts such as the book of the dead, Appleby said last week. He spent many years examining astronomical and astrological data and the position of the stars in relation to the pyramids before arriving at a location for the hall. He claims to have discovered and deciphered codes in ancient writings that describe the importance of star positions in pinpointing the site. According to Appleby, when the three stars of Orion's belt are lined up directly over the three great pyramids, the star Sirius is directly over the hall. By projecting this position on the earth, the approximate site of the hall can be found. "A Japanese team has spent the last 20 years on the Giza plateau trying to find it and an American team is them now looking under the paw of the sphinx. But they are looking in the wrong place. I know I am right. It is very exciting," he said. Academic experts acknowledge there are passageways under the sphinx that have never been fully excavated, however, Appleby said the hall of records was further away, probably inside a small pyramid buried by shifting sands, he has calculated that the secret chamber is about eight miles north of the sphinx and at least thirty foot underground. He and Child plan to spend about a month with a group he geophysical specialists on the site. A team of is people including paramedics, scientists and archaeologists will submit a scientific report of its findings to the Egyptian authorities, if the search proves promising, the team members hope the authorities will then allow them to be involved in any excavation that follows, The two men are unlikely adventurers: Appleby, 33, is an engineering designer who runs his own publishing company and Child, 28, is a development manager for British telecom. Despite earlier discoveries of fabulous wealth such as in 'the tomb of Tutankhamun, Child does not believe the hall contains treasure, "it was built as a centre of learning, its value 'will be in terms of knowledge, not money," he said, academic experts remain skeptical. Dr Richard Parkinson, an assistant keeper in the department of Egyptian antiquities at the British museum, said: "we have had some inquiries about the hall of records, it is something people are looking for but there is no firm evidence that it exists. There are certainly tunnels under the sphinx that people have tried to excavate in the past but there is not, as far as anyone knows, any secret chambers." However, other ancient sites thought by many to be mythical have eventually turned out to be real. For years scholars dismissed the city of troy as the fiction of homer: but in the 1870's Helnrich Schielmann,'the German archaeologist, found the city's remains in Northwest turkey. Reported by Cherry Norton. A quite remarkable piece to appear in a quality Sunday paper. After a few days 'digging' I managed to obtain a phone number for the two people listed above. It transpired that Appleby and Child (along with one other partner) headed an organisation called 'the Hermes foundation'. This foundation had a web page and this is where I began my quest. If first impressions were anything to go by then to say I was a little surprised is an understatement. The website displays all the hallmarks of so many other nutty pages on the net, indeed at first glance it appeared almost religious in its zeal. The tone of the site was certainly one of commerciality and business-like endeavour. They were after money and were not afraid to ask for it. Armed with all this information I proceeded to leave a message on their answering machine, sat back and waited for the reply. I didn't have to wait long. Nigel Appleby called a day later and proceed to explain the details of his organisation to me over the next hour or so. The call seemed to come from a confidant and positive man. All the way through our first conversation, Appleby stated again and again his total belief in their theory and his utmost commitment to the expeditions they were planning over the coming years. I proceeded after this call to inform a friend of mine, Simon Trewin, a literary agent at the Sheil land agency, who promptly also made contact with the group and arranged a meeting the next week. As it turned out, Trewin did in fact sign the trio up as clients and is presently negotiating on their behalf with a number of publishers. I have since spoken to Nigel Appleby many times on the phone and will be meeting up with him in the coming week. The main details as relayed to me are as follows: I. The team claim Hermes foundation consists of a core group of three people, two of whom were mentioned, in the newspaper article cited. ' 2. They have been working on this project for many years', and it is Appleby who has carried out the major research. The precise length of time taken to come up with these theories was not stated, but as Appleby is aged 33, we can assume that a maximum of 15 years is possible, but a time of 8 - 1o years probable. 3. The main players are based in the Essex area, Appleby and Child in the Colchester environs and the third partner in Leigh. 