During the 1930s, Doc Savage came into conflict with many villains who possessed highly advanced technologies. In ” The Monsters ” it ...
Speculations in Bronze: Doc Savage and the Mount Shasta Conspiracy skip to main | skip to sidebar Speculations in Bronze Saturday, July 28, 2007 Doc Savage and the Mount Shasta Conspiracy During the 1930s, Doc Savage came into conflict with many villains who possessed highly advanced technologies. In "The Monsters" it was a formula that could turn men into giants. In"The Midas Man" it was a device that could read minds. There was a teleportation device in "The Vanisher" and an invisibility machine in "Spook Legion". And let's not forget the super-sonic spherical anti-gravity ships from "The Secret in the Sky". And there was the laser and cold fusion technology from "Cold DeathMost of these technologies still remain unavailable to us even in the early 21st Century. How did these "mad scientists" develop them in the 1930s? I used to be very puzzled about this until Bantam republished the July 1937 story "He Could Stop the World" in November 1970.In this story, a criminal genius (identified as scientist Professor Homer Randolph) harnessed atomic power and utilized virtually every technology we mentioned above from the other Super Sagas -- and several more -- including making 10 ft giant hillbillies who catch and eat 10 ft giant trout. There is an assortment of giant flora and fauna scattered around the base of Mount Shasta, California. On top of the mountain, the villains set up a high-tech city as a base from which to rule the world. But Doc Savage intervenes and stops them. Inthe process, he causes the city to self-destruct.So it now became obvious. All along, Doc had not been fighting separate mad scientists. He had been fighting people who had either been a part of this conspiracy or who had broken away from it.In consulting my sources, I have discovered that this cabal of scientists subsequently became known in the FBI's "Bizarre Unexplained Cases Files" (renamed "The X-Files" by Agents Arthur Dales and Hayes Michel in the 1950s) as "The Mount Shasta Conspiracy". Many of them were identified but never found, including Homer Randolph himself. The few whom they could find had had their minds "wiped" by some of the mind control devices that the Conspiracy had used on others and were unable to provide any details.After the destruction of the high-tech city on top of the mountain, the US Army scoured through the wreckage and took several truck-loads of material out to an isolated location on US Government lands in Nevada. A secret laboratory had been established there to study materials recovered from a great undersea metropolis located below Devil's Reef just off the coast of Innsmouth, Massachusetts. The US Navy had torpedoed the city in 1928. (See the H. P. Lovecraft story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".)This area in Nevada became the site chosen to analyze the debris from California. This site would later be known as the S-4 Site which is just over the hill from Area 51. Surprisingly little was learned from the debris because the technology was so utterly advanced. Since then, though, as our own technology has progressed, these studies have jump-started several technological fields including the laser, the personal computer, printed circuit boards, Quantum computing, and various sensors.What few giant plants, animals, and humans survived the destruction of the city all died rather quickly afterwards while in government custody. They apparently needed a continuous supply of special medications and nutrients to survive and with the fall of the city, there was no longer any source of them.Early on, the scientists concluded that the Mount Shasta Conspiracy had advanced technological information that was outside the mainstream of terrestrial knowledge. The government investigators considered an extraterrestrial source for the technology but found only disparate tidbits which led them ultimately to discount this. (It seems that the Aegis and/or the Eridanians and Capellans had covered their tracks well.) In any case, it was the Mount Shasta Conspiracy investigation that marked the beginning of US Government investigation into the possibility of an extraterrestrial presence on Earth.Mount Shasta (Right) and Shastina (LeftMount Shasta and its immediate neighbor Shastina are two dormant volcanoes in the Cascade Mountain range in California. Mount Shasta is the larger of the two. These are the two peaks which are depicted in the cover James Bama did for the Bantam reprint. Mount Shasta had long been a site that attracted mystics and occultists since the 19th Century and its reputation just grew after the events there in the 1937. In fact, in recent decades it has also been a center of interest for UFO enthusiasts.The US Government never did identify the source of the technological information used by the Conspiracy. For several decades, it had suspected that there had been a prehistoric human -- or pre-human -- civilization that had left weird artifacts