This will be the last posting to this site, as The MEGA Blog has moved to a new home that doen't require you to sign up with Microsoft before posting.

 

Please click http://www.NWIDI.org/TheMegaBlog/ to go to the new blog now.

 

The new site also includes a Forum where you can interact with others interested in MEGA and other underwater archaeology topics.

 

Dr. Iturralde is a senior researcher at the National Museum of Natural History in Havana, Cuba, and he’s been associated with MEGA since early 2002. He has very kindly provided us with detailed biographical information, which is used here with his permission.

 

Born in 1946 in the port city of Cienfuegos, on the Caribbean coast of Cuba, Iturralde received his geology degree in 1975 from the Universidad de Oriente (University of the West) in Santiago, Cuba. He earned a Ph.D. in 1995 and he lists his specialties as geology and paleontology of the Caribbean, environmental geology, karstology (the study of limestone caves) and plate tectonics. He has received a long list of awards, including the Juan Tomás Roig Medal for more than 40 years of scientific research. Suffice it to say that he’s a highly respected scientist who’s opinions and analysis regarding MEGA make the discovery that much more significant.

 

Iturralde has worked with Paulina Zelitsky and Paul Weinzweig, of ADC, to help determine whether the images captured by the ADC crew are of an ancient city or simply a naturally occurring rock formation. In [1], Iturralde is quoted as saying, “It turns out to be, to me, very complicated to explain this from a geological point of view.” On the subject of whether or not MEGA is the site of streets and pyramids, as reported by the media, Iturralde objectively observes that, “As a geologist I can say that there are high linear structures that could perfectly agree with streets and pyramids.”

 

Dr. Iturralde has prepared a report summarizing several working theories about the origin of MEGA, which I’ll cover in detail in a later blog entry, but the report’s conclusion is that “the megalithic structures are not associated with faults, fractures or breaks on the slope. Therefore, its origin is yet to be understood.”

 

[1] Fernandez, Luis Mariano, as reported on http://www.s8int.com/water28.html 

 

[This is the first of several “Sidebar” topics relating to MEGA that I plan to share with you, so please stop by often.]

 

A company called Satellite Discoveries was created with the goal of analyzing satellite imagery for the purpose of archaeological discovery and one of their many significant finds directly involves MEGA. Using precise satellite data mapping, Satellite Discoveries has located an unusual perfectly straight line etched into the ocean floor that connects MEGA with Andros Island in the Bahamas. To see the images for yourself, click HERE. Be forewarned, though, that once you browse to the Satellite Discoveries Web site, you’re going to be captivated with their many images!

 

The MEGA line, which is actually part of a network of lines in the area, seems to imply that the Cuban site may have been part of a much larger complex. Could the lines be ancient highways or are they merely naturally occurring faults in the seabed?

 

After my first visit to the Satellite Discoveries site, I decided to look into Andros Island and I turned up some interesting facts. Along with being just inside the accepted boundary of the Bermuda Triangle, Andros is the largest island in the Bahamas and it’s covered with thick, impenetrable bush. In fact, its 2,300 square miles may be the largest unexplored area in the Western Hemisphere. On the eastern side of the island is the Andros Barrier Reef, the third largest in the world. The reef rims an area called the Tongue of the Ocean, with its 6,000-foot drop off. The Andros area is also the site of numerous blue holes – extremely deep underwater cave systems.

 

But Andros Island, with its population of some 10,000 full-time residents, is also the home of another interesting site. In a remote area along the coast of Andros is the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center – AUTEC - the Navy’s version of Area 51! Be advised that the AUTEC Website is located on a DOD computer and traffic to and from the site is monitored.

 

Andros Island is just one of the many interesting MEGA connections - stay tuned for more in upcoming Sidebars!

 

I recently read a comment on another blog in which one poster admonished another by saying, “If you’d spend more time in the library and less time online, maybe you’d have your facts correct!” While I’m the first to agree that anything can – and does – get “published” on the Web, I’m not willing to accept a statement as true just because it’s bound in black and white, either. And what if there aren’t any traditional books on a subject, such as MEGA?