4. They claim to have a team of 18 people assembled for the expedition to Egypt, 5 of whom are serving in the armed forces. 5. Amongst their team are a number of specialist geophysicists, with access to modern and sophisticated apparatus, amongst which is ministry of defence equipment. 6. Appleby claims to have access to ministry of defence surveys and maps of the Giza area, which he claims, have helped them come up with these theories. 7. The MOD seem to play a pivotal role in the foundations work, not direct, but certainly in the background. 8. Appleby claims to have served in the Territorial Army for a number of years. 9. Dr Gerald O'Farrell is the name cited most often in connection with academic credibility, with the added point that he is an emeritus professor (info yet to be corroborated) based at a British university. 10. It was stated that Dr O'Farrell was a close friend of Ali Hassan, the Egyptian antiquities member (president of the Supreme Council of Antiquities), and that as of this weekend (Sept 7/8) he was in Cairo) meeting Mr Hassan. 11. Appleby claims to be working on a code system that he has deciphered within certain texts, namely the pyramid texts and the book of the dead, however, when pressed on this point Appleby was less than forthcoming about these so called codes. 12. Within my latest conversation (Sept 9th), Appleby stated that he would send me a floppy disk, containing his research. 13. The Giza/Orion theory was, according to Appleby, first researched by himself before the publication of the Orion mystery by Bauval and Gilbert. 14. The site of Abu Rowash seems significant to Appleby. When asked if this was the site of the 'entrance' to the hall of records, he paused, then denied this, going on to talk about the site being on private land some 8 miles north of Giza, close to the Nile and within the flood plain. 15, Appleby claims that they have the promise of a license in writing from Mr Ali Hassan. He stated that he was more than willing to show me all evidence of such. 16. I was also told that all proof of correspondence would be available to me. 1 7. To have a number of specially customised four-wheel Drive vehicles, which are housed at Colchester military camp. 18. They claim that with the Alignment of star/pyramids at Giza, that the star Sirius points to the earth bound entrance to the hall of records. In order to achieve this however, the mirror image of the celestial heavens needs to be inverted, as Sirius is placed at the south west of Orion's belt and the hall of records site is to the north east of Giza. 19. Appleby claims that there is a buried pyramid at this entrance site (for exact dimensions -- see later) and that twelve smaller structures lie buried in the sand around this central pyramid. 20. This pyramid, it is claimed, is completely covered in a sheath of gold. 21. It was stated that the Japanese team working at Giza and its environs (Waseda university team), have been thwarted in their efforts to find the underground chambers, by this golden coating, with the gold confusing the surveying equipment. 22. Appleby claims that they intend to survey the site for the first time this coming October and that the full survey will take place in July 1998. I have been asked if I wish to attend this coming October. 23, when pressed about the evangelical tone of the web pages, Appleby apologised, stating that they were looking to the new age market, especially in the states, in order to raise funds for the project. 24. Appleby plans to write a book on the subject, being represented by literary agent Simon Trewin, of Sheil Land Ltd. He stated that it was only him that would be doing this as it is all his own research. 25. Appleby expressed an interest in the Edfu building texts, going so far as to ask myself to send him the research I have already undertaken on these texts. 26. The claim was made that Joseph Schor of the Schor foundation had been in touch with the team for the last two years, right up to the announcement in the Sunday Times, from which point no contact has been made. 27. Appleby claims to have evidence that Schor and his team are tunnelling in the great pyramid. Appleby stated that he believed Schor had been digging across from Davidson's chamber in the direction of the secret door that Rudolph Gantenbrink had discovered previously. Appleby also claimed that this team were Also digging down into the subterranean chamber beneath the great pyramid in a search for the tomb of Imhotep, the great architect of the fourth dynasty pharaohs. 28. The claim was made that the team had been giving information to the Schor foundation freely, but that this had now stopped, Appleby also alluded to the fact that Schor was not at all pleased with the announcement in the Sunday Times. 29. Appleby stated that many publishers and also media companies had been in touch, with a view to bringing out books and television documentaries, indeed it was mentioned that channel 4 was very interested in the project. 30, the name of Christine Howser has been mentioned many times in relation to the project. Appleby stated that this woman was a local Cairo correspondent for the news agency Reuters, this has since been, substantiated. 