scattered throughout the Western United States. The Government had collected these objects and kept them under high security lock and key. There had also been reports of similar findings on other continents, the Polynesean Islands, and in Mexico and Canada.My sources tell me that Doc Savage did his own investigation which included a debriefing of Professor Randaolph and his surviving aides. Doc concluded that the ultimate source of the Conspiracy's technology was TAZ, the sunken city that he had investigated in the Super Saga "The Mystery Under the Sea." Doc and his father had also found a cache of information (later identitifed as coming from TAZ) in The Valley of the Vanished stored insidee the strange pre-Mayan temple described in "The Bridge of Light". Doc kept his conclusions secret from the US Government and made sure that the released memebers of the conspiracy could provide them with no information.But what was the actual source of the technology that Prof. Randolph had found? It apparently was not TAZ itself since its location had been kept secret and Doc Savage found that Randolph knew nothing about it. Dr. Randolph stated that in his stratospheric ship the Silver Cylinder he had done high altitude surveillance and had located an unusual site high in the Andes Mountains. It was a location that was clearly visible from a very high altitude (>30 miles up) but not detectable from the ground. Obviously it was intended to be found only by a technologically advanced society with high altitude flight capability. This was similar to the Nazca lines in Peru which depict huge animals drawings that can only be seen from the air. The cache contained a treasure trove of carved tablets like those found at TAZ along with numerous sample devices. It was a virtual museum of ancient technology.It also included a detailed history of the TAZ civilization and indicated that a massive natural catastrophe had occurred which caused TAZ to sink into the ocean over 10,000 years ago. This coincided with the end of the last Ice Age at which point millions of cubic miles of glaciated ice melted raising the sea level dramatically. It was accompanied by a major crustal shift and disruption of the Earth's magnetic field. A large land mass around the Azores which partially straddled the Mid-Atlantic Ridge became covered over with water. This may have been the source of the Atlantis legend.Several colonies from TAZ established themselves in protected locations. One group fled deep under the crust inside a bubble of dense pseudo-matter. This sounds like the civilization of Subterranae that Doc encountered in "Murder Melody". Three attempts were made to build an underground cavern in the far north with a volcanic pseudo-sun. Only one was completed and this appears to be the land that Doc visited in "The Other World." The second project decided to use multiple light projectors instead and is located somewhere under Greenland. This group may have been the one Doc discovered in "The Monarch of Armageddon" in the Millennium Comic series. The other project could not be competed on time and so the inhabitants had to adjust to living in constant darkness. This seems to have been the civilization from "The Land of Always Night." There were many other details about the Earth's past, but my sources refused to comment further.According to their records, the TAZ civilization shunned Antarctica because of its associations with "The Elder Things" and avoided Australia because it was haunted by the ghosts of "The Great Race" and their adversaries the floating horrors". It also mentioned an island continent in the Southern Pacific Ocean (Lemuria) which was a remnant of an older continental mass (Mu). All of this was covered by the rising oceans and the crustal displacement @10,000 years ago.The location of the Andes cache is now known only to Dr. Randolph and Doc Savage. At Doc's request, the site has been disguised so that it can no longer be located from the air.I asked my sources if any other such sites were found on mountains elsewhere in the world, but, again, they declined to comment. Posted by Art Sippo: at 7:28 PM Labels: Cold Death, He Could Stop the World, Spook Legion, The Bridge of Light, The Midas Man, The Monsters, The Mystery Under the Sea, The Secret in the Sky, The Vanisher, X-Files 1 comment: Jean Michel said... Hi Art,My name is Jean Michel and I'm an artist and writer. Recently I began writing a new Doc Savage adventure and I would be honored if you and anyone else who may be a Doc fan, would read it. As a fan of the Man of Bronze, I've always been looking out for new stories, until one day I realized that I had one in my head the whole time. After watching the last James Bond film, I was very inspired to update the tone of the stories and as it is (how I hate this term) fan fiction, I took some liberties, but I hope you don't think they're too awful. You can find the story here:http://docsavagemanofbronze.blogspot.com/I hope you enjoy it.JM November 17, 2008 at 9:17 PM Post a Comment Newer Post Older Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Member