The "mystery" is manufactured, and promulgated by the ignorant.

For those who have done insufficient research on the Coral Castle "mystery", they will often be unaware, or sometimes even willfully ignorant, of a little book called "Mr. Can't Is Dead".

This book, out of publication and available sporadically at best, was acquired by me, at my own great personal expense (/sarcasm), while visiting the Coral Castle in 2001. It was for sale in their gift shop at that time, although I cannot guarantee in any way it is there now, since the new marketing people seem to be very much interested in propagating the bogus "mystery" concept of the megalithic stone structure.

The book is listed on Amazon, here: [www.amazon.com]

Here is a picture of that 8 1/2" x 11" self-published book, sitting in front of my desktop computer, open to the above page where I am called a liar for stating the book exists. It was the best timestamp I could think of.




And for those who are disinclined to wait to find a copy, allow me to quote some of the more important paragraphs.

This book is written by an eye witness who both lived near Ed Leedskalnin, and helped Ed when the author was a teenager. It was written in the mid-1990's by Orval M. Irwin. Mr. Irwin was a longtime resident of Homestead, Florida. No one in the town contradicts Mr. Irwin's account, and when one examines the facts of the situation without prejudice or bias, one finds his is the story that makes perfect sense of the Coral Castle.

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P. 34

Now, there was just one way that Ed would work. His own way. Bob would have to tow the empty trailer to Ed's place and patiently drive it back and forth to get it in a precise location. There, the trailer would be unhitched from the tow truck and left to be loaded. Ed would carefully load the heavy stones with his levers, jacks, rollers, and other primitive tools.

When the trailer was loaded with two to four stone pieces, which may have taken two or three weeks, Ed would contact Bob. Bob would drive his truck down, connect it to the trailer, and very slowly tow it up to the highway to the new location. There, he would again go through the process of placing the trailer in a precise location. If the trailer had been a few feet away from where Ed wanted it, it could have easily added several extra days of work.

Later, when the trailer was emptied, Ed would call on Bob again to take the empty trailer back down to the old place. This was repeated many times and absorbed most of the entire year. When the last stone was unloaded, Ed and Bob must have signed loudly with relief.

Bob told me Ed would never work until after he had left. He probably didn't want any distractions, for an accident could prove fatal. Bob chuckled and said, Ed doesn't need to worry about me learning any of his secrets. I'm not going into competition with him."

Clearly there was no mysterious "overnight miracle" of the blocks just appearing in the back of the trailer. That's the lie. That's the fabrication. For those who are STILL disinclined to believe I am quoting a real book, allow me to present images of the pages I am quoting.



Allow me to continue quoting:

Quote

p. 38

In raising these six and one-half tone stones from the hole where they were cut and broken loose, he used the method of the ancient Greek mathematician and inventor, Archimedes. It was Archimedes who said "Give me a fulcrum and a lever and I can move the Earth." Ed would slowly pry, jack, chock, and repeat this process, a little at a time. The next operation was to raise the stone up and out of the ground and stand it on its end, straight in line with the other stones. He never had any help in cutting, designing or lifting any of his stones.

Once the stone was high enough, he would slip a chain around the upper end, make a tripod out of three carefully selected sturdy pine logs chained together at the top, and set it over the stone. He would hang a chain hoist that he could operate himself from the tripod and connect the hook to the chain around the stone. Then Ed would slowly raise the stone. It was necessary for him to use all the safety precautions available, and not to take any chances. If an accident occurred, causing him to be pinned down, there was always a chance that a visitor might not come to see him for several days.

There are 65 of these stone sections in the wall, and they took up about a week's worth apiece. Of course when anyone approached, he would stop his work. Due to the magnitude of this operation and the weight of these stones, it was just good common sense not to work with anyone around.

This quote dovetails into the p. 39 submission that follows:

Quote

p. 39

There is an old proverb that defines success as 90 percent perspiration. I'm sure this definition applies here. Often, these questions kept coming up. Why did that old guy work so hard? Why did he do all of that anyway? Just what did he try to prove?

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p. 54

Chapter VII
No Secret Method

Ed didn't have television, and I doubt if he ever subscribed to a newspaper. So in the evening, without a family, he didn't have very much to do. He must have spent many his lonely nights gazing at the stars. Maybe that's why he carved out all those celestial objects.

However, some people associate Mars, Saturn, and the Moon with magic, and attribute his method of operation to some sort of mysticism. Possibly, one reason for this is the younger generation has become a "push button" society, not wanting to believe one man could do so much. Back in the days when Ed started carving out his original stones, his was a generation who knew accomplishments by the sweat of the brow.

It wasn't mysticism, but hard work. This is how Ed really accomplished his massive project:

I'm not going to bother transcribing what is blatantly obvious to any rational person investigating this particular situation. You can read it from the pictures for yourself:









Now, for those who are more inclined to only believe pictures, rather than the written word, Mr. Irwin provided many hand sketches in his book that demonstrate the methods Ed used quite clearly.

On the quarrying of the stone, we have this picture he drew from his own experience of observing Ed first hand:



And regarding the positioning of the massive stones, we have this image showing how they were stood up:




And for those who doubt Mr. Irwin's veracity, I offer to you a copy of a sworn and signed affidavit that is also included in the publication, and appears below this pertinent quotation:

Quote

p. 68

As a boy in the 1920s, about 1928 and 1929, I was a neighbor of Edward Leedskalnin, and I saw him dig out and raise the large moon stone and set it up, the map of Florida stone, and several of the rocking chairs.

When he was digging out the high slender stone, with a star on top that weighs 18 tons, I well remember he broke the first two stones. It was on his third try he patiently quarried the masterpiece that still stands today.

Clearly he made mistakes. Another myth debunked. But again, you don't have to believe me. You can see it here for yourself:




I can assure you I am not "selectively quoting". I'm no liar.

There's no mystery unless one desperately desires to find one, and desires it so badly that he closes his eyes to reality.

Of course, that's what some posters here have been doing with Giza for over a decade. Why should the Coral Castle be immune to their affliction?

Anthony

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him think.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2010 08:53AM by Anthony.