31. Ms Howser, it is claimed, has been quizzing various members of the E.A.O. (Egyptian Antiquities Organisation ---now renamed the Supreme Council of antiquities – SCA) in an effort to get them to comment on the press report; Appleby claims that whilst doing this she has been passed from department to department, and in his words, "has opened a can of worms with her digging". 32. Appleby also claims 'that he has had meeting with an Egyptian army officer -- Colonel Farouk -- based at the consulate here in London. The purpose of these meetings wasn1t altogether clear but seemed to have something to do with clearance of the teams equipment and vehicles. 33. A certain Geoffrey Kayte has also been mentioned a couple of times. It seems that this person has been claiming to be a member of the team, even going so far as to send out book proposals to agents and publishers. Appleby states that this is not the case and also states that he has instructed his solicitor to begin legal action if necessary. Kayte, it seems has a large presence in the inter net, having already set up a hall of records e- mail discussion group (130 members, including me), which Hermes have distanced themselves from. Kayte is also involved with a discussion group on Atlantis. 34. It was stated that the second pyramid, that of Khafre was more important than was previously thought, a conclusion that closely resembled my own research, indeed we both agreed on many major in his theory, although we had been researching independently of each other for the past few years. 35. The Hermes foundation believe that the Egyptian hall of records is just the first of four halls to be found, the other three being in Tibet, the Yucatan and Antarctica. 36. It is the stated aim of the Hermes foundation to open these halls consecutively over the next four years, with the Antarctic hall being the last. (they may need a big spade for that one !!). 37. On Friday 29th August, Appleby was interviewed by South African national radio in a live broadcast over the phone, he claims that subsequent callers jammed the switchboard after the show. 38. Appleby remained adamant that Ali Hassan would indeed grant them a license, with Dr O'Farrell playing a pivotal roll in this. 38. Appleby claimed that Dr O'Farrell has a tape recording of a lecture Ali Hassan gave some seven years ago, here in the UK. And that the said recording captures Hassan talking about mysterious glyph like marks found within the second pyramid. Hassan, it is claimed, goes on to say that these glyphs were not Egyptian in origin. I have been promised a copy of this recording and wait eagerly for it. 40. Appleby stated that the Schor excavations in the great pyramid, have uncovered more indecipherable glyphs, again he claimed that his source for this information was in Egypt and pointed towards Ms Howser. 41. Appleby expressed an interest in meeting up and talking to either Graham Hancock or Robert Bauval as he feels that "we are all on the same side". Conclusion This story has all the well-known hallmarks of a hoax. A clever one at that, but still an effort to gain publicity and jump on the whole Egypt/mysteries bandwagon. And yet…….. Many of the facts actually stood up to scrutiny, a rare occurrence when a hoax is being perpetrated, indeed hoaxsters generally don't thing as far as this bunch. So what do I think ? Well I have been on the trail of the Hermes foundation since day one and the situation just gets curiouser and curiouser, to borrow a phrase. I myself have been in contact with Nigel Appleby on a twice weekly basis, since the story first broke in The Sunday Times. The main theory can best be summarised thus: Using both astro-archaeology and a system of textual codes, Appleby has been able to identify that the hall of records does indeed exist. However, through star Alignment, namely that of Sirius, he has come to the conclusion that the entrance to the hall of records lies some eight miles north of Giza. The site of this entrance, stated Appleby, would be marked by a central pyramid only some four kilometres from a built up area. The dimensions of this structural measures: 47 ft across the base, 35 ft high, with the structure surrounded by a further twelve smaller pyramids some 22 ft high, all of this is within a 72 ft circle. These figures were given to me in a hurry our the phone and it is entirely possible that an error has been conveyed. Appleby claims that this central pyramid is covered in gold and that it has an entrance that leads into an underground complex. The complex will be water bound with a water table rising and falling with the seasons. Appleby also states that he does not believe that any 'treasure' as such will be found within this complex, only knowledge. A dating for this site is approx 10,500 Bc, so fitting in with many similar theories around today. He also believes that the Giza plateau has an underground complex, with a water filled element as well although it is not clear whether he believes that the complex at Giza connects with the complex at his site. In