Doc Savage Webring Powered by WebRing. This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Arthur C. Sippo MD, MPH Followers of this blog Sun Koh: Heir of Atlantis Sun Koh: Heir of Atlantis The Collected Stories of Sun Koh: Heir of Atlantis, Volume 1 For the first time in his own volume, Sun Koh, Heir of Atlantis! The original German pulp hero from the 1930s is reimagined for the 21st Century. Now, in one volume we have the trilogy of stories that depict his origin and that of his loyal crew. We also have 2 NEW stories that have never been published in any form. As Far as the East is from the West- A degenerate being from a lost race offers the secret of nuclear weapons to the British Government in exchange for a pardon for his monstrous crimes. Can Sun Koh stop this madman and prevent Britain from dominating the world? The Triumph of the Will - During the Nazi party Congress in Nuremberg in August of 1934, German intelligence discovers a plot to assassinate the Fuehrer masterminded by an electronics wizard and his aging mentor. This plot puts the entire population of the city in danger! Can Sun Koh thwart this plot and save the half-million people of Nuremberg? Set on the back drop of the greatest political propaganda film ever made. Don't miss the exciting adventures of Sun Koh: Heir of Atlantis from Age of Adventure! Available as a paperback book: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/sun-koh-heir-of-atlantis-vol1/10296561 Also avaialble as a download: http://www.lulu.com/product/file-download/sun-koh-heir-of-atlantis-vol1/10296562 Zine of Bronze #7 Zine of Bronze #7 The Perils of Patricia, Part 1 In the Zine of Bronze #7 is part 1 of a story about Patricia, a bronzed beauty who runs an exclusive women's spa in 1930s New York. Like her famous cousin, she has her share of adventures with quirky side-kicks and ominous villains. In this story, a woman makes her way into Patricia's Spa seeking help pursued by an armed thug. She makes it safely but begins to transform right before Patricia's horrified eyes. This is just the beginning of a story of intrigue, horror, and romance for our heroine. But will she survive the perils that await her? Read "The Perils of Patricia, Part 1" in the Zine of Bronze #7. get it today! http://mainenterprises.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=7563837 The Big Book of Bronze #2 A New Essay in "The Big Book of Bronze #2" In conjunction with the 2009 Arizona Doc Savage Convention (DocCon XII), a new book of essays on Doc Savage related topics has just been published entitled The Big Book of Bronze #2. I have an essay in this volume entitled: The Doc Savage Journal: The Untold Story. The article reveals the story behind the first authorized Doc Savage story published after the final pulp magazine epic Up From Earth's Center. The story was Trail of Doomsday written by Lohr McKinstry in 1969 and published by Lynn Myers in his fanzine The Doc Savage Journal. The long lost story of this long forgotten publishing event is finally told!There are several other fine essays in this book that no Doc Savage fan will want to miss!The volume can be purchased here:http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-big-book-of-bronze-%232/5635557Get your copy today! Glimmerglass A new short story in Glimmerglass Creative Writer's Annual I have written a new short story for Volume 1 of Glimmerglass- The Creative Writer's Annual. It is entitled Destiny or Choice: Shall Any Valiant Act Gainsay Extinction? and is set in 1908 at an Archaeological meeting in St. Louis where a child prodigy confronts the image of an ancient evil.There are several other great stories inthis issue by up and coming new authors. The Glimmerglass collection is available here:http://www.bookemon.com/book-profile/glimmerglass/30672Don't miss it! Thrilling Adventures #140 Sun Koh returns in "Sit Thou at My Right Hand" Fianlly available! The conclusion of the Sun Koh origin trilogy: "Sit Thou at My Right Hand". Sun Koh comes face to face with Hitler himself and takes his place in the new order of Germany. The Heir of Atlantis also meets the man who will become his arch-Nemesis. Thrill to the exciting adventures of Prince Sun Koh, Scion of Atlantis and Germany's Ubermensch.Available now In Thrilling Adventures #140 from http://www.lulu.com/ !Follow this direct link:http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/thrilling-adventures-#140-spring-2009/6297784 Zine of Bronze #5 "Andy and Ted's Excellent Adventure" has been published! My new story Andy and Ted's Excellent Adventure has been published in the Zine of Bronze #5 and is now available from Main Enterprises.This is the story of two men from very different backgrounds who met in the trenches in World War I and who formed an abiding friendship that lasted long after the war ended. They may seem very familiar to pulp fans especially those who follow the Doc Savage Saga. Along the way you will meet several figures from history and fiction that many of you will recognize. There will be excitement, adventure, danger, and humor along the way. This will be the story that true pulp fans will be talking about! Don't miss it!Copies are available here:http://www.mainenterprises.