Obviously, the best way to obtain information about MEGA is to interview those that have first-hand knowledge of the place. So far, I haven’t had that opportunity, so I tend to look to articles by authors who have conducted interviews. My favorite resources are those that provide direct quotes by Ms. Zelitsky, Mr. Weinzweig or Sr. Iturralde, all individuals who have been on-site and studied the available evidence. As far as I know, none of them have published their own authoritative documents on MEGA, but studying the text of their interviews gives you at least a glimpse at the truth. Here’s my “A” list, in no particular order:

Howe, Linda Moulton. Update on Underwater Megalithic Structures Near Western Cuba (2001), Update About Cuba Underwater Megalithic Research (2002) and Part 1 - Update On Deep Water Megalithic Stones and Structures Near Western Cuba (2003). Available by subscription from http://www.earthfiles.com.

Fernandez, Luis Mariano. Atlantis in Cuba? An Interview with Zelitsky and Iturralde on 3/26/2005 (2005). English (translated) version at http://www.s8int.com/water28.html. This is the most current information I’ve found so far. Also see this site’s pages at /water1.html, /water19.html, /water20.html, /water23.html, /water27.html and /water28.html for additional articles on MEGA written by various authors.

The Morien Institute. Exclusive Interview with Dr. Paul Weinzweig (2002).
http://www.morien-institute.org/interview1_ADC.html. Also see /interview2_ADC.html.

 

Collins, Andrew. ‘Lost City’ Found off Cuba – Is it Proof of Atlantis? (Undated).
http://www.andrewcollins.com/page/articles/lostcity.htm. See the last two lines of the article.

I’ve compiled a lengthy list of other articles about MEGA and its discoverers and my research continues every day. If you Google Zelitsky, you’ll get more than 600 hits and most of them reference Paulina Zelitsky, the head of the research team that made the original discovery. Sadly, many of the hits contain the exact same content because the practice of “borrowing” another’s intellectual material seems to be the norm on the Web. Other articles are nothing more than paraphrased versions of the originals. It seems that back in the 2001-2002 timeframe, when the discovery was first announced, everybody wanted to get on the MEGA bandwagon.

Maybe someday the phone will ring and when I answer I will hear Ms. Zelitsky say, “I’ve been following your blog and I’d really appreciate it if you would fly down and become our staff writer.” Until then, my search for additional credible information goes on … and on … and on.

In the summer of 2000, a discovery was made that could change our understanding of the history of human civilizations and yet this remarkable event goes virtually unreported and unnoticed by the mainstream media. This blog is an attempt to consolidate and verify the existing available information in the hope of generating a broader general interest in the ongoing exploration of MEGA - the "lost city of Cuba."

 

Much of the information that will follow has been gleaned from a large number of print and Internet articles that often misquote each other. It's also common to find the same basic information in a variety of places, each presented as the exclusive work of a specific author. While the Web provides an amazing venue for the dissemination of information and opinions that might not otherwise get shared, it also places a larger burden on the reader to verify facts and sources. It is my sincere hope that the researchers who made the initial discovery at MEGA will participate in this blog and set the record straight for us.

 

The Amazing Discovery

In July, 2000, a team of researchers discovered the submerged ruins of what appears to be an ancient city covering more than seven square miles. The site, known as MEGA, lies just a few miles off the northwestern tip of Cuba and is now 2,200 feet below the surface. Some experts believe the city was originally built on a land bridge that once connected Cuba to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and that this narrow strip of land collapsed due to a huge earthquake.

 

Some of the structures appear to be more than 1,312 feet (400 meters) long by 131 feet (40 meters) wide and made from giant blocks of granite weighing several tons each. Other structures appear to be pyramids similar to those built by the mysterious Olmec civilization of Veracruz, Mexico. Still other structures are stone monoliths bearing symbols and inscriptions of unknown origin.

 

If all of this comes as a complete surprise to you, don’t feel lonely. Aside from an initial article carried by the Reuters news agency in May of 2001, the story of this remarkable discovery has been largely untold. But, with your help, that's about to change ...