order to carry out this survey, he has enlisted the help of the army, a branch of which he himself was once attached to. He specifically mentions, 42 survey, royal engineers in connection with this, a statement that has been verified. This arm of the royal engineers does indeed exist at Colchester barracks. It seems that Mr Appleby could well be using both equipment and information, not normally available to the average archaeologist. On many occasions he stated the need to carry the site surveys out with the precision of a military operation and the help of this mod (Ministry of Defence) seems the biggest single factor in this intriguing story. Appleby also relayed to me some rather fantastical stories said to emanate from 'special forces' soldiers within Colchester. These stories concerned covert missions in various regions, but particularly interesting was a story concerning Antarctica, a story that seemed to echo one that I am following up at this very moment. Both stories concern the finding of 'artifacts' on the continent, but then that is all a different story. Several names have been mentioned in connection with this story. We have the enigmatic Dr. O'Farrell with his close relationship to Ali Hassan in Cairo. O'Farrell it was stated, was looking after Hassan's son whilst he studied at university here. Could this man have any leverage with the very conservative Ali Hassan? We also have the Reuters reporter, Christine Howser. It seems Howser is fishing for information from the antiquities department about possibly underground structures at Giza and beyond. She then seems to report back to Hermes with her news. I have verified that ms Howser does in fact exist and is a Cairo based reporter for Reuters (amongst others). >From the transcripts of the phone conversations with Appleby (all available), it is possible to put together a rough psychological profile. Appleby seems to feel that he is totally right in his convictions, that he has information and verifiable facts that no one else possesses. Repeatedly he mentions his military connections and the help he is receiving via the mod here in the UK. The connections with the Schor foundation are yet to be substantiated. However, he did seem familiar with the main players of this organisation and claimed to have been in personal contact with Joseph Schor himself. I requested conformation of these facts from Appleby and he stated his intentions to deliver these to me. As of this week (beginning Sept 8th), I am still in ongoing talks with Appleby. I will be meeting up with him on Monday 15th September at a lecture I am giving in Leigh-on-Sea. I hope at this point to have further verification of most of the above outlined points, available to you straight afterwards. Simon Cox Sept 1997 DOCUMENT 2: NEWSLETTER : OPERATION HERMES LTD. HFI Publishing Volume No.1 Issue 6 Dec 97 OPERATION HERMES LTD Directors Corner Welcome to our first full colour newsletter. It has been some time since our last news letter release, due to far more important priorities. We shall endeavour to get at least one issue out each month from now onwards. We want your input on this, soget your pens out and send us your comments and views or an article. This your newsletter. A lot has happened since the last newsletter and training weekend back in August. The past three months have been absolutely chaotic to put it mildly. Many of youwere off on various exercises abroad whilst others of you were off on holidays. In consequence it was deemed necessary to organise the next training weekend once every thing had settled down and the majority of you were back in the country. The next training weekend is from the 9th, 10th and 11th of January in Colchester. (See training details later). We need everyone to attend this important event as a full update and presentation briefing is being given by the recce team who went to Egypt in October. The entire ball game, so to speak, has now changed considerably in light of their findings and the recent Luxor massacre. Attached you will find an excuse form for opting out of the next training weekend. Only exceptional excuses will be accepted. As stated on the warning order, we need you to attend this weekend even if you should miss all of the others. We have a lot to cover; this whole expedition is now being taken very seriously by various organisations and authorities. We have also been invited to attend the Gizagate conference in March. (See training details). Expedition Update The five strong recce team successfully completed their visit to Egypt and the reputed site of the Hall/Pyramid of records. Initial results are very promising. The entire game plan is being reevaluated due to the actual site and the recent massacre at Luxor. A full briefing will be given by the team during our next training weekend. The team did an excellent job under difficult circumstances. They managed to establish the site location and have taken many notes and photographs. They received a lot of help from the British Embassy and a lot of useful contacts were made. Anyone still with the view that we will be going on