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=3799632 The Book Cave My interview about Sun Koh is featured on "The Book Cave" Podcast #4 Ric Croxton recently interviewed me on the fourth edition of his Podcast Show "The Book Cave" concerning the 1930s German Pulp hero, Sun Koh, and my recent reimagining of the character for a modern American audience. There were a few technical difficulties with the recording, but the program is both fun and informative. It also includes an exclusive revelation about the new Sun Koh that is not revealed anywhere else!You can obtain this podcast here:http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=420747There are some follow-on comments to the interview at these two addresses:http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=420747&comments=onhttp://thebookcave.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=421947If you haven't done so, tune in every week to Ric as he explores the rich world of heroic fiction in all media: pulps, novels, comics, movies, serials, and TV.http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/ The Zine of Bronze #4 My story "Long Tom Robber" is now available! My story "Long Tom Robber" is available now in issue #4 of The Zine of Bronze Published by Main Enterprises. During World War I, a young electronics inventor uses an old cannon to defend against a German attack. This is the first time that this story has ever been told. The cast of characters will include several who might seem familiar to pulp magazine fans.Copies available here:http://mainenterprises.ecrater.com/product.php?pid=2251956Don't miss it!Here is a review of Zine of Bronze #4 and "Long Tom Robber":http://www.midnightfiction.com/reviews/reviews_pulp3.htm#zob4 Prof. Stone Magazine #2 Sun Koh Returns! The Saga of Sun Koh Continues! Now on sale at http://www.lulu.com/! The Professor Stone Adventure Magazine #2 presents the second part of the trilogy of the origin of Sun Koh, Heir of Atlantis. The story is entitled:Thou Preparest a Table Before MeSun Koh and his crew seek the hidden legacy left to him by his father from the dying continent of Atlantis. The Aryan Ubermensch must battle monsters and the remnants of a lost race as he pursues his destiny. But can even he survive agaisnt these odds?Available now at this site:http://www.lulu.com/content/2182456 Prof. Stone #1 Sun Koh: The German Pulp Ubermensch Reimagined! I have a new short story coming out in the premier issue of Professor Stone's Adventure Magazine in December, 2007 from http://www.lulu.com/content/1606962. It is the return of a German Pulp icon of the 1930s:Sun Koh: the Heir to Atlantis inHow Art thou Fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer!This is the first of my three part story of Sun Koh's origin reimagined. Sun Koh was the German Pulp equivalent of Doc Savage. He was a gentically engineered superman sent forward in time from doomed Atlantis to become the King of a New World Order when the next Ice Age comes and the Lost Continent resurfaces. From 1933 to 1939 he had 150 published adventures. Thrill to the exciting adventures of Sun Koh! Coming in time for Christmas! Zine of Bronze Issue #3 "His Last Hand" - a short story I am proud to announce the publication of my short story "His Last Hand" in issue #3 of the Zine of Bronze published by Main Enterprises in October 2007. It is the story of a poker game played in Paris in 1918 by characters that you might find familiar. Please contact Jim Main at [email protected] for the details. Order your copy today!Here is a review of this issue:http://www.midnightfiction.com/reviews/reviews_pulp2.htm#bronze3 Doc Savage and his Five Aides Tales of La Plata "The Supreme Adventurer" - Another short story On 21 October 2007, the 2nd Annual La Plata Doc Con was in La Plata, Missouri, the birth place and hometown of Lester Dent who wrote The Doc Savage pulp stories. To celebrate this event, a fechschrift was published with tales about La Plata and its favorite son, Lester Dent. The title of the book will be: "Two-Fisted Tales of La Plata, Missouri". My own contribution to this collection was "The Supreme Adventurer", a short story about Lester Dent's childhood, his parents, his hometown, and what they have given to the world. Don't miss it! Contact Mark Lambert for details ([email protected]).Available direct from http://www.lulu.com/content/1254218.Art Sippo Mission Statement: Elaborations, explanations, and speculations on the Doc Savage Saga as it fits within the Wold Newton Universe. The Man of Bronze About Me Art Sippo: Altar Boy, Cantor, Lector, Father, Husband, Soldier, Doctor, Writer, and Catholic Apologist. My name is Arthur C. Sippo MD, MPH. I am a physician board certified in Aerospace Medicine and Occupational Medicine. I served 12 years on active duty in the US Army as an Aerospace Medicine Spe… truncated (2,602 more characters in archive)