some form of Lawrence of Arabia trip will be sadlydisappointed. Make no mistake about it, the task in hand is a monumental one. Tom and Tony did the Europe Road route recce to both the ports of Brendizi and Ancona in Italy. A lot of very useful information was gained that would not otherwise been gathered. Tom and Tony to give details at briefing session on training weekend. Most of you by now are aware that an article appeared in the Sunday Times regarding our proposed expedition. Any one who did not receive a colour copy of the article and graphics, please let me know and I will send one. The article has certainly served our cause well since its publication. The day after its release, my phone did not stop ringing for nearly three weeks constantly; and I mean constantly. As soon as I hung up there would be a call minder message. For the first time in my life, I was actually talked out! Yeah I know, impossible you mutter. We have received a lot of support from Egyptologists and archaeologists from across the world. This was quite the opposite to what we anticipated going by the reactions that Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval received. I even received a letter from Dr Jaromir Malekof the Griffith lnstitute and Ashmolean Library at Oxford University, wishing us well and good luck. Dr Malek is a leading specialist in his field of Egyptology and a leading player in Egyptology circles. I have been interviewed by many newspapers from across the world since the Sunday Times article appeared. I have been on several radio programmes including the South African national radio station. I was interviewed live over the phone for an hour. Apparently the response was phenomenal with their switchboard being jammed with callers after the show. In consequence of the above a radio interview, Carte Blanche, a major South African TV documentary maker, flew a camera crew over to film Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, Uri Geller and myself and our searches for the Hall of Records. Their main aim was to make a one hour special, the first twenty minutes being Robert Bauval1s and Graham Hancock1s theories on the Hall, the middle twenty minutes to be on me and my theories with the last minutes on Uri Geller's theories Uri states that it is in the Sinai! I spent the best part of the day in London with the crew. An enlightening experience I can say. At the end of the filming, Diana Lucas, rather tongue in cheek I thought suggested that she had enough info on me alone to warrant a separate sixty minute programme without the others that she thought I was most probably the one with the right location and theory. To my surprise they did indeed make a I hour special on our team and I that was screened on the 25th off October. We should have a copy of the video soon. I was informed by the producer that they received an overwhelming response, bigger than anything previous, to the programme. I have signed a major book contract with a leading publishing house in London to publish all of the research behind "Operation Henries". They aim to do a follow up book after the expedition to include personnel profiles of team members and your views and comments. Get your posing shades and pens ready. All monies from and that book will go to Operation Hermes. In consequence of signing the above contract, I have now got to write, in twelve weeks, a fall manuscript in order to publish before we leave for Egypt. will apologise now therefore during the next twelve weeks. Out team has been mentioned many times over the past few months in the Cairo press since the article in the Sunday Times. Initially we were concerned that this might cause us some problems. It does not at this stage appear have been the case. If anyone has any severe reservations about continuing their involvement within the expedition due to the Luxor Massacre, could you kindly inform us at your earliest. We will of course treat your withdrawal with the utmost tacked and diplomacy with regard to the other members. i.e, such and such has today confirmed that they are henceforth wimping out, legging it scared running a mile. Seriously though if my one does have any reservations, please voice them. (As I arm sure must of you would as you already do! ). An article is due to appear in the next edition of Quest for Knowledge magazine, issue 7 is about us, our aims, our members and how we aim to achieve our goal. The photograph of the team taken in Wales by the Sunday Times will appear alongside the article. A more in depth article will appear in the following edition. Quest are also the main event organisers behind the Gizagate conference in March. This is being billed as the biggest debate on research projects and expeditions in Egypt, especially theGiza complex and the various searches for the Hall of Records. Graham Hancock, John Anthony-West, and Dr Zahi Hawass are among the confirmed speakers who will be attending. I have also been invited to speak. Our team has been asked to provide an exhibition stand in the entrance hall with some of our kit, equipment and a vehicle. Several members will be required to be present to man this. We are also putting out a donations box and will be selling Operation Hermes items. As most of you are aware, we havetwo WWW sites on the Internet, the Hermes Foundation International and Operation Hermes. Both sites have been greatly improved and updated now. If you haven't checked them out lately, do so as you might see yourself on screen. We have loaded many photographs from our training weekends on to the sites. Quest magazine is also giving out both our web site addresses; they are also going to recommend that their readers join our foundation to help us with our aims and objectives. We in turn will be creating a site within our Foundation site that lists all of their articles and photographs from their monthly magazine. This will undoubtedly generate a lot of interest. By the way, our first member signed up last week. He is an airline pilot, and an American Police Sergeant is also joining the foundation, expect a lot more now as the enquiry rate is going up and up. The next training weekend is due to take place over the weekend of the 9th, 10th and 11 th of January. It will be held in Colchester. Start time is 10:00 ANT on Saturday at the Colchester TA Centre. Those travelling from afar will be able to stop over at the TA Centre on the Friday night if required. Full details will be sent out within a week or so. The preliminary warning order has already gone out. The weekend will not be that difficult but the obligatory assault, course will be thrown in along with some other team bonding command tasks. A full briefing by both the land route and Egypt recce teams will be given at the lecture theatre at the MCTC. Iwill be giving a full in depth lecture on where we are going and the research behind locating the site. This is something that has not been done previously in any peat depth. The info booklet did not contain any of the actual alignments and projections. These will be shown during this lecture. The evening will be a relaxed affair with a drink, or two, or more afterwards. We aim to have some geophysical kit on display for the Sunday so that we can start to familiarise ourselves with it. If any one has any suggestions for the weekend or would like to present a lecture, please let me know ASAP. Nial, still got your ropes? Speaking of Nial, we all finally got to meet Nial on our last training weekend in Wales where he put on a first class demonstration and practical exercise in abseiling techniques. We hope to do much more of this. I lost count of the amount of times I ran up and down that mountain simply to get a photograph of each member as they descended. Thanks also to Chris and Duncan for their canoeingexercises. I certainly learned more about canoeing in one afternoon with them than I had previously. At least the water was not like liquid Nitrogen as per our previous visit and river crossing. Bryan very nearly did a runner having been wound up all day that he was going to suffer an initiation ceremony that was a fate worse than death. By 10:30 in the evening he was on the verge of total panic waiting for the said ceremony. We decided to put him out of his misery at 10:30 pm instead of midnight as proposed when it was noted that his escape gear was already packed and ready to go. Bryan was duly stood up in front of all and presented with his certificate on membership to Operation Hermes as a full member and no longer a reserve. I will not print what his words were here suffice to say they were blue, having seriously wound him up all day. Bryan has since certainly proved himself as an invaluable member. The caving went very well even with the yellow river incidents. It Was encouraging to be informed that the actual caves in question have the highest death rate of any caving system in Europe; but still you went in!! Over the next few months most of the training weekends will be more of a technical nature concentrating on equipment and vehicle use and maintenance, advanced first aid and planning and preparation. We will need several members to attend the Gizagate conference over the weekend of the 28th March. Please let us know if you are available as we will need to book the relevant accommodation. The actual event is taking place at the "Royal Horticultural Hall Westminster, London". They are expecting many hundreds of delegates to attend over the weekend. This will be a very high profile event for us. We are billed as one of the most professional organisations presently looking for the Hall of Records. Let1s not disappoint them. We have secured a deal with Outdoorlite Ventures in Wales to organise several future training events in Wales. Dave Nutt is an ex-Royal Marine instructor and runs the company from his location situated just around the corner from our Welsh site pub. As most of you are by now aware, Operation Hermes is just the first of four major expeditions being organised. Several of you have expressed an interest and a commitment to being involved in these as well. In consequence we will be undertaking training for these after our return from Egypt. The second planned expedition is to Brazil. Full details are on our Foundation Website. Dave Nutt will be directly involved in the training aspects behind this venture. Military Gear For all future training events we would like to see as many of you as possible wearing civvy gear instead of military. Most of us by now have managed to acquire the relevant civvy kit. It is nice to be at last getting away from an almost paramilitary style image. Anyone with difficulties obtaining kit, please contact us immediately. We will still use combats over the assault course for obvious reasons. DOCUMENT 3: BBS POSTING BY CHRIS OGILVIE Posted by EGYPTNEWS on July 04, 1998 at 12:52:36: I feel I must reply to the comment posted by Rolf Johnson on July 03, 1998. "As to Ellis, it seems Roger is his real name, not Ralph, as well as the 'Thoth' book research was actually another person who got elbowed out by Ellis. It was years of research by a Dr. Gerald O'Farrell." Mr Johnson has no idea of what he is talking about. Mr Gerald O1Farrell is his real title and not Dr. I have know O1Farrell since the 1980s, during this time I have heard him make various claims to being a Dr, a Bishop, and a one-time millionaire, all of which are illusory . For example in a series of ill researched articles that were first published in November 1996 (AA&ES magazine Vol.1 Issue 11), he makes claim to being "Reverend Gerald O1Farrell". I have also known Roger Ellis since mid-1996 and I would state that the "years of research" belong to Mr Ellis and not Mr O1Farrell. In fact shortly before O1Farrell pursued Roger Ellis in 1997, O1Farrell was working on a joint project with myself which had nothing do to with the Thoth material. Prior to our joint project, to which I later withdrew, O1Farrell1s interest centred on "Imhotep" and not "Thoth". In a summary (AA&ES Vol.2 Issue 3 March 1997) of his series of articles on "Imhotep" published in AA&EES magazine, O1Farrell writes, in reference to his Imhotep book "For those wishing to read the book in its entirety, it will be published later this year by Chesterwell Management Ltd". The book was never published and no publishing contract between Chesterwell Management and Mr O1Farrell ever existed. An article published in Quest for Knowledge magazine Vol.1 Issue.1 also demonstrates Mr O1Farrell1s poor research skills; THE GANTENBRINK DOOR " The ventilation shafts are only eight inches square but are over 200 feet long. What could their purpose have been? For my part, I believe that the metal pieces on the door are electrical connections-connections which allowed a cooper cable or copper rods to feed electricity from outside the pyramid, through the Queens Chamber and down through the Pyramid, passing through the subterranean chamber to the chamber below it, one hundred and eighty five feet below the base of the Pyramid. Using a large crystal, this energy, could be passed through the crystalline structure and, with pressure alternating on the crystal, a signal could have been effected once the crystal had begun to resonate. This signal would follow the same route as the incoming electricity and, with a Śmake and break Ś contact, messages could have been sent across the stars and also across land much the same way that Morse Code signals were originally sent. Whether static electricity was used or some spin-off effects of lighting, I do not know." There is much more to this rambling article, but I merely wished to demonstrate O'Farrell's grip on reality, and ask the question; could a person who writes such nonsense, really be the genius behind Mr Ellis1s book? CHRIS OGILVIE-HERALD, July 1998 DOCUMENT 4: Subj: Re: Hermes Operation, Mr. G. O'Farrell and Mr. N. Appleby Date: 27/07/98 To: Dr. Jaromir Malek Griffith Institute Ashmolean Museum Oxford 27 July 1998 Dear Dr. Malek, Firstly, I hope you are keeping well. It has been a long time (1994 ?) since I had the pleasure of last meeting you at the Griffith Institute. Much water has gone under the bridge since then. I presume that you are aware of the curious saga of a certain Mr. Nigel Appleby and his "Hermes Operation Ltd.". I apologise for bothering you during your busy schedule, but there is something that you may help me with in a rather serious matter that is presently ongoing regarding Mr. Appleby and his "Hermes Expedition". On the 1 June 1998, Mr. Appleby published a book entitled HALL OF THE GODS (William Heinemann/Random House 1998). Immediately after its publication twelve published authors, including myself, lodged complained to Mr. Appleby's publishers and his agent, Sheil Land Associates, related to copyright infringements, plagiarism and misrepresentation. In one case, the author Ralph Ellis complained of 'flagrant' plagiarism and has instructed his solicitors, Pye-Smith Solicitors, to commence criminal procedures which will, as you may know, involve the Crown Prosecution and the police. Also another seven authors, including myself, are shortly instigating legal procedures against Mr. Appleby. Mr. Appleby, through his "Hermes Operation", had also been heavily advertising an "expedition" to Egypt to search with radar equipment for the so-called 'Hall Of Records' which he claims are located underground in an area some 9 kilometres to the north of the Giza Plateau. This expedition had first received much publicityfollowing an article by Cherry Norton in the Sunday Times of 12 August 1997. Subsequently, Mr. Appleby opened a Website called "Hermes Operation" to advertise his alleged expedition to Egypt and to solicit sponsors, donors and members through his "Hermes Foundation International" (see Http:// www.In-ter.com/Hermes). Mr. Appleby also went on a promotion/fund raising campaign which apparently involved TV and radio interviews. On the 30 May 1998 the Daily Telegraph of London ran a three-quarter page articleon Mr. Appleby, his expedition and his book. In this article it was stated that the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation (the SCA) had granted permission to Mr. Appleby and/or his "Hermes Operation" to conduct an archaeological survey north of Giza. At this stage, my colleague, Graham Hancock, and myself were much intrigued by such claims. We therefore inquired on this matter with Dr. Zahi Hawass, who subsequently sent us a telefax. I quote the telex in full for your records and information: " TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. 7 June 1998 We Would like to state that Hermes Operation Ltd. has not been granted official permission by the Supreme Council Of Antiquities, to do any kind of archaeological work or survey at or near the Giza Pyramids. Also we reject the statement made by Mr. Appleby in the London Daily Telegraph that "the ancient Egyptians were barbarians" who did not build the Pyramids at Giza. We have to say that the ancient Egyptians were intelligent and made contributions to the ancient world not only in building the pyramids but also in science, art, astronomy and technology. Signed: Zahi Hawass Ph.D. Director-General Of The Giza Pyramids and Saqqara June 7, 1998 It also transpires that both Dr. Ali Ghaballah and Dr. Zahi Hawass made statements to that effect in the Egyptian press on the 15 June 1998 (see Al Ahram, Al akhbar and Al Ghoumhouria of 15 June 1998). It also appears that the British Embassy in Cairo intervened to stop Mr. Appleby and his team from coming to Egypt on the planned date of 27June 1998 (see Hermes Operation website). In one of the 'Hermes Operation Newsletter (vol. 1, issue no.6, Dec. 1997) Mr. Appleby stated that: "We have received a lot of support from Egyptologists and archaeologists from across the world. This was quite the opposite to what we anticipated going by the reactions that Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval received. I even received a letter from Dr. Jaromir Malekof the Griffith Institute and Ashmolean Library at Oxford University, wishing us good luck. Dr. Malek is a leading specialist in his field of Egyptology and a leading player (sic.) in Egyptology circles." Apparently A certain Dr. Gerald O'Farrell linked or representing the "Hermes Operation" made contact with you and possibly a meeting took place between you. In view of the extreme seriousness of the situation, I would be most grateful if you could contact me to confirm and clarify this matter. My contacts are: Robert G. Bauval E-mail: Address Removed by The Noise Room Meanwhile please accept my warmest regards and wishes, Yours Sincerely, Robert G. Bauval Note To The Readers: Dr. J. Malek replied to the above letter ( i.e. Document 4) on the 27 July 1998 by e-mail to R. Bauval. Out of professional courtesy to Dr. Malek, we have decided not include his letter here. However, we can report that Dr. Malek confirmed that he has neither supported or contacted in anyway the Hermes Operation Ltd. DOCUMENT 5: Supreme Council Of Antiquities Giza Pyramids Office Of The General Director Mr. Graham Hancock Fax: Removed By The Noise Room 7-6-1998 From: Zahi Hawass Fax: Removed By The Noise Room TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN We would like to state that Hermes Operation Ltd. has not been granted official permission by the Supreme Council Of Antiquities, to do any kind of archaeological work or survey at or near the Giza Pyramids. Also we reject the statement made by Mr. Appleby in the London Daily Telegraph that "the ancient Egyptians were barbarians" who did not build the Pyramids at Giza. We have to say that the ancient Egyptians were intelligent and made contributions to the ancient world not only in building the pyramids but also in science, art, astronomy and technology. Signed: Zahi Hawass Ph.D. Director-General Of The Giza Pyramids and Saqqara June 7, 1998. The Noise Room would like to thank Robert Bauval and Chris Ogalvie-Herald for the above information and for allowing us to post it on the site. The Noise Room presents this information 'as-is' and therfore please do not email us with grammar or spelling corrections! The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of The Noise Room. Well what did you think ? More to come soon so keep your bookmark in place. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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